Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 12080

Muhammad bin Sa'id bin Rummanah narrates: When the time of death drew near for Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said to Yazid bin Mu'awiyah: I have brought the lands under your control and made the people bound to you. My only fear concerning you is from the people of the Hijaz. If you see any suspicious situation from them, send Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri against them, for I have tested him more than once, and I have not found anyone like him in obedience and sincere loyalty. The narrator says: When Yazid learned of the opposition of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) and how he was calling people to his own rule, he summoned Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri, who had been struck by paralysis. Yazid said: The Commander of the Believers enjoined me during his illness that if I saw any suspicious situation from the people of the Hijaz, I should send you against them, and I have now seen such a situation. Muslim bin Uqbah said: I am just as the Commander of the Believers thought; have the army prepared for me. The narrator says: Then he stayed in Madinah for three days and called the people to pledge allegiance to Yazid on the terms that they would be bound by the command of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah in every matter, in obedience to Allah Almighty and in disobedience. The people accepted this from him, except one man from Quraysh, whose mother was an umm walad, who did not accept it. He said to him: Are you pledging allegiance to Yazid on the terms that you are his slave in every state, in obedience to Allah and in disobedience? The man said: No! Rather, I will follow him only in obedience to Allah Almighty. He refused to accept this, and Muslim bin Uqbah had him killed. The man's mother swore an oath that if Allah Almighty gave her power over Muslim, whether Muslim was alive or dead at that time, she would burn him with fire. When Muslim bin Uqbah left Madinah, his illness grew severe and he died. Then the mother of that Qurashi man came with her slaves to Muslim's grave and ordered that Muslim's grave be dug open from the side of the head. When they reached Muslim's body, there was a snake there which had coiled itself around his neck and was sucking at his nose. The people were frightened and said: O our mistress! Go back, for Allah Almighty has sufficed you against this man's evil. They told the woman about the situation. The woman said: No, I will fulfil the promise I made to Allah Almighty. Then the woman said: Dig his grave open from the side of the feet. They dug the grave open, and a snake had wound itself around both his feet too. The narrator says: The woman stepped aside, offered two rak'ahs, and then prayed: O Allah! If You know that I was angry with Muslim bin Uqbah today only for Your sake, then clear the way between me and him. Then the woman took a stick and with it moved the snake's tail, whereupon it slipped out from behind his head and went out of the grave. Then the woman gave an order concerning Muslim, and his body was taken out of the grave and then burned with fire.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Abd al-Malik bin Abd al-Rahman al-Dhimari, whom Abu Zur'ah declared da'if (weak), while Ibn Hibban and others called him thiqah (trustworthy); and I do not know the person named Ibn Rummanah.