Battle of Harra: Difference between revisions

According to reports, [['Abd Allah b. Hanzala]] had a pivotal role in this movement and even people pledged [[allegiance]] to him as the leader of the uprising.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 480-482.</ref>  There are different reports about the causes and grounds of this uprising. According to many of these reports, the cause of this protest and uprising was the corruption of [[Yazid]]. They say that the governor of [[Medina]] sends a group of nobles of the city to visit Yazid in [[Syria]]. When the group comes back to Medina, they testified to depravity and perversion of Yazid and invite people to uprise to dethrone him from caliphate.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 479-480.</ref>  

'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr appointed [['Abd Allah b. Hanzala]] as the ruler of Medina.<ref>Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī, ''Kitāb al-Futūḥ'', vol. 5, p. 156-157, 292-293.</ref> This account as well as the ones mentioned before show how influential 'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr was on this uprising and its leaders.

The agent of the [[Syria]] 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.<ref>Dīnawarī, ''al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', vol. 1, p. 177-178; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 481.</ref> Thus Yazid decided to equip an army to quench people of Medina. When [['Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad]] refused to undertake the commandership of the army, Yazid gave the commandership to [[Muslim b. 'Uqba al-Murri]].<ref>Ibn Athīr, ''al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh'', vol. 4, p. 111-112.</ref> Different accounts have mentioned his army as having 5000 to 27000 soldiers.<ref>Yaʿqūbī, ''Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī'', vol. 2, p. 250-251; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 483; Dhahabī, ''Tārīkh al-Islām'', (Year 61-80 AH), p. 25.</ref> The attack was accompanied by [[Husayn b. Numayr]] (Arabic: {{ia|حصين بن نمير}}). Husayn undertook the commandership of people of [[Homs]].<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 490.</ref>

People allowed the agents of the Umayyad government to go out of Medina on the condition that they give no information about Medina to the Syrian army and do not attend the war. After they went out of Medina, the Umayyad people broke their oath, and [['Abd al-Malik b. Marwan]]'s father suggested him to devise a plan for an attack on Medina together with Muslim b. 'Uqba.Dīnawarī, ''al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', vol. 1, p. 206.

After crossing Harra, Muslim b. 'Uqba settled in east of Medina, and gave a three day deadline to people of Medina.<ref>Dīnawarī, ''al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', vol. 1, p. 178-180; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 485-487.</ref> Then he bypassed the trench and entered the city with the help of the Banu Haritha tribe—who were deceived by financial promises<ref>Dīnawarī, ''al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', vol. 1, p. 179, 181, 265.</ref>—and committed incredible crimes there in such a way that he came to be known as the criminal.<ref>Ibn Ḥabīb, ''al-Munammaq fī akhbār Quraysh'', p. 390; Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 3, p. 267.</ref>

*'''Imam al-Sajjad (a)'s neutrality with respect to the uprising''': Imam al-Sajjad (a) did not accompany the people of [[Medina]] in the uprising.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 484-485; Masʿūdī, ''al-Tanbīh wa al-ishrāf'', p. 305.</ref> The reasons for his neutrality included the facts that the uprising began by the permission and support of [['Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr]], and the number of people in Medina was very small in comparison with the number of Syria's violent, cruel army. Moreover, Imam al-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.<ref>Ḥusaynī Jalālī, ''Jahād-i Imām Sajjād'', p. 61-62, 68-70.</ref>

Muslim b. 'Uqba's treatment of Imam al-Sajjad (a): after the event, Imam al-Sajjad (a) went to Muslim together with Marwan b. Hakam and his son. It seems that Yazid had already recommended Muslim to treat Imam al-Sajjad (a) with respect. Thus Muslim honored the Imam (a), and saddled a horse to send him back home.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 151-153; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 484-485.</ref> Some people take the unexpectedly good treatment of Imam al-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.<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 3, p. 269; Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 151-153.</ref>

Ibn Qutayba has compared the early and unexpected defeat of people in the Event of Harra with the resistance of [['Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr]] and his few companions to the same army, tracing the cause of people's defeat in Harra to be their having two commanders.<ref>Dīnawarī, ''al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', vol. 1, p. 185.</ref> But there are no reports in the sources about any disagreements among the heads of Medina's uprising.

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