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MUKHTAR

How He AvengedThe Kerbala Perpetrators

(61 - 67 AH)

MahmoodHusein Datoo

BSc, PhD, CEng,MRAes ,MIMechE , MICE

ISBN: 0-940368-34-X

Second Edition 2003

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Muharram 1424, March 2003

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Table of Contents

Summary 7

Chapter 1: Who was Mukhtar? 8

Chapter 2: Mukhtar's First Imprisonment 10

Chapter 3: Imprisonment and Release of Kumayl Hamadani 12

Chapter 4: Kumayl Smuggles Pen and Paper to Mukhtar 14

Chapter 5: Kumayl Meets Abdulla Omar 16

Chapter 6: Kumayl Meets Yazeed 18

Chapter 7: Mukhtar's Release 21

Chapter 8: Rampage in Medina 23

Chapter 9: Yazeed's Death 26

Chapter 10: Mukhtar's Permission from Imam Z Abideen (as) 27

Chapter 11: The Tawwabun (The Penitents) 28

Chapter 12: Ubaydallah Ziyad Flees Basra 29

Chapter 13: Ubaydallah Ziyad in Damascus 31

Chapter 14: The Tawwabun's Mission 32

Chapter 15: Mukhtar's Second Imprisonment and Release 34

Chapter 16: Abdulla Muti Tries to Imprison Mukhtar 36

Chapter 17: Mukhtar Teams With Ibrahim Malik Ashtar 38

Chapter 18: Mukhtar Becomes Governor of Kufa 39

Chapter 19: Mukhtar Rules Over Kufa 42

Chapter 20: Abdulla Muti Joins Forces with Masa'b Zobayr 44

Chapter 21: Ibrahim Malik Ashtar Captured and Escapes 45

Chapter 22: Control for Mosul 47

Chapter 23: Attempt on Mukhtar's Life 49

Chapter 24: Mukhtar Goes After the Perpetrators of Kerbala 51

Chapter 25: Tracking Down Ubaydallah Ziyad 55

Chapter 26: Mukhtar Martyred 57

References & Bibliography 60

Summary

The book begins by introducing Mukhtar and traces his life from the moment he first welcomes Muslim Aqeel, the cousin of ImamHusein (as), who was sent to assess the situation in Kufa.

Mukhtar is subsequently imprisoned by the authorities because of his love and support of ImamHusein (as).

Mukhtar manages to get himself released through the help of aKumayl Hamadani . Meanwhile, the atrocities ofYazeed continues and because of theKerbala effect, the political situation in the region also changes dramatically.

AfterYazeed's death, and parallel to Mukhtar's activities, a group called theTawwabuns (the Penitents), led by SulaymanSurad Khuzai ,organise themselves to punish theKerbala perpetrators. TheTawwabun decide to first punishUbaydallah Ziyad, one of the leaders of the planning of theKerbala massacre. However, theTawwabun are heavily crushed by the forces ofUbaydallah Ziyad.

Mukhtar tries to form an alliance with a friendly governor in the region in order to start avenging theKerbala perpetrators, but is rebuffed. He therefore teams up with another valiant supporter of theAhlal -bayt, Ibrahim MalikAshtar . Together, they lead a group of people in taking the control of the Governorship of Kufa.

Once in power, Mukhtar has to defend himself from his enemies who want him dead, for the fear of being hunted out for their part in the atrocities they carried out atKerbala .

Having consolidated his power and his hold in Kufa, Mukhtar begins his mission in earnest. He starts searching for the perpetrators ofKerbala , puts them on trial and punishes the guilty.

Finally, the booklet traces the events leading to the martyrdom of Mukhtar.

Chapter 1: Who was Mukhtar?

1- His full name: Mukhtar AbuObaida Masood Thaqafi of BanuHawazin tribe; he was born in 1 AH.

2- His mother's name wasHusna (some sources sayHilya ) and his father's name was AbuObaida Thaqafi.

3- He had one sister named Safiya who was married to Abdulla Omar, the son of the so-called second Khalifa Omar; another sister was married to Umar Saad, the chief commander ofYazeed's army inKerbala ; one of his daughters was married to ImamZainul Abideen (as) to have a son named Omar.

4- Due to his successful mission of avenging the enemies of Imam (as), there were many false accounts and distortions of his life at the time; for example, that he was of a "low" family, not to be respected,etc ; but some eminent people of the BanuHawazin tribe are:

Maimoona - wife of Prophet Muhammad (saww )

Ummul Baneen - wife of Imam Ali (as), mother of H Abbas

Laila - wife of Imam Hussein (as), mother of Ali Akbar

Labeed - a great poet of Arabia; author of one of the seven poems at one time hung at Kaaba

5- AbuObaida Thaqafi always wished for a son who would do anhonourable and memorable deed in this world, and only marries when he is convinced of the right partner to give him such a son; once he has a dream to choose a certain girl from a brave family of his tribe, namedHusna .

6- During the pregnancy of Mukhtar,Husna dreams of a horse rider descending from the sky and congratulating her for a brave son to come; on the night following the birth of Mukhtar,Husna dreams again of the same horse rider descending from the sky and congratulates her on the actual birth of the baby that would grow to be a firm follower of the Prophet Muhammad (saww ), theAhlal -bayt and avenger of ImamHusein's (as) killers and enemies.

7- AbuObaida , Mukhtar's father, was the commander of an army unit which invaded Iran under the orders of Omar (the "second" Khalifa); the Iranian troops had elephants which AbuObaida's people never saw before and were frightened of them, thus affecting their battle performance, but AbuObaida fights gallantly and makes inroads to the territory; AbuObaida dies in this battle in 13 AH when Mukhtar is 12 years old.

8- The battle command is then taken over by AbuObaida's brother, to finally win the whole battle and bring the area fought under his influence.

9- Meanwhile, Mukhtar is brought up by his mother and uncle; his uncle is made governor ofMadayn by Omar; during the time ofMuawiyah , when there is a cease-fire between Imam Hasan (as) andMuawiyah , Mukhtar's uncle, till then the governor ofMadayn , is transferred to the governorship of Mosul. (Madayn is where Salman Farsi, Jabir AbdullaAnsaree andHuzayfa Yamani are buried;also inMadayn is the TakeKisra .)

Chapter 2: Mukhtar's First Imprisonment

1- When Muslim Aqeel arrives in Kufa in 60AH , sent by ImamHusein (as) from Mecca, Muslim stays at Mukhtar's house; Mukhtar is the first person to pay homage to Muslim Aqeel.

2- Mukhtar goes out of Kufa to raise, from the followers of his tribe, an army of supporters for Muslim Aqeel, who is representing ImamHusein (as).

3- AfterUbaydallah Ziyad's arrival in Kufa and the trouble which ensues, Muslim Aqeel goes to HaniUrwa's house where he is finally tracked down and then publicly executed by the order ofUbaydallah Ziyad.

4- Mukhtar is out of Kufa at the time when Muslim Aqeel is murdered byUbaydallah Ziyad; Mukhtar returns to Kufa with his men and on the way in, hears about unrest in Kufa.

5- He meets withtravellers and hears about Muslim's murder; he also fights and kills some of the road interceptors sent byUbaydallah Ziyad.

6- Mukhtar disperses his assembled army, disarms and makes a diplomatic move to join the group of OmarHaris (a government officer), stationed just outside the Kufa boundary, offering amnesty to people who initially supported Muslim Aqeel but would now not opposeUbaydallah Ziyad.

7- Chiefs of Kufa are summoned to the court ofUbaydallah Ziyad and Mukhtar is one of them; one source says Mukhtar does not saluteUbaydallah Ziyad and is hit by bodyguards to have one eye badly bruised, whereas another report says Mukhtar salutesUbaydallah Ziyad but is snubbed by not getting a reply.

8- Mukhtar is questioned byUbaydallah Ziyad about his allegiance to and motives of Muslim Aqeel staying with him initially; he is also queried about the dispersal of his followers after hearing of Muslim's murder; OmarHaris vouches for him as having surrendered alone without any supporters.

9- Widows' of the road interceptors killed by Mukhtar arrive in the court; Mukhtar is questioned why he killed, not only one but about twenty to thirty soldiers ofUbaydallah Ziyad, if his intention was friendly;Ubaydallah Ziyad orders to imprison Mukhtar for the killings of his soldiers and for supporting and hosting Muslim Aqeel.

10- Mukhtar is jailed in a dungeon together with other four thousand to five thousand Shias already there; (it was the intention of Muslim Aqeel to try for the release of these prisoners); the dungeon is about seventy five feet below ground level; Mukhtar's hands and waist are chained, his legs are chained to a heavy cannon-ball requiring about twenty people to lift; the dungeon is very dark underground with no sunlight and very little air; Mukhtar is ordered to be kept at an extreme corner so as even to deny him any fresh air from the opening of a door; his diet is malnourished food; the dungeon is always patrolled by about forty guards at a time working in shifts.

11- Ashura day massacre occurs whilst Mukhtar is in prison in Kufa, but he is brought out from the dungeon to witness the arrival of the heads of Martyrs and survivors in the court ofUbaydallah Ziyad. Here, he makes a vow to himself that he will not rest until he has avenged the perpetrators ofKerbala .

12- In prison, Mukhtar meetsMaythame Tammar , a close companion of Imam Ali (as) who taughtMaythame Tammar "ulumul balaya walmanaya ": "knowledge of dream interpretation and of predicting some future events";Maythame Tammar informs Mukhtar of his coming release and his fulfilment of the wish to avenge ImamHusein's (as) killers and enemies.

Chapter 3: Imprisonment and Release ofKumayl Hamadani

1- Kumayl Hamadani (other sources name him asKathir Hamadani ) was 70-80 years old in 60 AH; he was amadressa teacher in Kufa, aMaalim who taught Quran to many people since the time of Imam Ali (as); he was a staunch supporter ofAhlal -bayt, but he was hiding his faith, like many others, due to the political climate at the time.

(Note that this is not the same man asKumayl Ziyad, after the famousDua -e-Kumayl .)

2- Once, when conducting his class,Kumayl feels thirsty (considering his age, the heat in Kufa and his job requiring him to continually use his voice), when a water seller passes by;Kumayl buys some water and before drinking, remembers the Martyrs inKerbala and loudly curses ImamHusein's (as) killers.

3- Amongst the children present inKumayl's class is Sinan's son; he challenges theMaalim that the killers didYazeed and his government a favour; Sinan's son finishes his class, and then on his way home, beats himself with a stone to bleed and tears his clothes.

4- At home, his mother enquires to the bloody state, and the son says that theMaalim beat him up because he objected to theMaalim cursing his father andYazeed ; the mother gets angry, and when Sinan returns home, she demands an immediate retaliation of theMaalim , saying that he lives under our government butharbours animosity against us.

5- Sinan immediately goes toUbaydallah Ziyad who sends forKumayl ;Kumayl protests that he did not harm the boy, butUbaydallah Ziyad chooses to believe Sinan's son, and imprisonsKumayl in the same dungeon where the rest of the Shias and Mukhtar were kept.

6- Kumayl meets with Mukhtar; Mukhtar tellsKumayl that he was awaitingKumayl's coming as foretold byMaythame Tammar ;Kumayl is very apprehensive of his imprisonment, but Mukhtar assures him of his freedom and his help in getting Mukhtar out, again as predicted byMaythame Tammar .

7- Now, one ofKumayl's niece,Bostan , was a nanny to the grand-son ofUbaydallah Ziyad (his daughter's son) and the nanny imploresUbaydallah Ziyad's daughter to use her influence to get her uncle (Kumayl ) released for the alleged beating on Sinan's son.

8- In the evening, the daughter goes toUbaydallah Ziyad and explains thatKumayl is an uncle of the nanny and thatKumayl is an old, feeble and honest man whom Kufa owes a gratitude for his teachings;Ubaydallah Ziyad agrees to freeKumayl the next day, but she insists it be done the same evening and she herself would go to the prison to convey the order.

9- At the dungeon, the guards change for the evening shift, on the eve of the dayKumayl was to be released (as told to him by Mukhtar onMaythame Tammar's predictions);Kumayl looses any hope of release that day because an evening change of guards meant the prison doors do not get opened until the day shift arrives; Mukhtar reassuresKumayl to have faith onMaythame Tammar's prediction; it is the same evening thatUbaydallah Ziyad's daughter arrives with the order to getKumayl released.

10- Kumayl bids Mukhtar farewell, upon which Mukhtar requests him to find means of getting to him pen and paper;Kumayl promises to do so.

Chapter 4:Kumayl Smuggles Pen and Paper to Mukhtar

1- On his release,Kumayl is warned byUbaydallah Ziyad not to repeat the crime of cursingYazeed or his government;Kumayl promises to lead a quiet life and to teach no more at themadressa .

2- Kumayl thinks of a plan to smuggle pen and paper into the prison andrealises that secrecy is of utmost importance shouldUbaydallah Ziyad suspect anything; he explains the plan to his wife, who is also a staunch Shia, and she helps him (other sources say he divorces his wife so as to maintain complete secrecy of his movements).

3- The plan involves befriending the warden and at night he takes money and good food to the warden's home; the warden is on night duty, soKumayl explains to the warden's wife that it was his vow to give such gifts to the warden upon being released; the wife accepts it and gives them to her husband in the morning; the warden immediatelyrealises thatKumayl is seeking a favour.

4- Same thing happens on the second night; on the third night the warden is in; he questionsKumayl of his motive and does not believe the vow story; finally, the warden pleads on behalf of thePanjatan that ifKumayl somehow wants to help Mukhtar, the warden was willing;Kumayl is now at ease knowing that the warden has sympathy for Mukhtar, and tells the warden of his intention to smuggle pen and paper to Mukhtar.

