Abdullah bin Zubair's (R) battle against the inception of proto-Shia Islam
Yasir Qadhi Library Chat #11
Fair notice: This is the Sunni perspective, and the modern day Shia view things differently.
When we discuss history, starting points are everything. For example, American history begins with the British colonizers who landed in Jamestown in 1607. It doesn’t begin with the natives who lived there prior to that. Because history has its prejudice.
Should I begin with the death of Uthman bin Affan (R)? Or should I begin with Karbala? Or should I begin somewhere else? I’ll begin with the end, and go backwards.
The life of Abdullah bin Zubair (R) is an iconic part of early Islamic history. Still, most people do not know how Abdullah’s caliphate was related to the events that started proto-Shia Islam.
But someone who is greater than Abdullah knows very well what happened. And that person is his mother, Asma bint Abu Bakr (R).
Hadith of the liar and mass murderer
We know this from one of the last hadith that Asma ever narrated. It was done in broad daylight. In the public eye. She delivered it to the tyrant Hajjaj bin Yusuf, who had just killed her son. Within 100 days, Asma too would pass away.
Asma says,
The Prophet ﷺ warned us of a liar and a mass-murderer from the tribe of Thaqīf. As for the liar, we've already seen him, and as for the mass-murderer, I have no doubt that it is you. Thereafter, Hajjaj stood up and did not reply.
Yes, Hajjaj is the tyrant. But who was the liar?
Mukhtār Thaqafī is unanimously accepted as the liar in this hadith. When the Prophet ﷺ calls someone a “kazab” or liar, that doesn’t just mean lying about money or worldly matters, but also means lying about Allah.
Elite upbringing
Liars aren’t born. Or are they? According to Sunnis, Mukhtar was the father of much of Shia theology. Keep in mind, the Shia view things very differently.
Mukhtar was born in 1 AH (622 CE) in Taif in an elite family. As you may recall, Taif is the same city that famously pelted the Prophet ﷺ with stones, but the Prophet ﷺ made dua for its people, and they accepted Islam several years later.
He never saw the Prophet ﷺ, but his father did. His father converted to Islam, migrated to Madinah, and became a shaheed in the battles against the Persians. His father is among the lesser known Companions.
The story unfolds after his family eventually moved to Kufa. That’s where Mukhtar would betray Hasan, Hussain, Ummayads, and Abdullah bin Zubair. Finally, he would betray his own faith.
First treason against Hasan (R)
In 40 AH, Hasan bin Ali (R) becomes the Caliph for a short stint. Mukhtar tried to switch camps, and betray Hasan to Muawiyah (R). Mukhtar’s plot was foiled.
Hasan wisely ends the war with the Ummayad armies, by swearing loyalty to Muawiyah. But some people who were allied with Ali did not stop. They began a political movement. At this point, this group was not theologically-minded.
How did the Shia evolve from a political movement to a theological divide? The answer lies with Mukhtar. One of the main differences between Sunni and Shia Islam is our view of Karbala. For Sunnis, the event was a political tragedy. For Shia, the event is part of their theology. Karbala evolved from a political catastrophe to a Shia theology because of Mukhtar.
Second treason against Ummayad dynasty, and lies to Hussain
In 60 AH, Mukhtar begins to switch loyalty from the Ummayads to this movement known as Shia-tul-Ali, or Partisans of Ali. So much so, Mukhtar begins sending letters to Hussain (R).
When Hussain sent his emissary to Kufa, the emissary was hosted by Mukhtar. Mukhtar lavishes the emissary with empty promises of mass support. He was a liar, but his biggest lies were yet to come.
Unfortunately, Hussain believed those lies. Yazid’s troops massacred Hussain’s entourage at Karbala in 61 AH. The Ummayad army executes the emissary and imprisons Mukhtar.
But Mukhtar was a well-connected person. And his sister Safiya was married to Abdullah bin Umar (R). He begs his honorable brother-in-law to intercede on his behalf. Abdullah bin Umar relents, and asks the Ummayads to release him. The Ummayads reluctantly release Mukhtar, but kick him out of Kufa.
With nowhere to go, Mukhtar joins the Makkah armies led by Abdullah bin Zubair.
Third treason against Abdullah bin Zubair
For a number of years, Mukhtar did impressive work for Abdullah bin Zubair. He fought bravely and was an adept army general. Remember, Mukhtar was blessed to belong to an elite family, with wealth and connections. He was a politician, a statesmen, and an army general. He has a lineage that involves political leadership. Those things matter in power games.
But Mukhtar had a weakness. Temptation to power. When Abdullah bin Zubair conquered Iraq, Mukhtar wanted to be Iraq’s governor. Abdullah passed him over for somebody else.
Upset, Mukhtar breaks his oath. He goes to Kufa and incites the Partisans of Ali to revolt against Abdullah. Recognizing the threat, Abdullah jails Mukhtar. This is Mukhtar’s second imprisonment.
Again, Mukhtar pleads with his brother-in-law Abdullah bin Umar to intercede. Abdullah bin Umar relents again, and Abdullah bin Zubair grants his release. That proved be to be a fatal mistake. And there is no doubt that in Asma’s last speech to Hajjaj, Asma knew this too.
Treason against Allah
Mukhtar was the dog that bit his owners. You give him an inch, he takes a mile. As soon as he was released, he gathers the Partisans of Ali and his family alliances. They declare Kufa an independent state, and Mukhtar takes power in 66 AH.
