Oedipus Caesar Research Paper

During the rule of the caliph Abd-al-Malik in the tumultuous period of the 690’s, Shi’ite rebellions against the caliph were occurring in Iraq, especially in places such as, Kufa and Basra. After winning a battle or two, the rebellious Iraqis seemed to gain even more momentum. It was at this time that the caliph chose Hajjaj ibn Yusuf to become governor of Iraq and put an end to the revolts. History portrays that Hajjaj was a tyrannical, grim and evil man who ordered the execution of more than one hundred and twenty thousand people during his twenty year reign in Iraq. However, I will argue that, although he was oppressive and tyrannical leader primarily wanting revenge, Hajjaj was a simple and pious man who ruled in the way he did due to his strong beliefs, background, and the fact that he reigned under the Umayyad dynasty. He thoroughly believed that he could bring reform to Iraq by using fear. Though, he, somewhat, delineated from this path of governorship due to his love of women. One has to remember that Muhammad's People by Schroeder is not actually wholly written by Schroeder, himself. He brought together various primary sources, by anonymous Arabic authors from the period of the rise of Islam through the Islamic empire, and put them together to create, in a sense, a story for the reader. …show more content…
Sha’bi gave the opinions of five of the Prophet’s companions, including the opinions of Ali and Othman. After hearing all five of the suggested courses of action, Hajjaj said, “The one thing is that we must not follow Ali’s opinion, ” and decided that Uthman’s opinion was the best. Even though Hajjaj may have thought that Ali had the best opinion in this case, his hatred of Ali and his cause was the reason he followed Uthman’s advice. Once again, this relates to his extreme loyalty to the