Day: October 14, 2021

AL-MUKHTAR JAILED

When Muslim marched out, al-Mukhtar was at a village called
Khatwaniyya. He came accompanied by his supporters raising a green
standard while Abdullah ibn al-Harith was raising a red one. Having
planted his standard at the door of Amr ibn Hareeth’s house, he said, “I
want to stop Amr.” It became obvious to them that both Muslim and
Hani had been killed, and it was suggested to them that they would feel
more secure in the company of Amr ibn Hareeth, and so they did. Ibn
Hareeth testified that they had both avoided Muslim ibn Aqeel… Ibn
Ziyad ordered them jailed after having reviled al-Mukhtar and hit his
face with a lance, gouging one of his eyes. They remained in prison till
Imam al-Husain, peace be with him, was martyred.
Ibn Ziyad ordered Muhammed ibn al-Ash’ath, Shabth ibn Rab’i, al￾Qaqa ibn Shawr al-Thuhli, Hijar ibn Abjar, Shimr Thul-Jawshan, and
Amr ibn Hareeth to surrender and to discourage people from rebelling.
A number of men who were controlled by fear responded positively to
his call in addition to others who coveted rich rewards and were thus
deceived, whereas those whose conscience was pure went underground,
waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack on the camp of
falsehood.

MUSLIM AT THE HOUSE OF TAW’A

Ibn Aqeel’s feet took him to the quarters of Banu Jiblah who belonged
to the tribe of Kindah. He stood at the door of a house of a freed
bondmaid named Tawa who had a number of sons. She used to be the
bondmaid of al-Ash’ath ibn Qays who freed her. Aseed al-Hadrami
married her, and she gave birth to his son Bilal who was in the crowd
when his mother was standing at the door waiting for him. Muslim
requested her to give him some water, which she did. He then requested
her to host him, telling her that he was a stranger in that land without a
family or a tribe, and that he belonged to a family capable of
intercession on the Day of Judgment, and that his name was Muslim
ibn Aqeel. She took him to a room which was not the same one where
her son used to sleep, and she served him some food. Her son was
surprised to see her entering that room quite often, so he asked her
about it. She refused to answer his question except after obtaining an
oath from him to keep the matter to himself.
But in the morning he informed Ibn Ziyad of where Muslim had been
hiding. Ibn Ziyad dispatched al-Ash’ath accompanied by seventy men
who belonged to the Qays tribe in order to arrest him. Upon hearing the
horses’ hoofs ploughing the ground, Muslim realized that he was being
pursued, so he hurried to finish a supplication which he was reciting
following the morning prayers. Then he put on his battle gear and said
to his hostess Tawa: “You have carried out your share of righteousness,
and you have secured your share of the intercession of the Messenger
of Allah. Yesterday, I saw my uncle the Commander of the Faithful in a
vision telling me that I was going to join him the next day.”
He came out to face them raising his unsheathed sword as they
assaulted the house, succeeding in repelling their attack. They repeated
their attack, and again he repelled them, killing as many as forty-one of
their men, and he was so strong that he would take hold of one man
then hurl him on the rooftop.
Ibn al-Ash’ath sent a messenger to Ibn Ziyad requesting additional
enforcements. The messenger came back to him carrying the latter’s
blame of his incompetence. He, therefore, sent him this message: “Do
you think that you sent me to one of Kufa’s shopkeepers, or to a
Nabatean from Heera?! Rather, you sent me to one of the swords of
[Prophet] Muhammed ibn Abdullah !” Ibn Ziyad then assisted him with
additional soldiers.
Fighting intensified. Muslim and Bakeer ibn Hamran al-Ahmari
exchanged blows. Bakeer struck Muslim on the mouth, cutting his
upper lip, wounding the lower and breaking two of his lower teeth.
Muslim fiercely struck him with one blow on his head and another on
his shoulder muscle, almost splitting his stomach, killing him instantly.
Then they attacked him from the house’s rooftop, hurling rocks at him.
They kept burning reed bales then throwing them at him. He attacked
them in the alley. His wounds were numerous; he bled extensively, so
he supported his body on the side of the house. It was then that they
assaulted him with arrows and stones. “Why do you hurl stones at me,”
he asked them, “as non-believers are stoned, the member of the
household of the pure Prophet that I am? Do you not have any respect
for the Messenger of Allah with regard to one of his own descendants?”
Ibn al-Ash’ath said to him, “Please do not get yourself killed while you
are in my custody.” Muslim asked him, “Shall I then be captured so
long as I have some strength in me? No, by Allah! This shall never be.”
Then he attacked Ibn al-Ash’ath who fled away before him. They
attacked him from all directions. Thirst had taken its toll on him. A man
stabbed him from the back, so he fell on the ground and was arrested.
Another account says that they dug a hole for him which they covered
then fled before him, thus luring him to fall into it, then they arrested
him. When they took his sword away from him, he wept. Amr ibn
Ubaydullah al-Salami was surprised to see him weep. A man without
his weapon is helpless, defenseless and vulnerable.

