The Journey of Martyrdom Book Title

Kufa ’s Events⁴

Kufa

The people of Kufa went on writing to Imam Al-Hussain ^Q right after the martyrdom of Imam Al Hassan ^Q pledging obedience to him, and calling him to oppose and rise against the governing authority. Thus, when they learned that Yazeed laid his hands on the Muslims Emirate or ruling office, they wrote to the Imam ^Q and pledged allegiance in his favor. Amongst their letters:

«We are sparing allegiance for you only, we are not attending prayers with the authority’s loyalist, and we ask that you come to us, we are almost one hundred thousand men. Injustice has spread, subjecting us to rules neither provided in the book (Holy Qur’an) nor imposed by its Prophet’s rules. We hope that Allah will allow us to meet with you on the truth, and thus relieve us from oppression. You are the rightful party for the reign, instead of Yazeed who had forcefully taken the tax money that belonged to the nation; drinks alcohol, plays with monkeys and lute, and manipulate religion».

Nevertheless, only few of them were honest, since they were in a stage of psychological paralysis, schizophrenic personalities, where their love and attachment to the worldly life and death hatred was well spread out in their life, in addition to the letters from the sick hearted, hypocrites, who had sent letters to the Imam ^Q pledging allegiance to him, claiming obedience and readiness to support him. Imam Al-Hussain ^Q dispatched to them his ambassador, Muslim Bin Aqeel _<, in order to pave the path of his rise, and so if he felt their honesty and sincerity, accordingly, the Imam shall head to them accepting their invitation.

Muslim Bin Aqeel _<

He is Muslim Bin Aqeel Bin Abi Taleb _<. He was amongst the companions of Imam Ali, Imam Hassan and Imam Al-Hussain ^P and of their soldiers. He married Rukaya, the daughter of Imam Ali ^Q.

It is said that, Imam Ali ^Q said to Allah’s Prophet ^P:

«O, Prophet of Allah, you indeed do love Aqeel»

And the Prophet ^P answered:

«I love him, but he gets more of my love due to Abi Taleb’s love for him, and his son shall be killed for the love of yours….»

Muslim _< was a noble example of Islamic ethics, especially when it comes to braveness, boldness and sturdiness. He was so strong that he would grab the man with one hand and throw him over the house.

Muslim’s _< Arrival in Kufa

Muslim _< arrived in Kufa, on the fifth of Shawwal, and to stick to the recommendations of Imam Al-Hussain, it was of

an utmost necessity for him to be accommodated in the place of «the Most trustworthy person amongst its kinfolks» that we are not able to certainly determine, but most probably, he was lodged at Awsajah’s house which might be the residence of Martyr Muslim Bin Awsajah or his father. It’s also reported that he was lodged at the Moukhtar residence, and it seems that they are referring to the house that later on was called the Moukhtar residence.

Al-Noaman Bin Bashir

The governor of Kufa was Alnoaman bin Bashir when Muslim Bin Aqeel _< arrived there. He is counted among the «Ansar» (The people of Medina). He, like his father, had a bad history in serving the Umayyad Regime; he remained hostile to the progeny of the Prophet ^Q till his death. Al-Noaman used to publicly state his hatred towards Imam Ali ^Q, badmouth him, and he fought against him. He also led some terrorizing wars on some of the regions of Iraq that were loyal to the family of the Prophet ^P.

Indeed, the lenient position of Al-Noaman, consequently to Muslim Bin Aqeel_< arrival in Kufa, was due to him adopting Muawiya’s way of governing, who used to avoid any public confrontation with Imam Al-Hussain ^Q, not because of his love for the Imam ^Q but due to Muawiya’s slyness. Therefore, the position of Al-Noaman whereas to the revolutionaries and the rebellions appeared to be lenient and tolerant, because he used to think- as believing in Muawiya’s point of view- that a public confrontation wasn’t in favor of the ruling regime.

Muslim _< and the Community of Kufa

The Shia of that time (the partisans of the Imam ^Q) started coming to Muslim Bin Aqeel _< , complaining to him

their situation. Whenever few of them gather at his place, he used to read them the letter of Imam Al-Hussain ^Q, while they went weeping, and then he used to say:

«Do rise with my cousin, pledge him allegiance, support him and don’t let him down!»

The Shia meetings went on with Muslim Bin Aqeel _< until the number of people pledging allegiance to Imam Hussain ^Q reached eighteen thousand men, as they wept and said:

«By Allah, we shall hit with our swords between his hands, until we all die».