5- The warden comes up with a plan:

he says that there are total of forty guards with him as the chief, but all the guards are chosen carefully, each having animosity to each other, so that there is no lax in security due to bribes, influenceetc , and all guards report directly toUbaydallah Ziyad.the warden advisesKumayl to prepare the best and delicious of food (as per the Arab custom at time), to buy fruits and almonds; in one fruit hide a pen in it; in another fruit hide some thin small paper; and in selected almonds, insert ink; these should be marked from others so the warden would know which should go to Mukhtar.

the warden tellsKumayl : come to the prison when I am on duty and tell of your vow to feed the prisoners on your release; I will get extremely angry at your gesture, and beat you up violently and harshly, so as to get the other guards take pity on you (who will then act against my apparent wish, for as always, we all oppose each other) as an old, feeble, honestMaalim with an apparent innocent vow to bring in good food.

when the other guards then permit you to send in the food, I will ensure Mukhtar gets the marked foods.

6- The next day,Kumayl prepares and goes to the prison where the scheme goes into action as planned; the warden warns his subordinates thatUbaydallah Ziyad may not like it, but they see no harm in letting the food through especially after the warden's beating toKumayl .

7- The food gets into prison and Mukhtar gets the marked ones, which he hides successfully forUbaydallah Ziyad arrives suddenly with about thirty personal guards (other sources say thatUbaydallah Ziyad arrives with the personal guards just before the food gets into the prison).

8- Ubaydallah Ziyad orders all the forty prison guards to be beaten up severely, after which the guards (including the warden who knew of the misdeed) ask as to the reason forUbaydallah Ziyad's sudden arrival and punishment.

9- Ubaydallah Ziyad says he knows of the plot to smuggle pen and paper to Mukhtar, whereupon the warden, hoping for the best with prayers, challengesUbaydallah Ziyad to find any pen/paper in the food; his personal guards perform athrough search in all the foods but are unable to find any pen or paper, for Mukhtar had by then successfully hidden away the marked food (other sources say they did not think of looking into the fruits/almonds).

10- With the warden's prayers answered, and no trace of pen/paper found, he enquires ofUbaydallah Ziyad as to how he got the "false" information;Ubaydallah Ziyad says it was the warden's son who came to report of the plot (the son was eavesdropping on the conversation betweenKumayl and his father, but did not overhear the last part about hiding the pen/paper/inketc as the two were then whispering so as not to be overheard by passers-by going for theFajr prayers).

11- The warden explains that the boy is not his real son, but adopted him from the streets where he was abandoned, and in trying to discipline the child, the child bore grudge against him and hence falsely reported and wastedUbaydallah Ziyad time;Ubaydallah Ziyad gets very angry and orders the immediate execution of the boy.

12- Ubaydallah Ziyad and his personal guards go away,Kumayl goes home, and Mukhtar gets the pen/paper/ink.

Chapter 5:Kumayl Meets Abdulla Omar

1- From the prison in Kufa, Mukhtar writes two letters: one to his sister Safiya, and another to Safiya's husband Abdulla Omar, who are both in Medina; the letter explains his imprisonment and its harsh conditions, and asks Abdulla Omar to use his influence to get him released (Abdulla Omar was a very prominent and influential person, the son of "Khalifa" Omar, respected by Meccans, Syrians andKufians ).

2- Mukhtar gives the letters to the warden who forwards them toKumayl .

3- Kumayl thinks of a way to reach Medina without incurring the suspicion ofUbaydallah Ziyad, forUbaydallah Ziyad is well aware of Abdulla Omar's (Mukhtar's brother in-law) influence onYazeed to order Mukhtar's freedom; soUbaydallah Ziyad wants a news blackout on Mukhtar's imprisonment.

4- Kumayl decides it is best to leave with the blessings ofUbaydallah Ziyad least he be caught when he is out of Kufa, is forced back and imprisoned again; also, a state of emergency was in force in Kufa and an exit visa was required.

5- Kumayl dresses up inEhram and goes toUbaydallah Ziyad's court, where he recites theTalbiya (Labek ,labek ,Allahuma laka labek ) loudly;Ubaydallah Ziyad enquires of thisTalbiya in the Hajj off-season and is told that it isKumayl , who also wishes to seeUbaydallah Ziyad.

6- Kumayl explains toUbaydallah Ziyad that he vowed to performUmra on release butUbaydallah Ziyad is suspicious, recalling the vow to feed the prisoners, and asks how many vows were there, and whetherKumayl intends to go to Mecca only, or also to Medina;Kumayl could not say Medina for he would surely not be given permission to leave; he answers that he is to perform "Mukkamal Hajj" implying the visiting of Prophet's tomb in Medina;Ubaydallah Ziyad does not catch the significance ofKumayl's reply and allows him to go with his blessings, being under the impression thatKumayl is to visit Mecca only.

7- Kumayl leaves Kufa but instead of going to Mecca, he heads straight for Medina to Abdulla Omar's house; he arrives there at lunch time with Abdulla Omar serving good food (as befits his position); Safiya refuses to partake in such good lunches for any lack of news of his brother Mukhtar.

8- On hearing of atraveller's arrival from Kufa, Safiya urges her husband Abdulla Omar to meet with him to get any news of Mukhtar;Kumayl introduces himself to Abdulla Omar and produces the two letters from Mukhtar; on reading the letter, Safiya is distressed and asks for details directly fromKumayl and he relates the miserable condition of Mukhtar and how Mukhtar hopes for imminent release to avenge ImamHusein's (as) killers.

9- Due to her sorrow and distress, Safiya gets hysterical and shaves some of her head hair (as custom at the time to indicate deep grief); her daughters also do the same on seeing their mother's grief; Safiya asks her husband Abdulla Omar to write a letter toYazeed in Damascus to decree the release of Mukhtar; Abdulla Omar agrees, andKumayl volunteers to travel immediately to Damascus and hand deliver the letter toYazeed .

10- Abdulla Omar givesKumayl the letter and a wallet containing Safiya's lock of hair as evidence of his wife's grief; the letter says: release Mukhtar in Kufa, or Abdulla Omar will use his influence todestabilise the government ofYazeed in all areas, which Abdulla Omar was capable of doing.

Chapter 6:Kumayl MeetsYazeed

1- Kumayl enters the Syrian border and proceeds directly to Damascus city, and rents a room belonging to a shopkeeper.

2- In view of the political climate at the time, no Shia would show himself up, soKumayl had to tread carefully about the purpose of his visit.

3- He goes pastYazeed's palace daily in the hope of somehow getting in, but is refused entry by the guards; this goes on for eighteen days; he goes daily to the local mosque for prayers, and asks of his fellowNamazee to pray to Allah for the granting of his wish without specifying any details.

4- On the eighteenth day, the local mosque prayer leader, Imam-ul-jamaat, (other sources say it was the shopkeeper from whom he had a rented a room) asksKumayl the purpose of his visit as for the last eighteen days he has been trying to get intoYazeed's palace.

5- Kumayl is very apprehensive and only after establishing that the person was sympathetic to the Shias, does he say that he has a personal message forYazeed from Abdulla Omar regarding Mukhtar in Kufa.

6- The prayer leader says he will showKumayl of a way to get intoYazeed's palace since the visit is to help avenge the killers of ImamHusein (as); he also says that he would have told this toKumayl earlier hadKumayl confided in him.

7- The prayer leader tellsKumayl - inYazeed's palace, there is a household help, who is a Shia, whom you have to see in order to meetYazeed ; sinceKerbala , this helper is always dressed completely in black, is in mourning at all time and does not take subsistence fromYazeed but from his own income of knitting; you need to see this person forYazeed promised to grant him one wish in his life which he has not as yet asked for, and if your wish is concerning ImamHusein (as) then this person will ask of it fromYazeed .

8- Question: why wouldYazeed allow such an obvious Shia to remain with him? -Shahr Banoo , the first wife of ImamHusein (as) was a princess brought from Iran after a war victory there; she came with her maids, and one of these was Hinda; duringShahr Banoo lifetime, Hinda stayed with her, but afterShahr Banoo's death, ImamHusein (as) allowed allShahr Banoo's maids to go, except for one who was looking after ImamZainul Abideen (as) (who was just under two years old at the time).

9- Hinda was extremely pretty and beautiful, andYazeed was deeply infatuated with her, despite knowing her loath for him;Yazeed wants to marry her but she adamantly refuses; she is forced into marriage withYazeed ; (it is this same Hinda who visits theKerbala survivors in Damascus prison, to discover that they are theAhlal -bayt, and not ordinary rebels as maintained byYazeed ).

10- Now, Hinda had her servants/helpers and one of them was this person whoKumayl was to meet inYazeed's palace;Yazeed kept this helper (of Hinda) and granted him the privilege of any single wish to behonoured , out ofYazeed's love for Hinda.

11- SoKumayl was to see this person inYazeed's palace and the prayer leader explains toKumayl the way to get to meet this helper inYazeed's palace.Kumayl was to pass through the various security barriers with

12- confidence and act as if heis a frequent visitor to the palace and knows his way around.

13- The prayer leader tellsKumayl to:

dress yourself completely and fully in white, as this is the uniform of theauthorised people to gain entry into the palace do not hesitate at all at the main gate (other sources say it was the tradesman side entrance) but just walk straight through as if you know your way and are a frequent visitor

1st courtyard - there will be about a thousand cavalry; walk through confidently and do not answer any questions from the guards, asauthorised personnel do not answer back

2nd courtyard - there will be more cavalry; walk through confidently

3rd courtyard - there will be even more cavalry: walk through confidently

4th courtyard - five mounted soldiers will be guarding the entrance toYazeed's inner court; walk through confidently

5th hall - there will be more soldiers; walk through confidently

6th hall: this will be an office full of people busy in their administration works; walk through confidently

7th hall - gallery on both sides, marble and gold floor, glasses of gems and jewels filled with liquor, three people on either gallery lounging leisurely; these six people are called "Tashtiya " (tear bearers) for they personally carried the tray containing ImamHusein's (as) head finally toYazeed , and soYazeed allows them to lounge all the time as their reward; walk through confidently

8th hall - again, two galleries on either side, hall more decorous than the 7th, where all things are decorated with gems, gold and jewels; there will be nobody there; do not pause to admire the beauty, for anyone pausing is surely a first time visitor, and will be questioned by security guards who are watching from hidden positions; walk through confidently

9th hall - empty and completely stripped of any decoration; this is to provide a complete contrast to the previous decorated halls; do not stop to wonder why the sudden contrast as this again is a trap for thefirst time visitors; just walk straight through without any pause

10th hall - you will meet a person fully dressed in black; he is the one (Hinda's help) whom you have to meet

14- Next dayKumayl goes toYazeed's palace and follows the instructions of the prayer leader; he passes through all the nine halls and to the tenth to meet the person dressed in black; this person greetsKumayl by name saying he has been waiting for eighteen days to meetKumayl ;Kumayl is immediately apprehensive thinking that it is a trap and his identity is discovered;Kumayl enquires how this person knew of his name and that he was in town for eighteen days.

15- This person says - eighteen nights ago, ImamHusein (as) came to my dreams saying that aMaalim namedKumayl from Kufa will come with a request which I should honour as it involves the avenging of the perpetrators ofKerbala ; ImamHusein (as) also came to my dreams last night to tell me that you will come today, and to convey his thanks to you and to myself for the work undertaken.

16- Just then, about a hundred people pass through with an aroma of various perfumery and incense to fragrant the air on the way to the bathroom whereYazeed is scheduled for a bath; they are followed by a number of pages (young children) all dressed in golden clothes; the pages are followed by personal bodyguards ofYazeed ;Yazeed then follows pompously, wearing a golden crown, carrying a golden stick and wearing golden shoes decorated with gems.

17- Hinda's help goes toYazeed to tell him that the time has come for the granting of his one request: to meet the person from Kufa who has a got a message from Abdulla Omar in Medina;Kumayl hands over the letter and

18- the wallet containing Safiya's lock of hair;Yazeed asksKumayl - who are you? are you a Shia? do you have any animosity to the killers of ImamHusein (as)?; Kumayl is frightened, but Hinda's help intercedes saying that all these questions are irrelevant to his one wish.

19- Yazeed orders for pen and paper and writes toUbaydallah Ziyad in Kufa a decree to release Mukhtar immediately on receipt of the order;Yazeed's letter is given toKumayl ;Yazeed says to Hinda's help - alas, I would have willingly given you any amount of money if it were your wish, but for my promise to you for the love of Hinda, together with Abdulla Omar's threat ofdestabilising my kingdom, I have had to issue this decree knowing it will cause my downfall.

20- Kumayl rushes back to his rented room, collects his belongings and goes straight to Medina to Abdulla Omar;Kumayl informs him of the decree but Abdulla Omar does not tell Safiya, least Mukhtar is not freed byUbaydallah Ziyad and she gets disappointed.

Chapter 7: Mukhtar's Release

1- Kumayl travels from Medina to Kufa; on his way he wonders ifUbaydallah Ziyad has got wind of the developments and has sent soldiers to intercept him and kill him, thereby not receivingYazeed's decree for freeing Mukhtar.

2- Near the gates of Kufa (boundary into Kufa),Kumayl covers his face (as was the customary dress to protect against the desert winds) and rides through in an energetic manner, to give the impression of a young rider so as to fool any soldiers looking for an old person.

3- Kumayl finally reachesUbaydallah Ziyad's court and says that he has got message to deliver toUbaydallah Ziyad;Ubaydallah Ziyad reads the decree andrecognises that Mukhtar's freedom will finally be the cause of his downfall and death, but dare not opposeYazeed's order.

4- A blacksmith is ordered to cut off Mukhtar's chains, his wounds are attended to by a doctor, then he is brought toUbaydallah Ziyad; (one source says that Mukhtar's one eye turned blind during the imprisonment and it was the eye damaged by the guards when Mukhtar did not saluteUbaydallah Ziyad in the presence of all the other Chiefs);Ubaydallah Ziyad orders Mukhtar to leave Kufa within three days, or he will be imprisoned again.