At this point, there are three rulers competing for power in the Muslim world. Abdullah bin Zubair from Makkah, Abdul-Malik bin Marwan from Damascus, and Mukhtar from Kufa. And then you have the extremist Kharjites running wild in the Najd.
To earn legitimacy, Mukhtar preaches a new message, and a new religion. He makes a false claim that he is representing Muhammad bin Hanifiya.
Who is Bin Hanifiya? He is Ali’s third son. Ali’s first two sons are Hasan and Hussein. Their mother was Fathima (R). Ali’s third son is Muhammad, whose mother is from the tribe of Banu Hanifa. That’s why he is called Muhammad bin Hanifiya. Its important to note that he is not from the descendants of the Prophet ﷺ.
Brandishing a fake letter, Mukhtar says Muhammad bin Hanifiya has declared him to be in charge. And he does something even worse, he declares that the Mehdi is Muhammad bin Hanifiya.
Mukhtar claimed he had supernatural communication with Muhammad bin Hanifiya. How else would he get daily communication to Iraq, from someone living in Madinah? His exaggerations led to him saying that he was in communication with Jibreel (A). And these lies worked. He misled young converts to Islam in formerly Persian lands to his cause.
Understanding what his constituents wanted, Mukhtar met their needs. He began to hunt down the killers of Hussain. The killers of Hussain were well-known and living large, as the Ummayad dynasty had never punished them. Mukhtar’s secret police were successful.
One by one, they surrounded houses, and executed the killers of Hussain. For one year, Mukhtar’s secret police was doing a massive purge of Hussain’s killers. Mukhtar’s popularity grew. Who could possibly defend the killers of the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ? Because of this, Mukhtar is a hero among mainstream Shia today. The Iranians made a TV series about him, similar to how the Turks made a TV series about Ertugrul.
Mainstream Shia theology is different from Mukhtar’s theology, but Shias still view him as a good Shia, just misguided. Keep in mind, their narrative differs a lot from the narrative told here.
The apostasy of Mukhtar knew no bounds. He made a chair, and labeled it as Muhammad bin Hanifiya’s chair. People began venerating the chair with bizarre rituals, giving things to the chair, and expecting blessings from the chair. This chair was taken to battles. Obviously, present-day Shia don’t do that.
When news arrived to other parts of the Muslim world about Mukhtar’s blatant apostasy, there was shock and surprise. Upon hearing this nonsense, Abdullah bin Umar cut off all communication with Mukhtar. Other senior companions such as Zayd bin Arqam (R) followed suit.
When Muhammad bin Hanifiya found out his name was being used and abused, Muhammad was frustrated. Throughout his life, he was a pacifist and didn’t get involved in politics. Muhammad made plans to go to Iraq, and expose the lies. Mukhtar recognized the threat, and conjured a genius plan. He said devils were going to come to Iraq, wearing the face of Muhammad bin Hanifiya. Conveniently, there was only one way to tell the devils apart from the true Muhammad bin Hanifiya. You had to strike the person’s neck with the sword, and only the true Muhammad bin Hanifiya would survive. Genius, right? Boys and girls, that is how you make your bed in hell.
Thankfully, Bin Hanifiya recognized that he would be killed, reversed course, and returned to Madinah.
Abdullah bin Zubair sends his younger brother Mosaab to handle the crisis in Iraq. Mosaab is given carte blanch. He led a siege against Mukhtar for four months. Mukhtar’s fickle followers left him. All that was left was Mukhtar and a small platoon of nine people. They were wiped out in Ramadan of 67 AH. Good riddance.
But the damage was done. Abdullah’s caliphate was weakened, and his resources drained. The political mastermind Abdul-Malik bin Marwan of Damascus had baited all these factions into fighting each other. Once decimated, Abdul-Malik would have easy pickings to take over the Muslim world. Abdul-Malik led the return of the Ummayads over the Muslim lands, unified under his kingdom.
Unfortunately, the damage wasn’t done. Remember Mukhtar’s secret police? The secret police was led by Mukhtar’s right hand man Qaysan. Qaysan continued to spread Mukhtar’s deviant ideology.
Seeds of Shia theology
Today, the Shia have three main sects. They are known as Zaydi, Twelver, and Ghulat. The Twelvers are mainstream. The Zaydi Shia are closest to mainstream Sunni Islam. So much so, the mainstream Shia view Zaydi Shia as Sunni.
And, Ghulat are the extremist minority Shia. They include the Qaysaniyah, the followers of Qaysan’s ideology. Even mainstream Shia would categorize the Qaysaniyah as outside the fold of Islam.
When Muhammad bin Hanifiya died in 81 AH, that caused problems for adherents to Qaysaniyah. In their theology, the Mehdi can’t die. So, the Qaysaniyah began claiming Muhammad bin Hanifiya did not die. To them, he can not die. He is their Imam. He is appointed by God. He has gone into hiding. He shall return at the end of time. He is somewhere in the world and controlling creation. Sound familiar?
From Sunni perspective, some of the Qaysaniyah’s ideas permeated into the Partisans of Shia, and forms mainstream Shia ideology.
The Qaysaniyah are also called Four Shiaism, because they believe in Ali, Hasan, Hussain, and Muhammad bin Hanifiya. The Zaydi are considered Fivers because they have five Imams. And mainstream Shia are called Twelvers, because they believe in twelve Imams.
The Zaydi can be found in Yemen today. And the mainstream Shia are found in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, and other places.