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Muslim b. Aqil b. Abi Talib: Difference between revisions
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When news of Haniʾ’s arrest reached Muslim, he decided to tarry no longer and to revolt openly. The uprising is dated to 2, 7, 8 or 9 Dhu ’l-Hijja 60/3, 8, 9 or 10 Sept. 680. Muslim is said to have initially disposed of 4,000 men (other numbers are also given); he arranged them in military formation and, placing himself at their head, marched on the governor’s fortress, where ʿUbayd Allah had locked himself with a small band of sympathizers. Although ʿUbayd Allah’s situation seemed desperate, he managed, by a combination of threats and blandishments, to induce many tribal leaders to abandon Muslim. | When news of Haniʾ’s arrest reached Muslim, he decided to tarry no longer and to revolt openly. The uprising is dated to 2, 7, 8 or 9 Dhu ’l-Hijja 60/3, 8, 9 or 10 Sept. 680. Muslim is said to have initially disposed of 4,000 men (other numbers are also given); he arranged them in military formation and, placing himself at their head, marched on the governor’s fortress, where ʿUbayd Allah had locked himself with a small band of sympathizers. Although ʿUbayd Allah’s situation seemed desperate, he managed, by a combination of threats and blandishments, to induce many tribal leaders to abandon Muslim. | ||
==Muslim at the House of Tawʿa== | ==Muslim at the House of Tawʿa== | ||
By nightfall Muslim was left with only 30 men, and these too soon disappeared. He wandered despondently in the alleys of Kufa, until he finally found refuge with a woman from Kinda called Tawʿa, whose son Bilal was a mawla of Muhammad b. al-Ashʿath [q.v.]. When Bilal discovered the identity of his mother’s guest, he waited until morning and then notified Ibn al-Ashʿath, who in turn informed ʿUbayd Allah. Another version has it that the person whom Bilal informed (and who passed on the information) was Ibn al-Ashʿath’s son ʿAbd al- | By nightfall Muslim was left with only 30 men, and these too soon disappeared. He wandered despondently in the alleys of Kufa, until he finally found refuge with a woman from Kinda called Tawʿa, whose son Bilal was a mawla of Muhammad b. al-Ashʿath [q.v.]. When Bilal discovered the identity of his mother’s guest, he waited until morning and then notified Ibn al-Ashʿath, who in turn informed ʿUbayd Allah. Another version has it that the person whom Bilal informed (and who passed on the information) was Ibn al-Ashʿath’s son ʿAbd al-Rahman.<ref>This is one of several deeds for which ʿAbd al-Raḥman earned the title of “the most perfidious of the Arabs”; see Ibn Habib, al- Muhabbar , 244-6.</ref> | ||
==Muslim’s Arrest and Martyrdom== | ==Muslim’s Arrest and Martyrdom== | ||
ʿUbayd Allah sent Ibn al-Ashʿath (or his son ʿAbd al- | ʿUbayd Allah sent Ibn al-Ashʿath (or his son ʿAbd al-Rahman) at the head of 60 (or 70) men to Tawʿa’s house. Muslim, realizing that he was surrounded, came out with his sword in hand | ||
and, true to his reputation as a fierce warrior, chased off his attackers, inflicting serious losses | and, true to his reputation as a fierce warrior, chased off his attackers, inflicting serious losses | ||
on them.<ref>One fanciful report has him kill 41 of them; cf. Ibn Shahrashub, Manaqib, iii, 244.<br /></ref> His attackers responded by pelting him from the roof-top of Tawʿa’s house with stones and burning missiles. At this point Ibn al-Ashʿath gave him a guarantee of safety ([[aman]]) and Muslim, wounded and exhausted, gave himself up. Another version has it that Muslim did not trust Ibn al-Ashʿath’s aman and continued fighting until he was finally overcome. According to some accounts, Ibn al-Ashʿath was sincere in his offer but was overruled by ʿUbayd Allah. Other reports maintain that Ibn al-Ashʿath acted in concert with the governor, and never meant to honor his pledge. | on them.<ref>One fanciful report has him kill 41 of them; cf. Ibn Shahrashub, Manaqib, iii, 244.<br /></ref> His attackers responded by pelting him from the roof-top of Tawʿa’s house with stones and burning missiles. At this point Ibn al-Ashʿath gave him a guarantee of safety ([[aman]]) and Muslim, wounded and exhausted, gave himself up. Another version has it that Muslim did not trust Ibn al-Ashʿath’s aman and continued fighting until he was finally overcome. According to some accounts, Ibn al-Ashʿath was sincere in his offer but was overruled by ʿUbayd Allah. Other reports maintain that Ibn al-Ashʿath acted in concert with the governor, and never meant to honor his pledge. | ||