5- Mukhtar advisesKumayl that it is best forKumayl also to leave Kufa, and they both leave Kufa the next day; Mukhtar tellsKumayl of his plan to raise an army to avenge the perpetrators ofKerbala ; they part company just outside Kufa;Kumayl goes to his tribe of Bani Kanda and Mukhtar heads for Medina.

6- Mukhtar arrives at Abdulla Omar's house and meets his sister Safiya (my deduction: Mukhtar is released in late 61 AH/very early 62 AH, for ifKerbala survivors were in Medina afterChehlum of 62 AH, surely Mukhtar would have visited them); brother and sister are both very happy at the reunion and Safiya is overcome with joy to an unconscious state; Safiya does not regain conscious and dies.

7- Mukhtar now sets out to start his planning for avenging the perpetrators ofKerbala ; he goes to Mecca to meet AbdullaZobayr :

8- AbdullaZobayr was one of the three prominent people who refusedBayat toYazeed (ImamHusein (as), AbdullaZobayr , Abdulla Omar)

9- AbdullaZobayr was in Mecca, ambitious to assume power and was inciting people in Medina/Mecca to rebel againstYazeed in the guise of sympathy of ImamHusein (as), saying that he (AbdullaZobayr ) was related to Prophet Muhammad (saww ) (he was actually related through Lady Khadija: AbdullaZobayr's grandfather's sister was Lady Khadija).

10- Mukhtar sees that AbdullaZobayr also appears to want to avenge ImamHusein's (as) killers, so he goes to AbdullaZobayr and asks him to join forces to avenge ImamHusein's (as) killers; AbdullaZobayr does not commit himself positively and Mukhtar seeing no support forthcoming, leaves Mecca forTaif to his tribesmen where he spends one year (my deduction: most of 62/63 AH) trying tomaterialise a plan.

Chapter 8: Rampage in Medina

1- Meanwhile in 62AH , there is a Commission of Inquiry in Medina following the return ofKerbala survivors; in the committee of prominentMedinites is AmirZobayr (AbdullaZobayr's brother) and AbdullaHanzala .

2- The Commission goes to Damascus to investigate and reports back on the damning conduct ofYazeed : that he is immoral, a drunkard, a gambler and is openly flouting Islamic ways; the Commission was offered large bribes to give afavourable report, but they did not accept anyfavours and reported the truth.

3- The Commission's conclusion was - it is immoral and unforgivable for the people of Medina to have given and to continue giving their allegiance toYazeed ; theMedinites now denounce and withdraw their allegiance fromYazeed , and transfer their allegiance to AbdullaHanzala , who becomes the Governor of Medina.

4- On hearing of Medina's rebellion, and with Mecca under the control of AbdullaZobayr , and of unrest in other areas,Yazeed sends troops, first to Medina and then to proceed to Mecca; the army units are under the command of Muslim Aqaba, who is a very staunch supporter ofYazeed and a bitter enemy of theAhlal -bayt.

5- Yazeed gives Muslim Aqaba a completely unrestrained rules of engagement and uninhibited orders to bring Medina and Mecca back intoYazeed's rule; the only exception to the orders was that ImamZainul Abideen (as) and his family should not be touched asYazeed did not want anotherKerbala effect.

6- Furthermore, if Muslim Aqaba were to die in service, then the command should pass on toHaseen Nameer ;Haseen Nameer was the Chief of police in Kufa responsible for tracking down Muslim Aqeel; he was responsible for setting up road blocks to stop Imam Hussein (as) entering Kufa; he was one of the army commanders atKerbala who headed the units of expert archers; he delivered the fatal lance at Ali Akbar (other sources say it wasKurra Munkidh who delivered the fatal lance).

7- So inZilhaj 63 AH Muslim Aqaba with his army advance towards Medina.

8- Meanwhile, the people of Medina's allegianceis now to AbdullaHanzala who is their Governor, and there is a lot of unrest againstYazeed's supporters; the people attack all knownYazeed's sympathisers .

9- Marwan Hakam (who advised Walid, the then governor of Medina, not to let ImamHusein (as) leave without extracting the oath of allegiance there and then from him, as called for byYazeed ), a bitter enemy of theAhlal -bayt, and a staunch supporter of the Umayyads (he was an Umayyad himself) is under attack from the people of Medina; Marwan sends all the womenfolk in his household to ImamZainul Abideen (as) for protection (notice the irony in the circumstances); ImamZainul Abideen (as) willingly and humbly accepts all people who ask for his protection, including his enemies (some reports say a total of about four hundred women, whilst other reports say about four thousand women, took refuge in ImamZainul Abideen's (as) house/farms).

10- Marwan himself runs from Medina at night to avoid being lynched by the people;Yazeed's supporters are told to leave Medina for their own safety; outside Medina, Marwan Hakam meets Muslim Aqaba and his army, and Marwan advises Muslim Aqaba that although a revolt is in progress in Medina, thedefence is non-existent, and so it is a good opportunity to mount an attack now.

11- Muslim Aqaba and his army proceed to Medina; on entering the city outskirts, menfolk come out to fight them but stand no chance against the might of Muslim Aqaba; a number ofMedinites are killed.

12- Muslim Aqaba moves into Medina city on 28Zilhaj 63 AH; people take refuge in the Prophet's Mosque, for all knew that at the Prophet's grave and in the courtyard of the Prophet's Mosque, there is no harassment and everybody is protected; but Muslim Aqaba knows no sanctity of the Prophet's Mosque and the Prophet's grave; he orders his soldiers into the mosque and they kill the people therein.

13- The Prophet's grave and the Prophet's Mosque are abused to the extreme, with drinking, rape, human and animalfoulings , bloodshed; dogs were put on theMimbar and fouled it; this continued for three days and nights; simultaneously, there is a rampage in the city for three days and nights; the army is given complete freedom to loot, pillage, rape and kill (reports show that about one thousand illegitimate children were born as a result of rape in three days); the whole city was affected (except for ImamZainul Abideen's (as) household).

14- After the rampage, Muslim Aqaba asks for allegiance from the people of Medina (except for ImamZainul Abideen's (as) household) to be transferred back toYazeed ; nobody amongst the common populace dare refuse.

15- After putting a puppet governor back in power in Medina, Muslim Aqaba and his army leave for Mecca; on the way, Muslim Aqaba becomes ill and dies;Haseen Nameer takes over the command of the army and they advances to Mecca.

16- Meanwhile in Mecca, just before the rampage in Medina, AbdullaZobayr now sees that even Medina has fallen fromYazeed's grip; being ambitious, he wants to take advantage of the situation anddestabilise the regimes in nearby areas to bring them under his rule; he sends for Mukhtar to come and help him to consolidate AbdullaZobayr's power.

17- Mukhtar meets with AbdullaZobayr and agrees to join forces with him on two conditions:

1- when AbdullaZobayr's rule is established, Mukhtar must be consulted in all matters and be given unhindered access to AbdullaZobayr

2- the first priority on establishing AbdullaZobayr's rule is to avenge the perpetrators ofKerbala .

18- AbdullaZobayr agrees to the first condition; he now says that the second condition is also his purpose (with the excuse that he refused to support Mukhtar earlier as the rebellions were then only just starting and their plans could have backfired).

19- AbdullaZobayr , with the bravery and military exploits of Mukhtar, establishes his rule in Mecca and surrounding areas (my deduction: mostly during late 63/early 64 AH).

20- After seeing the state of Medina is left after the rampage, and on hearing of the advance ofHaseen Nameer to Mecca, AbdullaZobayr is frightened and flees to hide in the mountains; it is left up to Mukhtar to defend Mecca;

21- Mukhtar leads the army units and they go just outside Mecca to try and stop the advance ofHaseen Nameer into Mecca city and Kaaba.

22- The attack on Mecca starts on 4Rabil Awwal 64 AH (about two months after the Medina attack)

23- The sheer determination of Mukhtar and his outnumbered men slows down, but does not stop,Haseen Nameer's progress into the city; when they are outside the range of Kaaba, they make "petrol" bombs and throw them at the Kaaba; the Kaaba burns; Mukhtar and his men just manage to hold backHaseen Nameer and his men getting near to the Kaaba.

24- At this point, news gets toHaseen Nameer that his chief commander of his army, that isYazeed , has died in Damascus (on 14Rabil Awwal 64 AH);Haseen Nameer and his army pull back and retreat to Damascus to await developments and fresh orders; the date of retreat is a few days after 14Rabil Awwal , for the Mecca assault started on 4Rabil Awwal and allowing a few days from 14Rabil Awwal for the news to get through to Mecca.

Chapter 9:Yazeed's Death

1- AfterKerbala ,Yazeed never got peace of mind nor sound sleep; he had a constantly undying and unquenching thirst, and was always feeling hot within his body; his doctors advised him that there was no cure, but to relieve his claustrophobia, he should spend time out in the open, and pass the time in his favourite hobby, for distraction purposes: hunting; so at intervals, he used to go hunting in the wilderness.

2- Yazeed was in no doubt that his incurable illness was due to his atrocities against ImamHusein (as) atKerbala , for he was often heard saying: "Mali min-al Hussein" (How has Hussein wronged me?).

3- Yazeed takes one of his frequent hunting trips, toHarwan in this case, with about ten personal bodyguards on 12Rabil Awwal 64 AH; he spots a handsome deer the like of which he had never seen before and orders his group to hold back, while he alone tries to hunt the deer; he runs after her but cannot trap her for the deer always alluded him; this goes on for two days (to 14Rabil Awwal 64 AH).

4- WhenYazeed does not return to his bodyguards, they go searching for him for two days but find no trace and they decide to return to the city; on the wayback they spotYazeed's horse withYazeed's thigh enclosed in his clothes, and they conclude thatYazeed had been killed.

5- Other reports say that when the bodyguards searched, they foundYazeed's body.

6- Whatever the case, the bodyguards return to Damascus and relate the tale, withYazeed's horse and his thigh, orYazeed's body, as evidence;Yazeed's thigh/body is buried; to-date, there is no trace remaining of his grave or its location.

7- AfterYazeed's death, the Caliphate is offered to his sonMuawiyah , who publicly refuses such an office due to the shame he felt of the abuse of the office by his father; he is nevertheless forced to accept it but does not step out of the palace due to the shame felt; after about eighteen days (some reports say forty days) Marwan Hakam engineered his murder for fear of the Caliphate slipping away from the Umayyad family dynasty.

Chapter 10: Mukhtar's Permission from Imam ZAbideen (as)

1- Meanwhile in Medina, on hearing ofYazeed's death, the Governor imposed by Muslim Aqaba is ousted and thrown out byMedinites ; AbdullaZobayr takes the opportunity to consolidate his power over Medina, and sends Mukhtar to oversee things.

2- Mukhtar goes to Mecca to AbdullaZobayr to make detailed plans of avenging theKerbala perpetrators; AbdullaZobayr however is no longer very responsive to the idea, saying they should take on the task of avenging when the time is right and not now.

3- Mukhtar is very disappointed and reminds AbdullaZobayr of his promise, when he solicited Mukhtar's help in establishing AbdullaZobayr as a ruler, and the moral duty to please theAhlal -bayt, but AbdullaZobayr does not listen.

4- AbdullaMuti , a friend of Mukhtar and the prime minister of AbdullaZobayr , advises Mukhtar to leave Mecca for the safety of his life, as otherwise AbdullaZobayr would have Mukhtar killed if he were to remain in Mecca; AbdullaMuti gives Mukhtar money and transportation to help him get out of Mecca.

5- So Mukhtar alone (since AbdullaZobayr has now turned) now has to effect a scheme planning for the avenge of the perpetrators ofKerbala ; but first he wants the blessings for the mission from the Imam of the time, ImamZainul Abideen (as).

6- Mukhtar goes to Medina to see MohamedHanafiya with whom he was in good terms; he requests MohamedHanafiya to accompany him to ImamZainul Abideen (as) to seek his permission and blessings for the mission; MohamedHanafiya was the step­brother of ImamHusein (as) and so he was the uncle of ImamZainul Abideen (as).

7- MohamedHanafiya and Mukhtar go to meet ImamZainul Abideen (as); MohamedHanafiya explains to ImamZainul Abideen (as) the mission that Mukhtar is taking on.

8- ImamZainul Abideen (as) says to MohamedHanafiya : the work of avenging ImamHusein's (as) killers is a right and Wajib for everyone to perform; I cannot do it myself because of the political situation at present and it is in the overriding interest of spreading Islam that I do not take on the task myself (this is Imam's knowledge and assessment); however, I leave this matter in your (MohamedHanafiya ) hands and you have my full blessings.

9- Both, MohamedHanafiya and Mukhtar understood the implicit permission of ImamZainul Abideen (as), but because of the political situation, ImamZainul Abideen (as) could not say so openly, but delegated the responsibility to MohamedHanafiya ; MohamedHanafiya consents to Mukhtar's mission, and Mukhtar, with the consent of Mohamed

10- Hanafiya as an attorney of ImamZainul Abideen (as), sets out on his mission.

Chapter 11: TheTawwabun (The Penitents)

1- DuringUbaydallah Ziyad's rule in Kufa, the Shias did not openly declare their faith for fear of the wrath ofUbaydallah Ziyad; on hearing ofYazeed's death, the Shias gain confidence and come out to attackUbaydallah Ziyad's palace; they are joined by other non-Shia people who are againstUbaydallah Ziyad's rule.

2- At the time of the attack,Ubaydallah Ziyad is in Basra, for he was the governor of Kufa and Basra, and used to spend six months in each city.

3- Ubaydallah Ziyad's palace in Kufa is taken over and the infamous prison (the one that Mukhtar was in with the other four to five thousand Shias) is thrown open and all prisoners are freed; most prisoners are not even aware of the massacre atKerbala due to the news blackout; these prisoners feel deeply aggrieved and remorse that they could not get to ImamHusein (as) when they were needed most.