During the first meeting of Muslim _< with the people pledging allegiance, a steady phenomenon appeared out of the trends of the Kufa community: it was the rarity of honest believers among the people who are free of psychological paralysis, schizophrenia, love for the worldly life, and hatred for death. Though allegiance pledging people were numerous, only three of them showed Muslim _< their full readiness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Islam; yet, they were: Aabes Bin Abi Shebib, who told Muslim _< after thanking and praising Allah:

«I shall not talk to you about other people; I don’t know what is inside their hearts and what they might have deceived you with, but I do tell you what I trained my soul for, By Allah, I shall surely answer your call and fight with you against your enemy, my sword shall vibrate acting and fighting to defend you till I meet Allah!».

Then Habib Bin Muthaher _< said: «May Allah Have Mercy on you, and I, By Allah who there is no God but him, shall do the same as he said».

Then, Saeid Bin Abdullah Al-Hanafi _< spoke similar to Abes and Habib.

The second phenomenon, that came out this meeting, being the largest and most vivid amongst Kufa communities’ characteristic, refers to the group of people who loves the truth but not willing to sacrifice for its sake.

When Muslim _< realized such allegiance pledging by the people, he wrote to Imam Al-Hussain ^Q, whose decision to head to Kufa was to be based on Muslim’s report, asking him to come. Muslim dispatched the letter with Qeiss Bin Moussahar Assaidawi, and asked Aabes Bin Abi Shabib Ashakiri and his servant Shawthaba to accompany him.

The Political Consequences of Muslim’s _< Move in Kufa

When Al-Noaman Bin Bashir saw Kufa’s great welcoming to Muslim and intense hospitality, he addressed the people warning them of provoking commotion, dissension and causing the nation’s division. In the meantime, spies were reporting to Yazeed about the feeble positioning of Kufa’s governor Al Noaman, whereas to confronting the changes arising due to the presence of Muslim _< there, within a time when apparently Kufa did or almost did fall in the hands of Imam Al-Hussain’s ^Q Ambassador. Yet, the only lacking element to realize such loss, consisted in the order to be given by Muslim _< declaring the revolution and change. But Muslim _< abided by the limits of his power, as Imam Al-Hussain ^Q determined.

As soon as Yazeed knew about Kufa events, he became overwhelmed with strong panic and distress, due to the long history of opposition this city represents to the Umayyad Regime. At that very moment, Sarjoun Al-Roumi confessed

to him what Muawiya would have done, should he not been stroke by death: he wanted to vest in Oubayed Allah Bin Ziad, the governorate of Kufa and the only man who could with his tyrant violence restrain the people revolution, especially that they were already frightened. Thus Sarjoun produced the letter of Muawiya, which he kept, and showed it to Yazeed at that opportune moment. Accordingly Yazeed overcame his hatred towards Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad, and wrote to him to haste and assume Kufa’s Government.

If Sarjoun was honest about imputing the letter to Muawiya, this would be a confirmation of Muawiya’s plan to murder Imam Al-Hussain ^Q. Nevertheless, if Sarjoun was the one who wrote the letter but imputed it to Muawiya, it shall be an indication of the Roumi’s scope of intervention in manipulating the Muslim’s destiny.

Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad

He was born in 20 A.H. His mother is Merjana Al-Majusiah (Magus). His father is Ziad Bin Abih, who violently wrecked havoc against the Prophet’s family and descendants ^R while in the beginning he used to have compassion for them. However, he turned against them as the Soufians called him to serve them. Muawiya granted him Khourasan government in 54 A.H. Afterwards he ruled over Basra in 55 A.H. He was dark hearted, never getting satiated of food.

He was a pervert, unjust, and a coward person. He was raised up under the shadows of the Soufian pride. Such fictive affiliation stirred up his heavy rancor’s flames, against the Prophet’s progeny ^R. When Imam Al-Hussain ^Q departed towards Kufa, Yazeed wrote to Oubayd Allah saying:

«I was informed that Hussain marched to Kufa. This is a distress occurring in your ruling time aside from any other

time, and on your land aside from other cities. You are the one, amongst all governors, who has to confront with him, because with him you’ll either be freed or restore your slave status».

