Maqtal al-Husayn (a) (by Abu Mikhnaf): Difference between revisions

'''''Maqtal al-Ḥusayn (a)''''' (Arabic: {{ia|(مقتل الحسین (ع)}} was the first [[Maqtal]] written on the [[Battle of 'Ashura]] and martyrdom of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]]. Lut b. Yahya known as [[Abu Mikhnaf]] was the author of this maqtal; the book is well-known as '''''Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf'''''. It is inscribed two generations after the Battle of 'Ashura. It was available until the 4th/[[10th century]] but later it perished just like other works of Abu Mikhnaf.

There is a book named ''Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf'' which is not accepted by researchers. Muhammad Hadi Yusufi Gharawi in his book ''Waq'at al-taff li Abi Mikhnaf'' tried to collect and organize available quotations in ''[[Tarikh al-Tabari]]'' and restore the actual Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf.

Lut b. Yahya b. Sa'id b. Mikhnaf al-Azdi known as Abu Mikhnaf, was born in the second half of the 1st/[[7th century]] in [[Kufa]]; he passed away in [[157]]/774 or [[158]]/775. He has written many books. According to [[al-Najashi]], Abu Mikhnaf has written twenty eight books; also [[Ibn al-Nadim]] mentioned thirty books,<ref>Ṣāliḥī, "Pazhūhishī dar huwīyat-i tārīkhī-yi maqtal-i Abī Mikhnaf", p. 52.</ref> including: the books on the death of [['Uthman b. 'Affan]], the [[Battle of Siffin]], Maqtal of [[Muhammad b. Abi Bakr]], Maqtal of [[Amir al-Mu'minin (a)]].<ref>Abī Mikhnaf, ''Waqʿat al-Ṭaff'', p. 7.</ref>

''Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf'' was the first [[Maqtal|maqtal]] on the Battle of 'Ashura.<ref>Abī Mikhnaf, ''Waqʿat al-Ṭaff'', p. 7.</ref> When he started writing of ''Maqtal al-Husayn (a)'' still a number of reliable people who witnessed the [[battle of Karbala]] were alive.<ref>Isfandīyārī, Kitābshināsī-yi tārīkhī-yi Imām Ḥusayn, p. 42.</ref> According to the author of ''Waq'at al-Taff'', there is no evidence proving that Abu Mikhnaf was a [[Shi'ite]] Muslim, but there are reasons that show he respected [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] and loved them.<ref>Abī Mikhnaf, ''Waqʿat al-Ṭaff'', p. 19, 20.</ref>

''Maqtal al-Husayn (a)'' by Abi Mikhnaf was available until the 4th/10th century but it was later perished like other works of Abu Mikhnaf. The famous present ''Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf'' is a false unknown book which was probably written in the 6th/12th century.<ref>Isfandīyārī, ''Kitābshināsī-yi tārīkhī-yi Imām Ḥusayn'', p. 42.</ref> Here are the reasons proving that it is a fake book:

# In page twelve of the book it is said: "Rawa al-Kulayni fi hadith …" ([[al-Kulayni]] narrated the [[hadith]]). While al-Kulayni was born about hundred years after the death of Abu Mikhnaf.

Mirza Husayn Nuri ([[al-Muhaddith al-Nuri]]) in his book ''[[Lu'lu' wa marjan]]'', stated on Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf: "Abu Mikhnaf Lut b. Yahya was a grand hadith scholar and a reliable knowledgeable historian; his book, ''Maqtal'', was a truly a reliable book, but unfortunately the original version is not available and the current version which is attributed to him includes some irreligious content which has issues against principles of Islam. However ignorant men with wicked purposes intentionally inserted new contents that damaged the reliability of the book and its narrators are not trustworthy either."<ref>Isfandīyārī, ''Kitābshināsī-yi tārīkhī-yi Imām Ḥusayn'', p. 43; See also: Abī Mikhnaf, ''Waqʿat al-Ṭaff'', p. 24-26.</ref>

In recent years, a number of researchers have tried to collect and rearrange quotations from the history book of al-Tabari on Abu Mikhnaf in order to restore ''Maqtal of Abu Mikhnaf'' including:

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