Episode 23: The chosen one

Before we can continue our discussion of the struggle between Abdulmalik and Ibn il Zubayr, we need to step back and survey the complicated situation in Iraq. Deep divisions made its cities difficult for either leader to claim, especially considering the significant Hashemite sympathies in Kufa which now had no outlet following the clan’s massacre. The situation was dangerous and volatile, but presented the perfect conditions for one especially innovative and ambitious local leader.

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Glossary

• Mukhtar al Thaqafi: our main man today was originally from the city of Ta’if, Mecca’s pre-islamic rival. His clan joined Omar’s armies for Iraq, and after his father died when he was 13, he stayed with his uncle in nearby Mada’in, the Arab name for Ctesiphon. He is actually quite shrouded in mystery, and is difficult to capture as many of the narrations about him are overly charged and therefore questionable. 
• Sulayman ibn Surad: Sulayman was a companion of the prophet’s and a longtime ally of Ali bin Abi Talib and the Hashemites. He opposed compromising back at the battle of Siffin, but abided by Ali’s decision. He must have hated the last two decade, but the massacre at Karbala’ broke the camel’s back and made him implacable in his quest for revenge.
• Mohammad ibn il Hanafiya: the only surviving son of Ali’s, Mohammad and the rest of the clan got the unsubtle message of the massacre loud and clear and stayed out of politics. Abdallah ibn il Abbas was probably the only other surviving Hashemite with any prominence, and he left Mecca for Ta’if in protest after ibn il Zubayr tore down the Ka’ba. His relationship to Mukhtar is very contested, especially due to the central role he played in the latter’s ideology.
• Abdullah ibn il Zubayr: the caliph stayed in Mecca during his bid for power, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make many changes. He started a major project remodeling Mecca’s shrine, and he forbade the Syrians from attending the Hajj. His relationship to Mukhtar is contested in its earliest phase, but clearly antagonistic after Mukhtar began accepting pledges in Kufa. There’s even a narration where Mukhtar send an army to depose him but fails either because he was outsmarted by ibn il Zubayr, or because Mohammad ibn il Hanafiya wouldn’t declare for Mukhtar.
• Mus’ab ibn il Zubayr: though usually praised in our sources and held in high regard, the way Mus’ab dealt with the remnants of Mukhtar’s supporters in Kufa is described as a horrific massacre. What’s worse than the mass death apparently is that they had let him into the city only after he promised them clemency, something the sources find to be too dishonorable to go without comment.
• Ibn Muti’: the man ibn il Zubayr sent to govern Kufa on his behalf didn’t stand a chance as there was little enthusiasm for Zubayrid rule in a city so historically aligned with the Hashemite cause.
• Ibrahim ibn Malik il Ashtar: the son of Ali’s right-hand man Malik al Ashtar, he was the chief of his tribe, at least in part due to his father’s illustrious reputation no doubt. He was also an able commander and fierce warrior.
• Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad: Ubaydallah is portrayed as an arrogant noble in most narrations, one who over-estimates his own power and worth. There are many praising him, and he was very effective at re-establishing Umayyad authority in Syria, but the stain of having carried out Yazid’s orders of slaying al Hussain so eagerly stays with him.