If they refuse to pay allegiance, cut their necks and send their heads to me’.

If they refuse to pay allegiance, cut their necks and send their heads to me’.”[^7] It is obvious from this historical record that Yazid ibn Mu‘awiyah had a premeditated intention to kill Imam al-Husayn (as) if the Holy Imam (as) refused to pay allegiance. Question Of course, it is true that some historians have recorded Yazid’s letter in a different manner.

For example, Tabari has recorded the letter in this way: “Yazid wrote to Walid, ‘Adopt extreme harshness when you confront al-Husayn, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar and ‘Abd Allah ibn Zubayr. Do not permit them leave until they pay allegiance. May God’s peace be upon you’.”[^8] In this version of the letter, there is no talk of killing Imam al-Husayn (as) or his followers.

Response Firstly, there is no real inconsistency between these two historical texts, because killing Imam al-Husayn (as) has not been explicitly prohibited in the wording of the text recorded by Tabari. Both letters are quite strong except that the ultimate order in the text quoted by Tabari does not mention killing Imam al-Husayn (as). It is therefore possible that Yazid wrote both letters; the first one was recorded by Tabari while the second and stronger one in tone was recorded by Ya‘qubi.

Bearing this in mind, we can accept both records. Secondly, in the letter which Tabari has recorded, the expression that has been used is “adopt extreme harshness”. This might mean that the people mentioned in this letter should not be given permission to leave until they have paid allegiance. From this expression, three possibilities come to mind: A. That “adopt extreme harshness” means a kind of sharp and hot-tempered verbal encounter with these people to insist on getting allegiance from them.

B. That the intention was to put pressure on Imam al-Husayn (as) so that he would be left with no option but to pay allegiance, but this encounter should not culminate in killing Imam al-Husayn (as). (Neither of these two possibilities seems logical, because Yazid knew Imam al-Husayn’s (as) character and personality well. He knew with certainty that Imam al-Husayn (as) would never pay allegiance to him no matter what the cost.) C.

The third possibility; the possibility which conforms to what really happened, is that “adopt extreme harshness” means Yazid had given Walid complete jurisdiction over the issue of Imam al-Husayn (as) and he was free to deal with Imam al-Husayn (as) in whatever way he deemed suitable to get the job done.