Oubayd Allah kept on justifying his murdering of Imam Al-Hussain ^Q in front of the people of Basra by saying that Yazeed threatened him of withdrawing his filiation’s pedigree. When Yazeed died, Oubayd Allah seduced some of the Basra’s people to pledge him allegiance, afterwards his cowardice prevented him from confronting the people. He then hid and later ran away to Damascus, till he was killed by Ibrahim Bin Malik Al-Ashtar by a sword strike that split him into halves, this was on Ashura of year 67 A.H.

Oubayd Allah Becoming Kufa’s Governor

Shortly before the departure of Oubayed Allah to Kufa he knew about the letter of Imam Al-Hussain ^Q to the people of Basra, wherein he calls them to join and support him in his rise. So, he killed the Imam’s ^Q messenger, Souleiman Bin Razin. Then he stood onto the rostrum of Basra, while his heart was trembling of fear that the people of Basra might comply with the call of the Imam ^Q. Thus, he addressed them with an intimidating speech full of threats, and he warned about the dispute, announcing the appointment of his brother Othman as their Governor.

He came to Kufa, surrounded with an army of his family and relatives. When he entered Kufa, he was wearing a black Turban, while veiled, thus whenever he passed by a group of people, they thought he was Imam Al-Hussain ^Q. So, they used to stand up for him, acclaiming him and saying: «Welcome, O’ the son of Allah’s Messenger, your coming isn’t but for good doing.» However, as soon as he got into the castle, people learned that he was Ibn Ziad.

When Ibn – Ziad had rested, he ordered people to gather in the Mosque, calling them for an aggregation prayer. When people gathered, he came out to them, thanked and praised Allah, and said:

«Greetings, the Caliph, May Allah restore his good condition, appointed me as the Governor of your county and borders. He ordered me to be fair and relief those who amongst you underwent injustice, further to being generous with the deprived amongst the divested people; and to kindly act towards those who listen and obey, while to be stringent against those who are suspicious and disobedient. I will obey his orders while governing you, and I will execute his promises as well. I shall be for those obeying and well doers amongst you as a good father, while my whip and my sword will be mastering those who neglect my order and infringe my engagement or promise.»

He asked the registrars to put down a list of the foreigners amongst the people sojourning in Kufa, and to point out those who do not support Yazeed. Working as a registrar at that time was a well known official position, it helps the governors to know their people and how they could distribute the donations out of the treasury house. Kufa had almost one hundred registrars. The state depended on the registrars to organize public records and to figure the number and names of all men, women and children. They played an important role driving the people away from Muslim Bin Aqeel _< and spreading terrorism amongst them. They were also an effective element in pushing the people to fight Imam Hussain ^Q.

Muslim _< and the Secret Call

After the arrival of Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad to Kufa, as a governor appointed by Yazeed, and due to the consecutive

fast acceleration of events, it became necessary to transfer Muslim’s _< mission from its public status to working in secrecy. He was obliged to change his residence, so, he left the house where he was accommodated, to end up at Hani Bin Ourwa Al-Muradi’s.

Hani was one of Kufa’s dignitaries, an elite leader of the Shia. He also was the Sheikh and Chief of Mourad (Tribe). It is told that he could be contemporaneous with the Messenger of Allah ^P and had the honor of being amongst his companions. The Shia people started coming to him, at Hani’s residence, under cover, so that Oubayad Allah doesn’t know about them. They requested confidentiality of each other. Hani used to collect weapons and gather people to support Muslim.

The Imprisonment of the Opposition Partisans, Killing them and Spying on Muslim

When Ibn Ziad got saw the correspondence of the Kufa people with Imam Al-Hussain ^Q and that they pledged allegiance to him, he imprisoned four thousand and five hundred men, amongst those were the Tawwabean (repentance), who were amongst the companions of the Prince of the believers, Imam Ali ^Q. Some of those heroes who struggled hard with him were: Ibrahim Bin Malek Al-Ashtar; Abdullah Bin Al Harith, Soleiman Bin Sard Al-Khozaey as well as many other notables and noble partisans. He ordered to call for Al-Mukhtar Al-Thaqafi and Abdullah Bin Al Hareth. And he imprisoned them as soon as they came. He killed Maytham Al-Tammar, who had a special place before the Prophet’s Progeny ^R.

