Sulayman b. Razin
Sulaymān b. Razīn (Arabic:سُلَیمان بن رَزین), servant of Imam al-Husayn (a) and his ambassador to noble people of Basra. After 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad caught Imam's (a) letter, he ordered to kill Sulayman. He was the first martyr of the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a).
So, God chose Muhammad (s) over His creation and honored him as His messenger and chose him for His mission. Then, God took him (his soul) while he (s) was wishing well for the servants of God and delivered his mission (to people); and we are his family, children and vicegerents; and we are most deserved ones among people for his position among them; But, our people passed us to reach that position and we accepted because we disliked disunity and liked well-being and cordiality among people. However, we know that we deserve the right which belongs to us more than those who have taken it….I have sent my ambassador to you with this letter. I invite you to the Book of God and the tradition of the Prophet (s) because the tradition has died and illegitimate innovation has emerged. So, if you listen to my word and obey my order, I guide you to the path of growth. And peace be upon you and the mercy of God.
Tabari, Tarikh al-umam wa l-muluk, vol. 5, p. 357
Letter of Imam al-Husayn (a) to Noble People of Basra
When Imam al-Husayn (a) was in Mecca, sent Sulayman with a letter to Basra.[1] Imam's (a) letter was to the five chiefs and noble people of Basra: Malik b. Musamma' al-Bakri, Ahnaf b. Qays al-Tamimi, Mundhir b. Jarud al-'Abdi, Mas'ud b. 'Amr al-Azdi, Qays b. Haytham, and 'Amr b. 'Ubayd Allah b. Mu'ammar. Imam (a) addressed these five people in a single letter.[2]
Martyrdom
Four of the mentioned noble ones concealed the news of receiving the letter of Imam (a) but Mundhir b. Jarud (who was father-in-law of Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad, ruler of Basra) took the letter and Sulayman to Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad afraid of it being a plot of him. Ibn Ziyad who wanted to go to Kufa, read the letter and ordered to behead Sulayman[3] and in another report, they hung him.[4]
The names of him and his murderer are mentioned in the Ziyarah al-Shuhada', "Peace be upon Sulayman, servant of al-Husayn b. Amir al-Mu'minin (a) and the curse of God be on his murderer, Sulayman b. 'Awf al-Hadrami."[5]
Notes
References
- Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Al-Luhūf ʿalā qatlay al-ṭufūf. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Jahān, [n.d].
- Mamaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan. Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl. Qom: Muʾassisa Āl-i al-Bayt li Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, [n.d].
- Samāwī, Muḥammad al-. Ibṣār al-ʿayn fī anṣār al-Ḥusayn (a). 1st edition. Qom: Dānishgāh-i Shahīd Maḥallātī, 1419 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār al-Turāth, 1387 AH.