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The letter of al-Jarrah and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's reply

كتاب الجراح ورد عمر بن عبد العزيز

between 717 and 720 CE · c. 99 AH

Al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah wrote to Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz that the people of Khurasan were unruly subjects whom only the sword and the whip would set right, asking permission to apply them; Umar wrote back: 'Your letter reached me saying Khurasan's people are unruly and only sword and whip will mend them — you lie; justice and truth will mend them. Spread those among them, and peace' 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Umayyad Period
Region
Persia & Central Asia
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

700710720730
The Umayyad Period

Overview

The sources transmit a correspondence between al-Jarrah ibn Abd Allah and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz about the people of Khurasan. 2

The letter

Al-Jarrah wrote that the people of Khurasan had become badly governed, and that nothing would set them right but the sword and the whip, and asked for leave to do so. 2

The reply

Umar replied that justice and right are what would set them right, and ordered him to spread them among them. 2

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami· Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz

People and things also explored

Al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah's Governorship of Armenia· Umar II's Da'wa beyond the River and Ibn Ma'mar's Raid· The Building of the Fortress of Masisa· The Basra Dar al-Imara Saga· The Death of al-Jarrah at Ardabil· Death of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz· Umar's Expulsion of the Christians of Najran· The Founding of al-Ramla

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 393
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.393
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The letter of al-Jarrah and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's reply”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/jarrah-khurasan-justice-letter/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah's Governorship of Armenia

In al-Baladhuri: Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik gave Armenia to Adi ibn Adi ibn Amira al-Kindi — Adi ibn Amira being one of those who settled al-Raqqa having parted with Ali ibn Abi Talib — then Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz appointed him, he being the owner of the Nahr Adi at al-Baylaqan, though some say Umar's governor was Hatim ibn al-Nu'man, which is unsound; then Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik appointed Mi'laq ibn Saffar al-Bahrani, removed him for al-Harith ibn Amr al-Ta'i, who raided the Lakz and took Rustaq Hamsadan; and al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami of Mudhhij governed Armenia, settling at Bardha'a, where its conflicting measures and weights were laid before him and he set them on justice and fulness, making a measure called al-Jarrahi which its people deal by to this day; then he crossed the Kurr and marched until he passed the river called al-Samur, reaching the Khazars and killing them in a great slaughter, and fought the people of Bilad Hamzin, then compounded with them to transfer them to a rustaq.