He shoved spies into the alleys of Kufa and between its houses, to search for Ibn Aqeel. He called one of his servants, the so-called Makkal, gave him three thousand dirham, and ordered him to search for Muslim Bin Aqeel _< and to follow

his companions, asking him to give the money to either one of the supporters or any group of them, as a form of donation to assist with the preparation to rise and fight against their enemy (Oubayd Allah).

Maakal carried out the order he received. He came to the greatest mosque and sat near Muslim Bin Awsajah while the latter was praying, thus after hearing the people there pointing out to him and saying that he’s pledging allegiance in favor of Al-Hussain ^Q. When Ibn Awsajah finished his prayers, Maakal told him that he was for Homs (a city in Syria) and that Allah gave him the grace to love the family of the Prophet ^R. He feinted crying, then gave the money saying: «I wanted, to give it to a man amongst the family of the Prophet ^R, I was told that he came to Kufa and that he is asking allegiance to the son of the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ^P, but I couldn’t find anyone who may take me to him, and I don’t know where he is. I heard a group of believers pointing to you and saying that you have a relationship with him».

At the beginning, Ibn Awsajah denied that, but when Maakal showed his devotion towards the Imam Al-Hussain ^Q Muslim obtained from him intense promises; then, he told him that he was going to obtain permission from Ibn Aqeel allowing him to pledge allegiance. The permission was granted, Muslim ordered to take the money for purchasing weapons. Since then, Maakal was the first one to come to the Muslim’s meeting place and the last one to leave it, in order to report all news, step by step to Ibn Ziad.

Ibn Ziad at the House of Hani Bin Ourwa _<

While Muslim was at Hani Bin Ourwa’s home, Sharik Bin Al-Awar, got seriously sick, he was one of the Basra men who strongly supported the family of the Prophet ^R, and he

came to Kufa along with Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad. He fell sick one week after his arrival, so he stayed at Hani Bin Ourwa’s residence. Then, Obayd Allah informed the ill man that he was coming to visit him. Sharik then said to Muslim:

«This debauchee is coming this evening to visit me. If he sits, come out and kill him, then go and stay in the castle, there shall be nothing preventing you from doing so. When I recover, I shall go to Basra and do my best to protect you from its interference.»

When it was evening time, Oubayd Allah arrived, so Muslim went inside a room to hide, and said to Sharik: «Don’t miss him when he sits!»

Hani Bin Ourwa said: «I don’t like that he gets killed in my house!»

Oubayd Allah came and sat. He asked Sharik about his illness and stayed there for a long time. When Sharik saw that Muslim lingered to come out, he feared to miss killing him, so he started saying:

«Waiting for Salama isn’t for cheering her

Do greet Souleima and greet those cheering her»

He reiterated that rhyme for two or three times, so Oubayd Allah asked about his matter, thinking that he was hallucinating! Hani told him: «Yes, this has been his situation since early morning and till now!» So Oubayd Allah left. It is told that when Sharik repeated the poetry, Mahran, the close and accredited servant of Oubayd Allah, understood it. He discretely made an eye wink to Oubayd Allah and the latter got up to leave.

At that moment, Sharik told him: «Prince I would like to tell

you my will!» Obayd Allah said: «I shall come to you another time». Mahran then told his Master: «He wanted to kill you!»

Ibn Ziad said: «How come, despite me honoring him and at Hanis place?»

Mahran said: «The truth is what I told you».

When Ibn Ziad left, Muslim Bin Aqeel _< , came out and Sharik asked him: «What stopped you from killing him?»

Muslim said: «Due to Hanis whish not to see him killed in his house!»

There was another reason as well, for Muslim not to kill Oubayd Allah, which is the Prophet’s Family ^R insistence on keeping what is right and honest while rejecting perfidy and deception, even upon need. No observer thought, at that time, that it was possible to throw Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad out of Kufa at any moment. What happened was out of any considerations and which explanation shall be long. Yet, Sharik passed away three days later.

