Arabia, having lost its political primacy with the ruling Umayyads' transfer of the caliphate to the more centrally located Damascus, suffers growing disunity by 692.

The only remaining center of opposition to Umayyad rule is the now aging anticaliph, Ibn az-Zubayr, who Caliph Abd al-Malik publicly chides for his temerity.

The Caliph had charged his famous general al-Ḥajjaj first to negotiate with ibn al-Zubayr and to assure him of freedom from punishment if he capitulated but, if the opposition continued, to starve him out by siege, but on no account to let the affair result in bloodshed in Mecca.

Since the negotiations failed and al-Ḥajjāj lost patience, he had sent a courier to ask Abd al-Malik for reinforcements and also for permission to take the city by force.

Al-Ḥajjaj had received both.

Angered at being prevented by Ibn al-Zubayr from performing Hajj, al-Ḥajjaj bombards Mecca, going so far as to target the Ka’bah and its pilgrims during the Hajj.

After the siege had lasted seven months and ten thousand men (among them two of ibn az-Zubayr's sons) had gone over to al-Ḥajjaj, Ibn al-Zubayr and loyal followers, including his youngest son, are killed in the fighting around the Ka’bah in October 692.

Al-Ḥajjaj's siege of the Hijaz has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent inhabitants.

While subsequently governing the Hijaz, al-Ḥajjaj will be known for his severe rule.

The Muslim community is finally unified.