Ziyad's next act was to send the shurta...

Ziyad's next act was to send the shurta, a kind of police force, to Hujr but he and his friends drove them off. A Shi'a rebellion under Hujr had in effect begun12 . The group with Hujr do not appear to have belonged to the front rank of Arab nobility. Hujr himself had enjoyed a position of some seniority in his tribe under 'Ali, but he owed this status to his position in Islam and his loyalty to 'Ali rather than to any traditional tribal position13 .

Another close colleague of Hujr's in the revolt 'Amr b. al-Hamiq alsoappears to have had a similar status14 . Ziyad used the strategy of applying pressure to the traditional tribal leaders15 , whose authority seems to have been endorsed by Mu'awiya as a means of reducing the power of the Shi'a. The policy worked and soon the numbers of Hujr's supporters were reduced. Hujr became isolated and had to flee for his life.

Ziyad then threatened Hujr's tribe Kinda that unless Hujr surrendered he would execute their leader16 . Thus Hujr, deprived of even a tribal base, surrendered. Ziyad sent him to Mu'awiya where he was offered his free­dom if he cursed 'Ali. He refused to do this and was executed17 . Previous…