In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The best of generations in stance and example,
Who followed the Messenger in his endeavors and words.
Mawaddah Association
Presents:
Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un,
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy on him.
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
May Allah have mercy on him.
A rift once occurred between Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah and his brother al-Hasan Ibn Ali,
So Ibn al-Hanafiyyah sent a message to al-Hasan, saying:
"Allah has favored you over me;
For your mother is Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
While my mother is a woman from the tribe of Banu Hanifah.
Your maternal grandfather is the Messenger of Allah, the elite of His creation,
While my maternal grandfather is Ja'far Ibn Qays.
Therefore, when this letter of mine reaches you,
Come to me and reconcile with me,
So that the virtue of precedence may remain yours over me in everything."
No sooner had his message reached al-Hasan
Than he hastened to his house and reconciled with him.
Who, then, was this refined, astute, and tactful man?
He was Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah.
Come, let us review the story of his life from its very beginning.
This story begins during the final days of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
For one day,
Ali Ibn Abi Talib was sitting in a gathering with the Prophet, peace be upon him,
And said, "O Messenger of Allah,
Tell me, if a son is born to me after you,
May I name him with your name,
And give him your kunyah?"
He replied, "Yes."
Then the days turned their full course,
And the noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, joined the Highest Companion.
A few months later, he was followed by his daughter and fragrant blossom, Fatimah al-Batul,
The mother of al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
Afterwards, Ali married into the Banu Hanifah,
Wedding Khawlah bint Ja'far Ibn Qays al-Hanafiyyah,
And she bore him a male child.
He named him Muhammad,
And gave him the kunyah Abu al-Qasim,
By permission granted from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
However, people began calling him Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
To distinguish him from his brothers, al-Hasan and al-Husayn,
The sons of Fatimah al-Zahra',
And thus he became known in history by that name.
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah was born toward the end of the caliphate of al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him,
And was raised and nurtured under the care of his father, Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
He was tutored under his direct guidance,
Adopting from him his worship and asceticism,
Inheriting from him his strength and valor,
And acquiring from him his eloquence and rhetoric.
Thus, he was an igniter of war on the battlefields,
A knight of the pulpit in the assemblies of men,
And a monk among the monks of the night,
When darkness draped its veils over the universe and eyes went to sleep.
His father, may Allah be pleased with him, thrust him into the wars he waged,
Imposing burdens upon him that he did not impose on his brothers, al-Hasan and al-Husayn,
Yet his resolve never softened,
Nor did his determination ever weaken.
It was once said to him:
"Why does your father thrust you into perils and force you into tight straits,
To the exclusion of your brothers al-Hasan and al-Husayn?"
He replied, "That is because my two brothers hold the status of his eyes,
Whereas I hold the status of his hands;
And a man shields his eyes with his hands."
At the Battle of Siffin,
Which raged between Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with them both,
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah carried his father's standard.
As the millstone of war was turning, fiercely grinding down the men of both factions,
An event occurred involving him which he recounted himself, saying:
"I remember us at Siffin,
When we clashed with the companions of Mu'awiyah,
And fought so fiercely that I thought not a single soul would survive from either of us.
I was horrified by the magnitude of the horror and deemed it an immense calamity.
Before long, I heard a crier shouting from behind me:
'O gathering of Muslims!
Fear Allah, fear Allah!
O gathering of Muslims!
Who will be left for the women and children?
Who will be left for religion and honors?
Who will be left to face the Byzantines and the Daylamites?
O gathering of Muslims!
Fear Allah, fear Allah, and spare one another, O gathering of Muslims!'
That is, fear Allah and have mercy upon the Muslims.
Thereupon, I pledged to myself that my sword would never be raised against a Muslim after that day."
Later, Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was martyred by a sinful, transgressing hand,
And the leadership devolved to Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan.
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah pledged allegiance to him to listen and obey, in ease and hardship,
Desiring to mend the rift, unite the ranks,
And uphold the honor of Islam and the Muslims.
Mu'awiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, sensed the sincerity and purity of this pledge,
And felt completely reassured regarding him,
Which prompted him to invite Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah to visit him.
Thus, he visited him in Damascus more than once,
And for more than one reason.
Among those occasions was that the Roman Emperor wrote to Mu'awiyah, saying:
"Kings among us correspond with kings,
Presenting each other with the curiosities they possess,
And vying with one another over the wonders of their realms.
Would you permit the same exchange to take place between me and you?"
Mu'awiyah replied in the affirmative and granted him permission.
So the Roman Emperor dispatched to him two extraordinary men:
One was an excessively tall man,
Immense and profoundly gigantic in build,
Such that he looked like a towering tree in a forest,
Or a firmly erected structure.
The second was exceptionally powerful,
Robust and solid, as if he were a ferocious beast.
He sent a letter with them, in which he said:
"Is there anyone in your realm who equals these two men in height and strength?"
Mu'awiyah said to 'Amr Ibn al-'As:
"As for the tall one, I have found someone who matches him and even surpasses him,
And that is Qays Ibn Sa'd Ibn 'Ubadah.
