Abu al-Bahlul was the guarantor of the Qarmatian governor in Bahrain, Jaafar bin Abi Muhammad bin Arham. Abu al-Bahlul had a brother named
Abu'l-Walid Muslim who was a member of the island's
ulama. Since there was no
mosque on the island, then called Awal, Abu al-Bahlul paid the Qarmatians 3,000 dinars to erect one to serve the non-Arabs and merchants who would otherwise be reluctant to visit the island. As a result, the site was chosen to be close to the
souk. Abu al-Walid dedicated the
khutba (opening prayer) to Caliph
Al-Qa'im as required by the Shi’ite
Buyid dynasty then controlling the Caliphate. At first the Qarmatians agreed to the mosque being built, in exchange for his donation, acknowledging that the majority on the island were not Qarmatians. After the 1058 revolt of
Al-Basasiri, however, the Baghdad sermons were redirected to the name of
Al-Mustansir Billah, the
Fatimid Caliph in
Cairo. When the Qarmatians asked Abu’l-Walid to implement this change, Abu al-Bahlul made it clear that the donations obligated his brother to do no such thing. Tensions quickly arose between Abu al-Bahlul and bin Arham. The Qarmatians based in Baghdad then decided to remove bin Arham and replaced him with a new governor tasked to reassert his authority by arresting Abu al-Bahlul and his supporters. Abu al-Bahlul and his supporters hired an
Abdul Qays leader, Abu al-Qasim ibn Abu al-Aryan, who proceeded to recruit around 30,000 men who surprised the new governor and rapidly took control of the island in 1058. Upon receiving word of events on Bahrain, the Qarmatian
vizier Abu Abdullah ibn Sanbar sent some of his sons to
Oman to get weapons and raise reinforcements, but Abu al-Bahlul and Abu al-Aryan ambushed the party and killed all 40, taking the 5,000 dinars and 3,000 spears as booty. The Qarmatians then offered Abu al-Aryan rule of Bahrain in 1066 in exchange for him arresting Abu al-Bahlul. Aware of the plot, Abu al-Bahlul killed Abu al-Aryan while he was at Abu Zaidan spring, in what is now Bilal Al Qadeem. The Qarmatians, thinking they would enter without resistance, invaded and were promptly ambushed and disarmed, leaving Abu al-Bahlul in firm control and Abu’l-Walid as the new vizier of Bahrain. Abu al-Bahlul's success prompted other Abdul Qays sheikhs to revolt. Yahya ibn Ayyash al-Jadhmi drove the Qarmatians out of Qatif in 1058. Meanwhile, a third leader,
Abdullah bin Ali Al Uyuni, fled the
Al-Ahsa Oasis to plot another revolt in Al-Oyun, a village to the north, culminating in a seven-year siege of the city by the
Uyunids and
Seljuk Turks ending in 1067. Abu al-Bahlul and Al Uyuni each wrote to the Abbasids for support in driving the Qarmatians out for good and unifying the region under their rule. After Ibn Ayyash's death, his son Zakaria invaded Bahrain and killed Abu al-Bahlul, thus uniting Awal and Qatif for a time, before they were in turn captured by
Abdullah bin Ali Al Uyuni, the founder of the
Uyunid Emirate. ==References==