The following is from al-Dhahabi’s Siyar A3lam al-Nubala’. It is a sample of what some of the scholars had to do during the Ummayyad reign in order to survive. In summary, in order for this scholar (Imam Abdul Rahman Amru al-Uza3ee) to get his salary, he had to testify to Ali’s hypocrisy and he had to disavow Ali, the same exact thing that happened during the despotic reign of Mua’awiya, as we have learnt from the history of al-Tabari and other sources:

When al-Uza3ee realized the gravity of what he was doing, he asked the opinion of Mak-hhul, Yehya ibn Katheer, A’atta’ ibn Abi Rabah and Abdullah ibn Ubayd ibn Umayr and they said: “You were forced to do so.” But he was not satisfied with their answers. In order to free himself from this calamity and atone for his sins, he divorced his wives, freed his slave and got rid of his wealth.

This oppressive regime pushed most of the scholars and mainstream population to repress their thoughts and opinions about what they were forced to do with regards to Imam Ali. You have seen in the History of al-Tabari how the governors of Mua’awiya were forcing the people to insult and disavow Ali, else they would be persecuted and killed, like Hujr was killed. The people were afraid to lose their rights and properties, so they kept quiet. But not all kept quiet, such as Hujr ibn Adi.

A more famous Sunni scholar, Imam al-Nisa’i, the author of one of the 6 canonical collections of hadith, categorically rejected the idea that Muaawiya had any virtues and refused to write down all the false narrations claiming that Muawiya had virtues. His steadfast position cost him his life. Al-Dhahabi in Siyar A3lam al-Nubala’ writes:

Imam al-Hakim al-Nisabburi is another Sunni scholar who was accused of Tashayyu’. He was restrained to his house because he showed his staunch opposition to Mua’awiya, his household and his adherents. Such were the terrors inflicted upon those who rejected Mua’awiya and his likes. Where is the freedom of speech and of opinion?? Al-Dhahabi in Siyar A3lam al-Nubala’ writes:

This oppressive regime, that Muaawiya started, had no problem punishing those opposed to Muaawiya and his likes, but they kept quiet when Imam Ali was insulted on the pulpits of the Mosque in every Khutbah!!! Was not Imam Ali the closest companion of the prophet?? The ignorant from the mainstream Sunni accuse the Shia’a of Kufr and heresy when some of them insults Abu Bakr or Umar or any other companion while these same ignorant people bless Muaawiya and his likes who spent 90 years insulting Imam Ali and persecuting his followers! These people (Muaawiya and his people) are even considered trustworthy narrators in the books of Hadith while many of the staunch followers of Imam Ali are considered weak narrators! Tell me where the logic is in this calamity??

