Stories from Islamic History

by Nayab Naseer

  “Where is Muslim ibn Aqil”

  “Muslim who?” came the reply.

  Ubaydullah was chosen for the task because he was adept in getting things done. The “newcomer from Hims” was brought before him.

  “There is no point in pretending now. But I swear that I don’t know where Muslim ibn Aqil is now,” Hani replied.

  In the meantime Muslim heard of Hani’s arrest and realized that the hour for a decisive encounter had arrived. He raised his battle cry "Ya Mansur," and proceeded towards the governor’s fort. Of the men who had given him their oath of allegiance, four thousand joined him.

  When Ubaydullah saw Muslim ibn Aqil with the Kufans at his gate, he sent some tribal leaders to speak with their people and warn them of the wrath that would descend when armies from Damascus arrive.

  Soon Muslim's army was called upon by mothers telling their sons, "Come home, there are enough other people here," and fathers ominously warning their sons, "What will happen tomorrow when the Syrian armies start arriving from Damascus? What will you do?"

  Hussain was at this moment making his way to Kufah with his nearest and dearest, relying on the allegiance pledged by the Kufans. But the resolve of these men could not hold in the face of such threats and discouragement.

  One by one, the Kufans deserted Muslim ibn Aqil. At sunset, he was left with only thirty men. He led them in maghrib, and then moved away to the doorway of the Kindah quarter of Kufah. He went through that door with no more than ten men, and before he knew it, he was all on his own in the streets of Kufah.

  Eventually, parched with thirst, he knocked at a door. “Who is it,” An old coarse voice muttered.

  “I am Muslim bin Aqil from Madinah. For the love of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his descendents, please give me some water and let me stay for the night.”

  The door banged shut, but almost instantaneously opened up again.

  The old women stood alongside her son. “Come in son. You are safe here. The entire city has deserted you in your time of need, but you will be safe here. You can stay here as long as you want. I have extracted a promise from my son here not to tell anyone of your presence there.”

  No sooner had the sun rose than the ‘son’ took news to governor's residence. The next thing Muslim knew was the house being surrounded by troops. Thrice he managed to drive the attackers out of the house, but when they started putting fire to the house he was forced to face them outside. It was only when Abd ar-Rahman ibn Mohammed ibn al-Ashath, one of those sent to arrest him promised him safety of life that he lowered his sword. It was a mistake, for they took away the sword and mounted him upon an ass to be taken to Ubaydullah.

  Muslim knew death was at hand. He begged Ibn al-Ashath to send someone to Hussain with the following message:

  “Muslim Ibn Aqil has sent me to you. He says to you, ‘Go back with your family. Do not be deceived by people of Kufah. They are those same supporters of your father from whom he so dearly wished to part, by death or by being killed. The Kufans have lied to me and have lied to you, and a liar has no sense.’”

  Later that day, the day of Arafah, the 9th of Dhul Hijjah (10th September 680 CE), Muslim ibn Aqil was taken up to the highest ramparts of the fort. As he was being led up, he recited the tahlil, tasbih, takbir and istighfar.

  His last words reflect his intense disappointment with the people of Kufah: "O Allah, You be the Judge between us and our people. They deceived us and deserted us."

  In the meantime, Hussain had dispatched a messenger, Qays ibn Mushir, to inform the Kufans of his imminent arrival. He was captured. Ubaydullah ordered him to mount the walls of the fort and publicly curse Hussain and his father. Mount the walls, he did, but he praised Ali and Hussain instead, telling the Kufans that Hussain was on his way, exhorting them to assist him as they had promised. He ended his brief address by imprecating curses upon Ubaydullah.

  He was flung from the ramparts and killed.

  Despite this impassioned plea, the men of Kufah were unmoved, and Hussain was on his way.

  Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad had entered Kufah with just seventeen men. For each man that came with him there were over a thousand who had taken oath of allegiance at the hands of Muslim ibn Aqil. Yet not a single sword was raised in his defense. Not a single voice had the courage to protest his execution. And these were the same men who had been telling Hussain, “Come, we are with you.”

