He was a descendant of Imam as-Sajjad ( ‘a )...

He was a descendant of Imam as-Sajjad ( ‘a ), a resident of Kufah, and had been regarded as one of the ascetic, devoted and pious ‘Alawis and sadat . The reason behind his uprising was the pressure exerted by Mu‘tasim against him and as such, he was compelled to leave Kufah for Khurasan. As Mas‘udi says, In this year, that is, 219 AH, Mu‘tasim threatened Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. He was truly ascetic and pious and when Mu‘tasim threatened him, he went to Khurasan.

He stayed in the cities of Khurasan such as Marv, Sarkhis, Taleqan, and Nasa.[^5] As narrated by Abu’l-Faraj al-Isfahani, a population of around forty thousand men gathered around him. In spite of this, his uprising did not succeed and this huge population deserted him and in the end, he was arrested by the Tahiris, sent to Samarra and imprisoned.[^6] Of course, he was freed by the Shi‘ah and his followers, but after that there was no news of him and he passed away secretly.[^7] c.

The Uprising of Yahya ibn ‘Umar at-Talibi Yahya ibn ‘Umar at-Talibi, a descendant of Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib at-Tayyar, enjoyed an unprecedented position among the people of Kufah on account of his asceticism and piety. Because of the cruelty and belittlement of the ‘Abbasid caliph Mutawakkil and the Turkish soldiers against him, he was forced to rise up in Kufah against them and when he was taking control of the helm of affairs, he implemented justice and equity.

As such, he earned extraordinary popularity in Kufah, but his uprising was thwarted by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir.

The people were in commotion when they were mourning for him.[^8] As Mas‘udi says, “People from near and far recited elegies for him, and the young and old cried for him.” ^9 And as narrated by Abu’l-Faraj al-Isfahani, in terms of elegy, none of the ‘Alawis who had attained martyrdom during the ‘Abbasid period equaled him in the number of poems recited for him.[^10] Factors behind the Failure of the Uprisings Two factors behind the failure of these uprisings can be identified: weakness in leadership and lack of coordination and cohesion of the forces.

In most cases, the leaders of these movements had no proper plan or program and their activity was not based on the correct Islamic standards. As such, most of these revolts were not endorsed by the infallible Imams ( ‘a ). If ever some other uprisings whose leaders were competent figures ended in failure, it was because their plan and program were such that their defeat was predictable.