Ibn Ziad Arresting Hani Bin Ourwa _<

Hani Bin Ourwa Al-Mouradi _< was, due to his social and political awareness, expecting something bad from Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad, in spite of the secrecy and concealment under which Muslim _< held his meetings with his followers and supporters at Hani’s place, and in spite of the promises to keep everything sealed, since Hani knew that the utmost and absolute concern of Ibn Ziad was to know the place of Muslim. He pretended illness after the decease of Sharik and abstained from going to the castle. Ibn Ziad missed him, so he sent to him Amro Bin Al Hajjaj (who counts amongst those who wrote to the Imam ^Q asking for him. Amro’s daughter

was Hani’s wife); Hassan Bin Khauja and Mohammad Bin Al Ashaath, to visit Hani and to bring him forward. However, Hani accompanied them reluctantly. Shortly before arriving to the Castle, Hani confessed to Hassan his concern about such demand. The latter assured Hani even though he had no idea why Ibn Ziad wanted Hani in the first place. Hani went to Oubayd Allah who was accompanied by Shuraih Al-Qadi the judge, and some other men. Oubayd Allah asked him about Muslim Bin Aqeel. Hani denied knowing anything about Muslim’s place. At that moment, Oubayd Allah called Maakal who came and stood in front of him, he then told him about everything he saw at Hani’s place. A sharp argument erupted between Hani and Oubayd Allah that entailed by Oubayd Allah hitting Hani on the face.

Meanwhile, Mez-Haj tribe learned what happened to its chief. All its knights came and surrounded the castle asking for the release of Hani. Then, Amro Bin Al Hajjaj came out to them, after a deliberation with both Ibn Ziad an Shuraih Al-Qadi, and he told them that their chief was all right and that the prince didn’t want to harm him, and he asked them all to leave, and so they did. Here appears the great betrayal role of Amro Bin Al Hajjaj towards Hani, since he was the main reason that hindered rescuing Hani from captivity and securing his safety. He remained a partisan of Oubayd Allah, even after the murder of Hani, whom Oubayd Allah threw from the height of the castle after decapitating him.

The Martyrdom of Abdullah Bin Bouqtor _<

When Muslim Bin Aqeel felt that Kufa people let him down, he addressed a letter to Imam Al-Hussain ^Q with Abdullah Bin Bouqtor, telling him about the current situation, whereas to splitting and letting him down. But, Al-Hussain Bin Noumayr arrested Bin Bouqtor, while he was getting out

of Kufa. He brought him forward to Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad, who ordered him to be killed and thrown from the roof of the principality castle.

The Rise of Muslim Bin Aqeel _<

Arresting Hani was, according to the calculations of Ibn Ziad, the second successful step after his first step was to break the revolutionary movement from inside. Whereas to Muslim Bin Aqeel, this fact was considered a critical and dangerous change, urging him to deviate from the line initially drawn. He was obliged to make an exceptional decision, because he found himself in front of two choices only:

The first one: To keep the mobilization and preparations going on, despite the incapacity to do so, since Ibn Ziad had arrested Hani, who was the strongest and most notable personality in Kufa; in reference to the tribal side, notwithstanding his social and religious prominence, which means that any other personality who might support Ibn Aqeel shall be arrested.

The second: to move before fulfilling the conditions being subject to the coercion of necessity and obligation for a decisive confrontation with the local authority.

Muslim called for a meeting with the chiefs of the tribes, being: Kinda, Mezhaj, Tamim, Assad, Modar and Hamadan. People called each other and met under his roof. Thus Muslim and his companions went to the castle outskirts; it is said that they were four thousand men, but those who reached the castle with Muslim were three hundred only!

At that moment, Ibn Ziad ordered to close the castle’s gates and doors, keeping him and the people who were amongst the noblemen, his police force and family inside. They all counted

two hundred men; they went to the castle’s fence and started shooting rocks and arrows on Muslim and his companions.

While war erupted outside the castle under the leadership of Muslim Bin Aqeel _<, Ibn Ziad retracted and secluded himself in the castle, fearing and thinking about the stratagem that will rescue him out of such dire situation. He used the noblemen that were accompanying him and asked them to go out to the people and convince them to stop the support of Muslim. Thus Kathir Bin Sheba Al Harithy went heading for Mezhaj tribe intimidating them and warning them about the punishment of the ruling power. Mohammad Bin Al Ashaath addressed to those who obey him, being of Kinda and Hadramouth tribes. He lifted up safety banner in favor of those who came to him.

Some dignitaries were also arrested inside the castle, such as Abd Al Aala Bin Yazeed and Oummara Bin Salkhab.

Muslim _< knew that the troops of Ibn Ziad started obliging people to let him down. They also went on arresting the fighters who were coming to support him, within the allies of Kufa. Muslim’s troops, despite their small number, defeated all the assemblies sent by Ibn Ziad to lift up the safety banners and oblige people to let him down. They all went back to the castle in a hurry. Though Muslim _< won the first battle that occurred around the castle, he did not plunge into it for many reasons, upon which we underline the following:

1-The castle was protected in a way enabling it to resist for a long time, exceeding many months, as it happened during the era of Al-Moukhtar.

