The Life of Imam Al-hasan Al-mujtaba

Chapter Xxiv : Mu’awiya Violates the Stipulations of the Peacemaking Part 2

If the Kufans had prevented the Umayyad authorities from killing Hijr and his companions, the Umayyads would not have been able to kill their free, good ones. But, they were satisfied with inactivity and abasement and they disliked the death in the way of Allah, so their affair was low and they became humble, and the Umayyads did to them what they wanted such as subjugating them to abasement and humiliation. Al-Rabee‘ remained astonished and weak. Sorrow tore his heart. On Friday he led the people in Friday Prayer. After he had finished the prayer, he addressed the people, saying: “O people, I am tired of life. I am going to supplicate, so say: amen!” Allah responded to his supplication. He died before he left the assembly.[^1]

Al-Hasan al-Basri

Al-Hasan al-Basri regarded the murder of Hijr as one of the four major sins Mu’awiya had committed. He said regarding Hijr: “Woe unto him (Mu’awiya) from Hijr and his companions.” He said that twice.[^2]

Abdullah Bin Umar Abdullah bin ‘Umar was terrified when he heard of the murder of Hijr. He was told about his murder when he was in the market. He was sitting. He got up and went away weeping with bitterly.[^3]

Mu’awiya Bin Khudayj

Mu’awiya bin Khudayj[^4] , who was in the army in Africa, heard of the painful news. He said to his people from Kinda who were with him: “Do you not see that we fight on behalf of Quraysh and sacrifice our lives to make firm their authority while they attack and kill our cousins?” Indeed the murder of Hijr was among the grave incidents, a crack in Islam, and an affliction against all the Arabs. Mu’awiya himself had no doubt about that. He regarded him as a fearful person. He mentioned him frequently during his privacy. He remembered him very much during his illness of which

[^1] Al-Kamil, vol. 3, p. 195. [^2] We have fully mentioned his speech along with his biography in the chapters of the book. [^3] Al-Isaba, vol. 1, p. 314. [^4] His full name is Mo’awiya bin Khudayj bin Jaffna al-Sukuni. It was said that (his surname) was al-Kindi. It was he who killed the righteous, good servant (of Allah), Muhammed bin Abi Bakr, according to the command of (‘Amr) bin al-‘Aas. He invaded Africa three times. This has been mentioned in (the book) al-Isti‘ab, vol. 3, p. 389.

he died. He said: “Woe unto me because of you, O Hijr!” And he said: “(I will face) a long day (because of) Ibn al-Addbar (Hijr).” He said that three times.[^1] Yes, Mu’awiya will face a long day (before Allah) because of his killing Hijr and the like of Hijr from among the righteous believers whose blood he shed because of nothing except their love for Ahl al-Bayt. With this we end our speech about the murder of Hijr and his companions, that we may meet his other companions.

Rasheed al-Hijri

Rasheed al-Hijri is regarded as on top of the men of Islam in piety, fear of Allah, knowledge, and excellence. He was a pupil in the school of Imam Ali (a.s). He acquired a great deal of his knowledge and sciences. Imam Ali (a.s) named him Rasheed al-Balaya (Rasheed of the tribulations). Rasheed’s daughter, Qanu, narrated: “I heard my father say: ‘(Imam Ali), the Commander of the faithful, said to me: ‘O Rasheed, how will your endurance be when the bastard of the Umayyads (Ziyad) will send for you and cut off your hands, your feet, and your tongue?’ ‘O Commander of the faithful, will (I go to the) Garden at the end of that?’ asked Rasheed. ‘O Rasheed, you are with me in this world and the next world,’ retorted Imam Ali.”

Rasheed went with Imam Ali (a.s), to a garden. They sat in the shadow of a date palm. The owner of the garden ascended a date palm. He took some dates from the date palm and offered them to Imam Ali (a.s). The Imam ate some of them. Rasheed turned to the Imam and said to him: “How delicious these dates are!”

