Part of Glimpses from the Lives of the Tabi‘un (the Successors) (series completed)
· Lesson 20 of 37
Pictures from the lives of the followers | D. Abdul Rahman Raafat Al-Basha | Episode (20) | Muhammad bin Al-Hanafiyyah, may God have mercy on him
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
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The best of generations in stance and example,
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Who followed the Messenger in his endeavors and words.
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Mawaddah Association
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Presents:
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Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un,
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By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
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May Allah have mercy on him.
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Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
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May Allah have mercy on him.
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A rift once occurred between Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah and his brother al-Hasan Ibn Ali,
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So Ibn al-Hanafiyyah sent a message to al-Hasan, saying:
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"Allah has favored you over me;
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For your mother is Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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While my mother is a woman from the tribe of Banu Hanifah.
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Your maternal grandfather is the Messenger of Allah, the elite of His creation,
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While my maternal grandfather is Ja'far Ibn Qays.
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Therefore, when this letter of mine reaches you,
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Come to me and reconcile with me,
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So that the virtue of precedence may remain yours over me in everything."
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No sooner had his message reached al-Hasan
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Than he hastened to his house and reconciled with him.
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Who, then, was this refined, astute, and tactful man?
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He was Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah.
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Come, let us review the story of his life from its very beginning.
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This story begins during the final days of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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For one day,
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Ali Ibn Abi Talib was sitting in a gathering with the Prophet, peace be upon him,
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And said, "O Messenger of Allah,
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Tell me, if a son is born to me after you,
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May I name him with your name,
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And give him your kunyah?"
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He replied, "Yes."
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Then the days turned their full course,
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And the noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, joined the Highest Companion.
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A few months later, he was followed by his daughter and fragrant blossom, Fatimah al-Batul,
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The mother of al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
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Afterwards, Ali married into the Banu Hanifah,
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Wedding Khawlah bint Ja'far Ibn Qays al-Hanafiyyah,
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And she bore him a male child.
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He named him Muhammad,
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And gave him the kunyah Abu al-Qasim,
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By permission granted from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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However, people began calling him Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
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To distinguish him from his brothers, al-Hasan and al-Husayn,
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The sons of Fatimah al-Zahra',
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And thus he became known in history by that name.
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Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah was born toward the end of the caliphate of al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him,
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And was raised and nurtured under the care of his father, Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
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He was tutored under his direct guidance,
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Adopting from him his worship and asceticism,
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Inheriting from him his strength and valor,
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And acquiring from him his eloquence and rhetoric.
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Thus, he was an igniter of war on the battlefields,
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A knight of the pulpit in the assemblies of men,
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And a monk among the monks of the night,
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When darkness draped its veils over the universe and eyes went to sleep.
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His father, may Allah be pleased with him, thrust him into the wars he waged,
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Imposing burdens upon him that he did not impose on his brothers, al-Hasan and al-Husayn,
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Yet his resolve never softened,
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Nor did his determination ever weaken.
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It was once said to him:
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"Why does your father thrust you into perils and force you into tight straits,
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To the exclusion of your brothers al-Hasan and al-Husayn?"
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He replied, "That is because my two brothers hold the status of his eyes,
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Whereas I hold the status of his hands;
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And a man shields his eyes with his hands."
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At the Battle of Siffin,
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Which raged between Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with them both,
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Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah carried his father's standard.
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As the millstone of war was turning, fiercely grinding down the men of both factions,
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An event occurred involving him which he recounted himself, saying:
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"I remember us at Siffin,
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When we clashed with the companions of Mu'awiyah,
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And fought so fiercely that I thought not a single soul would survive from either of us.
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I was horrified by the magnitude of the horror and deemed it an immense calamity.
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Before long, I heard a crier shouting from behind me:
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'O gathering of Muslims!
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Fear Allah, fear Allah!
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O gathering of Muslims!
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Who will be left for the women and children?
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Who will be left for religion and honors?
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Who will be left to face the Byzantines and the Daylamites?
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O gathering of Muslims!
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Fear Allah, fear Allah, and spare one another, O gathering of Muslims!'
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That is, fear Allah and have mercy upon the Muslims.
