Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz
Abū Luʾluʾa Fīrūz | |
---|---|
أبو لؤلؤة فيروز | |
Born | Unknown date Nahavand, Iran (likely) |
Died | Historical: 644 Medina, Arabia Legendary: after 644 Kashan, Iran |
Other names | Bābā Shujāʿ al-Dīn |
Era | Early Islamic period |
Known for | Assassinating the second caliph Umar |
Abū Luʾluʾa Fīrūz (
After having been captured in battle during the Arab-Muslim conquest of Persia, Abu Lu'lu'a was brought to Medina, the then-capital of the Rashidun Caliphate, which was normally off-limits to non-Arab captives. However, as a highly skilled craftsman, Abu Lu'lu'a was exceptionally allowed entrance into the city in order to work for the caliph. His motive for killing the caliph is not entirely clear, but medieval sources generally attribute it to a tax dispute. At one point, Abu Lu'lu'a is said to have asked the caliph to lift a tax imposed upon him by his Arab master, al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba. When Umar refused to lift the tax, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked him while he was leading the congregational prayer in the mosque, stabbing him with a double-bladed dagger and leaving him mortally wounded.
According to historical accounts, Abu Lu'lu'a was either captured and executed in Medina or committed suicide there. In retaliation,
At some point
Name
Abu Lu'lu'a's given name was most likely
Biography
Very little is known about his life.
When al-Mughira forced Abu Lu'lu'a to pay a
One day when Umar was leading the congregational prayer in the
Some historical sources report that Abu Lu'lu'a was taken prisoner and executed for his assassination of Umar, while other sources claim that he committed suicide.[21] After Abu Lu'lu'a's death, his daughter was killed by Ubayd Allah ibn Umar, one of Umar's sons. Acting upon the claim of one man (either Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf or Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr) that they had been seen conspiring with Abu Lu'lu'a while he was holding the double-bladed dagger, Ubayd Allah also killed Hurmuzān (Umar's Persian military adviser), and Jufayna, a Christian man from al-Hira (Iraq) who had been taken to Medina to serve as a private tutor to a family in Medina.[22] After Ubayd Allah was detained for these murders, he threatened to kill all foreign captives residing in Medina, as well as some others. Although Ubayd Allah may have been encouraged by his sister Hafsa bint Umar to avenge their father's death, his murder of Hurmuzān and Jufayna was likely the result of a mental breakdown rather than of a true conspiracy. It was regarded by his peers as a crime rather than as a legitimate act of retaliation.[23]
In early 20th-century scholarship it was sometimes supposed that Abu Lu'lu'a had really been an instrument in the hands of a conspiracy, though not a conspiracy led by Hurmuzān, but rather one led by
Madelung in his The Succession to Muhammad has pointed out that just like Abu Lu'lu'a's assassination of Umar over something as trivial as a tax burden, Ubayd Allah's retaliatory killing of apparently random non-Arabs bears witness to the strong tensions that existed between Arabs and non-Arabs in the early Islamic caliphate.
Legacy
Sanctuary in Kashan
According to later legends, Abu Lu'lu'a did not die in Medina, but was miraculously saved from his pursuers by Ali, who transported him by means of a special prayer to
Recently, there has been some controversy over this sanctuary, with a number of
Annual celebration
During the 16th-century
The festival celebrated Abu Lu'lu'a, nicknamed Bābā Shujāʿ al-Dīn (lit. 'Father Courageous of the Faith'), as a national hero who had defended the religion by killing the oppressive caliph.
During the
Nevertheless, the festival is still celebrated in Iran, though often secretly and indoors.
References
Citations
- ^ Most sources that specify his given name mention "Fīrūz"; see Ishkevari & Nejad 2008; Pellat 2011 ("Fērōz", an alternative transliteration of the same). Calmard 1996, p. 161 and Fischer 1980, p. 16 refer to him as "Firuz", while Madelung 1997, p. 75 gives his fuller name as "Abū Luʾluʾa Fayrūz". On the Parthian and Middle Persian origin of the name, see Chkeidze 2012; on its meaning "Victorious", see Rezakhani 2017, p. 78.
- ^ Cf. the usage in Levi Della Vida & Bonner 1960–2007; Pellat 2011; Madelung 1997, pp. 68–70, 75, 346; El-Hibri 2010, pp. 107–114 et pass. In modern Persian this becomes Abō Loʾloʾ or Abū Luʾluʾ (see Ishkevari 1994–2020), a usage sometimes also adopted elsewhere (e.g., by Torab 2007 or Ishkevari & Nejad 2008).
- ^ Johnson 1994, p. 127, note 23; Calmard 1996, p. 161.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 404 refers to Jufayna as "al-Naṣrānī", indicating that he was a man. Moreover, while the murder weapon seems to be depicted here as a split-blade sword (like Zulfiqar), El-Hibri 2010, p. 109 describes it as "a unique dagger", having "two pointed sharp edges, with a handle in the middle". The picture is taken from Tārīkhunā bi-uslūb qaṣaṣī ('Our History in a Narrative style'), a popular history book first published in Iraq in 1935.