2-Muslim _< felt that people were letting him down, when he saw them leaving him while he was heading to the castle , since their march started with four thousand men, but ended with three hundred only!

3-The Mezhej tribe retreat, while Hani remained a hostage, had a very negative impact, especially after the tribe’s unanimous agreement to save him. They let him down and came back, and thus people saw that the strongest tribe in Kufa could do nothing to release its chief.

4-Muslim’s supporting troops, being at Kufa boundaries, couldn’t join him, alike the regiment led by Al-Moukhtar (before being imprisoned) and the regiment of Abdullah Bin Harith, till after the people had moved away from Muslim. Al-Mukhtar then pretended coming to protect Ibn Harith, but, Ibn Ziad ordered to arrest him and threw him in jail.

Ibn Ziad got assured that people had abandoned Muslim _<, since the men of people of Kufa used to come to his son, brother and cousin to say: «Go away, those people are leaving you.»

Similarly, women used to come to their sons, husbands and brothers hold to them till they come back. They went telling each other: «why are we hastening the diligent? Soon, crowds of Damascus army shall arrive. We have to stay home and leave those people until Allah brings them together and defeats their separation.» Also, the «Damascus Army» or «Damascus Soldiers» expression had a tremendous effect in intimidating all of the people of Kufa, due to the distress and bitterness they were suffered from this army. Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad and his companions went out to the Mosque where they sat before darkness. Amro Bin Nafeh called: «That they will pursue any person being a policeman, a registrars, or a fighting soldier if he is recites his evening prayer anywhere other than in the Mosque.» Within less than an hour, the Mosque got full with people. Oubayd Allah performed the ritual prayer; then he addressed the people and threatened to kill anyone who he finds

Muslim hiding at his place, and he who brings him forward shall obtain a monetary reward. He ordered Hussayne Bin Noumayr to search for him in the houses till he finds him.

Muslim _< Alone in Kufa.

It was normal for the people of Kufa to fail to follow Muslim _< because the Shia, belonging to different tribes, did not have any common leader to go back to in their issues especially during the period post Imam Al-Hassan ^Q, even though the Shia had many noble men and dignitaries, but each one of them had influence on his tribe only.

Furthermore, the social situation that was prevailing in Kufa was the offspring of bitter oppression they underwent. All long the years, great fear became inculcated amongst people. They got used to be afraid of the ruler ascendancy, while mutual lack of confidence and safety dominated their behavior towards each other

In the evening, Ibn Aqeel _< performed his Magrib prayer, while only thirty men surrounded him in the mosque. When he realized that only thirty of the elite men were with him, he went out towards the doors of Kinda tribe. Upon arriving there, his men became ten, but when he crossed the door he was alone, and no one was there to even show him the road.

The separation of such elite troops individually first to disappear afterward, wasn’t but for grasping the opportunity to join the convoy of Imam Al-Hussain ^Q that was coming to Iraq.

Muslim was the one who gave them such order, because these few men are among the elite, courageous believers, who were all blessed with gaining martyrdom while fighting along with Imam Al-Hussain ^Q. Yet, we mention Muslim Bin

Awasajah, Abou Thamamah Al Saeadi, Abdullah Bin al Zuhair Al Kindi, Abbas Bin Jaad Al-Jadli, Abdullah Bin Hazim Al Bakri, and others.

Muslim _< at Tawaa’s House

Muslim walked until he reached the house of Tawaa, the wife of Ousayd Al-Houdrami, where she was waiting for her son Bilal. Muslim asked her for water. She brought the jar and gave it to him to drink. Then she went inside the house to put it back, and when she came out, she saw Muslim sitting at the house door, so she asked him:

«O, Servant of Allah, Didn’t you drink?

He said: «Yes, indeed.»

She replied: «Then go to your people.»

Muslim kept silent. Then she repeated it, but he remained silent.

She said: «Glory is to Allah! You servant of Allah, go to your people, may Allah protect you, sitting at my door isn’t plausible for you and I don’t allow it.»

Muslim then stood up and said: «O, (female) servant of God, I have no place to go to in this country , neither do I have a tribe, could you do me a favor, and I might reward you for it on the resurrection day?»

