According to historical sources...

According to historical sources, Al-Ash’ath was aware of Ibn Muljam’s plan for Imam Ali’s assassination. Al-Ya’qubi reports that when Ibn Muljam travelled from Egypt to Kufa to assassinate the Imam, he stayed in al-Ash’ath’s house for one month, preparing himself for the assassination. (Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 212.) It is reported that on the day the Imam was assassinated before he entered the mosque, al-Ash’ath asked Ibn Muljam to do his task before dawn.

A hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) also affirms that al-Ash’ath had a role in the assassination of Imam Ali (a). (Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 167, 187) However, there is another report according to which, when al-Ash’ath learned about Ibn Muljam’s plan, he informed Imam Ali (PBUH) about it. (Mubarrad, al-Kāmil, vol. 2, p. 146.) Al-Ash’ath died in Kufa in 661 when he was sixty-three years old and he was buried there.

His descendants, referred to in Muslim sources as the Asha’itha, were one of the most prominent families of the Arab tribal nobility in Iraq. His sons Qays and Muhammad succeeded him as leader of the Kufan Kindites.

The former was among the Kufans who wrote to Imam al-Husain (PBUH) and invited him to Kufa, but thereafter commanded the Kindite fighters in the Umayyad army against Husain ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.H, while the latter was among the companions of Ziyad ibn Abih and Ibn Ziyad, who participated in arresting Hujr b. Adi, Hani ibn Urwa, and Muslim ibn Aqil. According to a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH), Muhammad ibn al-Ash’ath participated in killing Imam al-Husain (PBUH) as well.

(Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 167, hadith 187)     Leave a Comment Leave a Comment Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Name * Email * Comment * Δ Newest Video View All The Succor of Patience and Prayer Why is mercy mentioned twice in Bismillah?

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