4- They meet at SulaymanSurad Khuzai's house, who is about ninety years old; he was a companion of the Prophet Mohammed (saww ) and Imam Ali (as); Sulayman talks to the Shias: we have failed our ImamHusein (as), for we had invited him and we were not able to help him for one reason or another; but now we can help by seeking to avenge the perpetrators ofKerbala ; the people agree.

5- SulaymanSurad Khuzai manages to recruit more people to the cause,totalling to about sixteen thousand; this group became to be known as theTawwabun (The Penitents), the people who felt sorry.

6- SulaymanSurad Khuzai is unanimously chosen to be the leader of theTawwabun ; theTawwabun are fully aware that many of theKerbala's killers are in Kufa (people like Sinan,Shimr ,Khooli , Umar Saad,Hurmala ), but the strategy was to go first after the main architect of theKerbala tragedy, that isUbaydallah Ziyad.

7- Also, theKerbala killers in Kufa were in powerful positions with influential and powerful local connections, and theTawwabun’s thinking was that the killers could be sought later when theTawwabun group has had more time to mature to a position of strength.

8- On hearing thatUbaydallah Ziyad's palace in Kufa has been taken over by theKufians , AbdullaZobayr from Mecca sends AbdullaYazeed Ansaree to Kufa to become his governor there; the new governor is well aware of theTawwabun movement, but makes no attempt to stop the activities for they were was not directed against theKufians , but directed againstUbaydallah Ziyad, whom AbdullaZobayr wanted out of the way anyway.

Chapter 12:Ubaydallah Ziyad Flees Basra

1- There is a crisis of succession to the office afterYazeed's death, especially when his elder sonMuawiyah denounces the office, and who is soon murdered for his defiance.

2- So, who now takes over the office? The government of Damascus considers three candidates:

1. Umar BashirAnsaree - he is one of the most prominent in the government circles in Damascus

2. KhalidYazeed - atwelve year old son ofYazeed ; this would keep the dynasty going

3. AbdullaZobayr in Mecca - as he has already got Mecca and Medina under his control.

3- Marwan Hakam writes a letter toUbaydallah Ziyad informing him ofYazeed's death, and telling him to come to Damascus to discuss the question of succession to the office; Marwan Hakam sends the letter to Kufa.

4- When the letter gets to Kufa,Ubaydallah Ziyad is at that time in Basra for the six month administration cycle between Kufa and Basra; his son Omar is left in charge of Kufa; with a homing pigeon, Omar passes Marwan Hakam's letter to Basra together with the news of the unrest going on in Kufa as the news ofYazeed's death was now public knowledge in Kufa.

5- Ubaydallah Ziyad gathers theBasrites at a public meeting; he tells them ofYazeed's death (other reports say he does not); and says: I am leaving Basra to go to Damascus immediately of the unrest there; there should be no unrest here while I am away, and my deputy will be in charge; anyone who opposes my deputy will be executed together with his family.

6- Ubaydallah Ziyad then asks if there are any persons who will ensure his speedy and safe journey to Damascus for a very large fee.

7- UmarJaru (another source says UmarHaris ) was an experienced and a professional desert guide and it was his job to escort merchants and people from area to area; he had five sons (another source saystwenty one sons), each experienced in the ways of desert travelling and guide, and each son had about thirty assistants.

8- UmarJaru and his group escortUbaydallah Ziyad to Damascus;Ubaydallah Ziyad packs up all the monies, jewels and valuables from his palace and these are sent by a different route (from the one he will be taking) to Damascus to avoid an ambushed robbery on the way.

9- The entourage of UmarJaru withUbaydallah Ziyad has about a hundred camels carrying people, luggage and water; many of the camels were water carriers stocking for the long journey ahead; and soUbaydallah Ziyad sets out for Damascus.

10- SulaymanSurad Khuzai and theTawwabun (numbering about four and a half thousand), who are now just outside Kufa, hear ofUbaydallah Ziyad entourage going to Damascus; theTawwabun therefore position themselves at the crossroad from Basra to Damascus.

11- UmarJaru's group were experienced and professional guides, and an advance party was always sent to watch out for any ambushetc ; they report that a huge force of people are blocking their way to Damascus, and are carrying a banner "Ya alasiratil Husein " (those who are in the path ofHusein ).

12- They report back to UmarJaru , who in turn questionsUbaydallah Ziyad: why is there such a force blocking our way?Ubaydallah Ziyad now has to confess ofYazeed's death, and that his visit to Damascus is to influence the question of succession toYazeed , and that the force ahead is of theTawwabun who are after him;Ubaydallah Ziyad now promises UmarJaru an even bigger fee if he (Ubaydallah Ziyad) could reach Damascus alive.

13- UmarJaru comes up with a plan, whichUbaydallah Ziyad first refuses, but later has to accept in order to save himself; the plan is to tieUbaydallah Ziyad completely under the belly of a camel, and then cover him with the hanging water carriers all around the camel; this way, with so many camels having water carriers around them,Ubaydallah Ziyad's chance of being spotted would be very small.

14- SulaymanSurad Khuzai and theTawwabun arrive; Sulayman tells UmarJaru that they are not interested in robbing him of his belongingsetc , as they are just afterUbaydallah Ziyad, whom UmarJaru was escorting to Damascus; UmarJaru naturally denies, saying he is just transporting luggage andUbaydallah Ziyad is not with them; UmarJaru gives permission for a search forUbaydallah Ziyad.

15- TheTawwabun search but do not for one moment think of looking low under a camel's belly, although they did spread the water carriers of some of the camels; SulaymanSurad Khuzai and his men therefore go back towards Kufa thinkingUbaydallah Ziyad played a trick of decoy and managed to escape them.

16- After some distance,Ubaydallah Ziyad is untied and he finally reaches Damascus unchallenged.

Chapter 13:Ubaydallah Ziyad in Damascus

1- On reaching Damascus,Ubaydallah Ziyad meets with Marwan Hakam to discuss the question ofYazeed's succession; Marwan Hakam informs him of the three candidates (Umar BashirAnsaree , KhalidYazeed and AbdullaZobayr ).

2- Marwan tellsUbaydallah Ziyad that the consensus in Damascus is that the local Umar BashirAnsaree should be offered the office of the Khalifa.

3- Ubaydallah Ziyad is against KhalidYazeed (Yazeed's twelve year old son) to be the Khalifa as Khalid would betray them as his father (Yazeed ) did;Ubaydallah Ziyad says thatYazeed had sent an order in writing to him not to spare ImamHusein's (as) life at any cost, but afterKerbala ,Yazeed denied issuing any such orders alleging that the massacre atKerbala was not of his orders, but the doings ofUbaydallah Ziyad andShimr etc , and this betrayal displeasedUbaydallah Ziyad.

4- Ubaydallah Ziyad wants Marwan Hakam to be the Khalifa instead of giving the office to anyone else; Marwan Hakam initially refuses saying that he will not get any support, butUbaydallah Ziyad offers his support which should in turn give credence to his candidature; he would also give to Marwan Hakam the treasures which he brought from Kufa, together with the hidden treasures ofYazeed thatUbaydallah Ziyad knew of, to be used for bribing the prominent people for their support; the condition forUbaydallah Ziyad's help is that he should be made the Commander in Chief of the army.

5- Marwan Hakam agrees andUbaydallah Ziyad immediately swears allegiance to Marwan Hakam;Ubaydallah Ziyad shows Marwan Hakam the hidden treasures ofYazeed , which is now transferred to Marwan Hakam's safekeeping.

6- Ubaydallah Ziyad takes to his ways of forcing people to swear allegiance to Marwan Hakam or face persecution and execution; in the midst of prevailing persecution, oneZufar Haris escapes from Damascus toQarqisiya , which is a town between Damascus and Kufa; fromQarqisiya ,Zufar Haris , who was a supporter of AbdullaZobayr in Mecca and againstUbaydallah Ziyad, tries unsuccessfully to removeUbaydallah Ziyad's and Marwan Hakam's influence in Damascus.

7- Ubaydallah Ziyad advises Marwan Hakam to marryYazeed's widow, Khalid's mother, in order to consolidate Marwan Hakam's power; having established his authoritative influence with Marwan Hakam in Damascus,Ubaydallah Ziyad sets out to seek SulaymanSurad Khuzai and his group of theTawwabun .

Chapter 14: TheTawwabun's Mission

1- Now, when theTawwabun could not findUbaydallah Ziyad personally with the UmarJaru's group, SulaymanSurad Khuzai and his group of about four and a half thousand return to Kufa, where he recruits more men to a total of about sixteen thousand.

2- On 1 Muharram 65 AH, theTawwabun under SulaymanSurad Khuzai camp atNukhaila , just out of theKufaboundary ; Sulayman sees that of the sixteen thousand recruited, only about three thousand are actually present; he goes back into Kufa with the message of "Ya alasiratil Hussein" and manages to rally another one and half thousand volunteers, making a total force of about four and a half thousand men.

3- Before setting off in earnest to hunt downUbaydallah Ziyad, theTawwabun go toKerbala where they spend a whole day and night in lamentations andZiyarat ; as theTawwabun leaveKerbala for Damascus,Ubaydallah Ziyad leaves Damascus for Kufa.

4- TheTawwabun reachQarqisiya at night, whereZufar Haris (who ran away from the purge ofUbaydallah Ziyad in Damascus) is now the ruler ofQarqisiya ; Sulayman sends his deputyMosayab Najaba to tellZufar that they have not come to invadeQarqisiya , but are on their way to findUbaydallah Ziyad;Zufar is happy thatUbaydallah Ziyad is being hunted down and orders the shopkeepers to open at night and stock up theTawwabun free of charge.

5- Ubaydallah Ziyad's group is 300,000 strongtotal , including an advance party of 100,000; theTawwabun are 4,500 men.

6- The two groups meet at Ayn al-Warda where the battle occurs.

7- The first round of battle lasts for two days between theTawwabun and the advance party ofUbaydallah Ziyad.

8- The second round of battle between theTawwabun and the whole ofUbaydallah Ziyad’s army lasts for seven days.

9- InSulayman's group of the remaining 75 men, are the five commanders who are to take up the position of Chief Commander in the case of the previous commander's death: SulaymanSurad Khuzai ,Mosayab Najaba , Abdulla Saad, AbdullaWalin ,Rufa 'Shadad .

10- On the last night of the battle, some of theTawwabun say that they should retreat considering their small number of men who are extremely fatigued, wounded and thirsty (for the water supply is guarded byUbaydallah Ziyad's soldiers), compared against the remaining well equipped army of 150,000 men; Sulayman says the aim is to avenge ImamHusein's (as) killers and if that is not possible, then it is better to die in battle for the mission rather than retreat.

11- After prayers, during the night, SulaymanSurad Khuzai nods off and dreams: he is in a pretty and most beautiful gardens full of flowers and tree, and a golden house is in the middle; a lady inChaddar comes out of the palace; Lady Khadija, conveys Salaams from thePanjatan and ImamHusein's (as) congratulations to theTawwabun for their work so far, and informs Sulayman of his martyrdom the next day; Lady Khadija takes a pot of water and gives it to Sulayman to sprinkle on all their wounds for the battle the next day.

12- Sulayman wakes up and sees the pot of water next to him, and offers prayers of thanks; he sprinkles the water on the wounds of the remainingTawwabun , who are asleep; the heavenly water completely heals all the wounds and removes all fatigue; the water pot disappears when Sulayman is in prayers; when the rest of the group wake up, Sulayman informs them of the miracle.

13- Next day, theTawwabun put up a resilient fight against the 150,000 soldiers ofUbaydallah Ziyad who expected a very feeble resistance; Sulayman is killed at about noon;Mosayab Najaba takes charge and he is also killed; Abdulla Saad then takes charge and he is also killed; next, AbdullaWalin takes charge and he is killed; finally,Rufa 'Shadad takes charge and with the 10 remainingTawwabun , they retreat to Kufa to try and regroup.

14- On winning the second round of battle, and having decisively crushed theTawwabun ,Ubaydallah Ziyad goes to Basra.

Chapter 15: Mukhtar's Second Imprisonment and Release

1- Meanwhile, after getting permission from MohamedHanafiya on behalf of ImamZainul Abideen (as), Mukhtar leaves Mecca for Kufa; at the crossroads ofQadisiya , he makes a detour toKerbala forZiyarat , where he pledges to ImamHusein (as) to avenge the perpetrators ofKerbala .

2- Mukhtar then comes to Kufa, publicly proclaiming his entry so that the population, the governor (AbdullaYazeed Ansaree ) and the localKerbala perpetrators are all aware of his presence.

3- It was while SulaymanSurad Khuzai was recruiting in Kufa, that Mukhtar arrives fromKerbala ; they meet to discuss tactics; theTawwabun first aim is to hunt downUbaydallah Ziyad, while Mukhtar's first aim is to seek avenge from the perpetrators ofKerbala who are in Kufa, as the majority of them were still living in Kufa.

4- With Mukhtar's arrival in Kufa, the localKerbala perpetrators feel threatened with his declared aim, whereas they were under no immediate threat from theTawwabun ; these local killers are in powerful positions and are of influence in Kufa; they therefore advise the governor, AbdullaYazeed Ansaree , to imprison Mukhtar least he causes any troubles for them; so under pressure from these powerful and prominentKufians , AbdullaYazeed Ansaree imprisons Mukhtar; Mukhtar is now serving his second imprisonment term in Kufa.

5- Rufa 'Shadad (from theTawwabun ) reaches Kufa and hears of Mukhtar's imprisonment; unlike his first imprisonment underUbaydallah Ziyad, Mukhtar is now able to have visitors, he is not chained and letters areallowedin and out; on hearing ofTawwabun’s crushing defeat, and ofRufa's return, Mukhtar writes to him not toloose courage and to wait for Mukhtar's release to come up with a plan.

6- Rufa ' comes to prison and offers to break out Mukhtar from prison; Mukhtar refuses any illegal moves but assuresRufa ' of his impending release by legal means; Mukhtar sends one of his man to go to Medina and inform Abdulla Omar (his brother­-in-law) of the situation.

