RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIEShe sought their support as well, al-I:Iusayn said that God had honored
Mul}.ammad by making him His prophet and chose him as His mes-
senger. He said that he and his father, 'All, were Mul}.ammad's rel-
atives, his awliya', executors (Ar. aw~iya'), and heirs (Ar. warathat),
and therefore had the most right to assume his position as leader of
the community. He summoned them to the Book of God and the
sunna of His prophet because the sunna had perished and innovation
(Ar. bid 'a) was thriving. If they would listen to him and obey his
command, he offered to guide them on the right path (Ar. ahdikum
sabzla r-rashiid).
As his agent to Kufa, al-I:Iusayn sent Muslim ibn 'Aqi:l, who stayed
at the house of al-Mukhtar. He is said to have taken an oath of
allegiance (Ar. bay'a) to al-I:Iusayn from eighteen thousand Kufans
who were going to join al-I:Iusayn in the Hijaz. 'Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad
moved to head off their sedition. The arrest of Hani' ibn 'Urwa, one
of the conspirators, precipitated a premature demonstration by a mob
of Kufans at the gate of the citadel when the ashraf were inside at-
tending the majlis of 'Ubaydullah. Shabath ibn Rib'i and I:Iajjar ibn
Abjar were both caught in the citadel along with the other ashraf,
such as Kathir ibn Shihab, Mul}.ammad ibn al-Ash'ath, al-Qa'qa' ibn
Shawr, and Shimr ibn Dhi I-Jawshan. As the demonstration turned
into a siege of the governor, his guard, and the ashraf in the citadel
by the Kufan mob, the ashraf, especially 'Amr ibn al-I:Iajjaj, tried to
calm and to disperse the crowd because they feared the consequences
of a {itna. By the end of the day, only thirty men were left with Muslim,
so he hid in the house of a woman of the Kinda, where he was arrested.
He was executed above the gate of the citadel on September 28, 680.
The collapse of this movement led one of the ashraf, 'Ubaydullah ibn
al-I:Iurr al-Ju'fi, to leave Kufa and camp at Qasr Bani Muqatil.7^6
'Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad also prevented Kufans from joining al-I:Iu-
sayn. He sent 'Umar ibn Sa'd to prevent al-I:Iusayn from coming to
Kufa and forced the Kufan ashraf to collaborate with him. He required
members of the Kufan ashraf, including such supporters of al-I:Iusayn
as I:Iajjar ibn Abjar and Shabath ibn Rib'i, to join 'Umar ibn Sa'd
at Karbala, where al-I:Iusayn's party was massacred on October 10,- Afterwards 'Ubaydullah ibn al-I:Iurr went to the Jabal in anger
76 Dlnawarl, Akhbiir at-tiwiil, pp. 243-56, 262; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, II, 234-35, 240,
520.