  After an arduous journey of almost a month, Hussain and his party reached Iraq. It was there that he first heard of the treachery of the Kufans and the death of Muslim ibn Aqil. Later he also learnt of the death of Qays ibn Mushir. A large number of desert Arabs had by that time attached themselves to his party, thinking that Kufah was already his. Hussain addressed them, saying,

  "Our Shi‘ah have deserted us. Therefore, whoever wants to leave is free to do so."

  Soon he was left with only those who left Makkah with him.

  Kufah was placed under heave surveillance by Ubaydullah. When news of Hussain’s approach reached him, he diverted a four thousand strong contingent on its way to fight the Daylamites. This contingent was put under the command of Umar ibn Sa‘d, the son of the famous companion Sad ibn Abi Waqqas.

  Only a handful of Kufans emerged to join Hussain at Karbala.

  When the sun set on the 10th Muharram 61 AH (10 October 680 CE), the sands of Karbala were stained with the blood of Hussain, may Allah be pleased with him, his infant Asghar and his seventy-one followers. May Allah have mercy on all of them.

  Hussain’s head was taken to Damascus. On seeing it, it is said that Yazid wept bitterly and ordered it to be returned to Karbala and honourably buried.

  ***

  Four years later the there emerged a group of Kufans calling themselves the tawwabun (penitents) who made it their duty to wreak vengeance upon the killers of Hussain. On their way to Syria in pursuit of Ubaydullah ibn Zayd they passed by Karbala, where they raised a great hue and cry, and spent the night lamenting the tragedy which they allowed to happen four years earlier. Had they only displayed that same spirit of compassion for Hussain when he was so much in need of it the history of Islam might have taken a different course.

  Karbala was not to be the last act of treason by the “Shi‘ah” against the family of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Sixty years later Zayd ibn Ali ibn Hussain, may Allah have mercy on him, led an uprising against the Umayyad ruler Hisham ibn Abdul Malik. He received the oaths of allegiance of over forty thousand men, fifteen thousand of whom were from the very same Kufah that had deserted his grandfather.

  Just before the battle could start, Zaid’s shi’ah, upon a whim asked his opinion about Abu Bakr and Umar.

  Zayd answered: “I have never heard any of my family dissociate himself from them, and I have nothing but good to say about them.”

  Upset with this answer, they deserted him en masse, deciding that the true imam could only be Zaid’s nephew Jafar as-Sadiq. Out of forty thousand, Zayd was left with only a few hundred men.

  On the departure of the defectors Zayd remarked: “I am afraid they have done unto me as they did to Hussain.” On Wednesday the 1st Safar 122 AH (6th January 740 CE) Zayd and his little army fought bravely and attained martyrdom.

  It does not come as a surprise that after this incident none of the Shiite imams ever attempted an armed revolt against the khilafat.

  SOFIA

  Queen Irene, the regent for Constantine IV, Holy Roman Emperor was the first to speak. “What you are saying Naqfoor, is that we rush in with unprepared troops.”

  The Papal representative interrupted: “Your commander in chief Naqfoor has a good point this time. Ever since your predecessor Heraclus bid Syria goodbye, we have suffered reverses after reverses in the hand of the Muslims. We all know the reason behind their success has been first their strong adherence to the teachings of their Prophet Mohammed and secondly their unity.”

  Naqfoor took over: “Finally things are different. Their kalifah
Harun al Rashid is besieged by dissentions and rebellion all around him, and our spies report the corrupting influence of wine and women finally starting to manifest itself in Baghdad, I think the time has come to regain some of our lost territories”

  The Queen did not display the enthusiasm of Naqfoor. “This is nothing new. Time and time we have taken the offensive, hoping to take advantage of dissension in the Muslim ranks. But we have seen is whenever they face an external threat, they temporarily forget their differences, join hands and crush us.”

  The Queen had a grasp of history and was a pragmatist.

  Naqfoor was unwavering.

