ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Maqtal al-Husayn The Oath of Allegiance The Shi’as went in hordes to meet Muslim as he stayed at al-Mukhtar's house and expressed to him their obedience. This increased his happiness and elation. When he read to them al-Husayn's letter, ‘Abis Ibn Shibib al-Shakiri stood and said, “I do not speak about the people, nor do I know what they conceal in their hearts, nor do I deceive you in their regard. By Allah!

I can tell you what I personally have decided to do. By Allah! I shall respond to your call, and I shall fight your enemy.

I shall defend you with my sword till I meet Allah desiring nothing except what He has in store for me.” Habib Ibn Muzahir said, “You have briefly stated your intention, and by Allah, the One and only God, I feel exactly the same.” Sa’id Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hanafi made a similar statement.[^1] Other Shi’as came to swear the oath of allegiance to him till his diwan counted as many as eighteen thousand men,[^2] whereas some historians said they were as many as twenty five thousand men.[^3] According to al-Sha’bi, the number of those who swore allegiance to him reached forty thousand.[^4] It was then that Muslim wrote al-Husayn (‘a) a letter which he handed to ‘Abis Ibn Shibib al-Shakiri informing him of the consensus among the people of Kufa to obey him and to wait for his arrival.

In it, he said, “A scout does not lie to his people. Eighteen thousand Kufians have already come to me; so, hurry and come here as soon as this letter reaches you.”[^5] That was twenty-seven days prior to Muslim's martyrdom.[^6] The Kufians, too, added to it their own letter wherein they stated the following: “Hurry and come to us, O son of the Messenger of Allah! A hundred thousand swords are in Kufa on your side; so, do not tarry.”[^7] This angered a group of the Umayyads with vested interests.

Among them were ‘Umar Ibn Sa’d Ibn Abu Waqqas, ‘Abdullah Ibn Muslim Ibn Rabi’ah al-Hadrami, and ‘Imarah Ibn ‘Uqbah Ibn Abu Mu’it. They wrote Yazid warning him of the arrival of Muslim Ibn ‘Aqil and the rallying of the people of Kufa behind him, adding that al-Nu’man Ibn Bashir was not strong enough to stand in his [‘Aqil’s] way.[^8] Yazid solicited the advice of his slave Serjun[^9] who was also his scribe and entertainer.

Serjun said, “‘Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyad is your man!” “There is no good in him,” said Yazid.