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Thereupon, I pledged to myself that my sword would never be raised against a Muslim after that day."
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Later, Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was martyred by a sinful, transgressing hand,
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And the leadership devolved to Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan.
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Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah pledged allegiance to him to listen and obey, in ease and hardship,
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Desiring to mend the rift, unite the ranks,
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And uphold the honor of Islam and the Muslims.
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Mu'awiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, sensed the sincerity and purity of this pledge,
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And felt completely reassured regarding him,
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Which prompted him to invite Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah to visit him.
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Thus, he visited him in Damascus more than once,
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And for more than one reason.
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Among those occasions was that the Roman Emperor wrote to Mu'awiyah, saying:
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"Kings among us correspond with kings,
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Presenting each other with the curiosities they possess,
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And vying with one another over the wonders of their realms.
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Would you permit the same exchange to take place between me and you?"
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Mu'awiyah replied in the affirmative and granted him permission.
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So the Roman Emperor dispatched to him two extraordinary men:
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One was an excessively tall man,
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Immense and profoundly gigantic in build,
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Such that he looked like a towering tree in a forest,
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Or a firmly erected structure.
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The second was exceptionally powerful,
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Robust and solid, as if he were a ferocious beast.
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He sent a letter with them, in which he said:
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"Is there anyone in your realm who equals these two men in height and strength?"
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Mu'awiyah said to 'Amr Ibn al-'As:
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"As for the tall one, I have found someone who matches him and even surpasses him,
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And that is Qays Ibn Sa'd Ibn 'Ubadah.
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But as for the strong one, I need your counsel regarding him."
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'Amr said, "There are two men fit for this matter,
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Yet both of them are far removed from you:
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Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah
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And Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr."
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Mu'awiyah said:
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"Indeed, Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah is not far from us."
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'Amr said:
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"Yet do you think that, despite his exalted stature and lofty station, he would consent
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To wrestle a Roman man in full view of the people?"
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Mu'awiyah replied:
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"He would do that and even more than that,
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If he sees in it glory for Islam."
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Then Mu'awiyah summoned both Qays Ibn Sa'd
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And Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah.
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When the assembly convened,
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Qays Ibn Sa'd stood up,
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Took off his trousers,
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Threw them to the Roman giant,
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And commanded him to put them on.
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The man put them on,
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And they reached all the way up above his chest,
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So the people laughed at him.
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As for Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
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He said to the interpreter:
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"Tell the Roman
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That if he wishes, he may sit while I remain standing,
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Then he can give me his hand,
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And either I will pull him to his feet, or he will pull me down to a sit.
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And if he wishes,
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He may be the one standing while I am the one seated."
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The Roman chose to sit,
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So Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet,
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While the Roman failed to pull him down.
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Pride and indignation surged in the Roman's chest,
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And he chose to be the one standing
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While Muhammad was seated.
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So Muhammad took him by the hand
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And gave him such a wrenching pull
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That it nearly dislocated his forearm from his shoulder,
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Bringing him crashing down to the ground.
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Thus, the two Roman brutes departed,
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Returning to their emperor defeated and humiliated.
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Then the days turned their full course once again,
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And Mu'awiyah, his son Yazid,
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And Marwan Ibn al-Hakam all departed to the presence of their Lord.
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The leadership of the Umayyads passed to Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan,
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Who proclaimed himself Caliph of the Muslims,
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And the people of the Levant pledged allegiance to him.
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Meanwhile, the people of the Hijaz and Iraq
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Had already pledged allegiance to Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr.
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Each of them began calling those who had not sworn allegiance to give him their pledge,
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Claiming to the people that he had a greater right to the caliphate than his rival.
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Thus, the ranks of the Muslims were split once more.
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At this point, Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr demanded
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That Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah pledge allegiance to him,
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Just as the people of the Hijaz had done.
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Yet it was not lost on Ibn al-Hanafiyyah
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That giving a pledge of allegiance placed upon his neck
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Numerous obligations toward the one he pledged to,
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Among which was unsheathing his sword in his defense
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And fighting against those who opposed him—
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While those opponents were none other than Muslims who had exercised their judgment
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And pledged allegiance to someone other than the one he would pledge to.
