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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Tawwabin: the Repenters The Defeat of the Tawwabin Before Sulaymen b. Surad left, Yazid b. al‑Harith b. Yazid b. Ru'aym, one of the Kufan tribal leaders reported the Shi'a activities of both Sulayman b. Surad and al‑Mukhtar to the governor'Abd Allah b. Yazid. He pointed out that al‑Mukhtar did not want to revolt yet, but that Sulayman b. Surad would revolt very soon. He suggested firm action against him. 'Abd Allah b.
Yazid preached in the mosque against revolt and said that he would not harm anybody who did not harm him. However, his colleague Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Talha was much more vigorous. The Shi'a leaders of Sulayman b. Surad's group explained to 'Abd Allah b. Yazid that their aim was to fight against 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad and the Umayyad army which was nearby. 'Abd Allah b. Yazid accepted this and the Shi'a of Sulayman b. Surad were allowed to make their preparations publicly46 .
However, even at this late stage, some of Sulayman b. Surad's followers were uncertain of the merit of his policy. 'Abd Allah b. Sa'd b. Nufayl suggested that they kill those who participated in the murder of al‑Husayn, which in effect meant that they revolted in Kufa. But Sulayman persuaded them against it47 . Sulayman b. Surad set out with his followers at the beginning of Rabi' al-Akhir 65 A.H. When they reached their camp at Nukhayla he was surprised at the paucity of their numbers.
He sent out messengers to go around Kufa summoning the people. However, even the next morning there were only 4,000. Sulayman examined his diwan and found 16,000 pledges there. It was pointed out that al‑Mukhtar had taken some 2,000 of them but this still left 10,000 people who had pledged their allegiance and not answered the call. From that moment the accent of Sulayman b. Surad and his followers shifted from vengeance to atonement.
An army of 14,000 or 16,000 men stood some chance of success but an army of 4,000 men had little hope of it. Even with the Shi'a from Mada'in and al‑Basra their numbers would not be increased appreciably. These men were sincere and devout supporters of the Shi'a. They had hoped to be able to atone for their desertion of al‑Husayn by establishing a Shi'a imamate. Now that this was no longer feasible the tone of their movement switched back to its earlier tone at the time of their formation.
They did not seek the world, only repentance. 'Abd Allah b.