ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Maqtal al-Husayn Muslim at the House of Taw’a Ibn ‘Aqil's feet took him to the quarters of Banu Jiblah of the tribe of Kindah He stood at the door of a house of a freed bondmaid named Taw’a who had a number of sons. She used to be the bondmaid of al-Ash’ath Ibn Qays who freed her. Asid al-Hadrami married her, and she gave birth to his son Bilal who was in the crowd when his mother was standing at the door waiting for him.

Muslim requested her to give him some water, which she did. He then requested her to host him, telling her that he was a stranger in that land without a family or a tribe, that he belonged to a family capable of intercession on the Day of Judgment, and that his name was Muslim Ibn ‘Aqil. She took him to a room that was not the same one where her son used to sleep, and she served him some food. Her son was surprised to see her entering that room quite often, so he asked her about it.

She refused to answer his question except after obtaining an oath from him to keep the matter to himself. But in the morning he informed Ibn Ziyad of where Muslim had been hiding. Ibn Ziyad dispatched al-Ash’ath accompanied by seventy men who belonged to the Qays tribe in order to arrest him. Upon hearing the horses' hoofs ploughing the ground, Muslim realized that he was being pursued[^1], so he hurried to finish a supplication that he was reciting following the morning prayers.

Then he put on his battle gear and said to his hostess Taw’a: “You have carried out your share of righteousness, and you have secured your share of the intercession of the Messenger of Allah (S). Yesterday, I saw my uncle the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) in a vision telling me that I was going to join him the next day.”[^2] He came out to face them raising his unsheathed sword as they assaulted the house, succeeding in repelling their attack.

They repeated their attack, and again he repelled them as he recited these poetic verses: It is only death; so, do whatever you devise, For you shall no doubt meet your demise; So I shall be patient about the Command Of Allah, His Glory is Grand! Allah's decree is always done In His creation; this is well known.

He killed as many as forty-one of their men[^3], and he was so strong that he would take hold of one man then hurl him on the rooftop.[^4] Ibn al-Ash’ath sent a messenger to Ibn Ziyad requesting re-enforcements. The messenger came back to him carrying the latter's blame of his incompetence.