Among those who passed away in the days of al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik were:

Ziyād b. Jāriya al-Tamīmī (1) of Damascus; his house stood there, west of the Palace of the Thaqafites. He transmitted from Ḥabīb b. Maslama al-Fihri a report forbidding a person who has his midday and evening meals from begging, as well as another report on the extra shares (nafl) of booty. Some claimed that he was a Companion, but the sound position is that he was a Successor. Those who narrated from him include ʿAṭiyyah b. Qays, Makḥūl, and Yūnus b. Maysarah b. Ḥalbas. In spite of this, Abū Ḥātim judged him “an unknown shaykh,” whereas al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Ḥibbān deemed him reliable.

Ibn ʿAsākir (2) relates that he once entered the Damascus Mosque on a Friday when the prayer had been delayed. He declared, “By Allah, no prophet whom Allah has sent after Muhammad ﷺ ever commanded you to perform this prayer at this hour!” He was seized, taken into the Khaḍrāʾ, and beheaded; this occurred during the reign of al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik.

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. ʿUthmān (3), Abū Muḥammad, was the judge of Madinah. He was a nobleman, renowned for his kindness, generosity, and praiseworthy character—and Allah knows best. (4)

[The Caliphate of Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik]

The oath of allegiance to him as caliph was given on the very day his brother al-Walīd died—Saturday, the fifteenth of Jumādā al-Ākhirah in the year 96 AH—while Sulaymān was in al-Ramlah. He had been named heir-apparent after his brother in accordance with the bequest of their father ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān, as mentioned earlier.

Yet before his death al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik had resolved to depose his brother Sulaymān and appoint his own son ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. al-Walīd as heir. Al-Ḥajjāj supported him and urged him to do so, as did Qutaybah b. Muslim.