The Case of Three Dinars

It has been reported by Suduq and Sheikh on the authority of Imam Jafir
Sadiq (A) who reported it on the authority of his father and forefathers that a
man had deposited two Dinars with a person and another man had deposited
only one Dinar with the same person. One of the Dinars was stolen. When
the case was brought to Amir ul-Momineen Hazrat Ali (A), he ordered one
Dinar to be given to the first person and the equal division of the second
between both the depositors.
Explanation:
The first man who had deposited two Dinars had one of his two Dinars
still safe whether or not one of his own Dinar was stolen, while the other
one, in case his only Dinar was stolen, had none. As the theft in each case
affected the second Dinar the second man had to share both the loss and the
gain. 

The Case of a Woman Who had Given Birth to a Child Within Six
Months of Her Pregnancy and Hazrat Omar (RA) had Ordered her to be
Stoned to Death

A soldier in the Army returned home. When he had stayed with his wife
for only six months, his wife gave birth to a male child and claimed that it
was his child. The soldier refused to accept her claim and brought her to
Hazrat Omar (RA) who ordered the woman to be stoned to death. By chance
Hazrat Ali (A) also happened to be there and he pointed out to Hazra Omar
(RA) that the Holy Quran had fixed the time of pregnancy and the time of
nursing of a child as thirty months, and at another place the time of nursing
as complete two years. These two years if deducted from the combined time
of pregnancy and nursing, the time of pregnancy remained only six months,
i.e., the minimum. Hearing this Hazrat Omar (RA) said: “Had not there been
Ali, Omar would have gone to dust” and released the woman. 

According to Abu Hurayra :
“Allah’s Messenger said: ‘My likeness, and the likeness
of the Prophets before me, is as like as a man who built a house,
then adorned it and beautified it, but left the place of an abode
brick in a corner, so the people started encircling it and marveling
at it, saying; ‘Why has this abode brick not been installed?’ He
said: ‘Because I am the abode brick and I am the seal of Prophets
(i.e. with me the sequence of Prophets has come to an end)!’”
Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and al-Muslim.

According to Jabir :
“Allah’s Messenger said: ‘I am at the place of that
abode brick, by me the sequence of prophets came to an end.’”
Reported by al-Muslim and Ahmad.

Prophet, 4/1791, $ 2286. al-Nasa’i al-Sunan al-Kubra, 6/436 $ 11422. Ibn Hibban
in al-Sahih, 14/315 $ 6405. Ahmed b. Hanbal in al-Musnad, 2/398 $ 9156.
Set forth by al-Muslim in al-Sahi Bk.: al-Fada’il[ Excellent Merits ], Ch.:
Concerning his being The Seal of Prophet, 4/1791, $ 2286, 2287. al-Tirmidhi in
al-Sunan, Bk.: al-Fada’il al-Rasool [The Virtues of Messenger of Allah], Ch.: The
virtues of Prophet , 5/586, $ 3613. al-Nasa’i al-Sunan al-Kubra, 6/436 $ 11422.
Ahmed b. Hanbal in al-Musnad, 2/398 $ 9156, 3/361, 5/136. Ibn Abi Shayba in al￾Musannaf, 6/324, $ 31770. Ibn Hibban in al-Sahih, 14/315 $ 6405. al-Bayhaqi in
al-Sunan al-Kubra, 9/5, and in Shu’ab al-Iman, 2/178 $ 1484.
36 Set forth by al-Tirmidhi in al-Sunan, Bk.: al-Fada’il al-Rasool [The Virtues
of Messenger of Allah], Ch.: The virtues of Prophet , 5/586, $ 3613. al￾Nasa’i al-Sunan al-Kubra, 6/436 $ 11422. Ahmed b. Hanbal in al-Musnad,
2/398 $ 9156, 3/361, 5/136. Ibn Abi Shayba in al-Musannaf, 6/324, $ 31770.Ibn Hibban in al-Sahih, 14/315 $ 6405. al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra, 9/5,
and in Shou’b al-Iman, 2/178 $ 1484.

According to Uby b. Ka’ab :
“Allah’s Messenger said: ‘Among prophets I am at the
place of that abode brick (by which the sequence of prophets
came to an end).’”
Reported by al-Tirmidhi and Ahmad