  He retorted: “I say the time to attack is now. The power of the Muslims is at the lowest ebb ever since the offensive began a century ago. Our spies report that Harun cannot move out of Baghdad, thanks to the rebellion by his half-brother Jafar. There is serious unrest and disturbances in the provinces. The Shiites still have not digested the fact that they were used by As-Saffah, Harun’s great-grandfather to unseat the Umayyad.”

  “OK. Go ahead,” the queen said much against her wishes.

  Whether she liked it or not, she could not hope to survive for long by antagonizing the other two pillars of the state – the army and the papacy.

  ***

  “So war it will be. Let’s hope for the best.” Markus, the governor of Heruclia dismissed the messenger from Constantinople, and called for his chief aide. He asked him to instruct all the vicars in the province start exhorting the villagers to enlist as volunteers.

  He turned to Istribriq, Naqfoor’s son, who was staying with them.

  “Your father wants to groom you as the next commander in chief and as such wants you to lead from the front. Are you prepared?’

  Before Istribiq could answer, Sofia, the daughter of Marcus, intervened: “The Queen was right in being reluctant to take up hostilities. The basic problem is our system. The center has to depend upon the response of provincial governors and fortress keepers to raise troops, and as such cannot raise an efficient army at short notice.”

  “But this time we are going in well prepared. Though the formal declaration has come only now, we have been preparing for some time now” Istribiq replied.

  Sofia and Istribiq had become close friends when the former had been in Constantinople to complete her studies. A lady of diverse skills and talents, she had a sharp brain, and could not be taken in.

  “I have been studying about Islam, much like the Queen does and much to the chagrin of the conservatives within our establishment. What I have deduced that is the secret of their success lies in believing an unseen, all powerful, all watching Allah; and upholding a set of virtues and values that make them lay down life here for reward in the hereafter. They love poverty and abstinence exactly as we love liquor and sex. They clash with the mightiest of armies because they believe in divine help.

  Christianity too could do the same during its early days. The Muslims themselves hold our Jesus Christ in high esteem. They consider him as a Prophet, just like Mohammed, and always send salutations of peace when they mention his name. They believe that Jesus or Isa as they call them was send with the same divine message Mohammed was send with, and that a group among the Children of Israel did believe in him. What they differ in is that they believe that he was not crucified, but God raised him to the heavens, and that he will come before the world will end and establish the true religion of God. They believe that a group of Isa’s followers rejected his true message and invented lies that he was the son of God and the concept of trinity. They also claim the advent of Mohammed as a Prophet is mentioned in our Torah and Injeel and that we are obliged to follow him.

  Whatever be the case, as of now our followers have begun to run after worldly interests, and have nothing to give by way of material spirit. The day the followers of Islam also start thinking about the pleasures of this world, we shall be on equal footing, and then the mightiest army and the best tactician will win. Until that time, war with them is suicidal.”

  Later in the evening, as Sofia and Istribiq made their usual stroll through the cliffs of the shore, Istribiq said: “I think what you say is the right thing, Sofia. But I am a solider, and I cannot turn my back.”

  “And I would despise you if you did.” Sofia replied.

  After a brief period of silence Istribiq managed to let it out “Will you marry me?”

  Sofia had no such qualms in answering. “I will marry a man who is successful, and knows what he is doing. I have certain values and principles, and if I see the same in a man, I would like to marry him.”

  After some time she added “I know you very well, and you are a good friend of mine. You have many qualities that I spoke of. Let the war end, and if you are successful, I shall indeed be happy to marry you.”

  The next day Istribiq bid farewell to Marqus and Sofia and began preparations for war, which started soon enough. Naqfoor started the offensive with a troop of one lakh, but most of who had never seen action.

  ***

  Harun Al Rashid opened up two fronts, one led by Qasim who proceeded to Qarrah, and the other led by Abbas ibn Jafar, who proceeded to Sana. Qarrah was taken by Qasim, and Sana was under siege. Naqfoor divided his army into two. He first regained Qarrah, and then joined the second division proceeding to Sana.

