Hakim b. al-Tufayl al-Ta'i

Hakim b. al-Tufayl al-Ta'i (Arabic: حَکیم بن طُفَیل الطائی) (d. 66/685) fought on the side of 'Umar b. Sa'd's army on the Day of 'Ashura. He was involved in killing al-Abbas in the Battle of Karbala. On the Day of 'Ashura, he shot an arrow toward Imam al-Hussain. His name was also mentioned among the ten horsemen who trampled over the body of Imam al-Hussain by the order of Ibn Sa'd. He was finally killed in the uprising of Mukhtar.

Hakim b. al-Tufayl al-Ta'i
Murderer of al-Abbas b. Ali
Native name
حَکیم بن طُفَیل الطائی
Full NameHakim b. al-Tufayl al-Ta'i al-Sinbisi
LineageTay tribe
Death/Martyrdom66/685
Cause of Death/MartyrdomKilled by al-Mukhtar
EraUmayyad Dynasty
ActivitiesThrowing an arrow toward Imam al-Hussain and trampled over the body of Imam by horse in the Battle of Karbala


Life and LineageEdit

Hakim b. Tufayl was from Tay tribe which was the tribe of Adi b. Hatam. There is no information about the date of his birth and about his life. He was killed in 66/686 in the uprising of al-Mukhtar.

In the Battle of KarbalaEdit

Hakim b. Tufayl fought on the side of 'Umar b. Sa'd's army during the Battle of Karbala. When al-Abbas was coming back from the Euphrates river, Hakim hid behind the palm trees, then suddenly came out and cut the left hand of al-Abbas. Al-Shaykh al-Tusi and al-'Allama al-Hilli have introduced him as the murderer of al-Abbas b. Ali. In the Ziyarah al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa, he and Yazid b. Ruqad have been cursed as the murderers of al-Abbas. After the martyrdom of al-Abbas, he stole his weapon and clothes.

On the day of 'Ashura, he shot an arrow toward Imam al-Hussain. He later claimed that the arrow only hit the clothes of Imam and did not hurt him.

He was involved in trampling over the body of Imam al-Hussain in the evening of Ashura. He and others who had trampled over the body of Imam went to Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad and received an insignificant reward. It is quoted from Abu Amr that all those ten people were children of adultery.

DeathEdit

During the uprising of al-Mukhtar, Hakim b. Tufayl was captured by Abd Allah b. Kamil and his companions. His family asked Adi b. Hatam to intercede for him to al-Mukhtar. Fearing that al-Mukhtar would accept the intercession of Adi b. Hatam, Abd Allah b. Kamil and his companions first took off his clothes because of stealing the clothes of al-Abbas and then for the arrow he shot at Imam al-Hussain, shot him with so many arrows that there remained not even an area as big as a coin of his body empty of arrows. It is reported that for the many arrows he received, his body became like a hedgehog.

ReferencesEdit