Muslim was brought before ʿUbayd Allah, and the two had a heated exchange. Muslim then received permission to give his final instructions (wasiyya). In most accounts he is said to have chosen for this purpose [[ʿUmar b. Saʿd b. Abi Waqqaṣ|ʿUmar b. Saʿd b. Abi Waqqas]] as the only member of his tribe (Quraysh) present. Muslim asked him to send a messenger to al-Husayn to inform him of the treachery of the Kufans and to urge him not to come; he also asked him to pay a debt of his and take his corpse for burial to prevent its being mutilated. In other reports, Muslim is depicted as receiving a promise from Ibn al-Ashʿath (rather than ʿUmar) to inform al-Husayn. ʿUbayd Allah entrusted Muslim’s execution to Bakr b. Humran al-Ahmari, whom Muslim had wounded before being taken prisoner. Bakr led Muslim to the top of the fortress, decapitated him in sight of the populace, and threw down first the head and then the rest of the body. Haniʾ was also executed, and the two bodies were dragged through the market-streets of Kufa. Muslim is said to have been posthumously crucified, and his head was sent to Yazid in Damascus and hoisted on a pole; he was the first [[Hashimite]] to be treated in this fashion.<ref>cf. al- Masʿudi, Muruj , § 1899.</ref> An elegy on the fate of Muslim and Haniʾ which is cited in the sources is variously attributed to al-Farazdaḳ, to ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zabir al-Asadi and to Sulayman (or Sulaym) b. Salam al-Hanafi. Muslim’s death, which followed his uprising by one day, is said to have coincided with al- Husayn’s departure for ʿIraq. | Muslim was brought before ʿUbayd Allah, and the two had a heated exchange. Muslim then received permission to give his final instructions (wasiyya). In most accounts he is said to have chosen for this purpose [[ʿUmar b. Saʿd b. Abi Waqqaṣ|ʿUmar b. Saʿd b. Abi Waqqas]] as the only member of his tribe (Quraysh) present. Muslim asked him to send a messenger to al-Husayn to inform him of the treachery of the Kufans and to urge him not to come; he also asked him to pay a debt of his and take his corpse for burial to prevent its being mutilated. In other reports, Muslim is depicted as receiving a promise from Ibn al-Ashʿath (rather than ʿUmar) to inform al-Husayn. ʿUbayd Allah entrusted Muslim’s execution to Bakr b. Humran al-Ahmari, whom Muslim had wounded before being taken prisoner. Bakr led Muslim to the top of the fortress, decapitated him in sight of the populace, and threw down first the head and then the rest of the body. Haniʾ was also executed, and the two bodies were dragged through the market-streets of Kufa. Muslim is said to have been posthumously crucified, and his head was sent to Yazid in Damascus and hoisted on a pole; he was the first [[Hashimite]] to be treated in this fashion.<ref>cf. al- Masʿudi, Muruj , § 1899.</ref> An elegy on the fate of Muslim and Haniʾ which is cited in the sources is variously attributed to al-Farazdaḳ, to ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zabir al-Asadi and to Sulayman (or Sulaym) b. Salam al-Hanafi. Muslim’s death, which followed his uprising by one day, is said to have coincided with al- Husayn’s departure for ʿIraq. | ||
==Imam Husayn departs for Kufa== | ==Imam Husayn departs for Kufa== | ||
Al-Ḥusayn was at Zubala (or Thaʿlabiyya, or Zarud, or Sharaf) when he received news of the tragedy. Shi’i authors maintain that al-Ḥusayn gave his entourage the option of withdrawing and that members of Muslim’s family were among those who chose to stay with him to the end. The lists of those killed at Karbala do indeed include Muslim’s brothers ʿAbd Allah, ʿAbd al- | Al-Ḥusayn was at Zubala (or Thaʿlabiyya, or Zarud, or Sharaf) when he received news of the tragedy. Shi’i authors maintain that al-Ḥusayn gave his entourage the option of withdrawing and that members of Muslim’s family were among those who chose to stay with him to the end. The lists of those killed at Karbala do indeed include Muslim’s brothers ʿAbd Allah, ʿAbd al-Rahman and Jaʿfar; some say that in all five brothers died on the battlefield.<ref>Ibn Maʿsum al-Shirazi, al-Darajat al-rafiʿa , Najaf 1382/1962, 165.</ref> ʿAbd Allah, a son of Muslim from his marriage to ʿAli’s daughter [[Ruqayya]], was also reportedly killed in the battle; some sources refer to two sons who perished there.<ref>e.g. al-Safadi, al-Wafi , xii, ed. Ramadan ʿAbd al-Tawwab, Wiesbaden 1399/1979, 426.</ref> Two other sons (sometimes identified as Muhammad and Ibrahim) are said to have escaped from ʿUbayd Allah’s camp a year after Karbala only to be brutally murdered by a Kufan who expected to be rewarded by ʿUbayd Allah (but who was beheaded instead).<ref>Ibn Babawayh, Amali , Najaf 1389/1970, 73-9.</ref> Their story, like that of their father, is re-enacted in the annual [[taʿziya]] plays.<ref>Pelly, The Miracle play, i, 190-206.<br /></ref> In some versions of these plays, the two sons are said to have been decapitated at the same time as their father<ref>e.g. Metin And, The Muharram observances in Anatolian Turkey , in P.J. Chelkowski (ed.), Taʿziyeh : ritual and drama in Iran , New York 1979, 251.</ref>; and the text accompanying several pictorial renderings of this event identifies their executioner as al- Ḥarith b. Badr.<ref>R. Milstein, Miniature painting, 101, 102, 104.<br /></ref> | ||
==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
Although Muslim did not die at Karbala, he is counted among its martyrs<ref>cf. al-Tabari, ii, 387.</ref>, and is even referred to as the first shahid.<ref>al-Majlisi, Biḥar al-anwar , c, 428.<br /></ref> The Shiʿis recommend visiting his grave in Kufa, and the text is preserved of a number of prayers to be recited there.<ref>ibid., 426-9.</ref> | Although Muslim did not die at Karbala, he is counted among its martyrs<ref>cf. al-Tabari, ii, 387.</ref>, and is even referred to as the first shahid.<ref>al-Majlisi, Biḥar al-anwar , c, 428.<br /></ref> The Shiʿis recommend visiting his grave in Kufa, and the text is preserved of a number of prayers to be recited there.<ref>ibid., 426-9.</ref> | ||