  Taking advantage of the absence of the commander in chief and the army in Constantinople, the nobles started a plot to overthrow Queen Irene. Naqfoor took ten thousand soldiers with him and returned to Constantinople, leaving Istribiq with the task of repulsing the besiegers of Sana.

  Now Harun al Rashid opened up a third front under Ibrahim bin Jibreel, who proceeded to Constantinople itself. Naqfoor gave Ibrahim the slip and reached Constantinople. Fifteen valuable days were lost to quell the rebellion, and then Naqfoor set forth to Sana again.

  However Ibrahim was waiting.

  In the ensuing battle, Naqfoor was routed and his army annihilated.

  At Sana, Istribiq had encircled Abbas ibn Jafar. Had he attacked at that time, victory was certain, for Abbas was sandwiched between Istribiq and the garrison at the fort. Istribiq wavered, partly overawed by the situation and partly due to a lack of confidence in his abilities.

  This hurt, not only him, but his cause as well.

  Qasim, having abandoned Qarrah had been fast approaching Sana. Very soon Istribiq found himself sandwiched between Abbas and Qasim. It was a case of the besieger being besieged, who in turn was besieged. Very soon Ibrahim had also entered the scene.

  The chief of the fort, fed up, took the offensive for battle. But against the combined might of Qasim, Abbas and Ibrahim, neither he nor the tepid Istribiq could do much. By the time Naqfoor, now a commander without an army reached Istribiq’s camp, the rout was complete.

  Istribiq and Naqfoor became fugitives overnight. They managed to reach Constantinople undetected, but their joy was short lived, for they were greeted with the sight of the mightiest Muslim army the Byzantines had ever seen knocking on the gates of Constantinople.

  Queen Irene sued for peace, which was granted on payment of heavy tribute and surrender of Sana and a major portion of Asia Minor to the khilafat.

  ***

  Naqfoor simmered for revenge.

  He bode his time and made a proposal to the Queen to violate the treaty and renew hostilities. The Queen put her foot down and Naqfoor left the palace in rage.

  Back in Marcus’ palace, Sofia had heard of Istribiq’s tepidness which had been instrumental in turning the tide against the Byzantines.

  “Do not darken this doorstep again.” she screamed and virtually threw him out. But darken the doorstep he did, the very next day, along with his father.

  For the next month the governor’s palace at Heruclia was a beehive of activity with messengers and chiefs coming and going, and discussions and parleys going on till the wee hours of the morning. It was not until the trio of Marcus, Naqfoor and Istribiq finally proceeded to Constantinople, backed by a sizable number
of feudal lords that the full details of the conspiracy became evident.

  The Queen was holding court as usual when Naqfoor stormed in. Before anyone could utter a word he proclaimed “Queen Irene, regent to our Holy Roman Emperor, having made a treaty of peace and friendship with the heathens is unworthy to rule. I hereby declare her deposed. I am now the regent of our sovereign.”

  “Get out,” the Queen shouted.

  But when nobody bothered to hear her words and as one by one the nobles began to swear their allegiance to the new incumbent, the full implication of the coup struck the Queen. Naqfoor had toppled her, to save whose throne he had earlier dashed in, abandoning Sana. Before the hourglass turned, the Queen was settled in her new home in the dungeons, her final home in this world before rodents clawed away the life out of her body.

  The swearing in of the new dispensation was delayed only until the papal bull arrived. The marriage of Istribiq, the new commander in chief and Sofia was conducted on the same day. It needed more than plain guts to resist the proposal of the regent and the commander in chief of the Holy Roman Empire, which had the backing of her father in any case.

  No sooner had Naqfoor settled down in the throne than he decided to resume hostilities.

  He wrote a letter to Harun al Rashid:

  From Emperor Naqfoor of the Roman Empire to kalifah Harun al Rashid

  “May it be known to you that it was a queen who formerly ruled this empire. She was worthless enough to loose the war and agreed to pay huge cash sums as tribute for two years. Now a strong man of fireproof iron will rule the empire, who knows how to deal with such cheap kings as you. It is in your interest to return all monies already received. If you refuse we are ready to clash swords and you will know how much you are worth in the battlefield.”