Muḥammad b. al-Ḳāsim al-Thaḳafī

Muḥammad b. al-Ḳāsim al-Thaḳafī (b. 691×96, d. 715 CE) was a general of the Umayyads, noted for leading the Arabic conquest of Sind. He is one of the main characters of the Chach Nama, which is in turn the main source for his life.

Biography

Al-Kāsim was from the Banū Thakīf, and prestigious enough that Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf 'considered him a suitable match for his sister Zaynab'.[1]

Al-Ḥajjāj gave al-Kāsim command of an expedition to Sind sometimes between 708 and 711 CE when al-Kāsim was only 15-17 years old, apparently because two previous Umayyad commanders 'failed to punish Dāhir, the ruler of Sind, for his inability (or unwillingness) to restrain pirates who had interfered with Muslim shipping near the coast of his province'. Proceeding by land, with naval support, from Persia to Sind across the Makran desert, al-Ḳāsim first took port of Daybul, at the mouth of the Indus, then proceeded north-east, defeating and killing Dāhir in battle. Among other places, al-Kāsim conquerest the city of Multān, which was a key site in Hindu religion.[2]

On the accession of Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik 715 CE, however, al-Kāsim, like other supporters of al-Malik's predecessor, was imprisoned and tortured to death. In the account of the Chach Nama, however, this was because Dāhir's daughters, 'seeking vengeance for their father’s death, falsely accused him of indecency towards them while they were in his custody before being sent to the court of the caliph'.[3]

Reputation

While al-Kāsim's warring was clearly at times brutal, he is supposed to have said that of Hinduism that 'the idol temple is similar to the churches of the Christians, (to the synagogues) of the Jews and to the fire-temples of the Zoroastrians' (mā al-budd illā ka-kanāʾis al-naṣārā wa ’l-yahūd wa-buyūt nīrān al-madjūs).[4] This 'seems to be the earliest statement justifying the inclusion of the Hindus in the category of ahl al-dhimma', leading al-Kāsim to be viewed by many modern Muslims as a paragon of religious tolerance.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Y. Friedmann, “Čač-Nāma”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, ed. by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2007). Consulted online on 04 December 2016 DOI:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5357.
  2. ↑ Y. Friedmann, “Čač-Nāma”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, ed. by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2007). Consulted online on 04 December 2016 DOI:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5357.
  3. ↑ Y. Friedmann, “Čač-Nāma”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, ed. by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2007). Consulted online on 04 December 2016 DOI:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5357.
  4. ↑ Y. Friedmann, “Čač-Nāma”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, ed. by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2007). Consulted online on 04 December 2016 DOI:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5357, citing al-Balādhurī, Futāḥ , 439).
  5. ↑ Y. Friedmann, “Čač-Nāma”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, ed. by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2007). Consulted online on 04 December 2016 DOI:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5357.
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