7- Abdulla Omar writes to AbdullaYazeed Ansaree in Kufa explaining of his relationship to Mukhtar and demanding his immediate release; AbdullaYazeed Ansaree gets the letter and is aware of Abdulla Omar's influence; AbdullaYazeed Ansaree reasons that the imprisonment of Mukhtar was not a decree from his master AbdullaZobayr in Mecca, but was due to intense local pressure; so releasing Mukhtar was not a violation of any decree from AbdullaZobayr .

8- The local perpetrators ofKerbala are against Mukhtar's release for fear of their own lives; AbdullaYazeed Ansaree is torn between the order from Abdulla Omar and the protests of these locals; he finally decides to release Mukhtar with some conditions for his freedom.

9- AbdullaYazeed Ansaree sends for Mukhtar and makes him promise that he will not try stirring up any opposition against himself (AbdullaYazeed Ansaree ), or the penalty will be the sacrifice of a thousand livestock and the freeing of all Mukhtar's slaves.

10- Mukhtar promises in front of witnesses to agree to the conditions and he is released; on giving the promise in order to be released, Mukhtar was confident that the sacrifice of a thousand livestock and the freeing of his salves was of little material significance to him compared to the pursuit of theKerbala perpetrators.

11- One source says that Mukhtar was imprisoned again for the third time and manages to obtain his freedom once more.

Chapter 16: AbdullaMuti Tries to Imprison Mukhtar

1- Now, AbdullaZobayr in Mecca replaces the governor of Kufa from AbdullaYazeed Ansaree to AbdullaMuti , who was his prime minister in Mecca; AbdullaZobayr thinks that by making AbdullaMuti the governor, Mukhtar would not cause any opposition due to his friendship with AbdullaMuti .

2- AbdullaMuti was the one who intercepted for Mukhtar when AbdullaZobayr , after having consolidated his power with the help of Mukhtar, broke his promise to help Mukhtar in avenging the perpetrators ofKerbala ; AbdullaMuti , who was the prime minister of AbdullaZobayr at the time, tried unsuccessfully to influence AbdullaZobayr's decision not to allow Mukhtar into his courtyard for any discussion; then AbdullaMuti advised Mukhtar to leave Mecca for the safety of his life and AbdullaMuti gave him money and transportation to see himself out of Mecca.

3- With the new governor installed, the localKerbala killers go to AbdullaMuti and advise him that he should imprison Mukhtar for if he is left free, Mukhtar would carry out his threat of avenging these killers who are in prominent and influential positions in Kufa; if these prominent and influential people are threatened, then that in itself could lead to the overthrow of AbdullaMuti himself.

4- AbdullaMuti says he just cannot imprison Mukhtar without him having committed any crime, and furthermore he was a good friend of Mukhtar; but AbdullaMuti is under intense pressure to take some action against Mukhtar; at the time when AbdullaMuti came to Kufa, Mukhtar had purposefully gone out of Kufa as a pretext to avoid AbdullaMuti .

5- AbdullaMuti finally decides to imprison Mukhtar; AyazMazarib , the chief policeman in Kufa, advises AbdullaMuti : that the best way to trap Mukhtar is to first lure him to come to the palace to meet you as you are his friend; the message should be sent by two people whom Mukhtar could not associate with you (AbdullaMuti ), as neutral messengers, and this should not raise any suspicion with Mukhtar.

6- ZaidaQudama andHusein Abdulla are chosen and they go to Mukhtar's house with the message that AbdullaMuti needs consultation on certain matters of state and is seeking Mukhtar's advice.

7- On reaching Mukhtar's house, they see him busy reciting Quran, and this influences Zaida into not wanting to see Mukhtar enticed into a trap; they pass on the false message of AbdullaMuti , but Zaida also talks about the wonders of Quran and recites a verse from a Sura clearly warning Mukhtar of the danger ahead; Zaida had to pass this coded message to protect himself from getting into trouble with AbdullaMuti if his partnerHusein Abdulla reported him.

8- Mukhtar gets the message, feigns illness and tells them to tell AbdullaMuti that he is presently not well but will visit AbdullaMuti as soon as he gets better.

9- The two messengers leave, andHusein Abdulla tells ZaidaQudama : I understood the coded message you passed to Mukhtar, but I will not report you to AbdullaMuti ; I have heard a story from people who heard the Prophet (saww ) say that Mukhtar was to avenge the killers of ImamHusein (as), and I would rather be with Mukhtar than AbdullaMuti .

10- Mukhtarrealises that it will not be long before AbdullaMuti makes another attempt to imprison him, and therefore has to hasten his planning; due to the urgency now, he alsorealises that the plan will only work if he can find a partner who is as firm in his conviction of avenging theKerbala perpetrators as himself.

Chapter 17: Mukhtar TeamsWith Ibrahim MalikAshtar

1- Mukhtar let it be known throughout Kufa and beyond that he is looking for a person to team up with to avenge the killers of ImamHusein (as); such a person should be strong, courageous, brave, a Shia, and with a dedicated desire to see the perpetrators ofKerbala avenged; such a person with these qualities was needed to counteract the power, influence and positions of theKerbala perpetrators living in Kufa.

2- Such a person is Ibrahim MalikAshtar , the son of MalikAshtar who was a staunch Shia and a firm supporter of Imam Ali (as); Mukhtar goes to Ibrahim saying it is the first time he has gone to one's house to recruit for this cause, for usually people come to him to join up.

3- Ibrahim accepts to team up with Mukhtar on the condition that he (Ibrahim) is made the Chief Commander; this is not with the intention of being power hungry, but to ensure that his bravery and talents would not be exploited to bring someone else in power; for with the army under his direct command, he can assure that abuse does not happen.

4- Mukhtar shows Ibrahim theauthorisation of MohamedHanafiya as an attorney of ImamZainul Abideen (as); one report says that on seeing the written authority, Ibrahim and his whole clan immediately swear allegiance to Mukhtar; another report says that Ibrahim asks for a few days to decide, for he sends his people to Medina to check the authenticity of the letter and to see MohamedHanafiya in order to verify Mukhtar's version.

5- These people then go back to Kufa to Ibrahim; one source says that when the group reachesQadisiya (about 20/25 miles from Kufa), they meetKhayr from the household of Mukhtar who asks of their answer from Medina;Khayr immediately rushes back to Mukhtar to tell him of MohamedHanafiya’s confirmation and blessings, to which Mukhtar offers prayers of thanks.

6- Another report says that the group returns directly to Ibrahim to inform him of MohamedHanafiya’s confirmation, and Ibrahim does not give his answer immediately to Mukhtar; when there is no immediate reply from Ibrahim, Mukhtar assumes that MohamedHanafiya did not sanction the mission and Ibrahim has therefore refused; after a few days Mukhtar comes to know it is otherwise and immediately goes to Ibrahim who agrees to team up with Mukhtar.

Chapter 18: Mukhtar Becomes Governor of Kufa

1- Mukhtar and Ibrahim decide that the best way to get the local perpetrators (ofKerbala ) in Kufa, taking into account that these killers are now influential and prominent in Kufa, is to gain control of the government, and this meant storming the governor's (AbdullaMuti ) palace.

2- A plan is agreed that on the eve of 14Rabil Awwal 66 AH, Thursday night, all of Mukhtar's and Ibrahim's supporters will leave their homes and assemble at the governor's palace to overthrow him; the signal will be a torch lit on Mukhtar's roof and the sounding of war drums; after seeing the first torch, a chain of torches will be lit on the supporters' house roofs to spread the signal; each group of supporters is to carry the banner: "Ya alasiratil Husein "; the men were warned not to be fooled by a possible enemy ploy and hence nobody should come out before the agreed Thursday night.

3- AyazMazarib , the chief policeman of Kufa, gets reports that for the past few nights, Ibrahim and a group are meeting at Mukhtar's house; he suspects that something is being planned and reports to AbdullaMuti on 13Rabil Awwal , the night before the planned revolution day; on the same night of receiving Ayaz's report, AbdullaMuti orders checkpoints at all (about ten) districts in Kufa.

4- In those times, the geographical layout of a city was such that towns, districts, areas, and even clans had distinct boundaries with only one road to aneighbouring district; this ensured that there was free movements within the area but going from one area to the next required to pass through the only inter-connecting road; this layout was a security precaution against the frequent hostile incursions at the time.

5- The guards were therefore posted at these main inter­connecting roads, to restrict movement of people from one area to another.

6- Ibrahim and his group leave their locality to go to Mukhtar's house in another district tofinalise plans for the next night's attack; they are challenged by AyazMazarib , the chief of police, at a checkpoint and in order to get through, Ibrahim kills Ayaz; Ayaz's subordinates escape to report back to AbdullaMuti .

7- More checkpoints are encountered by Ibrahim and his men, and after fighting their way through, they finally reach Mukhtar's house; Ibrahim informs him of the checkpoints and the killing of AyazMazarib , the chief policeman; they bring the plan forward by a night in order to succeed, otherwise AbdullaMuti can squash any opposition by morning afterrealising that a revolution was in the making.

8- Mukhtar lights the torch on his roof and starts beating the war drums, but there is no response, for people were warned against premature signals;so they are under the impression that it is an enemy ploy, for the expected call was for the next night.

9- Now, AbdullaMuti is under the impression that Mukhtar and Ibrahim must have assembled a large force to try an overthrow; in reality, Mukhtar and Ibrahim had very little manpower this night for the planned attack for was for the following night.

10- Rashid, the son of AyazMazarib gets to hear of his father's death and comes to AbdullaMuti crying; AbdullaMuti says there is no use crying and that he should avenge his father's death; AbdullaMuti gives him a unit of men to go and fight Ibrahim and Mukhtar.

11- AbdullaMuti sends forShabath Rabi (one of the army unit commanders atKerbala ) with about a thousand men to confront Mukhtar and kill him;Shabath Rabi advises it is best to wait until daylight when the attack would be most beneficial; AbdullaMuti refuses for he does not want to take any chances, in case of an attack byMukhtarduring the night.

12- The checkpoint to Mukhtar's district is under the command of HijabHurr with about seven hundred men; when he sees the force of Shish Rabi advancing towards Mukhtar's house, he assumes that they are Mukhtar's reinforcements for it was dark; the two units do not identify each other for want of a surprise attack and in the ensuing battle, each sidelooses about half of their men; the two commanders, each thinking he has repelled the enemy, report back to AbdullaMuti the same night, only torealise their mistake. This now leaves the checkpoint to Mukhtar's house unguarded.

13- Mukhtar and Ibrahimrealise what has happened outside, and in view of the developments, they decide that they must go out to call on their men in other districts; Mukhtar has to get word to his supporters of about fourteen hundred men in theSakariya district; Ibrahim decides to go out to various other districts to inform the supporters of the change of plan.

14- Mukhtar is advised not to venture out himself for he will be immediatelyrecognised ; one Bashir volunteers to go toSakariya ; he goes out in tattered clothes and at theSakariya checkpoint, he is stopped and questioned as to how come he is out during the curfew; he explains that he is a visitor from outside Kufa and is coming to meet his relative inSakariya ; but on the way, he was robbed by Mukhtar's men who stole his luggage, and curses Mukhtar and his men; this cursing finds favour with the guards and they let Bashir through.

15- Once inSakariya , Bashir informs the district leader of the change of date due to the events; least it be a trap, the leader questions Bashir in detail to prove his identity and asks for a password, the answers to which only a man in Mukhtar's inner group could have given; once convinced, theSakariyans come out and battle at the checkpoints, on their way to the agreed meeting point; some people venture into other districts to spread the news of the change of plan.

16- Ibrahim goes to the various checkpoints in turn, which are manned by prominentKerbala killers, and eliminates the main guards who are either killed or run away; for example, at a first checkpoint, UmarHajjaj is with about five hundred soldiers; Ibrahim kills UmarHajjaj and some of his men, but most manage to escape; at a second checkpoint, Ibrahim killsZahr Qays .

17- Ibrahim proceeds from district to district, but his force of initially five hundred men is decreasing due to the battles fought, but the opposite side's force was being increasingly reinforced.

18- Meanwhile, the word has spread among Mukhtar's supporters of the change of plan, and they all come out to meet at the governor's palace; Ibrahim is busymobilising , and in some cases, he encounters units carrying the banner "Ya alasiratil Husein ", who tell Ibrahim that they know of the change of date because the people fromSakariya came to their districts to inform them.

Chapter 19: Mukhtar Rules Over Kufa

1- At dawn, Mukhtar sends a spy named Saeed to assess AbdullaMuti's position; he reports back that AbdullaMuti and his army are gathered at a mosque near the palace.

2- It is the dawn of Thursday, 13Rabil Awwal 66 AH; both sides are prepared for battle with the war drums beating everywhere.

3- Whilst the battle between the two sides is going on, AbdullaMuti runs away to the relative safety of his palace and is protected by his personal guards; Mukhtar makes no attempt to invade the palace, but adopts the policy of wait­-and-see; after three days, the palace is running short of food and AbdullaMuti sends a letter to Mukhtar.

4- AbdullaMuti tells Mukhtar: I remind you of our friendship, of working together to bring about the rule of AbdullaZobayr in Mecca and Medina; I tried to use my influence to convince AbdullaZobayr of fulfilling his promise to avenge theKerbala killers; I gave you transportation and money to leave Mecca in order to save your life; and so having saved your life once, you should now save mine and let me go free.

5- Mukhtar replies: I am aware of your debt, but by such arrogant reminder of yours, you have nullified any good you did to me; nevertheless, I have given you three days of no battle against you; since you became the governor here, you have sought advice only from the anti-Shia, but had you teamed up with me, we would have indeed by now avenged the perpetrators ofKerbala ; you are not intent on helping me in this mission and your actions have caused many deaths to my supporters and Shias.

