A detailed clarification by Shaykh Rabīʿ al-Madkhalī refuting the claim that al-Ḥusayn or Ibn al-Zubayr rebelled, and outlining the historical realities surrounding the events of that period.
Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī said:
As for the claim that some of the Companions rebelled, we state that not a single Companion, may Allah be pleased with them, rebelled.
With regard to ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, the people initially pledged allegiance to him. When they later pledged allegiance to Yazīd, Ibn al-Zubayr withdrew to Makkah and did not intend fighting or tribulation. At that time, the governor of Makkah was his brother, and Ibn al-Zubayr refused either to remove him or to draw him out of his position.
Subsequently, Yazīd passed away, and the people pledged allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr, with the exception of a faction in al-Shām. Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, together with a group from Banū Umayyah, set out from al-Shām intending to pledge allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him. However, along the way they encountered Ibn Ziyād, who asked them: “Are you going to pledge allegiance to him while among you is a shaykh from Quraysh?”
As a result of this, they pledged allegiance to Marwān. Thereafter, some people returned and openly declared rebellion against ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr. Thus, Ibn al-Zubayr did not rebel against anyone. Rather, it was incumbent upon Marwān to pledge allegiance to him, but instead he initiated the fighting, which was later concluded by ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān. The point remains that not one of the Companions rebelled.
As for al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with them both, he was not a Khārijī. Indeed, he regretted what transpired, may Allah be pleased with him. Those who pledged allegiance to him and wrote to him from among the Shīʿah later confronted him with their swords. He said to them: “Leave me so that I may return, or go to jihād, or go to Yazīd.” However, they were not satisfied until they killed him.
Yazīd did not intend to kill al-Ḥusayn, nor did al-Ḥusayn intend to kill Yazīd, nor did he go to him in order to fight him. Rather, the Shīʿah betrayed al-Ḥusayn, drove him out of Makkah, and when he went to them, they met him with swords and killed him. May Allah recompense them accordingly.
Reference
Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī, ʿAwn al-Bārī bi-Bayān mā Taḍammanahu Sharḥ al-Sunnah li-l-Imām al-Barbahārī, Dār al-Muḥsin, Riyadh, vol. 1, pp. 254–255.
July 9, 2017
4 mins read
