Yet I hope that those among you who know the truth are more...

Yet I hope that those among you who know the truth are more numerous than those whom falsehood will destroy.” ‘Abdullah bin Muslim bin Sa’id al-Hadhrami[^6] - an ally of the Banu Umayyah- stood up and said: “What you see can only be adequately dealt with by violence; for the view which you hold about what [should be done] between you and your enemy is that of the weak!” Nu’man retorted [saying]: “I would prefer to be one of the weak [while remaining] in obedience to Allah than to be one of the mighty [while being] in rebellion against Allah!” Thereafter he descended from the pulpit.

‘Abdullah bin Muslim left the mosque and wrote to Yazid bin Mu’awiyah [saying]: “Muslim bin ‘Aqil has arrived in Kufah and the Shi‘ah have pledged allegiance to him on behalf of Husayn bin ‘Ali. So if you have any need for Kufah, then send it a strong man, who will carry out your orders and act in the same way as you would against your enemy. Nu’man bin Bashir is a weak man, or he is acting like a weak man.” Then ‘Umarah bin ‘Uqbah[^7] wrote to Yazid in similar vein.

Then ‘Umar bin Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas[^8] wrote to him in the same.[^9] Al-Husayn’s Letter to the People of Basrah Al-Husayn (as) sent a copy of his letter -with his servant Sulaiman[^10]- to the heads of the five districts of Basrah[^11] and also to such noblemen as Malik bin Masma’ al-Bakri[^12], Ahnaf bin Qais[^13] Mundhir bin al-Jarud[^14], Mas’ud bin ‘Amru[^15], Qais bin Haitham[^16] and ‘Amru bin ‘Ubaidullah bin Mu’ammar.

The letter read: “Allah chose Muhammad (S) over His creation, honoured him with prophethood and chose him to convey His message. Then Allah took him to Himself after he had sincerely admonished the people and conveyed to them what He had sent him with. We are his family, his friends, his trustees and his inheritors. We are more entitled from among the people to his position than any other person is.

But our community held onto it to our exclusion and we did not oppose them; [for] we detested disunity and loved the well-being [of the community]. We know that we are more entitled to that position and truly worthy of it than those who have taken it over.[^17] They [may] have done well, put things in order and pursued the truth. I am sending to you my messenger with this letter. I invite you to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of his Prophet (S).

Indeed, the Sunnah has been eradicated ( umitat ) and the innovations ( bid’ah ) have been revived.