“You will be crucified on its trunk,” said the Imam. After this speech Rasheed took care of the date palm of whose dates he ate. He gave it water and served Allah beside it. One day he passed by it and saw that its leaves had been cut off, so he felt that his appointed time was close at hand. He passed by it again and saw that a half of it was put over a small river, that the people might sit on it and take water. He was sure that his inevitable appointed time approached.[^2] During that terrible period of time, (Ziyad), son of Sumayya, sent for him. Rasheed stood before Ziyad, and he said to him:

-What did your bosom friend (Imam Ali) say as to that we would do to you?

-(He said that) you would cut off my hands and my feet, and that you would crucify me.

[^1] Al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 6, p. 156. [^2] Al-Ta‘liqat ‘alaa Minhajj al-Maqal, p. 140.

-By Allah, I will confute his statement. Set him free.

The police set Rasheed free. When he went out, Ziyad said to his policemen: “Bring him back!” They brought him back to him. Ziyad turned to him and said: “We can find for you nothing better than what your leader (Imam Ali) said. You will bring about evil to us if you remain alive. Cut off his hands and his feet.” The police cut off Rasheed’s hands and feet. However Rasheed went on speaking. His speech enraged Ziyad, and he said to his policemen: “Crucify him until death!” Rasheed said to them: “I have something with you. I can see that you have not done it -he meant that they did not cut out his tongue.” So (Ziyad), son of Sumayya, ordered his tongue to be cut out. When they wanted to cut out his tongue, he said to them: “Give me a time that I may say a statement.” They gave him time, and he said: “By Allah, this is the confirmation of the prediction of the Commander of the faithful (Imam Ali), peace be on him. He told me that you would cut out my tongue.” Then the policemen cut out his tongue.[^1]

What a sin did this great worshiper commit that he might deserve this punishment and this horrible maiming? However (Ziyad), son of Sumayya, and Mu’awiya wanted through that to destroy the Shia and to put an end to Shiism.

Amr Bin al-Hamaq al-Khuza‘iy

Amr bin al-Hamaq had living, strong, religious feelings. He was among the good companions (of the Prophet) in piety and fear of Allah. It was he who gave the Prophet yogurt to drink. So the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, invoked Allah for him to make him enjoy his youth. Allah responded to the supplication of His Prophet. Amr became eighty years old but none saw even a white hair in his beard.[^2]

Amr was among the choice, loyal companions of Imam Ali (a.s). Imam Ali (a.s) invoked Allah for him, saying: “O Allah, enlighten his heart with piety and guide him to Your straight path!”[^3] He (a.s) respected, magnified, and preferred him to others. He said to him: “Would that I had a hundred (fighters) like you among my troops!” Amr expressed his obedience and loyalty to Imam Ali (a.s), saying: “O Commander of the faithful, by Allah, I [^1] Safinat al-Bihar, vol. 1, p. 522. Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi has said: “Ziyad killed Rasheed al-Hijri, cut out his tongue, and crucified him because he was a Shi‘ite (a follower of Imam Ali).” [^2] Al-Isaba, vol. 2, p. 526. [^3] Safinat al-Bihar, vol. 2, p. 360.

have not loved you for the life in this world nor for a position I have in it. Rather I have loved you because of five qualities: You are the first to believe (in Allah). You are the cousin of Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family. You are the greatest of the Muhajireen and the Ansar. You are the husband of the mistress of the women of the world (Fatima), peace be on her. And you are the father of the survival progeny of Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family. If I covered the firm mountains and crossed the seas full of water to undermine your enemy and make successful your proof, I would see that this was little in comparison with your great right on me.”[^1]

His speech indicates his creed, faith, and great obedience to Imam Ali, peace be on him. Through his speech he sought Allah’s pleasure and the hereafter.