6- AbdullaMuti now replies in a very humble way: I am now at your mercy; I have had no part inKerbala ; please forgive me for my actions in siding against you and let me at least get out of Kufa alive; I will not cause any more trouble for you.

7- Mukhtar seeks Ibrahim's advice, explaining to him of the friendship between himself and AbdullaMuti ; Ibrahim says he will support Mukhtar whatever the decision; Mukhtar decides to let AbdullaMuti go alive and sends a message saying that he will be allowed to leave the palace that night.

8- At night, AbdullaMuti disguises in a woman's clothes, leaves the palace and Mukhtar tells him that this freedom effectively pays off his debt when AbdullaMuti saved Mukhtar's life; AbdullaMuti escapes into the night looking for shelter in Kufa, but no one is willing to take him in; at last one Abu MusaAsha'ri is willing to shelter him.

9- AbdullaMuti now has no money and transportation, and Mukhtar provides both to enable AbdullaMuti leave Kufa alive; Mukhtar also sends the message that this completely pays off any debt he owed to him when AbdullaMuti provided transportation and money to Mukhtar to escape quickly from Mecca from AbdullaZobayr .

10- AbdullaMuti manages to escape from Kufa alive, and Mukhtar is now the governor of Kufa.

11- On taking the office of governorship, Mukhtar calls for a public meeting and informs the people that his aim in fighting for the office was to enable him to avenge theKerbala killers; he will not harass innocent people, nor

12- will he tolerate any harassment between the people themselves; he would administer justly and according to Islamic rules.

13- Mukhtar's immediate actions are humanitarians; he releases prisoners, helps the poor into better housing and better medical care for the sick; he specifically ensures that the Banu Hashim in Kufa are now well treated after years of persecution, and also that theKhums Sehme-Sadaat is rightfully paid.

14- The revolution in Kufa took place inRabil Awwal 66 AH, and after the Hajj of that year (inZilhaj 66 AH),Minhal Kufi went to Medina and met ImamZainul Abideen (as); ImamZainul Abideen (as) asksMinhal of the situation in Kufa, to whichMinhal replies that with Mukhtar in power, theKerbala perpetrators are rounded up and executed; this news very much pleased ImamZainul Abideen (as).

Chapter 20: AbdullaMuti Joins Forces withMasa'b Zobayr

1- AbdullaMuti reaches Basra whereMasa'b Zobayr (the brother of AbdullaZobayr ) is the governor;Masa'b wants Mukhtar out of the way, and he convinces AbdullaMuti to fight against Mukhtar to take his revenge; so they both agree to go after Mukhtar and his people;Masa'b tells AbdullaMuti to go ahead with an army unit and that he will follow with more reinforcements after a few days as he has some unfinished business in Basra.

2- AbdullaMuti's side comes up against Ibrahim and his army outside the Kufa boundary, for they form the first line ofdefence to the city of Kufa; AbdullaMuti's and Ibrahim's armies meet atNahrawan ; a battle ensues and AbdullaMuti's side suffer a heavy loss.

3- At night, AbdullaMuti sends a spy to Ibrahim's side to assess the position; the spy is caught and questioned by Ibrahim. The spy says he was conscripted into the army in Basra and did not wish to be involved in any battle.

4- Ibrahim explains their mission to avenge the perpetrators ofKerbala ; on knowing the truth, the spy changes side and offers to take Ibrahim back to AbdullaMuti's camp to ambush and kill AbdullaMuti .

5- Ibrahim disguises himself and together with the spy, they head for AbdullaMuti's tent; they are stopped by guards on the way enquiring about the spy's companion; the spy says it is his friend, but the guards refuse to let him through without AbdullaMuti's permission.

6- The guards go into the tent to ask for permission, but AbdullaMuti ' was just about to sleep and answers to let the spy and his unknown friend through, for he is eagerly awaiting news about Ibrahim's positions.

7- By the time the spy and Ibrahim get to AbdullaMuti's tent, he was fast asleep; Ibrahim was just about to take his sword from its sheath to strike AbdullaMuti , when a noisy arrival was heard just outside the tent, and so Ibrahim could not kill AbdullaMuti .

8- It was the arrival ofMasa'b Zobayr and his men, having come to reinforce AbdullaMuti's side; Ibrahim was notrecognised , and he and the spy managed to get back unchallenged.

9- The next day, battle resumes, and Ibrahim manages to kill AbdullaMuti in the battle;Masa'b Zobayr runs back to Basra.

Chapter 21: Ibrahim MalikAshtar Captured and Escapes

1- In Basra,Masa'b Zobayr writes to his brother AbdullaZobayr in Mecca about his defeat against Ibrahim and the death of AbdullaMuti ; AbdullaZobayr replies that he is occupied with his own troubles at home and cannot spare any reinforcements.

2- Masa'b Zobayr then writes to Abdul Malik Marwan Hakam in Damascus (who is now the governor there), and gets afavourable reply; Abdul Malik sends an army of seventy thousand men under the command of Amir Rabia to Kufa to confront the army of Mukhtar and Ibrahim; Amir Rabia camps just outside of Kufa.

3- Now, there was a squad of fourteen killers planted in the army of Mukhtar for an opportune moment to kill Mukhtar.

4- Amir Rabia sends a spy to Mukhtar's army to convey the written order to this squad that they should now make an attempt on Mukhtar's life.

5- This spy is sent under the guise of a soldier thrown out from his own side; he dresses himself in tattered clothes with the story that Amir Rabia tried to kill him but managed to escape and comes to find refuge with Mukhtar.

6- Mukhtar takes pity on this spy and gives him new clothes and money and sets him free; the spy is overwhelmed with Mukhtar's sincerity and generosity and has a change of heart; he shows the written orders of Amir Rabia to Mukhtar and tells him of the squad of fourteen killers planted in Mukhtar's group; the fourteen killers are identified and executed.

7- The spy then suggests a plan to Mukhtar that he would take Mukhtar, in a disguise, back to Amir Rabia's camp; the spy would say to Amir Rabia that the order has been delivered, and at a distance away, one of the fourteen squad members has come to personally verify the order with Amir Rabia himself; this squad member would not come to the main camp site so Amir Rabia should go to him; this way Amir Rabia would be lured away from his guards, and can then be attacked easily.

8- Mukhtar refuses to this plan on the grounds that he would be instantlyrecognised by the opposite side; however, Ibrahim likes the plan and the next day, the spy and Ibrahim (in disguise), leave to go to Amir Rabia's camp, without the knowledge of Mukhtar.

9- The spy and Ibrahim are stopped by the guards of Amir Rabia; theyrecognise the spy as being one of their own man, but not the accompanying man; so they are both arrested and brought to Amir Rabia; Amir immediatelyrecognises Ibrahim through his disguise and orders for his execution, but his adviser tells him to imprison Ibrahim overnight so that the public can see the execution of this gallant person the next morning.

10- Ibrahim and the spy are therefore imprisoned, where they are chained and the chains in turn are nailed to the ground, ready for execution the next morning; the guard nods off and has a dream seeing ImamHusein (as) and as result, becomes sympathetic to the prisoners and now does not wish to be responsible for keeping Ibrahim in prison.

11- The guard therefore removes all the chains and frees Ibrahim and the spy, and tells them to run as fast and far as possible; after some time, the guard raises alarm saying on checking the cell, he found the prisoners gone.

12- Ibrahim and the spy keep running but each takes take a different route to throw off their trail; Ibrahim keeps running, and during daylight, he comes across the army searching for him, so he hides himself on a high tree; here he sees a soldier, of high rank judging from his uniform, taking shelter under the tree, and cursing the Shias.

13- Ibrahim gets angry, climbs down from the tree, and confronts the soldier only to see that it was one of the notorious commanders of the Syrian army who was with Amir Rabia; Ibrahim kills him and beheads him, taking the head with him back to Kufa.

14- Meanwhile, Mukhtar is worried, for Ibrahim had left without leaving any word, and had not returned for three days; Mukhtar groups an army of thirty thousand men to go in search and to the aid of Ibrahim.

15- Just as the group was about to depart, Ibrahim rides in with the head of the commander whom he had confronted under the tree, and relates developments to Mukhtar; soon after, the spy rides in with the head of one of the executioners (of Amir Rabia's unit) whom he had engaged in fighting.

16- Both Mukhtar and Ibrahim are happy that they have managed to eliminate two notorious people, but Ibrahim says he must go back to help the guard who had freed him, for the guard would surely now be in trouble.

17- Before Ibrahim could set off, the same guard is seen riding in and relates his escape: after releasing Ibrahim, and raising the alarm, Amir Rabia naturally suspected him for treachery, but the guard made up a story that it was in fact Amir Rabia's adviser, the one who had asked for the execution of Ibrahim to be held the next morning, who was in fact responsible for Ibrahim's escape for it was the adviser after all who requested the postponement of the execution.

18- This guard knew very well that Amir Rabia was not as dangerous as that adviser who directed everything, so it was advantageous to get rid of this adviser who was a threat to Mukhtar and Ibrahim; Amir Rabia was angry at the apparent double-cross of his adviser, and despite the protests of his innocence, he gets the adviser executed.

19- Ibrahim then takes his army to go and finish the battle with Amir Rabia; Ibrahim and his men come back victorious.

Chapter 22: Control for Mosul

1- Ibrahim advises Mukhtar that before embarking on the mission in earnest for tracking down theKerbala perpetrators, they should first bring under their influence the surrounding areas to consolidate their government.

2- Mosul was of a strategic importance, and they decide on a tactic to bring it under their control; at the time, Mosul was under the rule of MohamedAshath who was a staunch anti­-Shia; his fatherAshath Qays caused a lot of problems for Imam Ali (as), and his sisterJoda Ashath , who was a wife of Imam Hassan (as), poisoned Imam Hassan (as).

3- So Mukhtar and Ibrahim are aware of the opposition they would face against MohamedAshath ; the plan is first to call in prominentKufians and the commanders of the army units who were inKerbala , the majority of whom were living in Kufa.

4- These people are called in and Mukhtar tells them that his earlier statements of wanting to avenge the killers of ImamHusein (as) were just a front to gain him power; and now he has got power, he is only interested in keeping it and amassing wealth. He gives them a lot of money and gifts to convince them of his greed for wealth, and a promise to share out any more war booty.

5- After a few days, Mukhtar calls in MohamedAshath's son Abdu Rahman, who was residing in Kufa; Mukhtar treats him like royalty and gives him lots of money and gifts, telling him the same story as he told the otherKufians .

6- After a few more days, Mukhtar calls for Abdu Rahman again, asking him to take a personal message to his father MohamedAshath in Mosul; the message says: let MohamedAshath swear his political allegiance to Mukhtar and in return MohamedAshath will get the governorship ofMadayn , which is a larger and a more powerful province than Mosul.

7- Abdu Rahman travels to Mosul and meets with his father and conveys Mukhtar's message; MohamedAshath is very surprised that his son should bring such a message, but Abdu Rahman explains the apparent change of heart by Mukhtar; he assures this to his father by the evidence of gifts and money to him and to the perpetrators ofKerbala living in Kufa.

8- MohamedAshath consults his advisers and is told that the offer is too good to refuse for two reasons; firstly,Madayn is indeed a greater province, but secondly, and more importantly, ifUbaydallah Ziyad who is on his way to Mosul to consolidate Abdul Malik Marwan's (who is now the new ruler of Damascus) power, then Mukhtar and Ibrahim will come afterUbaydallah Ziyad even in Mosul, with or without the support of MohamedAshath , in which case then MohamedAshath will be unwillingly dragged into the battle.

9- So MohamedAshath takes an army of four thousand men and leaves Mosul to go to Mukhtar in Kufa; theMosulians are angry that he now runs away with all their money with him which they paid as taxes; they confront MohamedAshath with his army; a battle ensues and the public get all their money back and only then allow MohamedAshath to leave Mosul; with no money and power base now, MohamedAshath is forced to accept Mukhtar's offer.

10- On reaching Kufa, Mukhtar receives MohamedAshath with honour and gives him a lot of money and a house, telling him that he would soon make arrangements for hisMadayn's governorship.

11- Mukhtar appoints a man named Abdu Rahman to become the governor of Mosul (note that this is not MohamedAshath's son who is of the same name).

12- Meanwhile Abdul Malik from Damascus sendsHaseen Nameer with an army to Mosul to overthrow Abdu Rahman;Haseen Nameer's unit was to be an advance party, to be followed by reinforcements led byUbaydallah Ziyad himself;Ubaydallah Ziyad was presently busy enforcing the consolidation of Abdul Malik's rulership in Damascus.

13- On hearing ofHaseen Nameer's coming, Abdu Rahman runs away from Mosul to Tikrit, with a letter sent to Mukhtar saying he cannot faceHaseen Nameer and Mukhtar should send another governor.

14- In Kufa,Zaeed , who is old and sick himself, is more than willing to travel to Mosul to confrontHaseen Nameer , forZaeed particularly wanted to personally avengeHaseen Nameer for delivering the fatal lance to Ali Akbar.

15- Zaeed with hisunits head for Mosul to confrontHaseen Nameer , whilst at the same time,Ubaydallah Ziyad and his units leave from Damascus heading to Mosul to reinforceHaseen Nameer .

16- The two armies meeten -route to Mosul and a battle ensues; hereZaeed dies of his illness, and his side is defeated, withUbaydallah Ziyad victoriously heading for Mosul.

17- Back in Kufa, Mukhtar gets the news of the battle and the defeat ofZaeed ; Mukhtar and Ibrahim now make strategic military decision that instead of going for the local perpetrators ofKerbala , now is the best opportunity to getUbaydallah Ziyad in Mosul, for after all,Ubaydallah Ziyad was the main architect of carrying outYazeed's order for theKerbala massacre.

18- A huge army using all the reserves is assembled in Kufa with Ibrahim as its commander to head for Mosul, with the intention to finish offUbaydallah Ziyad.

