Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath al-Kindi

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia
Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath al-Kindi
Commanders of 'Umar b. Sa'd's army
Full NameMuhammad b. al-Asha'th b. Qays al-Kindi
Well-known AsIbn al-Ash'ath
LineageKinda
Well-known RelativesAsh'ath b. Qays al-Kindi (father), Qays (brother), Ja'da bt. al-Ash'ath b. Qays (sister), Abu Bakr (uncle)
Place of ResidenceKufa
Death/Martyrdom67/686-7
Cause of
Death/Martyrdom
Killed in the battle between Mus'ab b. Zubayr and al-Mukhtar
EraUmayyad
Notable rolesCommander of forces of Ibn Ziyad in capturing Muslim b. 'Aqil
ActivitiesTestifying against Hujr b. 'Adi


Muḥammad b. al-Ashʿath b. Qays al-Kindī (Arabic:محمد بن أشعَث بن قَیس الکِندی) known as Ibn Ashʿath (إبن أشعث) was among the agents in the Event of Karbala. He was the leader of the forces of Ibn Ziyad in capturing Muslim b. 'Aqil. On the Day of Ashura, he rejected the valuable relationship of Imam al-Husayn (a) with the Holy Prophet (s). During the Uprising of al-Mukhtar, al-Mukhtar's agents could not find Ibn Ash'ath. He was finally killed in the war between Mus'ab and al-Mukhtar.

Lineage and Family

His father, Ash'ath b. Qays al-Kindi, was the chief of Kinda tribe and the agent of Imam Ali (a) in Azerbaijan. In the Battle of Siffin, he was in the army of Imam Ali (a) and played a role in provoking Khawarij against Imam (a).[1]

His mother was Umm Farwa, daughter of Abu Quhafa and thus he was the nephew of the First Caliph.[2] In the Event of Karbala, his brother Qays b. al-Ash'ath was in the army of 'Umar b. Sa'd.[3] His sister, Ju'da was the wife of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (a) who finally killed the Imam (a).[4]

Imam al-Sadiq (a) considered al-Ash'ath an accomplice in killing Imam Ali (a) and the son of al-Ash'ath, Muhammad, an accomplice in killing Imam al-Husayn (a) and has also mentioned the role of his daughter Ja'da in killing Imam al-Hasan (a).[5]

Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath was among those who testified against Hujr b. 'Adi.[6]

Capturing Muslim b. 'Aqil

Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath had an effective role in dispersing people of Kufa from around Muslim b. 'Aqil.[7] Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath also was the commander of forces sent by Ibn Ziyad who arrested Muslim b. 'Aqil by promising him safe conduct. But, Muslim was martyred by order of Ibn Ziyad.[8]

On the Day of Ashura

On the Day of 'Ashura, he rejected the valuable relationship of Imam al-Husayn (a) with the Holy Prophet (s); thus, he was cursed by Imam (a).[9]

According to some recent sources, just after the curse of Imam (a), Ibn al-Ash'ath went to a side to relieve himself, but a scorpion bit him, and he died naked.[10] This report disagrees with the report of historical sources about his activities in the Uprising of al-Mukhtar[11] and his death in the war between Mus'ab with al-Mukhtar in 67/686-7.[12]

After the Event of Karbala

Hawshab b. Ya'li al-Hamdani besieged the palace and the village of Ibn al-Ash'ath in Qadisiyya by order of al-Mukhtar to capture Ibn al-Ash'ath. But, he escaped from a hidden door. By order of al-Mukhtar, his palace was destroyed, and by its remaining, they reconstructed the house of Hujr b. 'Adi which the supporters of Ibn Ziyad had ruined.[13]

When Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath and others who cooperated in killing Imam al-Husayn (a) heard that al-Mukhtar was searching for them, they escaped. When they were informed about the people's revolt of Kufa, they returned to Kufa and took the leadership of their revolt. But, when the revolt was defeated, Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath, Shabath b. Rib'i and other killers of Imam al-Husayn (a) escaped to Basra and provoked Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr to fight with al-Mukhtar. In 67/687, he delivered Mus'ab's letter to Mulhab b. Abi Safra in Fars.[14]

Ibn al-Ash'ath was killed in the war between Mus'ab and al-Mukhtar in 67/686-7.[15] Ibn Habban has said that al-Mukhtar himself killed him.[16]

Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath al-Kindi

Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath al-Kindi (d. 95/713-4) was Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath's son and a supporter of the Umayyad family who gradually turned into their opponent and rebelled against them. His revolt occurred between 81/700 and 82/701 extending from Sistan to Basra. He came to be known by his revolt against al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi.[17]

Notes

  1. Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 2, p. 296; Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam, vol. 4, p. 561.
  2. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 4, p. 1950.
  3. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam, vol. 5, p. 423.
  4. Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 2, p. 427.
  5. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 167.
  6. Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 5, p. 254.
  7. Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, p. 239.
  8. Abu l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, Maqātil al-ṭālibīyyīn, p. 107; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 33.
  9. Ibn Aʿtham, Kitāb al-Futūḥ, vol. 5, p. 97, vol. 6, p. 242; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 35, p. 302.
  10. Muqarram, Maqtal al-Ḥusayn, p. 240; Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 158.
  11. Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam, vol. 6, p. 64; Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 3, p. 59.
  12. Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, p. 301-304; Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 3, p. 98; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 277.
  13. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam, vol. 6, p. 66; Ibn Aʿtham, Kitāb al-Futūḥ, vol. 6, p. 254-255.
  14. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam, vol. 6, p. 94.
  15. Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, p. 301-304; Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 3, p. 98; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 277; Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam, vol. 6, p. 115.
  16. Ibn Ḥibbān, Kitab al-thiqāt, vol. 5, p. 352 qouted from Dānishnāmah-yi Imām Ḥusayn (a), vol. 9, p. 296.
  17. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam, vol. 3, p. 138.

References

  • Abu l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn. Maqātil al-ṭālibīyyīn. Edited by Sayyid Aḥmad al-Ṣaqar. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
  • Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Jumal min ansāb al-ashrāf. Edited by Suhayl Zakār & Riyāḍ al-Ziriklī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1417 AH.
  • Dīnawarī, Aḥmad b. Dāwūd al-. al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl. Edited by ʿAbd al-Munʿim ʿĀmir and Jamāl al-Dīn Shiyāl. Qom: Manshūrāt al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1368 Sh.
  • Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī, Aḥmad b. Aʿtham. Kitāb al-Futūḥ. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwaʾ, 1411/1991.
  • Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
  • Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī, ʿAlī b. Abī l-Karam. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1385 /1965.
  • Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī, ʿAlī b. Abī l-Karam. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1385 /1965.
  • Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī. Al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1412 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1365 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Wafāʾ, 1404 AH.
  • Masʿūdī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Murūj al-dhahab wa maʿadin al-jawhar. Edited by Asʿad Dāghir. Qom: Dār al-Hijra, 1409 AH.
  • Muḥammadī Riyshahrī, Muḥammad. Dānishnāmah-yi Imām Ḥusayn (a). 2nd edition. Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1388 Sh.
  • Muqarram, ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-. Maqtal al-Ḥusayn aw ḥadith Karbalā. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Khirsān li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1426 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī, 1400 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. Second edition. Beirut: Dar al-Turāth, 1387 AH.