When Ziyad (bin Abeeh) became a governor over Kufa and pursued the Shia (Imam Ali’s followers), Amr bin al-Hamaq al-Khuza‘iy was afraid of his oppressive authority. So he and Rifa‘a bin Shaddad fled to al-Mada’in. They stayed their for a period of time. Then they fled to Musil. Before they reached it, they had stayed in a mountain to rest. Balta‘a bin Abi Abdullah, Mu’awiya’s governor, heard that two men had hidden themselves in a mountain. He condemned their affair. He and a group of his companions went to them. When they reached the mountain, Amr and Rifa‘a went out to them. As for Amr, he was ill, for he had been given poison to drink. So he had no ability to save himself from them. For this reason he stopped and did not escape. As for Rifa‘a, he was a young man. He rode his horse. He turned to Amr and said to him: “I will fight on behalf of you!”

Amr prohibited him from that, saying: “That you fight (on my behalf) does not benefit me. Save yourself if you can.”

Rifa‘a attacked the people, and they withdrew from him. Then the people went out to search for him. They were unable to arrest him because he was an archer. Then they took Amr as a captive. They asked him to introduce himself, but he refused and said to them: “I am the one whom if you left, it would be safer to you, and if you killed, it would be more harmful to you.”

They insisted on him to introduce himself, but he refused. Accordingly, they doubted his affair and sent him guarded to Abdurrahman bin Abdullah al-Thaqafi, the governor of Musil. When Abdurrahman saw him, he recognized him and immediately sent Mu’awiya a letter in which he informed him of the affair. Mu’awiya answered Abdurrahman, saying: “He (Amr) claimed that he stabbed ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan nine times with the spearheads he had. We do not [^1] Al-Ta‘liqat, p. 246.

want to aggress against him. Therefore, stab him nine times just as he stabbed ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan.”

Accordingly, Abdurrahman ordered Amr to be taken out and be stabbed nine times. Amr was stabbed, and he died during the first or the second stab.[^1] Then Abdurrahman ordered his head to be cut off and be sent to Mu’awiya. Mu’awiya ordered the head to be taken from place to another, so it was the first head to be taken from one place to another in Islam.[^2] Then Mu’awiya ordered the head to be sent to Amr’s wife, Amina, daughter of al-Shareed. Amina was in one of Mu’awiya’s prisons. The head was brought and put into her lap while she was inattentive and had no information about her husband’s affair. When she saw the head, she became disordered, to the extent that she was about to die. Then she said while her tears were flowing down her face: “Oh! I will mourn over his abasement in the abode of humiliation and narrowness due to the oppression of the Sultan! He banished him from me for a long time! You have sent him to me while he is killed! Welcome today to him whom I did not hate and whom I do not forget!”

Then she turned to the guard and said to him: “Take the head back to Mu’awiya and do not wrap it (when you put it) before him. Say to him: ‘May Allah orphan your children, make your family feel lonely (for losing you), and may He not forgive you your sin!”

The messenger returned to Mu’awiya and told him what she said. Mu’awiya became angry, and her speech enraged him. So he ordered her to be brought to him in his assembly. She was brought to him, and he asked her: “Are you, O enemy of Allah, the owner of the speech I have heard?” She answered without paying attention to him or showing fear of his authority, saying: “Yes. I will not refrain from it (the speech) nor do I apologize (to you) for it nor do I deny it. By my life, I am diligent in invoking (Allah against you) if diligence benefited (me). And that Allah is behind the servants. You have obtained nothing of your reward, and that Allah will punish you!”

Iyas bin Hisl turned to Mu’awiya and said: “Shall I kill this (woman), O Commander of the faithful? By Allah, her husband was not worthier of killing than her!”