19- Ibrahim is worried though that with all the reserves out of Kufa, Mukhtar is left unguarded with so many enemies within; they decide that it is best to ask the prominentKufians and the killers ofKerbala to have their household helps in Mukhtar's palace with the pretext of guarding Mukhtar, thereby reducing the chances of these killers mounting a surprise attack; the killers agreed to the plan for they had an ulterior motive of having reliable inside information on Mukhtar's activities.

20- Ibrahim and the assembled army of all the reserves leave for Mosul to confrontUbaydallah Ziyad.

Chapter 23: Attempt on Mukhtar's Life

1- With Mukhtar left unguarded,Shabath Rabi (who was one of the army unit commanders atKerbala , and also sent by AbdullaMuti to fight Mukhtar's men on the night of the revolution in Kufa), goes to Umar Saad saying now is the best time to kill Mukhtar, for he is unguarded; theyrealise that if Ibrahim were to return victorious, then Mukhtar would become even more powerful, and hence more difficult to kill him then.

2- Umar Saad calls all the other army unit leaders who were inKerbala and asks of their opinions; they all go to MohamedAshath (who is in Kufa) for consultation and approval; MohamedAshath does not approve for he thinks Mukhtar must have an undeclared reserve unit for hisdefence .

3- MohamedAshath also thinks that they should not attack Mukhtar for he has enough powerful enemies who are after his life:Ubaydallah Ziyad, AbdullaZobayr , Abdul Malik,Masa'b Zobayr , and that it is only a matter of time before these people get Mukhtar.

4- Umar Saad and his group decide to check out if Mukhtar has an undeclared reserve unit; the plan is for one of them to go to Mukhtar telling him that his governorship is illegal and not sanctioned by AbdullaZobayr and theKufians want to swear allegiance to AbdullaZobayr ; if Mukhtar answers humbly, then he is afraid toantagonise anyone at the moment implying he has no reserves; if he answers uncompromisingly, then he does indeed have reserves.

5- Three days after Ibrahim has left Kufa (purposely waited for three days to allow Ibrahim and his men to be well away from Kufa so that Mukhtar cannot recall Ibrahim back in a hurry),Shabath Rabi goes to Mukhtar's palace; he tells Mukhtar that theKufians do not want his governorship and that he should leave office; Mukhtar asks what is it that they are objecting to;Shabath Rabi says for example, that they are not happy with Mukhtar keeping their household help in his palace; Mukhtar says that they are most welcome to recall their people, and Mukhtar would willingly let them go.

6- Shabath Rabi reports back to his group that Mukhtar's answer was humble and accommodating, implying there are no reserves for his protection.

7- MohamedAshath is now also convinced that Mukhtar has no hidden reserves, and agrees with the killers that now is the time to launch an attack on Mukhtar; the same night, Umar Saad and his group call on their supporters to assemble outside Mukhtar's palace, and are also hoping that their people in the palace will side with them.

8- Meanwhile, Mukhtar in the palace calls for the helpers and tells them their masters want them back and he is ready to let them go; the people refuse saying now that they have managed to get out of the grips of their masters, they will not return to them, but will only remain with Mukhtar; Mukhtar tells them that might mean fighting to death, which they readily accept.

9- Mukhtar sends his helpKhayr to Ibrahim with the message: wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whatever the circumstances, leave everything and come directly back to Kufa in a hurry, for the situation here has worsened and my life is in danger; I fear that should I be killed, ImamHusein's (as) killers will not be avenged.

10- When Ibrahim gets the letter, he immediately heads back with his army; he has the minimal of rest for himself, his army and the horses, and makes the outward three days journey back in one day.

11- MohamedAshath , Umar Saad and his group have surrounded Mukhtar's palace and Mukhtar tries hard to hold back the assault; Mukhtar himself comes out fighting but is greatly outnumbered

12- At this point, Ibrahim and his men arrive; they were not expected to be back for another two days by the enemies (for the outward journey was three days beforeShabath Rabi came to Mukhtar) and this sudden arrival too takes the opposite side by surprise.

13- Ibrahim and his men are exhausted by the quick journey home, but they immediately do battle with the enemies; Ibrahim asks MohamedAshath for one-to-one battle but MohamedAshath is fearful of this and refuses; out of fear, none else is willing to face Ibrahim alone.

14- MohamedAshath and a few men manage to escape and retreat toQadisiya , with Ibrahim and some of his men giving chase; MohamedAshath takes refuge in one of the houses where he is put under house arrest for the moment, whilst Ibrahim rushes back to Mukhtar in Kufa.

15- At night, MohamedAshath disguises as a woman, mounts a donkey and leaves unchallenged by the back door to escape to Basra.

Chapter 24: Mukhtar Goes After the Perpetrators ofKerbala

1- When Ibrahim arrives back in Kufa, Mukhtar decides to leaveUbaydallah Ziyad for a while as he sees it is tying up too much of his resources with no quick results.

2- So Mukhtar tells Ibrahim that the time is now right to go after the local people who participated in the killings atKerbala ; they will also be caught unaware for they think we are determined to catchUbaydallah Ziyad first.

3- Mukhtar calls for one of his most able commanders, Abdulla Kamil and gives him complete authority with the order: blockade Kufa utterly tight with nobody able to go out or come in without by-passing our soldiers.

4- With the effective blockade in force, Mukhtar and Ibrahim are in the governor's palace, and the order goes out that all those who participated in theKerbala massacre should be rounded up and brought to the palace.

5- The perpetrators ofKerbala were taken by complete surprise, for as Mukhtar had thought, they did not expect a blockade around Kufa when it appeared that Mukhtar and Ibrahim were busy chasingUbaydallah Ziyad.

6- Whenever the people who participated in the crimes atKerbala were caught, Mukhtar used to ask them to relate exactly what they did there; this way, no innocent person was executed, and also, this is how we have got so much details of the atrocities inKerbala directly from the perpetrator's own mouth; also the excuse of "I was under orders" was not accepted by Mukhtar for people had the chance to change sides, as some did (notablyHurr ).

7- The first two people caught are Abdulla Asaad and Malik Bashir; Abdulla was amongst those who burnt the tents and robbed ImamHusein (as) of his turban after his death; Mukhtar orders his hands and legs to be cut whereby Abdulla thrashes to death in agony; Malik Bashir was the one who robbed ImamHusein's (as) sword and Mukhtar orders that Malik be similarly killed.

8- Next,Nafee Malik is caught; he was one of Umar Saad's commander who was in charge at the bank of river Euphrates to ensure that no drop of water gets to ImamHusein's (as) side; and it was on his order that an arrow was aimed at the water bag carried byHazrat Abbas; Mukhtar ordersNafee's executed.

9- Over the next few days, a number of perpetrators are caught, tried and the guilty are executed by the orders of Mukhtar; Abdulla Kamil is now after the major killers likeKhooli , Sinan,Hurmala ,Shimr , Umar Saad.

10- Abdulla Kamil and his men go to searchKhooli's house but he is not there;Khooli has two wives, oneKufian and one Syrian; the Syrian wife, who is anti-Shia, is questioned by Abdulla Kamil and she saysKhooli is out of town; theKufian wife, a Shia, also says the same but she discreetly points her finger to a secret attic (another report says she points to a basement toilet); further detailed searching in the attic revealedKhooli crouched therein.

11- Abdulla Kamil takesKhooli and his two wives to Mukhtar, whereKhooli is put into prison whilst his two wives are questioned by Mukhtar; he asks theKufian wife why she gaveKhooli's hideout away; she says she is a Shia and once, the Syrian wife came to her singing and dancing saying that she is very happy, forKhooli has brought the head of ImamHusein (as) which she has put in the hot pit; theKufian wife goes and takes ImamHusein's (as) head out of the pit and laments over it.

12- Mukhtar then questions the Syrian wife who admits to the alleged deed and says thatYazeed was her Khalifa; Mukhtar orders her body to be dismembered and then cut into pieces; theKufian wife is given money and set free.

13- Khooli is then brought to the court, and after the initial excuse of "I was just obeying orders"etc , he admits to the following, amongst other crimes: controlled the unit of archers and gave the order to fly the arrows; strippedSukaina's veil, and pulled her earrings off her lobes; beat up ImamZainul Abideen (as) from his unconscious state with a cane, rolled the Imam to the ground from the makeshift bed, and stole the blankets covering the sick Imam; stripped Lady Zainab of her veil and earrings.

14- Mukhtar ordersKhooli's hands and legs be cut and then thrown alive into the fire to burn to death.

15- Next, the ten leaders who trampled on ImamHusein's (as) body are caught; they are tied and pinned to the ground and then trampled with horses until they die.

16- Many other perpetrators ofKerbala are brought before Mukhtar, interrogated and the guilty are executed; for a short time, no more perpetrators are apprehended despite the search, as the prominent and powerful people of Kufa were protecting them by giving shelter in their homes; Mukhtar gives the order to go and arrest the perpetrators even if they are in the homes of these powerful and prominent people.

17- Abdulla Kamil gets the information that Hakim Tufayl, a killer ofHazrat Abbas, is under the protection of Adi Hakim Tai, a very powerful and prominent person in Kufa; Abdulla Kamil and his men goes to Adi Tai's house and arrests Hakim Tufayl; at the time, Adi Tai is not in but he soon gets news of the arrest.

18- Adi Tai goes straight to Mukhtar demanding the release of Hakim Tufayl saying he was under his protection; just then, Abdulla Kamil walks in with the head of Hakim Tufayl, explaining that on the way, when people heard ofHazrat Abbas's killer being arrested, they could not restrain their anger and immediately killed him; other reports say that the people were aware that should Hakim Tufayl go into the courtyard alive (especially when Adi Tai is already in the court to protest HakimTufayl's arrest), he was likely to be pardoned because of the pressure Mukhtar would be in, under the influence of the very prominent Adi Tai.

19- After seeing the ineffectiveness of the intervention of a prominent like Adi Tai, the rest of the major killers (likeShimr , Sinan,Hurmala , Umar Saad) were very worried about their lives.

20- Sinan manages to escape from Kufa to a town ofZihad where he asks the people there for their protection; the people refuse for if they were foundharbouring any killer, they knew Mukhtar would not spare them, so Sinan left.

21- After his departure, other people in the town objected to not giving protection to Sinan, so they went after him to bring him back to their town; Sinan sees a group of people running after him and thinks it is Mukhtar's soldiers, so he starts firing arrows; these people become angry for they were offering Sinan sanctuary, and he dares attack them, so the people fire back at Sinan, arrest him and take him to Mukhtar.

22- Sinan confesses in Mukhtar's court that amongst other crimes, he tried to steal a belt from ImamHusein (as) when he had fallen from his horse during the last few moments of his life; but the Imam repeatedly used his hands to cover the belt which was sewn by LadyFatema (as), and Sinan cuts off ImamHusein's (as) hands in order to get to the belt; Mukhtar orders that Sinan's fingers should cut one at a time, then his elbows be cut, then his arms, his legs, and then finally thrown into fire until burned to death.

23- The other major killers are now shaking with fear after seeing the fate of Hakim Tufayl and Sinan; they meet together to make a plan to escape out of Kufa.

24- Shimr tries to escape from Kufa but he is tracked down and executed.

25- Hurmala is caught and brought to the court of Mukhtar;Hurmala confesses that amongst other crimes, he pierced with an arrow the water bag thatHazrat Abbas was carrying, he fired the fatal three pronged arrow at Ali Asghar's tender neck, and also fired an arrow at ImamHusein's (as) forehead in his last moments thereby causing the Imam to fall to the ground; Mukhtar orders thatHurmala's hands and feet be dismembered and then showered with arrows to his death.

26- Umar Saad says he has since sought the protection of AbdullaJoda Hubayra , a close friend of Imam Ali (as), and so Mukhtar would respect that patronage; when AbdullaJoda Hubayra intervenes for Umar Saad, Mukhtar (with a plan in mind) reluctantly agrees to Umar Saad's pardon provided Umar Saad does not involve himself in any further mischief and would not leave Kufa.

27- However, Mukhtar later instructs Abdulla Kamil to arrest a perpetrator ofKerbala , fitting a certain description (of Umar Saad), but not mentioning him by name; a relative of Umar Saad who is in the court at the time, overhears Mukhtar's description and sends word to Umar Saad to run for his life for the order of his arrest was out.

28- Umar Saad is in search of someone who will help him get out of Kufa secretly; someone suggests that there is alive an engineer from Banu Tamim tribe, who was involved in the planning of Kufa, and he could get Umar Saad out; this engineer is approached but he is not told the reason or the identity of the person wishing to get to the borders of Kufa.

29- The engineer takes Umar Saad to the border where people there advise Umar Saad to return to Kufa as running away was a breach of the promise of his protector that Umar Saad would remain within Kufa, and Mukhtar would then surely track him down.

30- The engineer thenrealises the trick played on him, and says he would report back to Mukhtar;so Umar Sad reluctantly comes back to Kufa and to his protector, AbdullaJoda Hubayra .

31- Hubayra , who now refuses to extend his patronage to Umar Saad for he has broken the promise of not leaving Kufa.

32- Mukhtar having got all the detail reports, comes to AbdullaJoda Hubayra and says that Umar Saad can now be arrested as there is a breach of promise that Umar Saad will not attempt to leave Kufa.

33- Umar Saad now uses another tactic to stay alive; he goes to one of his wives, who is a sister of Mukhtar, and asks her to intervene for him; she says she hasn't seen Mukhtar for a long time because of Umar Saad's doings, but Umar Saad pleads with her to give it a try.

34- Mukhtar's sister comes to Mukhtar, but he is very surprised to see her for they had not maintained contacts while she wastill married to Umar Saad; he tells her that she should be ashamed to remain married to Umar Saad.

35- The sister replies that he did indeed think of killing Umar Saad when he was against the Shias and followingUbaydallah Ziyad; but then Mukhtar was in prison under the orders ofUbaydallah Ziyad, and had she killed her husband,Ubaydallah Ziyad would have never forgiven and released Mukhtar even on Abdulla Omar's recommendation.