She said: «What is it, Servant of God!»

He said: «I am Muslim Bin Aqeel; those people lied to me and deserted me.»

When she knew who he was, she accompanied him to a house other than the one wherein she was dwelling. She

prepared him a bed and offered him dinner, but he didn’t eat. When her son arrived, he saw her going out and in the house frequently, thus he asked her about her reason for that. She avoided answering, but upon his insistence, she asked him to keep what she was going to tell him to himself and obtained from him a holy oath not to tell anyone, then she told him about Muslim.

Early next morning, Bilal went to Abdel Rahman Bin Mohammad Bin Al-Ashaath and told him about the place where Muslim _< was hiding. When Bin Ziad knew about it, he ordered Ibn Harith to take with him one hundred men of Quraish and go to him; he didn’t want to send men from any tribe but Quraish because he feared for tribalism spirit to be ignited!

Muslim’s _< Last Night

Muslim Bin Aqeel refused to eat anything during his last night of being alive. He adhered to spend his last night while worshiping, invoking Allah and reading the Qur’an. He stayed up all night long, while standing up, bowing, prostrating, praying, and appealing to Allah till the morning. However, due to his fatigue from the fight during the day, he fell asleep for a moment, where he saw, in the world of dreams, his uncle, the Master of Believers, Ali ^Q who presaged him about his swift joining of those who preceded him to the high levels of Heaven.

Then, Tawaa came to Muslim and brought him water to do ablution for Fajer prayer.

She said: «Master, I see that you didn’t sleep tonight»

He said: «Do know that I fell asleep for a moment, and I saw in my dream my uncle, the Master of Believers ^Q saying:

«Hasten, hasten… hurry … hurry! I believe that today is my last day in this worldly life.»

The Capture of Muslim Bin Aqeel _<

In the morning, Muslim Bin Aqeel _< heard the sound of the horses’ hooves and men’s yelling. He then knew that they are coming for him. Thus he held his sword, while the outer horde was throwing stones at the house and setting fire in numerous parts of the canes.

Muslim smiled and said:

«My soul, go out and face the death which may neither be avoided nor be escaped from.»

Then He addressed to Tawaa:

«Truly, May Allah Have Mercy on you and May He reward you for helping me, do Know that they are after me due to your son’s slander.»

She opened the door for Muslim _< to go out to face the people as if he was an enraged lion! He started fighting them with his sword, till he killed a group of them.

Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad was informed of what happened, so he spoke to Mohammad Ibn Al-Ashaath saying: «Praised be Allah, O, servant of Allah! We sent you out to defeat one man only, and he ends up defeating you and your men such dishonoring defeat!»

Mohammad Bin Al-Ashaath replied: «O Prince, don’t you know that you have sent me to a fierce Lion and a strong fighter!»

Ibn Ziad then, asked Ibn Al Ashaath, to grant Muslim safeguard, because he wasn’t capable of fighting against him.

Thus Ibn Al-Ashaath went on saying to Muslim: «Woe unto you Ibn Aqeel! Don’t kill yourself, you are safe, we give you our word!»

Muslim replied «I don’t need the safeguard of the deceitful»

Then, he started fighting against them and saying:

«I had swore not to be killed but a free man,

Even though, death to me is like drinking from a bitter cup»

Ibn Al-Ashaath called him: «Woe to you Ibn Aqeel! You may neither be lied to nor misled! These people aren’t going to kill you, so don’t kill yourself!»

Muslim didn’t pay any attention to Ibn Al-Ashaath’s speech, but went on fighting until he was deeply wounded, loosing thus strength to fight. Then, they congregated against him and started throwing him with arrows and stones.

Muslim _< then said:

«Hell is to you! Why are you throwing me with stones such like you throw infidels, while I belong to the House of devoted Prophets?

Woe to you, don’t you have consideration to the Prophet of Allah ^P and his posterity?»

He resumed fighting them despite his weakness till he pushed them away from him. Ibn Al-Ashaath then shouted to the people: «Leave him, so that I can talk to him and see what he wants». He got closer to Muslim and said: «Woe to you Ibn Aqeel, don’t kill yourself, you are safe and your blood shall be my responsibility»

Muslim _< then replied: «O, Ibn Al-Ashaath, do think that I’m going to surrender? Never, while I’m still able to fight; No by Allah! This shall never happen!»

