Editing Al-Walid I (section)

{{Short description|Umayyad caliph from 705 to 715}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = {{plainlist|
* al-Walid I
* الوليد الأول}}
| title        = {{ubl|{{Transliteration|ar|[[Amir al-Mu'minin]]}}|{{Transliteration|ar|[[List of Caliphs|Khalifat Allah]]}}}}
| image        = File:Gold dinar of al-Walid obverse, 707-708 CE.jpg
| image_size   = 300px
| caption      = [[Gold dinar]] of al-Walid, minted in [[Damascus]], 707/08&nbsp;CE
| alt          = The obverse and reverse of a gold coin inscribed in Arabic
| full name    = Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān
| succession   = 6th [[Caliph]] of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]
| reign        = 9 October 705 – 23 February 715
| predecessor  = [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]]
| successor    = [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik|Sulayman]]
| dynasty      = [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad]]
| house        = [[Marwan I|Marwanid]]
| father       = [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|ʿAbd al-Malīk]]
| mother       = Wallāda bint al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Jazʾ
| spouses      = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Umm al-Banin bint Abd al-Aziz]]
* Umm ʿAbdallāh bint ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān
* ʿIzza bint ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUthman
* Nafīsa bint Zayd ibn al-Ḥaṣan
* Zaynab bint al-Ḥaṣan ibn al-Ḥaṣan
* Āmīna bint Sāʾīd ibn al-ʿĀs
* Shah-i-Afrid bint Peroz III ([[umm walad|concubine]])
* Budayra (concubine)
}}
| issue        = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[al-Abbas ibn al-Walid|al-ʿAbbās]]
* [[Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid|ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz]]
* [[Umar ibn al-Walid|ʿUmar]]
* [[Bishr ibn al-Walid|Bishr]]
* [[Masrur ibn al-Walid|Masrūr]]
* [[Yazid III|Yazid]]
* [[Ibrahim ibn al-Walid|Ibrahim]]
* ʿAnbāsa
* Marwān
* Muḥammad
* ʿĀʾisha (daughter)
* Rawḥ
* Khālid
* Maslama
* Mansūr
* Tammām
* Mubashshir
* Jazʾ
* ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
* Yaḥyā
* Abū ʿUbayda
* Ṣadaqā
}}
| birth_date   = {{circa|674}}
| birth_place  = [[Medina]], Hejaz, [[Umayyad Caliphate]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and given age|715|02|23|{{c.|lk=no|41}}|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Dayr Murran]], [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]], Umayyad Caliphate
| burial_place = [[Bab al-Saghir]] or [[Bab al-Faradis]], Damascus
| religion     = [[Islam]]
}}
'''Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan''' ({{langx|ar|الوليد بن عبد الملك بن مروان|al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān}}; {{circa|674}} – 23 February 715),{{efn|The 9th-century historian [[Ya'qubi|al-Ya'qubi]] mentions two alternative death dates, 14 Jumada I 96 [[Hijra year|AH]] (25 January 715 CE) or the last day of Jumada II 96 AH (11 March 715).{{sfn|Gordon|Robinson|Rowson|Fishbein|2018|p=1001}}}} commonly known as '''al-Walid I''' ({{langx|ar|الوليد الأول|links=no}}), was the sixth [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] [[caliphate|caliph]], ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] ({{reign|685|705}}). As a prince, he led annual [[Raid (military)|raids]] against the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] from 695 to 698 and built or restored fortifications along the [[Syrian Desert]] route to [[Mecca]]. He became [[Wali al-Ahd|heir apparent]] in {{circa|lk=no|705}}, after the death of the designated successor, Abd al-Malik's brother [[Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan]].

Under al-Walid, his father's efforts to centralize government, impose a more Arabic and Islamic character on the state, and expand its borders were continued. He heavily depended on [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]], his father's powerful viceroy over the eastern half of the caliphate. During his reign, armies commissioned by al-Hajjaj conquered [[Sind (caliphal province)|Sind]] and [[Transoxiana]] in the east, while the troops of [[Musa ibn Nusayr]], the governor of [[Ifriqiya]], conquered the [[Maghreb]] and [[al-Andalus|Hispania]] in the west, bringing the caliphate to its largest territorial extent. War spoils from the conquests enabled al-Walid to finance impressive public works, including his greatest architectural achievement, the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]], as well as the [[al-Aqsa Mosque]] in [[Jerusalem]] and the [[al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Prophet's Mosque]] in [[Medina]]. He was the first caliph to institute programs for social welfare, aiding the poor and handicapped among the Muslim [[Arabs]] of [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]], who held him in high esteem.

His reign was marked by domestic peace and prosperity and likely represented the peak of Umayyad power, though it is difficult to ascertain his direct role in its affairs. The balance al-Walid maintained among the elites, including the [[Qays–Yaman rivalry|Qays and Yaman army factions]], may have been his key personal achievement. On the other hand, the massive military expenditures of his rule, as well as his extravagant grants to the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad princes]], became a financial burden on his successors.