36- Mukhtar advises his sister not to return to Umar Saad for he is to be arrested soon.

37- Umar Saad, who was the Commander in Chief atKerbala , is arrested and Mukhtar orders that he first be immersed in boiling oil, then let out, have his nails removed, and Mukhtar himself gorges Umar Saad's eyes and cuts the flesh from his thighs which he forces Umar Saad to eat, and then Mukhtar calls for lancers to probe Umar Saad violently to his death.

Chapter 25: Tracking DownUbaydallah Ziyad

1- Mukhtar now concentrates on catchingUbaydallah Ziyad, for he was the architect of the massacre atKerbala ; withUbaydallah Ziyad wereHaseen Nameer andShabath Rabi.

2- Mukhtar tells Ibrahim tomobilise an army and head for Mosul to catchUbaydallah Ziyad; Ibrahim and the army get a huge send-off from theKufians for they were all praying for a victory in catchingUbaydallah Ziyad.

3- On the way to Mosul, Ibrahim does battle with people who are vehemently anti-Shia and are openly supporting and praying forUbaydallah Ziyad's victory and Mukhtar's defeat.

4- Ibrahim is now preparing for a battle withUbaydallah Ziyad's side and sets up camp about fifteen miles from Mosul, near a small town ofNasiben , whereHanzala - the local chief of thettribe - appears very happy to see him for the ruler is a Shiasympathiser ;Hanzala tells Ibrahim that just two hours earlier,Ubaydallah Ziyad had passed through the town and had askedHanzala to put upUbaydallah Ziyad's family in a safe house, as he (Ubaydallah Ziyad) was going to battle with Ibrahim and did not want his immediate family come to any harm.

5- Hanzala , who also wanted to see the crimes ofKerbala avenged, takes Ibrahim to the safe house; in the house wereUbaydallah Ziyad's three wives, four elder daughters, two young daughters, four sons and one hundred and twenty household helps.

6- Ibrahim orders that all of them come out, and executes the eldest son of about twenty years old, in avenging the death of ImamHusein's (as) sons; Ibrahim's men immediately execute all the rest.

7- Hanzala then has a plan to take Ibrahim alone toUbaydallah Ziyad's tent where he (Ubaydallah Ziyad) could be killed, thereby avoiding a big battle.

8- Hanzala and with Ibrahim in disguise, go towardsUbaydallah Ziyad's camp;Hanzala tellsUbaydallah Ziyad that he has come with the news of his family;Ubaydallah Ziyad asksHanzala and his companion (Ibrahim in disguise) to come to his tent.

9- Hanzla engagesUbaydallah Ziyad in conversation, in order to give an opportunity to Ibrahim to strike;Hanzala tellsUbaydallah Ziyad that since his departure,Hanzala has heard that Ibrahim was on the way, and thatHanzala feared for the safety ofUbaydallah Ziyad's family;Ubaydallah Ziyad says that he will send reinforcements to cordon off the safe house.

10- Hanzala sees that Ibrahim has made no attempt to strike, and they therefore leave; Ibrahim explains that it was not possible to strikeUbaydallah Ziyad without the outside guards coming in immediately toUbaydallah Ziyad's rescue, and so any attempt then would have been suicidal.

11- Ibrahim returns to his camp; both sides prepare for battle the next day; next day, the battle starts and continuous during daylight for three days.

12- Amongst the men killed during the three days of fierce fighting isHaseen Nameer , one of the commanders inKerbala , and who fatally injured Ali Akbar.

13- The fourth day of battle is 10 Muharram 67 AH; the place is by the bank of river Tigris near Mosul; the battle continues; the final casualty was:Ubaydallah Ziyad'slooses about eightythousand of his men out of the initial number of one hundred thousand men, and the remaining twenty thousand retreat; Ibrahimlooses seven thousand men out of his force of twenty four thousand men.

14- Ubaydallah Ziyad's execution is reported by two sources. The first report says that Ibrahim sees a rider retreating fast, he goes after him and smells the fragrance ofMisk and Ambar; onlyUbaydallah Ziyad would adorn perfumery in battle; (whenUbaydallah Ziyad had kept the head of ImamHusein (as) on his leg, a blood drop from ImamHusein's (as) head fell onUbaydallah Ziyad's thighs, which since had caused a septic wound giving off a foul odour;Ubaydallah Ziyad thus used heavy perfumery toneutralise the odour).

15- Ibrahimrealises it isUbaydallah Ziyad running away, and immediately kills him; after the battle is finished, Ibrahim and his men then go to verify that it is indeedUbaydallah Ziyad and then behead him.

16- The second report says that Ibrahim andUbaydallah Ziyad have a one-to-one battle, andUbaydallah Ziyad is taken in alive; he has his two legs broken, knee caps broken, hip joints broken, hands cut, head shaved, eyes gorged out, lips cut, cheeks cut, his flesh forced into his mouth, and finally lances are violently probed into him until his whole body is in little pieces.

17- Ibrahim and his men go into Mosul victorious and are warmly welcomed by the people.

18- Ibrahim sends the head ofUbaydallah Ziyad to Mukhtar in Kufa; Mukhtar treats the head ofUbaydallah Ziyad in the same way asUbaydallah Ziyad did for ImamHusein's (as) head; he mounts it on a javelin and parades it through the town, and then for three days mounts it on the same door in the courtyard for the public to see; eye witnesses report that for the three days, they saw a snake slithering fromUbaydallah Ziyad's mouth through to the noise, nipping flesh as it went along.

19- Mukhtar sends the head to MohamedHanafiya in Mecca; at the time ImamZainul Abideen (as) was also in Mecca and MohamedHanafiya sends the head to ImamZainul Abideen (as); it was 9Rabil Awwal 67 AH.

Chapter 26: Mukhtar Martyred

1- WhenMasa'b Zobayr , with AbdullaMuti , was defeated against Ibrahim MalikAshtar ,Masa'b Zobayr had retreated to Basra; MohamedAshath had joined him at Basra.

2- Mukhtar wishes to see that MohamedAshath is caught, but he has no quarrel withMasa'b Zobayr ; Mukhtar sends a letter toMasa'b Zobayr asking for the extradition of MohamedAshath or a battle will ensue.

3- Masa'b Zobayr sends the reply that he will not release MohamedAshath and he also writes to his brother, AbdullaZobayr , the ruler in Mecca, that he needs help to repel Mukhtar's army when it comes.

4- AbdullaZobayr sends reinforcements of about fifteen thousand men under the command ofMuhlab , one of the governors of a province under his rule;Muhlab advisesMasa'b Zobayr to bide time for sooner or later, Abdul Malik in Damascus would take his revenge on Ibrahim, and without Ibrahim, Mukhtar would be a relatively easy target.

5- Masa'b Zobayr dismisses the idea, but writes to Ibrahim, offering him money and position if Ibrahim sides withMasa'b Zobayr against Mukhtar; Ibrahim obviously refuses and sends his reply back toMasa'b ; Ibrahim also sends a message to Mukhtar informing of the impending war preparations fromMasa'b Zobayr .

6- Masa'b camps with his army just outside Basra; Mukhtar camps with his army just outside Kufa and waits for Ibrahim whom he had requested to come and join the force.

7- Ibrahim replies that he cannot come for Abdul Malik has surrounded Mosul and is heading there with about forty thousand men; Ibrahim advises Mukhtar not to leave Kufa but to send a deputy to lead the army againstMasa'b Zobayr ; this way Kufa will be contained by Mukhtar and Mosul will be contained by Ibrahim.

8- Mukhtar appointsAhmer Shomit and Abdulla Kamil as his commanders and sends them off towards Basra, while Mukhtar returns back to Kufa; the date isJamadil Awwal 67 AH.

9- Masa'b and his army also advance forward and both sides camp nearMadar , about three-quarters way from Kufa to Basra.

10- Next day, the battle starts andAhmer Shomit has two rounds of victory in killing and repellingMasa'b Zobayr's forces.

11- Masa'b then sends a spy to assess the numbers on Mukhtar's side and whether Mukhtar himself is present; the spy reports back the relatively smaller number of men and the absence of Mukhtar, both of which pleasesMasa'b Zobayr .

12- Abdulla Kamil then takes to the battle field, and he manages to inflict damage onMasa'b Zobayr's forces; MohamedAshath is injured and flees from the battle field.

13- Ahmer Shomit and his unit of men then come back to the field;Masa'b Zobayr then targetsAhmer Shomit and orders his men to surround and attack simultaneously onAhmer Shomit , who gets killed.

14- Abdulla Kamil and his men are disheartened byAhmer Shomit's death, but bravely fight on;Masa'b Zobayr though launches atwo pronged attack, from the front and back, which effectively wins him the battle.

15- Abdulla Kamil with his men return to Kufa, defeated.

16- Masa'b Zobayr is now victorious and confidently heads towards Kufa; theKufians are dejected by the defeat and death ofAhmer Shomit , despite Mukhtar's encouragement.

17- Masa'b Zobayr sends a letter to Mukhtar telling him to surrender now; Mukhtar and his commanders in Kufa refuse to do so and are willing to fight on.

18- Mukhtar sends the reply that there is to be no surrender; he takes about twenty thousand men and camp on the Kufa border atHarura ; both sides are now ready for the ensuing battle.

19- Mukhtar lays a trap forMasa'b Zobayr's men, in order to reduce the number of men onMasa'b Zobayr's side; Mukhtar is to argue very loudly with Mohamed Saad, one of his commanders, to go and immediately attackMasa'b Zobayr's side to which Mohamed Saad refuses, and then deserts Mukhtar and walks away with his units of men; the plan was thatMasa'b would hear about the disagreement and desertion and would follow Mohamed Saad, at which point they would be attacked by surprise from behind.

20- Next day, the plan goes into action andMasa'b Zobayr falls for the trap and sends one of his commander Rabia with about five thousand men to attack Mohamed Saad; they are ambushed from behind by Mukhtar's men and all of them are killed.

21- A fierce battle between the two sides takes place but neither side wins convincingly.

22- On the second day, the battle continues.

23- On the third day, Mukhtar himself is in the battlefield fighting; MohamedAshath is killed;Masa'b Zobayr then launches a concentrated attack on Mukhtar's men; Mukhtarlooses a number of his men and has to retreat to Kufa with only about six thousand men remaining in his army.

24- Masa'b Zobayr follows them and blockades the city of Kufa at the borders; no supplies are getting through and people become despondent; they refuse to answer the call of Mukhtar to fight on and would now rather submit toMasa'b Zobayr than continue facing the hardships.

25- WhenMasa'b Zobayr hears about thedemoralised Kufians , he enters the city wanting to surround Mukhtar's palace.

26- Abdulla Hatim was a local Chief with about four hundred gallant men; they manage to slow downMasa'b Zobayr's entry at the district ofKanasa within Kufa, killing about onethousand ofMasa'b Zobayr's men before the Chief himself and all his men are killed.

27- In the governor’s palace, Mukhtar has only a small number of his close friends, about thirty in all, (the six thousand men who came back to Kufa with him had deserted but were subsequently killed byMasa'b Zobayr's men) ready to defend Mukhtar; they all fight valiantly to their death.

28- Mukhtar continues to fight until he is the last one from his side, when he is finally set upon and has his head cut; the date was 14 Ramadhan 67AH (Mukhtar became the governor of Kufa, with the aim to avenge theKerbala perpetrators on 14Rabil Awwal 66 AH).

29- Mukhtar is buried behind Muslim Aqeel in Kufa, adjoining the Kufa Mosque, where pilgrims go to pay homage.

30- It is reported that Mukhtar managed to bring to justice about eighteen thousand perpetrators ofKerbala during his time as governor.

31- Masa'b Zobayr then sends the head of Mukhtar to AbdullaZobayr in Mecca.

32- History reports that later on,Masa'b Zobayr is in turn killed by the forces of Abdul Malik Marwan Hakam, the governor of Damascus;Masa'b Zobayr's head is then sent to Abdul Malik who is in the governor's palace in Kufa.

33- An old man at the courtyard in Kufa, who witnessed the going-ons , said: in this very court yard in Kufa, I saw ImamHusein's (as) head beforeUbaydallah Ziyad, the head ofUbaydallah Ziyad before Mukhtar, the head of Mukhtar beforeMasa'b Zobayr , and now the head ofMasa'b Zobayr before Abdul Malik; on hearing this, Abdul Malik regards the courtyard in the palace as a bad omen and orders that the governor's palace be burnt down.

References & Bibliography

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Syed MohsinNaquvi , Second edition;Mohsena Memorial Foundation, New Jersey, USA, 1992.

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Allamah Ali Naqi Naqvi; Edited by Dr I KA Howard, The Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain, London, UK, 1986.

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Jame Mosque; Tehran, Iran, 1980.

13- The Umayyad Caliphate (65 AH - 86 AH): A Political Study

AA Dixon,Luzac and Company, London, UK, 1971.

14- Islamic History: A New Interpretation (600 AD - 750 AD; 132 AH)

M A Shaban, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1990.

15- The History of al-Tabari

Tabari, Volumes XIX, XX, XXI, State University of New York Press, USA, 1990

16- The Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam

S H M Jafri, Second edition;Ansariyan Publications, Qum, Iran, 1989

17- Extensive discussions (1993) with:

Mohsin Jaffer, MurtazaLakham Abdulhusein Akbarm ,Husein Abdulrasul Datoo .

www.alhassanain.org/english

About the Book

There is no Shia who has not heard ofKerbala and of the events leading up to the Ashura day. Also, many people know that a personality called Mukhtar had managed to avenge (in this world) the people who were responsible for the massacre atKerbala.However , many people are not familiar with the historical details as to how Mukhtar came about to avenge theKerbala perpetrators. This book sets out to explain just that.

The book is written in anarrative points form, in short chapters and story-like fashion. This is done purposely to make the reading easy and interesting.

ISBN: 0-940368-34-X