Then Muslim started fighting him till he went back to his troops. Muslim returned to his base and said: «O Allah! Thirst is deeply affecting me!»

No one dared giving him water. So Ibn Al-Ashaath came to his fellow men and said: «Woe to you! This isn’t but shame and failure that you are afraid of one man in such a way! Do attack him all together, in one raid.»

So they all attacked him, then Bakir Bin Hamran Al-Ahmari hit him on his upper lip, so Muslim defended himself and hit Bakri with a deadly stroke. They went on till Muslim _< got stabbed from his back, and he fell down, and thus they took away his weapon and dragged him as a prisoner to Oubayd Allah. At that moment, he looked hopeless, and so his eyes started to tear. Amro Bin Oubayd Allah, who was non-aligned, looked at him and said: «He, who seeks what you seek, does not cry when being afflicted as you are»

Muslim _< answered:

«Allah is my witness! I’m not crying for myself, neither I am deploring it, even though I do not wish to die, but I’m mourning my coming family! I am crying for Al-Hussain and his close family!»

The Martyrdom of Muslim Bin Aqeel _<

When Muslim _< came facing Oubayd Allah Bin Ziad, the guards told him: «Do greet the Prince!»

Muslim _< replied:

«Keep silent; may your mother mourn you, what do you have to do with the rules of speaking? By Allah! For me, he isn’t my prince for me to greet him!»

Ibn Ziad said: «Never mind, should you greet or not, either way you shall be killed!»

Muslim _< said:

«You killing me is not strange, since a person more evil than you had killed someone much better than me before!»

A long argument erupted between them both; till Oubayd Allah ended accusing Muslim _< of having scattered Muslims’ unity in Kufa and disclaimed them.

Muslim _< answered:

«This is not the reason I came to this land. But you populated wrong doing and buried kindness. You assumed reign without the people’s consent, and you governed them in contrary to Allah’s orders. You behaved towards them like Kesra and Caesar. Thus we came to them to order kindness, prohibit wrong doing, and to call them to the rulings of Allah’s Book and the Prophet’s.»

Afterwards, Oubayd Allah called a man from Damascus, whom Muslim _< had stroked him on his head before. He (Oubayd Allah) asked him to take Muslim to the roof and kill him. Thus Muslim _< was taken to the roof, while he was glorifying Allah and asking for his forgiveness. He said:

«O Allah, be the Judge between us and the people who deceived and abandoned us».

He was ongoing with such invocation, till he was decapitated, and his body was thrown from the roof top, to become accordingly the first Hashimi martyr in the rise of Al Hussain. Afterwards, came the turn of Hani Bin Ourwa, whose body was also thrown from the roof top. Then, the officers of Ibn Ziad dragged along on the ground of the market the two noble bodies. Afterwards, Ibn Ziad ordered to crucify them upside down, and resolved to send both their heads to Yazeed Bin Mouwiyah.

Oubayd Allah got his revenge from all other revolutionaries. Each and every time he heard about a man, who used to be with Muslim _<, he would capture him and cut his head. He also, threw plenty of freedom warriors in prisons.

Kufa after Muslim Bin Aqeel

Ibn Ziad sent his security report to Yazeed. He told him about Kufa’s situation and said: «Indeed! Thank is to Allah who granted rightfulness to the (Prince of Believers), and protected him from his enemy. I would like to inform the Caliph, May Allah honor him, that Muslim Ibn Aqeel went for shelter at Hani Bin Ourwa Al-Muradi’s residence, where I watched them and sent my spies after them. I planned conspiracies against both of them, till I got them out and Allah enabled me to terminate both of them. Thus I executed them and I do hereby send you both their heads».

Yazeed replied; « I got informed that Al-Hussain Bin Ali is heading to Iraq, so set your spies and guards, be aware of any one you might suspect, and imprison for any accusation, but kill no one but he who fights against you. Do write to me about all occurrences and events».

When Oubayd Allah learned about Al Hussain’s ^Q coming from Mecca to Kufa, he dispatched Al-Hussayne Bin

Noumayr, the Police Chief, to set his base in Qadissiyah. Ibn Ziad exaggerated in spreading terror and fear among the people of Kufa through plenty of terrorizing actions, to pave the way to mobilize them and orient them to fight against Imam Al-Hussain ^Q, because he knew that most of the people of Kufa despised fighting against him. So, he ordered to execute anyone who refrains from going to the battle.

Chapter Four: