In another chain related by his son ʿAbd Allah (1) it is reported that ʿAlī said to him, “O Farrukh, are you the one who claims, ‘A full hundred years will not pass over mankind while a single blinking eye remains on earth, and only after that century will this community see ease and relief’? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ only said, ‘A full hundred years will not pass over mankind while a single blinking eye remains on earth’—you have missed the mark, may your mouth fall into the pit! He was referring solely to those alive today.” This narration is unique to him.
A matching wording is found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (2) from Ibn ʿUmar, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Consider this very night of yours; at the beginning of one hundred years from now, not one of those who are presently upon the face of the earth will remain.” People mis-apprehended the Prophet’s statement, whereas he only meant the passing away of his generation (3).
In that same year a faction of the Ḥarūriyyah appeared in Iraq. The Commander of the Faithful, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, wrote to ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd, the governor of Kūfah, instructing him to summon them to the truth, treat them gently, and not fight them until they began spreading corruption in the land. When they did so, he dispatched an army against them, but the Ḥarūriyyah routed it. ʿUmar reproached him for the defeat and sent his cousin Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik from al-Jazīrah to wage war on them; Allah granted him victory. ʿUmar had also written to the Khārijite leader—known as Bustām—saying:
“What made you rise up against me? If you have risen out of anger for Allah, I am more entitled to that than you, and you are no more entitled to it than I. Come and debate with me: if I recognise truth I shall follow it, and if you present a truth, we shall examine it.”
Bustām sent a group of his followers; ʿUmar selected two of them and asked, “What do you object to?” They said, “You have appointed Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik as your successor.” He replied, “I never appointed him; someone else did.” They asked, “Then how can you be pleased with him as guardian of the ummah after you?” He answered, “Give me three [days].” It is said that the Banū Umayyah then slipped poison to him and killed him, fearing that authority would leave their hands and that he would withhold wealth from them—Allah knows best (4).
That year ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz also dispatched al-Walīd ibn Hishām al-Muʿayṭī and ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Kindī of Ḥimṣ on the summer expedition.
In the same year he appointed ʿUmar ibn Hubayrah governor of al-Jazīrah, and the latter set out for his post.
Likewise that year Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab was brought from Iraq to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; he was escorted by Mūsā ibn Wajīh on orders from ʿAdī ibn Arṭāh, the deputy of Baṣrah. ʿUmar disliked Yazīd and his household, saying, “These people are tyrants, and I do not like their kind.” When Yazīd appeared before him, the caliph demanded the funds he possessed—wealth Yazīd had previously written to Sulaymān claiming to keep safe. Yazīd said, “I only wrote that to intimidate the enemy; there was nothing between Sulaymān and me, and you know my standing with him.” ʿUmar replied, “I will not listen to this. I shall not release you until you return the Muslims’ property,” and he ordered that he be imprisoned.