Hadhrami Rebellion (659)

Hadhrami Rebellion
Part of Mu'awiya I's Southern Campaigns (658–660)
Date 659 Location Basra, Iraq Result Victory for Ali
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate Banu Tamim of Kufa Banu Azd	Umayyad Caliphate Uthmaniyya Banu Tamim of Basra
Commanders and leaders
Ali ibn Abi Talib Ziyad ibn Abihi Jariyah bin Qudamah Aʿyan ibn Dahiʿah al-Mujashi   †	Mu'awiya I Abd-Allah ibn Aamir Hadhrami   †
Strength
50+	2,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Most of the army killed or captured

The Hadhrami Rebellion (659) was an military uprising carried out by Uthmaniyya rebels under the leadership of Abd-Allah ibn Aamir Hadhrami, supported by Mu'awiya I, against Ali's authority in Basra. The uprising ended in failure after Ali's forces besieged the rebels.

Background

Mu'awiya had taken a number of measures to strengthen his position during the First Fitna. He refused to integrate any personnel outside of his stronghold of Greater Syria into his army even if they had expressed support for him. In contrast to the critics of Uthman, there were also people in Basra and Kufa who considered Ali's authority as illegitimate and defected to the Umayyads, however despite his unwillingness to recruit them, Mu'awiya enlisted the seceders while keeping them separate from the Syrian army by establishing garrison cities inJund Qinnasrin, originally a part of Jund Hims, to accommodate them. Al-Jazira and Mosul were the other regions where they settled. The Banu-al Arqam who opposed Ali's rule in Kufa defected to Mu'awiya and settled in Al-Jazira. ^[1]

The Rebellion

Ali appointed Abd Allah ibn Abbas as the governor of Basra. However, the relations between the two men deteriorated shortly afterwards and Abd Allah left the city with six millions dirhams. In the account of Abu Ubayda, Sabra bin Shayman proposed that he keep the money and offered the military support of the Qays. Ibn Abbas soon reconciled with Ali and resumed the governorship of Basra. ^[2] After the Battle of the Camel, the control of Basra briefly came under the control of Ali ibn Abi Talib. After the death of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr during the Umayyad annexation of Egypt, Mu'awiya I dispatched Abd-Allah ibn Aamir Hadhrami with 2000 men to Basra to launch a rebellion with the support of the Banu Tamim tribe there who were supportive of Mu'awiya.

Abd Allah ibn Abbas, the governor of Basra, had left for Kufa leaving his deputy Ziyad ibn Abihi in charge. Ziyad informed Ali of the escalation and took refuge with the tribe of Banu Azd. The Banu Tamim of Kufa was dispatched by Ali under Aʿyan ibn Dahiʿah al-Mujashiʿ to confront the forces of Abd Allah ibn Aamir al-Hadhrami but he was soon killed upon his arrival in Basra. Ali then sent Jariyah bin Qudamah with 50 relief troops. Jariyah then called for assistance from Ziyad with the Banu Azd tribe. They arrived in Basra, clashing with the forces of Abd Allah ibn Aamir al-Hadhrami, forcing them to retreat and take refuge in the house of Sabil al-Saʿdi. The house was set on fire by Ali's forces, killing most of Hadhrami's men including himself. Those who escaped were blocked by forts where they were besieged. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

References

1. Jabali, Fu'ad (2003-05-11). The Companions of the Prophet: A Study of Geographical Distribution and Political Alignments. BRILL. pp. 171–172. ISBN   978-90-474-0188-9.
2. Ulrich, Ulrich Brian (2019-05-09). Arabs in the Early Islamic Empire: Exploring al-Azd Tribal Identity. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   978-1-4744-3682-3.
3. "ص432 - كتاب جمهرة خطب العرب في عصور العربية الزاهرة - فتنة البصرة - المكتبة الشاملة". shamela.ws. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
4. zidan, D. Ahmad. The Rightly Buided Caliphs الخلفاء الراشدين. IslamKotob.
5. Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-64696-3.
6. Wellhausen, J. (2016-11-10). The Arab Kingdom and its Fall. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-315-41031-9.
7. Hanchi, Naceur; Elhak, Mohamed Nor (2025-12-20). Aicha Mother of the Believers: A Beacon of Knowledge, Jurisprudence, and Jihad (in French). Naceur Hanchi.