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And this wise, consummate man
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Had never forgotten the day of Siffin,
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Nor had the long years
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Erased from his ears that
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Husky, piercing, and sorrowful voice
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As it cried out from behind him:
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"O gathering of Muslims!
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Fear Allah, fear Allah, O gathering of Muslims!
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Who will be left for the women and children?
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Who will be left for religion and honors?
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Who will be left to face the Byzantines and the Daylamites?"
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Yes,
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He had never forgotten any of that at all.
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So he said to Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr:
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"You know with absolute certainty
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That I have no ambition nor pursuit in this matter,
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But am merely an ordinary man among the Muslims.
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If their consensus unites behind you,
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Or behind Abd al-Malik,
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He pledged allegiance to the one upon whom the people had reached a consensus.
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But now,
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I will neither pledge allegiance to you nor to him.
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So, ‘Abdullah [ibn al-Zubayr] began to treat him with a mixture of familiarity,
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and at times, gentleness,
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while at other times, he would turn away from him and treat him coldly.
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However, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
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soon found many men rallying to his side.
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They shared his perspective,
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and entrusted their leadership to him,
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until they numbered seven thousand men,
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all of whom had chosen to withdraw from the strife (fitnah).
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They refused to allow themselves
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to become fuel for its raging fire.
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As the number of followers of Ibn al-Hanafiyyah grew,
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so too did the resentment of Ibn al-Zubayr toward him,
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and he pressed him insistently to pledge allegiance.
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When he despaired of that,
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he ordered him, along with those who were with him from the Banu Hashim and others,
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to remain confined to their mountain pass in Makkah.
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He placed guards over them,
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and then said to them:
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"By Allah, you shall pledge allegiance, or I will burn you with fire!"
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He then imprisoned them in their homes,
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and gathered firewood for them,
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piling it around their dwellings until it reached the tops of the walls,
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to the point that had he ignited a single branch,
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he would have burned them all.
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At that moment, a group of his followers stood up to him,
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and said, "Let us kill Ibn al-Zubayr,
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and relieve the people of him."
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He replied, "Shall we kindle with our own hands the fire of strife for which we withdrew?
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And shall we kill a man from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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and the sons of his Companions?
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No, by Allah, we will not do anything that angers Allah and His Messenger."
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When news reached ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
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of the hardship Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was enduring,
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and the severity he and his companions faced from ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr,
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he sent a letter to him via a messenger of his own.
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Had he written it to one of his own sons,
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it could not have been more tender in tone or more gracious in address.
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Among the things it contained was:
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"It has reached me that Ibn al-Zubayr has tightened the noose around you and those with you,
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severed your kinship, and belittled your rights.
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These lands of the Levant are open before you;
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they welcome you and those with you with open arms.
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Settle wherever you wish within them,
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and you shall find family among family,
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and loved ones among neighbors.
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You will find us mindful of your rights,
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appreciative of your merit,
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and upholding the ties of kinship, if Allah wills."
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Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and those with him set out,
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turning their faces toward the lands of the Levant.
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When they reached the place where they were to settle,
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its people received them with the most honorable hospitality,
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and lived alongside them as the best of neighbors.
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They loved Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and held him in high esteem,
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having witnessed the depth of his devotion and the sincerity of his asceticism.
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He began to enjoin good upon them and forbid them from evil,
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established the religious rites among them,
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reconciled their differences,
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and would not allow anyone to oppress another.
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When this reached ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
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the matter weighed heavily upon him,
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and he consulted his inner circle.
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They said to him:
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"We do not think you should allow him to reside in your kingdom,
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given his conduct as you know it.
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Either he pledges allegiance to you,
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or he must return from whence he came."
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So ‘Abd al-Malik wrote to him, saying:
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"You came to my lands and settled in a corner of them,
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and this war is ongoing between me and ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.
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You are a man of status and standing among the Muslims,
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and I have decided that you should not remain in my territory unless you pledge allegiance to me.
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If you pledge allegiance to me,
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then you shall have from me one hundred ships that arrived to me yesterday
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from al-Qulzum,
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take them with all that is in them and all who are on them.
