The rulers...

The rulers, acting in a manner injurious to their own long-term interest and that of the people, either on account of prejudice or for the sake of prolonging their rule, promoted sectarian differences and discord. Such was the background that resulted in the allegations regarding the Shi'i role in the fall of Baghdad, which was in fact the fall of the Abbasid caliphate, and led some prejudiced thinkers to accuse the Shiis of instigating the Mongols to overthrow the caliphate.

Despite the fact that many Sunni ulama'-like Sharaf al-Din ibn al Jawzi, a personal confidant of the caliph - were in the retinue of Hulaga Khan, the presence of Khwajah Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, (597-672/1200-1273) - may God's mercy be upon him -and the part of Mu'yyid al-Din ibn Alqami the minister of al-Mustasim, in the events of the time were taken as grounds for the allegation against the Shi'is.

This accusation was publi cized by the Hanbalis and their precursors, whose hostility towards the Shi'is - like their enmity towards other Muslim sects in Baghdad - was greater than that of any other hostile group. Previous…