But as for the strong one, I need your counsel regarding him."
'Amr said, "There are two men fit for this matter,
Yet both of them are far removed from you:
Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah
And Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr."
Mu'awiyah said:
"Indeed, Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah is not far from us."
'Amr said:
"Yet do you think that, despite his exalted stature and lofty station, he would consent
To wrestle a Roman man in full view of the people?"
Mu'awiyah replied:
"He would do that and even more than that,
If he sees in it glory for Islam."
Then Mu'awiyah summoned both Qays Ibn Sa'd
And Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah.
When the assembly convened,
Qays Ibn Sa'd stood up,
Took off his trousers,
Threw them to the Roman giant,
And commanded him to put them on.
The man put them on,
And they reached all the way up above his chest,
So the people laughed at him.
As for Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
He said to the interpreter:
"Tell the Roman
That if he wishes, he may sit while I remain standing,
Then he can give me his hand,
And either I will pull him to his feet, or he will pull me down to a sit.
And if he wishes,
He may be the one standing while I am the one seated."
The Roman chose to sit,
So Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet,
While the Roman failed to pull him down.
Pride and indignation surged in the Roman's chest,
And he chose to be the one standing
While Muhammad was seated.
So Muhammad took him by the hand
And gave him such a wrenching pull
That it nearly dislocated his forearm from his shoulder,
Bringing him crashing down to the ground.
Thus, the two Roman brutes departed,
Returning to their emperor defeated and humiliated.
Then the days turned their full course once again,
And Mu'awiyah, his son Yazid,
And Marwan Ibn al-Hakam all departed to the presence of their Lord.
The leadership of the Umayyads passed to Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan,
Who proclaimed himself Caliph of the Muslims,
And the people of the Levant pledged allegiance to him.
Meanwhile, the people of the Hijaz and Iraq
Had already pledged allegiance to Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr.
Each of them began calling those who had not sworn allegiance to give him their pledge,
Claiming to the people that he had a greater right to the caliphate than his rival.
Thus, the ranks of the Muslims were split once more.
At this point, Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr demanded
That Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah pledge allegiance to him,
Just as the people of the Hijaz had done.
Yet it was not lost on Ibn al-Hanafiyyah
That giving a pledge of allegiance placed upon his neck
Numerous obligations toward the one he pledged to,
Among which was unsheathing his sword in his defense
And fighting against those who opposed him—
While those opponents were none other than Muslims who had exercised their judgment
And pledged allegiance to someone other than the one he would pledge to.
And this wise, consummate man
Had never forgotten the day of Siffin,
Nor had the long years
Erased from his ears that
Husky, piercing, and sorrowful voice
As it cried out from behind him:
"O gathering of Muslims!
Fear Allah, fear Allah, O gathering of Muslims!
Who will be left for the women and children?
Who will be left for religion and honors?
Who will be left to face the Byzantines and the Daylamites?"
Yes,
He had never forgotten any of that at all.
So he said to Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr:
"You know with absolute certainty
That I have no ambition nor pursuit in this matter,
But am merely an ordinary man among the Muslims.
If their consensus unites behind you,
Or behind Abd al-Malik,
He pledged allegiance to the one upon whom the people had reached a consensus.
But now,
I will neither pledge allegiance to you nor to him.
So, ‘Abdullah [ibn al-Zubayr] began to treat him with a mixture of familiarity,
and at times, gentleness,
while at other times, he would turn away from him and treat him coldly.
However, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
soon found many men rallying to his side.
They shared his perspective,
and entrusted their leadership to him,
until they numbered seven thousand men,
all of whom had chosen to withdraw from the strife (fitnah).
They refused to allow themselves
to become fuel for its raging fire.
As the number of followers of Ibn al-Hanafiyyah grew,
so too did the resentment of Ibn al-Zubayr toward him,
and he pressed him insistently to pledge allegiance.
When he despaired of that,
he ordered him, along with those who were with him from the Banu Hashim and others,
to remain confined to their mountain pass in Makkah.
He placed guards over them,
and then said to them:
"By Allah, you shall pledge allegiance, or I will burn you with fire!"
He then imprisoned them in their homes,
and gathered firewood for them,
piling it around their dwellings until it reached the tops of the walls,
to the point that had he ignited a single branch,
he would have burned them all.
At that moment, a group of his followers stood up to him,
and said, "Let us kill Ibn al-Zubayr,
and relieve the people of him."
He replied, "Shall we kindle with our own hands the fire of strife for which we withdrew?
And shall we kill a man from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and the sons of his Companions?
No, by Allah, we will not do anything that angers Allah and His Messenger."
When news reached ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
of the hardship Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was enduring,
and the severity he and his companions faced from ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr,
he sent a letter to him via a messenger of his own.
Had he written it to one of his own sons,
it could not have been more tender in tone or more gracious in address.
Among the things it contained was:
"It has reached me that Ibn al-Zubayr has tightened the noose around you and those with you,
severed your kinship, and belittled your rights.
These lands of the Levant are open before you;
they welcome you and those with you with open arms.
Settle wherever you wish within them,
and you shall find family among family,
and loved ones among neighbors.