She said to him: “Fie on you! Woe unto you! There is (something) like the body of a frog between your beard! Then you are asking him to kill me as he [^1] Al-Tabari, Tarikh. [^2] Al-Isti‘ab, vol. 2, p. 517.

killed my husband yesterday! You desire nothing but that you should be a tyrant in the land, and you do not desire to be of those who act aright.” Mu’awiya smiled and said with astonishment: “How good you are! Go out! Then I do not want to hear you (say) anything in Sham!” She said to him: “I am going to leave Sham. Then you will not hear that I am in any part of Sham. I do not love Sham nor do I have a bosom friend in it. It is not my homeland nor do I yearn for a residence in it. My religion has become great in it but I am not delighted in it. I will not come to you in it nor will I praise you wherever I am.”

Her speech was difficult to Mu’awiya, so he indicated to her with his own finger to go out. She went out while she was saying: “I wonder at Mu’awiya! He withheld his tongue from me and indicated to me with his own finger to go out! By Allah, Amr will oppose him with a confirmed, strong speech more painful than the piercing swords; otherwise, I am not the daughter of al-Shareed!” Then she left his assembly.[^1]

Indeed the murder of Amr was among the dangerous incidents in Islam. That is because he was among the companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. Mu’awiya intentionally shed his blood, so, through that, he opposed what Allah commanded as to that it was forbidden to shed the blood of the Muslims but with justice. The murder of Amr did not satisfy Mu’awiya’s thirst (for revenge). For this reason he ordered his head to be taken from one place to another. Then he ordered the head to be sent to Amr’s wife, who was about to die because of the painful misfortune. From Yathrib Imam al-Husayn (a.s) sent Mu’awiya a letter in which he condemned him for his committing this dangerous crime. This is the text of the letter: “Are you not the one who killed Amr bin al-Hamaq, the companion of Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, the righteous servant (of Allah)? Worship exhausted him, and so his body became weak and his face yellow. That was after you had given him security, and given to him some of Allah’s promises and covenants, to the extent that if you gave them to a bird, it would come to you from a peak of a mountain. Then you killed him showing audacity to your Lord and making light of that covenant.”[^2]

Imam al-Husayn lauded Amr’s excellence. He mentioned that Amr was the companion of Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, and that prayer exhausted his body. He also mentioned that Mu’awiya concluded as to [^1] A‘lam al-Nisa’, vol. 1, p. 4. [^2] Al-Ta‘liqat, p. 246. his affair a covenant that included giving security to him and refraining from aggressing him. However Mu’awiya violated his covenant and did not fulfill it. Awfa Bin Hisn

Awfa bin Hisn was among those who condemned the Umayyad policy and one of those who criticized the Umayyads for their dictatorship. He spread the Umayyads’ shortcomings among the Kufans. Ziyad heard of that and sent for Awfa. The latter disappeared. Ziyad reviewed the people. Awfa passed by Ziyad, and he doubted his affair, so he asked those with him:

-Who is that? -Awfa bin Hisn. -Bring him to me. Awfa was brought to Ziyad, and he haughtily said: “The fool’s legs have brought him to you!” Then he turned to him and asked him:

-What do you think of ‘Uthman? -He is the son-in-law of Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family. -What do you think of Mu’awiya? -He is generous and clement. -What do you think of me? -I have heard that you said in Basra: “By Allah, I will punish the sound because of the sick, those who come because of those who turn away.” -I have said that. -You said it at random. -The blower is not the wickedest of the group.

Then Ziyad ordered Awfa to be killed.[^1] Awfa criticized Ziyad for his policy during that critical condition. That was the greatest of the deeds he performed and the best kind of jihad that the Prophet (a.s) meant when he said: “The best kind of jihad is a word of truth in the presence of a tyrannical sultan. The best of martyrs is Hamza bin ‘Abd al-Muttalib, and a man who talks in the presence of a tyrannical sultan, and he ordered him to be killed.”[^2] [^1] Al-Kamil, vol. 3, p. 183. [^2] Al-Nasaa’ih al-Kafiya, p. 60.

