The Umayyads proceeded toward Sham and since there was no caliph in Damascus...

The Umayyads proceeded toward Sham and since there was no caliph in Damascus, the Umayyads elected Marwan for the caliphate, followed by Khalid ibn Yazid and after him ‘Amru ibn Sa‘id as his successor. After sometime, Marwan removed Khalid ibn Yazid and appointed his son ‘Abd al-Malik as his successor. For this reason, Khalid’s mother who was married to Marwan poisoned Marwan killing him. ‘Abd al-Malik also removed ‘Amru ibn Sa‘id on his way and appointed his son instead as his heir apparent.

^5 Meanwhile, the Umayyads were gripped by revolts and uprisings. These upheavals can be divided into two distinct types: One type was the uprisings without Shi‘ah underpinning. The Hirrah uprising and the revolt of Ibn Zubayr belonged to this type. The essence of Ibn Zubayr’s revolt is obvious because the leader of the revolt, ‘Abd Allah ibn Zubayr was a staunch enemy of the progeny of the Prophet (S).

He nursed this grudge in his heart owing to the defeat he and others, including his father, suffered in the Battle of Jamal (Camel) and the ensuing events. His brother Mus‘ab, however, had Shi‘ah inclination and married the daughter of Imam al-Husayn ( ‘a ), Sakinah.[^6] As such, his campaign gained momentum in Iraq and the Shi‘ah of Iraq joined with him in the resistance against the Umayyads. After Mukhtar Ibrahim al-Ashtar was in his company and was killed beside him.

The Hirrah uprising had also no Shi‘ah underpinning[^7] and Imam as-Sajjad ( ‘a ) had no hand in it. When Muslim ibn ‘Uqbah was asking the allegiance of the people in Medina, compelling them to pay allegiance, like slaves, to the Umayyad caliph (Yazid), he accorded him due respect to Imam as-Sajjad ( ‘a ) and did not complain against the Imam ( ‘a ) (for not expressing allegiance).[^8] The other uprisings had Shi‘ah underpinning.

The Shi‘ah Uprisings The uprising of the tawwabun {the repentant ones} and that of Mukhtar were Shi‘ah uprisings. The base of these two uprisings was Iraq, Kufah in particular, and the constituent forces were Shi‘ah of the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ). In the army of Mukhtar, non-Arab Shi‘ah could also be amply noticed. There is no doubt about the essence of the uprising of the tawwabun .

This uprising was based upon correct motives and yearning for martyrdom, and it had no objective other than avenging the blood of Imam al-Husayn ( ‘a ) and wiping off their sin for not assisting the Imam ( ‘a ) by being killed in the way of fighting against his murderers.