In terms of policy there are three main points...

In terms of policy there are three main points: to kill the murderers of al‑Husayn in order to avenge his blood; to make war on the heretics and deviators from the true religion, which we can assume are the Umayyads and their support­ers; and thirdly, a call to the Book of God and the sunna of the Prophet, which is an implicit rejection of the practice of Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, giving the Imam a great deal of scope for re‑interpretation.

Probably soon after the death of al‑Husayn, Sulayman b. Surad decided on what action to take. We have already seen that he was averse to…