- ^ Ishkevari & Nejad 2008.
- ^ Pellat 2011. Modern authors also take different views: Levi Della Vida & Bonner 1960–2007 merely state that he was a Christian slave, whereas Madelung 1997, p. 75, note 67 finds the sources claiming he was Christian unreliable. Ishkevari & Nejad 2008 mention that according to the Mujmal al-tawārīkh wa-l-qiṣaṣ, an anonymous work written c. 1126 CE, Abu Lu'lu'a came from Fin, a village near Kashan.
- ^ Pellat 2011.
- ^ This is the view of Madelung 1997, p. 75, note 67.
- ^ See the sources cited by El-Hibri 2010, pp. 108–109 (cf. also p. 112).
- ^ Pellat 2011; cf. Madelung 1997, p. 75, note 64.
- ^ Other sources speak of three dirhams a month; see Pellat 2011.
- ^ Pellat 2011; Levi Della Vida & Bonner 1960–2007. As pointed out by Pellat 2011, other accounts rather maintain that Abu Lu'lu'a's was angry about the caliph's raising a kharāj tax on his master al-Mughira.
- ^ Levi Della Vida & Bonner 1960–2007.
- ^ Pellat 2011.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 75.
- ^ El-Hibri 2010, p. 109 describes the dagger as "unique", having "two pointed sharp edges, with a handle in the middle".
- .
- ^ El-Hibri 2010, p. 109.
- ^ Pellat 2011.
- ^ Levi Della Vida & Bonner 1960–2007; Pellat 2011.
- ^ Pellat 2011.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 69 (cf. p. 404, where Madelung refers to him as "Jufayna al-Naṣrānī").
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 69.
- ^ Caetani 1905–1926, vol. V, pp. 40–51, as reported by Madelung 1997, pp. 68–70.
- ^ Madelung 1997, pp. 68–70; Levi Della Vida & Bonner 1960–2007; Pellat 2011.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 70.
- ^ Madelung 1997, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 75.
- ^ El-Hibri 2010, pp. 107–108, cf. pp. 90–92.
- ^ Fischer 1980, p. 16; Johnson 1994, p. 127, note 23.
- ^ In his al-Nawāqiḍ li-bunyān al-rawāfiḍ, written in 1580: see Johnson 1994, p. 127, note 23; on Sharifi, see Ghereghlou 2016.
- ^ Ishkevari & Nejad 2008.
- ^ Algar 1990; Johnson 1994, p. 127, note 23.
- ^ Ishkevari & Nejad 2008.
- ^ Ismail 2016, p. 93, who also refers to the Al Arabiya news report by Isma'il 2007.
- ^ Mavani 2016, p. 137.
- ^ Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 196.
- ^ Johnson 1994, p. 127, note 23; cf. Algar 1990. The festival is also mentioned by Mirza Makhdum Sharifi (1540/41–1587) in his al-Nawāqiḍ li-bunyān al-rawāfiḍ (written 1580).
- ^ Calmard 1996, p. 161; Algar 1990.
- ^ Calmard 1996, p. 161; Johnson 1994, p. 127, note 23; Torab 2007, p. 196.
- ^ Torab 2007, p. 195.
- ^ Stewart 1996, p. 47; Mavani 2016, p. 137.
- ^ Algar 1990.
- ^ Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 194. An example of such vilifying poetry is cited by Stewart 1996, p. 47.
- ^ Algar 1990.
- ^ Algar 1990.
- ^ Torab 2007, pp. 194–195.
- ^ Torab 2007, p. 195.
- ^ Torab 2007, p. 198.
- ^ Torab 2007, p. 194.
- ^ Algar 1990.
- ^ Torab 2007, p. 197.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-71009-130-7.
- OCLC 3423680.
- Calmard, Jean (1996). "Shi'i Rituals and Power II. The Consolidation of Safavid Shi'ism: Folklore and Popular Religion". In Melville, Charles (ed.). Safavid Persia: The History and Politics of an Islamic Society. Pembroke Persian Papers. Vol. 4. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 139–190. ISBN 1-86064-023-0.
- Chkeidze, Thea (2012). "Georgia v. Linguistic Contacts with Iranian Languages". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- El-Hibri, Tayeb (2010). Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-15082-8.
- ISBN 9780674466159.
- Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). "Maḵdum Šarifi Širāzi". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
- Ishkevari, Hasan Yusofi (1994–2020). "ابو لؤلؤ". دائرة المعارف بزرگ اسلامی (Encyclopaedia Islamica). Vol. 6. (original Persian version of Ishkevari & Nejad 2008)
- Ishkevari, Hasan Yusofi; Nejad, Saleh (2008). "Abū Luʾluʾ". In ISSN 1875-9831. (English translation of Ishkevari 1994–2020)
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