Muslim ibn Aqeel replied that the Prophet (S) and his...

Muslim ibn Aqeel replied that the Prophet (S) and his progeny had never been aggressors. They never took anyone by surprise or stabbed him from the back. They never would kill a Muslim, even if he were only in name, except in retaliation of his attacking first.

Lastly, Muslim said that he did not want to kill ibn Ziyad in the house of his host, Hani ibn Urwa.[^2] These words uttered by Muslim are eloquent testimony to the fact that Imam Husayn (a.s.), Muslim, or anyone of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) never ever made any attempt to gain power by slyly eliminating the enemy through underhand methods. Shareek was so much grieved by the loss of an opportunity to eliminate ibn Ziyad that he died three days after the incident.