Battle of Harra: Difference between revisions

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The word "harra" refers to black rocky terrains. Since the uprising took place in rocky terrains East of Medina, called "Harra Waqim" or "Harra Zuhra" (attributed to Banu Zuhra, a Jewish tribe), it was called the event of Harra. Most historical sources take the event to have occurred on the second day of [[Dhu l-Hajja]] or two or three days to the end of Dhu l-Hajja 63 A.H. (August 2, or August 27-28, 683), thus the accounts according to which it took place in 62 A.H. are wrong.

* The dissatisfaction of people in Medina by the rule of [[Yazid b. Mu'awiya]] because of his political incompetence and his overt crimes, such as killing [[Imam Husayn (a)]],

* People's pledge of allegiance to [['Abdullah b. Zubayr]] and their dismissal of Yazid from [[caliphate]],

Upon the command of 'Abdullah b. Zubayr, people of Medina dismissed [['Uthman b. Muhammad]] from the rule of Medina, rebelled against the [[Umayyads]], and sieged about 1000 Umayyad people who had gathered in Marwan b. Hakam's house.

'Abdullah b. Zubayr appointed [['Abdullah b. Hanzala]] as the ruler of Medina. This account as well as the ones mentioned before show how influential 'Abdullah b. Zubayr was on this uprising and its leaders.

'Abdullah b. Ja'far, as the agent of the [[Sham]] government, made attempts to make people obey Yazid, but to no avail. Yazid's threatening letter, as well as [[Nu'man b. Bashir]]'s intercession to conciliate people, did not work. Thus Yazid decided to equip an army to quench people of Medina. When [['Ubaydullah b. Ziyad]] refused to undertake the commandership of the army, Yazid gave the commandership to [[Muslim b. 'Uqba al-Murri]]. His army, on some accounts, consisted of 5000 to 27000 soldiers. The attack was accompanied by [[Husayn b. Numayr]]. Husayn undertook the commandership of people of [[Hums]].

Upon the order of Yazid, Muslim b. 'Uqba announced that his army is at liberty to do anything to people's lives and property for three days. According to [[Ibn Kathir]] and [[al-Suyuti]], the plunders and crimes of the army in these three days led to a horrific catastrophe. And according to [[al-Mas'udi]], it was the most hideous event after the [[martyrdom]] of [[Imam Husayn (a)]]. In these three days, the army of Muslim b. 'Uqba committed abhorrent crimes such as rapes, taking fetuses out of pregnant women's wombs, killing infants, offending the outstanding [[companions of the Prophet (s)]], such as [[Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari]] who was blind and [[Abu Sa'id al-Khidri]].

According to some sources, over 4000 or 11,700 or 10,700 people were killed in the event of Harra. Of these, 700 people were memorizers of the [[Quran]] and 80 people were the [[Sahaba]] (companions) of [[the Prophet (s)]] such that none of the Sahaba who fought in the [[Battle of Badr]]—who were called "People of Badr" (Ahl al-Badr)—stayed alive. [['Abdullah b. Hanzala]] and his sons were also killed.

After all these crimes, Muslim b. 'Uqba gathered people of Medina and coerced them to pledge their allegiance to Yazid on the condition that they and their fathers are Yazid's servants, that is, they are owned by Yazid as booties of the war, and whoever refuses to obey the order will be decapitated.

Only [['Ali b. 'Abdullah b. Abbas]] (with the intercession of some of his relatives who were in Yazid's army) and [[Imam Sajjad (a)]] were exempted from pledging their allegiance.

==Imam Sajjad (a)'s position==

Imam Sajjad (a)'s neutrality with respect to the uprising: Imam Sajad (a) did not accompany the people of Medina in the uprising. The reasons for his neutrality included the facts that the uprising began by the permission and support of [['Abdullah b. Zubayr]], and the number of people in Medina was very small in comparison with the number of Sham's violent, cruel army. Moreover, Imam Sajjad (a) wanted to stay away from the accusations of the [[Umayyad]] government, which was, on one account, Muslim b. 'Uqba's main motivation for his attack on Medina, and he wanted his few followers to survive (in order for Shiism to survive) and he wanted to preserve the dignity of the Prophet (s)'s progeny and household.

Imam Sajjad (a)'s house as a safe refuge: since Imam Sajjad (a) did not accompany the rebels, his household remained safe, and his house came to be a safe place for many women and children and even the family of [[Marwan b. Hakam]]. Imam Sajjad (a) sent Marwan's family, together with his own family, to Yannabu'.

Muslim b. 'Uqba's treatment of Imam Sajjad (a): after the event, Imam Sajjad (a) went to Muslim together with Marwan b. Hakam and his son. It seems that Yazid had already recommended Muslim to treat Imam Sajjad (a) with respect. Thus Muslim honored the Imam (a), and saddled a horse to send him back home. Some people take the unexpectedly good treatment of Imam Sajjad (a) by Muslim b. 'Uqba to be caused by a pray that the Imam (a) recited in order to create fear in Muslim's heart.

The neutrality of some [[Sahaba]] with respect to rebels: some Sahaba, such as [['Abdullah b. 'Umar]], [[Abu Sa'id al-Khidri]] and [[Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari]] stayed neutral and did not accompany the people of Medina.

[[Ibn Qutayba]] has compared the early and unexpected defeat of people in the event of Harra with the resistance of [['Abdullah b. Zubayr]] and his few companions to the same army, tracing the cause of people's defeat in Harra to be their having two commanders. But there are no reports in the sources about any disagreements among the heads of Medina's uprising.