You will find us mindful of your rights,
appreciative of your merit,
and upholding the ties of kinship, if Allah wills."
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and those with him set out,
turning their faces toward the lands of the Levant.
When they reached the place where they were to settle,
its people received them with the most honorable hospitality,
and lived alongside them as the best of neighbors.
They loved Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and held him in high esteem,
having witnessed the depth of his devotion and the sincerity of his asceticism.
He began to enjoin good upon them and forbid them from evil,
established the religious rites among them,
reconciled their differences,
and would not allow anyone to oppress another.
When this reached ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
the matter weighed heavily upon him,
and he consulted his inner circle.
They said to him:
"We do not think you should allow him to reside in your kingdom,
given his conduct as you know it.
Either he pledges allegiance to you,
or he must return from whence he came."
So ‘Abd al-Malik wrote to him, saying:
"You came to my lands and settled in a corner of them,
and this war is ongoing between me and ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.
You are a man of status and standing among the Muslims,
and I have decided that you should not remain in my territory unless you pledge allegiance to me.
If you pledge allegiance to me,
then you shall have from me one hundred ships that arrived to me yesterday
from al-Qulzum,
take them with all that is in them and all who are on them.
And you shall have with them one million dirhams,
along with whatever stipend you designate for yourself and your children,
and for your relatives, your clients, and those with you.
But if you refuse,
then move away from me to a place over which I have no authority."
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah wrote back to him, saying:
"From Muhammad ibn ‘Ali to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
peace be upon you.
I praise Allah, other than Whom there is no god, to you.
To proceed:
Perhaps you fear me,
though I thought you were aware of the reality of my position regarding this matter.
By Allah, even if this entire Ummah were to gather against me,
save for the people of a single village, I would not accept it,
nor would I fight them for it.
I had settled in Makkah,
and ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr wanted me to pledge allegiance to him.
When I refused, he made my stay difficult.
Then you wrote to me, inviting me to reside in the Levant,
so I settled in a town on the outskirts of your land,
because of its low prices and its distance from the center of your authority.
Now you have written to me what you have written,
and we are departing from you, if Allah wills."
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah departed with his men and his family from the Levant,
and whenever he settled in a place, he would be disturbed,
and called upon to leave it.
As if his own troubles were not enough,
Allah willed to test him with other burdens,
more severe in impact and heavier to bear.
This was because a group of his followers, those in whose hearts was a disease,
and others who were simple-minded,
began to say:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
entrusted the heart of ‘Ali and his family with many secrets of knowledge,
the foundations of the religion, and the treasures of the Shari'ah,
and that he singled out the Household with what he did not disclose to others."
The man of knowledge, action, and wisdom realized
the deviation this talk carried within it,
and the dangers and harm it could bring upon Islam and the Muslims.
So he gathered the people and stood among them to deliver a sermon.
He praised Allah, the Majestic and Exalted, and extolled Him,
and invoked blessings upon His Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him.
Then he said:
"Some people claim that we, the Household, possess knowledge
that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, confided in us,
and did not disclose to anyone else.
By Allah, we have not inherited from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
anything except what is between these two covers,"
and he pointed to the Mushaf (Qur'an).
"And whoever claims that we have anything to read other than the Book of Allah,
has lied."
Some of his followers would greet him by saying:
"Peace be upon you, O Mahdi!"
He would reply:
"Yes, I am a guide (mahdi) to goodness,
and you are guided to it, if Allah wills.
But when one of you greets me,
let him call me by my name,
and let him say: 'Peace be upon you, O Muhammad.'"
The uncertainty of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah regarding where he and his companions should settle did not last long,
for Allah willed that al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi should finish off
‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr,
and that all the people should pledge allegiance to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
He had no choice but to write to ‘Abd al-Malik, saying:
"To ‘Abdullah ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Commander of the Faithful,
from Muhammad ibn ‘Ali.
To proceed:
When I saw that this matter had devolved to you,
and the people had pledged allegiance to you,
I became one of them.
I have pledged my allegiance to your governor in the Hijaz,
and I have sent this pledge of mine to you in writing.
Peace be upon you."
When ‘Abd al-Malik read the letter to his companions,
they said:
"If he had wanted to break the staff of obedience and cause a rift in the affair,
he would have been capable of it,
and you would have had no way to stop him.
So write to him with a covenant, a pledge, and a guarantee of safety,
and the protection of Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him,
that he or any of his companions will not be disturbed or harassed."
So he wrote to him accordingly,
and wrote to al-Hajjaj ordering him to honor him,
to respect his sanctity, and to go to great lengths in showing him hospitality.
However, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah did not live long after that,
for Allah chose him to be in His presence, well-pleased and pleasing.
May Allah illuminate the grave of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
and may Allah look upon his soul in Paradise.
For he was among those who did not desire corruption on earth,
nor arrogance among the people.
I do not know of anyone who learned from ‘Ali and benefited from him
more than Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah.
Ibn al-Junayd:
They filled life with pride through their deeds,
and the world of the ego flourished because of them.