al-Sibayn

السيبين

Twin canals dug by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik when granted the lowlands still holding water in return for spending three million dirhams on the dams under al-Hajjaj; granted to Dawud ibn Ali under the Abbasids, then bought from his heirs into the caliphal estates.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Umayyad Period · The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
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Overview

al-Sibayn: two rivers dug by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. He granted the low lands where the water remained, in return for his spending three million dirhams on the dam of breaches in the days of al-Hajjaj. 1

Then the two rivers were granted to Dawud ibn Ali in the Abbasid state, and they were bought from his heirs and became estates of the caliphate. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Site of
The Sibayn Reclamation and Maslama's Estates

People and things also explored

Iqta' (land grant)· al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi· al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik· Dawud ibn Ali· Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik· The Sibayn Reclamation and Maslama's Estates

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.413
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Sibayn”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/al-sibayn/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Related

Iqta' (land grant)

Iqta' in al-Baladhuri is the ruler's grant of lands to those deserving or requesting them; its limits in his reports include that a request need not be granted: Abyad ibn Hammal asked the Prophet for the salt flat at Ma'rib and, being told it was like freely flowing water ('id water), he refused to allot it to him, whereas Alqama ibn Wa'il al-Hadrami — as reported from his father — was granted land in Hadramawt; broader still were the Prophet's Khaybar grants, as he allotted al-Zubayr land with palms and trees, and among Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's arrangements his confirming the heirs in land the Prophet had provisioned after they were registered — so the iqta' runs between designation of public amenities that cannot be granted and the sovereign gift of dead or reclaimed land.