Editing Al-Walid II (section)

== Birth and background ==
Al-Walid was the son of Umayyad caliph Yazid II and his wife Umm al-Hajjaj bint Muhammad al-Thaqafi in 709. His mother was the daughter of Umayyad official [[Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi]].

His father, Yazid II ruled the Caliphate from 720 to January 724. [[Yazid II]] died in [[Irbid]] in the [[Balqa (region)|Balqa]] (i.e. [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]) subdistrict of [[Jund Dimashq]] (military district of Damascus) on 26 [[Sha'ban]] 105 [[Anno Hegirae|AH]] (28 January 724 CE).{{sfn|Powers|1989|pp=193–194}} His son al-Walid or half-brother Hisham led his funeral prayers.{{sfn|Powers|1989|p=194}} Yazid had intended to appoint al-Walid as his immediate successor, but was persuaded by [[Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik|Maslama]] to appoint Hisham instead, followed by al-Walid.{{sfn|Blankinship|1989|p=87, note 439}}