Juwayriyya Bin Mus’hir al-Abdi

Juwayriyya was one of the sincere companions of Imam Ali (a.s). He narrated his traditions, and was close to him. One day Imam Ali looked at Juwayriyya and said: “O Juwayriyya follow me. When I see you, I like you.” Then he told him about some secrets of the Imamate. He said to him: “O Juwayriyya, love those who love us. If they detest us, then detest them. Detest those who detest us. If they love us, then love them.”[^1]

One day Imam Ali (a.s), was sleeping. Juwayriyya came in to him and said: “You who are sleeping, wake up! A blow will be struck on your head from which your beard will be colored with blood.” Imam Ali (a.s) (a.s) smiled at him. Then he told him about what he would meet from the tyrannical governors, saying: “O Juwayriyya, I will tell you about your affair. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, you will be pulled before a rough, harsh man. He will cut off your hand and leg. Then you will be crucified below the short trunk (of a date palm).”

Time passed after that until when in the days of Mu’awiya, Ziyad, son of Sumayya, became a governor. He summoned Juwayriyya. He ordered his hand and leg to be cut off. Then he ordered him to be crucified on a short trunk.[^2] Hisham bin Muhammad al-Sa’ib has written a book about the tragedy of Juwayriyya, Rasheed, and Maytham al-Tammar. [^3]

Abdullah Bin Yahya al-Hadhrami

Abdullah bin Yahya was among the choice companions of Imam Ali (a.s). He was among the police of al-Khamees[^4] . Imam Ali (a.s) said to him at the Battle of al-Jamal: “O Abdullah, receive good news of that you and your father will be of al-Khamees Police. Indeed Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, told me that your name and that of your father would be among al-Khamees Police.”[^5]

[^1] Ibn Abi al-Hadeed, Sharh Nahj al-Balagha. A narration similar to this narration has been mentioned in al-Ta‘liqat, p. 366. [^2] Ibn Abi al-Hadeed, Sharh Nahj al-Balagha. [^3] Al-Ta‘liqat, p. 366. [^4] Al-Khamees was a name of the army. The Army was named so because it was divided into five parts that were the vanguard, the right wing, the left wing, the center, and the rearguards. It was said that it was named so because a one fifth was taken of the booty taken by it. This has been mentioned in Ibn al-Athir’s al-Nihaya. Some sources have mentioned that the police of al-Khamees were so trustworthy and just that the witness of each one of them was equal to a witness of two men [^5] Al-Ta‘liqat, p. 214.

When Imam Ali (a.s) (a.s) was martyred, Abdullah showed exhausting sadness at his death. He left Kufa and built a cell. He and his believing companions served Allah in that cell. When Mu’awiya came to know of their impatience and sadness at the death of Imam Ali (a.s), he ordered them to be brought to him. When they were brought to him, he ordered them to be killed, and they were unjustly killed.[^1] In the protection of Allah are these righteous, good people. Their blood was shed and their limbs were cut off. They committed no sin and made no incident in Islam except their following Imam Ali (a.s). They yielded to Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, who made it incumbent on Muslims to show love for Imam Ali (a.s), saying: “O Allah, befriend whoever befriends him, and be hostile to whoever opposes him.”

Mu’awiya not only showed enmity toward the Shia through killing their leaders but also made dangerous things of which are the following:

Demolishing the Shia’s Houses

Mu’awiya spared no effort to destroy the followers of Imam Ali (a.s). He commanded his governors to demolish their houses. So his police demolished their houses[^2] and made them without shelters to which they returned. Mu’awiya did that to put an end to Shiism and to efface the name of the Prophet’s Household, peace be on them.

The Shia’s Witness is not accepted

Mu’awiya did his best to abase and exhaust the Shia. He wrote to all his governors and commanded them not to accept the witness of the followers of Imam Ali (a.s), and that of his household.[^3] The governors yielded to his command. They did not accept the testimony of the Shia while they were trustworthy, just, and good Muslims.