Mustadrak al-Hakim 6474 — The reason for Abdullah bin al-Zubayr's

Hisham bin Urwah narrates from his father that when Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) died, Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) held back from obeying Yazid bin Mu'awiyah and openly condemned him. When this news reached Yazid, he swore that he would be brought (to his court) only in shackles. Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was told: Shall we not make for you shackles of silver which you can wear beneath your clothes, so that his oath is fulfilled and peace is made? He said: "May Allah not fulfil his oath." Then he recited the same verse: "I will not soften for anyone other than the truth even a little, until the stone softens for the teeth." He further said: "By Allah, receiving a blow of the sword with honour is far dearer to me than receiving the lash with humiliation." Then he called people to his own caliphate and announced his opposition to Yazid. So Yazid sent against him Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri with the army of the people of Syria, and ordered him to fight the people of Madinah first and, once he had finished with that, to head for Makkah. The narrator says: Muslim bin Uqbah entered Madinah, and on that day the remaining Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left it (to save their lives). He caused great havoc there and went to excess in killing. Then he left it, and died on the way to Makkah. He appointed al-Husayn bin Numayr al-Kindi as his successor and said to him (in a contemptuous tone): "O saddle-cloth of a donkey! Beware of the deceptions of Quraysh, and deal with them only with the cutting edge of the sword and severity." So al-Husayn reached Makkah and fought Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) there for several days.

We return to the rest of the hadith: Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) had pitched a tent in the mosque, in which women would give water to the wounded, dress their wounds and feed the hungry, and the wounded would take refuge there. Al-Husayn bin Numayr said: "A lion keeps coming out of that tent and attacking us, as though it were coming out of its den. Who will rid me of him?" A man from the people of Syria said: "I will." When night fell, he placed a candle on the tip of his spear, then spurred his horse and struck the tent with the spear, and it burst into flames. In those days the Ka'bah was covered with cloth coverings, and on top of it were Yemeni sheets. The wind blew the flames onto the Ka'bah until it too was burned, and on that day the horns of the ram that was given as a ransom in place of Sayyiduna Ishaq (peace be upon him) were also burned. The narrator says: Then the news of the death of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah reached al-Husayn bin Numayr, and he fled. When Yazid bin Mu'awiyah died, Marwan bin al-Hakam called people to his own caliphate, and the people of Hims, Jordan and Palestine responded to him. Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) sent al-Dahhak bin Qays al-Fihri against him with an army of one hundred thousand. They met at Marj Rahit, and on that day Marwan was with a force of five thousand, including Banu Umayyah, their freed slaves and their followers from the people of Syria. Marwan said to a slave of his named Kurah: "Attack whichever side you wish." He said: "How can we attack them when their numbers are so great?" Marwan said: "These people are either coerced or hired. Attack them, may good come to you! One full blow of yours will be enough, and they will scatter by themselves, for these are slaves of the dinar and the dirham." So he attacked and defeated them. Al-Dahhak bin Qays was killed and the army was scattered. About this Zufar bin al-Harith says: "By my life! The event of Marj Rahit has left for Marwan the slain and the captives. I keep wielding my weapons, may good come to you; at the time of war my intensity only increases. Sometimes grass grows even on soil full of refuse, but the rancour of the hearts remains." And about this he also says: "Is it right that Bahdal and his son should live, while Ibn al-Zubayr is killed? You have lied, by the Lord of the Ka'bah! You cannot kill him until that bright and radiant day comes, and until the gleam of the Mashrafi swords spreads among you like the light of the sun." The narrator says: Then Marwan died, and Abd al-Malik bin Marwan took over the caliphate, and the people of Syria accepted him. He delivered a sermon from the pulpit and said: "Who is ready for Ibn al-Zubayr?" Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf said: "I am, O Commander of the Believers." Abd al-Malik silenced him. He said the same again, and again he silenced him. The third time he said again: "O Commander of the Believers, I am ready for him, for I saw in a dream as though I had pulled off his cloak and put it on myself." So Abd al-Malik prepared a banner for him and sent him with an army to Makkah, until he reached Makkah and fought Ibn al-Zubayr. Ibn al-Zubayr said to the people of Makkah: "Guard these two mountains; as long as the enemy does not overpower them, you will remain in honour and well-being." The narrator says: Not much time had passed before al-Hajjaj and his companions took control of the mountain of Abu Qubays and set up a catapult there, and with it he began bombarding Ibn al-Zubayr and his companions in the mosque with stones. On the morning on which Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was martyred, he went to his mother, Sayyidah Asma bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both). She was a hundred years old at that time, yet not a single tooth of hers had fallen out, nor had any defect come to her sight or hearing. She asked her son: "O Abdullah, what has become of your fighting?" He said: "The enemy has reached such-and-such a place." Then Ibn al-Zubayr laughed and said: "In death there is rest." She said: "O my son, perhaps you are wishing death for me? I do not want to die until your affair reaches one of its two ends: either you become ruler, so that my eyes are cooled by it, or you are martyred, so that I hope for reward from Allah." Then he bade his mother farewell, and she said: "O my son, beware of compromising on any matter of your religion out of fear of being killed." He left her and came into the mosque, and he had placed door-panels over the Black Stone so as to protect it from the stones of the catapult. A man came to Ibn al-Zubayr while he was sitting near Zamzam and said: "Shall we not open the door of the Ka'bah for you so that you can climb up into it?" Abdullah looked at him and said: "You protect your brother from everything except from his own self. Does the Ka'bah have any sanctity that this place does not have? By Allah, if they found you hanging on to the curtains of the Ka'bah, they would kill you." He was asked: "Will you not speak of peace?" He said: "Is this the time for peace? By Allah, if they found you even inside the Ka'bah, they would slaughter you all." Then he recited these verses: "I am not one to buy life at the price of disgrace, nor to climb a ladder to hide somewhere out of fear of death. I am facing an arrow that will not turn aside; it is bound to meet death wherever it is aimed." Then he turned to the family of al-Zubayr and admonished them: "Let each of you guard his sword just as he guards his face. Let him not lower his sword and start defending himself with his hand like a woman. By Allah, whenever I faced an army, I did so in the front line, and I have never felt the pain of any wound as much as the pain of the medicine." The narrator says: While they were in this state, some people entered from the gate of Banu Jumah, among whom was a black man. He asked: "Who are these?" He was told: "The people of Hims." He attacked them along with his seventy companions, and the first to face him was that black man. He struck him with his sword such a blow that he cut off his leg. The black man said: "Alas! O son of an adulteress!" Ibn al-Zubayr said to him: "Be gone, O descendant of Ham! Is Asma an adulteress?" Then he drove them out of the mosque and turned back, and saw that some people had entered from the gate of Banu Sahm. He asked: "Who are these?" He was told: "The people of Jordan." He attacked them, saying: "I am not used to a raid like a flood whose dust does not settle until night." The narrator says: He drove them out of the mosque too. Then he came back and saw that some people were entering from the gate of Banu Makhzum. He attacked them, saying: "If my opponent were just one, I would be enough for him." On the roof of the mosque were some of his helpers who were throwing bricks and other things at the enemy. He attacked the enemy, and a brick struck him right in the middle of his head and split his head open. He remained standing and recited this verse: "Our heels are not stained with blood; rather, the blood drips onto our feet." The narrator says: Then he fell, and two of his slaves bent over him, saying: "The slave protects his master and protects himself." Then they advanced upon him and his blessed head was severed from his body, may Allah be pleased with him.