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And you shall have with them one million dirhams,
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along with whatever stipend you designate for yourself and your children,
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and for your relatives, your clients, and those with you.
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But if you refuse,
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then move away from me to a place over which I have no authority."
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Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah wrote back to him, saying:
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"From Muhammad ibn ‘Ali to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
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peace be upon you.
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I praise Allah, other than Whom there is no god, to you.
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To proceed:
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Perhaps you fear me,
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though I thought you were aware of the reality of my position regarding this matter.
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By Allah, even if this entire Ummah were to gather against me,
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save for the people of a single village, I would not accept it,
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nor would I fight them for it.
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I had settled in Makkah,
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and ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr wanted me to pledge allegiance to him.
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When I refused, he made my stay difficult.
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Then you wrote to me, inviting me to reside in the Levant,
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so I settled in a town on the outskirts of your land,
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because of its low prices and its distance from the center of your authority.
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Now you have written to me what you have written,
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and we are departing from you, if Allah wills."
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Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah departed with his men and his family from the Levant,
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and whenever he settled in a place, he would be disturbed,
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and called upon to leave it.
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As if his own troubles were not enough,
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Allah willed to test him with other burdens,
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more severe in impact and heavier to bear.
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This was because a group of his followers, those in whose hearts was a disease,
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and others who were simple-minded,
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began to say:
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"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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entrusted the heart of ‘Ali and his family with many secrets of knowledge,
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the foundations of the religion, and the treasures of the Shari'ah,
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and that he singled out the Household with what he did not disclose to others."
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The man of knowledge, action, and wisdom realized
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the deviation this talk carried within it,
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and the dangers and harm it could bring upon Islam and the Muslims.
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So he gathered the people and stood among them to deliver a sermon.
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He praised Allah, the Majestic and Exalted, and extolled Him,
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and invoked blessings upon His Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him.
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Then he said:
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"Some people claim that we, the Household, possess knowledge
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that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, confided in us,
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and did not disclose to anyone else.
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By Allah, we have not inherited from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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anything except what is between these two covers,"
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and he pointed to the Mushaf (Qur'an).
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"And whoever claims that we have anything to read other than the Book of Allah,
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has lied."
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Some of his followers would greet him by saying:
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"Peace be upon you, O Mahdi!"
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He would reply:
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"Yes, I am a guide (mahdi) to goodness,
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and you are guided to it, if Allah wills.
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But when one of you greets me,
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let him call me by my name,
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and let him say: 'Peace be upon you, O Muhammad.'"
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The uncertainty of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah regarding where he and his companions should settle did not last long,
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for Allah willed that al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi should finish off
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‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr,
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and that all the people should pledge allegiance to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
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He had no choice but to write to ‘Abd al-Malik, saying:
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"To ‘Abdullah ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Commander of the Faithful,
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from Muhammad ibn ‘Ali.
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To proceed:
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When I saw that this matter had devolved to you,
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and the people had pledged allegiance to you,
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I became one of them.
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I have pledged my allegiance to your governor in the Hijaz,
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and I have sent this pledge of mine to you in writing.
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Peace be upon you."
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When ‘Abd al-Malik read the letter to his companions,
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they said:
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"If he had wanted to break the staff of obedience and cause a rift in the affair,
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he would have been capable of it,
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and you would have had no way to stop him.
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So write to him with a covenant, a pledge, and a guarantee of safety,
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and the protection of Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him,
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that he or any of his companions will not be disturbed or harassed."
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So he wrote to him accordingly,
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and wrote to al-Hajjaj ordering him to honor him,
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to respect his sanctity, and to go to great lengths in showing him hospitality.
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However, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah did not live long after that,
20:31
for Allah chose him to be in His presence, well-pleased and pleasing.
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May Allah illuminate the grave of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah,
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and may Allah look upon his soul in Paradise.
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For he was among those who did not desire corruption on earth,
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nor arrogance among the people.
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I do not know of anyone who learned from ‘Ali and benefited from him
21:02
more than Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah.
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Ibn al-Junayd:
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They filled life with pride through their deeds,
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and the world of the ego flourished because of them.