[3] Muslim’s Letter Another factor that prompted the Imam to...

[3] Muslim’s Letter Another factor that prompted the Imam to set out from Mecca was the letter of his emissary, Muslim bin Ail, which urged him to move to Iraq and it had mentioned that all the people of Kufa were with him and the number of people who have pledged allegiance for him exceeded 18000… These were some of the factors that impelled the Imam to depart for Iraq and the weakest view is that which claims that the Imam set out from Mecca at the behest of Ibn Zubair because Ibn Zubair did not command any importance that the Imam should leave Mecca because of him, only the factors that we have indicated were explained.

When Mecca became the target of Umayyad attack such a situation was created that it never became a center of any political movement. [1] Miraat az-Zamaan, Pg. 167 from facsimile copy at Imam Amirul Momineen (a.s.) Library. [2] Ibne Asakir, Tarikh 14/203 [3] Yaqubi,…