When Muawia Ibn Abu Sufyan died in 60H/670 AD, the Arab caliphate was destabilized. While his son Yazid succeeded in killing Al-Hussein Ibn Ali in 61H, the Prophet's grandson, he not only fueled Shiite fury but also faced a challenge to Umayyad power from another Qurayshi aristocrat (grandson of the first caliph, Abu-Bakr, and related to the Prophet).

Abdallah Ibn Zubeyr proclaimed himself caliph in the same year and, after the death of Yazid and his son Muawya II, initiated the Second Discord, which lasted for ten years. This war had repercussions on the western front. However, the sources that tell us about Oqba's second term in Ifriqiya barely mention it. Nevertheless, they are rich in accounts of Oqba's vendetta against Abu Al-Muhajir, his deadly hostility with Kacîla of the Awrba Berber tribe, and his legendary conquests as far as the Atlantic.

Kacila ruled in Kairouan for five years before the Arabs recaptured it from him in 67H/687 AD. But in 73H/693 AD, the Umayyad caliph Abd Al-Malik emerged victorious from the Second Discord and began implementing his imperial project. He sent the Ghassanid leader Hassen Ibn Noomen to Ifriqiya with an army of 40,000 men to occupy it fully and take Carthage.

We are pleased to have as our guests, Mr. Fathi Bahri, historian and archaeologist specializing in the Middle Ages, former director general of the INP, Mr. Mohamed Ben Abbes, historian specializing in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Mr. Mohamed Hasan, historian specializing in the Middle Ages, Mr. Faouzi Mahfoudh, archaeologist and historian specializing in Islamic art and architecture and former General Director of the INP (National Heritage Institute) and Mr. Taher Ghalia, historian and archaeologist specialized in architecture and mosaics of Late Antiquity.

*The podcast director extends his sincere thanks to the honorable professors Adnan El Ghali and Nouri Boukhchim.