Yusuf Ibn Umar Thaqafi

Abu Abdullah Yusuf Ibn Umar Thaqafi, the evil Governor General of Iraq and famous Arab commander in Umayyad period. He was cousin of Hajjaj Thaqafi (the most famous and evil general of Umayyads). Yusuf was as cruel as Hajjaj. In 724, was appointed as the Governor General of Yemen by the Umayyad caliph Hesham Ibn Abdul Malek. He remained in this state until 739 and then became the Governor General of Iraq. When Zayd Ibn Ali (son of Ali Ibn Hossein, the fourth Imam of Shias) who was against Hesham Ibn Abdul Malek, went to Kufa, the kufi chiefs ####and nobles swore allegiance to him. Yusuf was supposed to fight against him. In the battle, Zayd was injured and then martyred. At that night he was buried in Kufa. Tomorrow morning, Yusuf went to his grave, split it and decapitated Zayd and sent it to the caliph. It is one of the most cruel events in his time. Zayd’s corpse was hung in kufa by the order of Hesham and then was buried. In 744, Yusuf was deposed and cast to prison by Yazid Ibn Abdul Malek. Eventually he was beheaded in 745; he was over 60.

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