. J

- ~---J L.J"J -.$ ~ .,. - ,, - (0.J:~ lflS C. ~ k,,,;~ 0\.'..C..J 0~'.J ~;-J These are the Verses of the manifest Book (that makes clear truth from falsehood, good from evil). We recite to you some of the news of Musa (Moses) and Fir'aun (Pharaoh) in truth, for a people who believe (in this Quran, and in the Oneness of Allah). Verily, Fir'aun (Pharaoh) exalted himself in the land and made its people sects, weakening (oppressing) a group (i.e. Children of Israel) among them: killing their sons, and letting their females live. Verily, he was of the Mufsidun (i.e. those who commit great sins and crimes, oppressors, tyrants).

And We wished to do a favor to those who were weak (and oppressed) in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors, And to establish them in the land, and We let Fir' aun (Pharaoh) and Haman and their hosts receive from them that which they feared. (28:1-6) We grant you the same sort of 'aman', (safety) which you have offered to me. The fact is that the government is our privilege and your claim to it is due to us and you went out as one of our groups to secure the government and met with success. Our father Ali bin Abi Talib 4' was the Imam and heir. How did you become heir to his authority in the The History of Islam presence of his descendants?

You also know that we, the noble and of pure blood, never ran after the government. We are not the sons of those accused and turned out. None among Banu Hashim is equal to us in relation, priority and greatness. We are from the descendants of Fatima bint Amr in the age of Ignorance. In Islam we descend from Fatima bint Mohammad~-Allah has made us higher and better than you.

Among the Prophets our father, Mohammad ~ is the greatest of all and among the predecessors, there is Ali bin Abi Talib ~ who was the first to embrace Islam. Among the impeccable wives, Khadija was the first to perform her salah (prayer). Among the girls is Fatima, the Prophet's daughter, who is superior to all the women of the world. Among the children are Hasan~ and Husain ~ who are the leaders of those who will go to Paradise. Hashim bears dual relation with Ali bin Abi Talib ~ and Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib ~ is similarly doubly connected with Abdul Muttalib.

I am a superior Banu Hashim in terms of purity of blood. My father is well known among Banu Hashim. I have no mixed blood of non-Arabs nor do I have the mark of a slave-girl. I make Allah stand witness between you and me and say that if you obey me I grant you safety and pardon for your life and property and forgive you of all your misdeeds and crimes you have committed. But I will not be responsible for a specific judgment set out by Allah or any Muslim's right or contract because in this respect, as you know, I am quite helpless.

Undoubtedly, I deserve the caliphate more them you and I am a better keeper of promises. You granted safety and pardon and your word to some persons before me. So, what type of safety and pardon do you grant me, the safety and pardon granted to Ibn Hubairah, or to your uncle Abdullah bin Ali or to Abu Muslim? Upon receiving the letter, Mansoor twisted with anger and discomfort. He then wrote the following letter and dispatched it to Mohammad Mahdi: I read your letter.

Your pride is based on the proximity of women, which can deceive only the ignorant people of the market. Allah has not created women equivalent to uncles, fathers and guardians. He has made the uncle the deputy of the father and given priority to the nearest mother in His Book. Had he respected the relation of women, Amina [the Prophet's ~ mother] would have been the leader of the The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) people of Paradise. Allah made those greater in rank whom He liked.

As for your mention of Fatima Umm Abi Talib, it can be said that Allah did not let any of her sons or daughters embrace Islam. Had He chosen from among the men on the basis of relation, He would have chosen Abdullah bin Abdul Muttalib and he was no doubt better in all respects. But Allah chose for the sake of His religion whom He liked. He says: (r-/:+'.J~ ~r -;.-_, :~:;. (?~ JJ, ~-_, :- ::;..r:;.

(?/4.; 'J ~!) Verily, you (0 Muhammad ~) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided. (Q.28:56) When Allah sent the Prophet ~ , his four uncles were living. He revealed the verse. And warn your tribe (0 Muhammad ~) of near kindred.

(Q.26:214). So, he made them fear Allah's punishment and invited them to the true religion. Two of the four accepted the true religion and my father was one of them. The other two refused to accept the true religion and one of them was your father (Abu Talib). So, Allah severed their chain of authority and the Prophet ~ did not allow any relation and inheritance between the two parties of believers and non-believers.

You have written about Hasan 4,; that he bears a double relation with Abdul Muttalib and then that you have the same double relation with the Prophet~- My reply is this that the Prophet~ is Khairul Awwaleenwal-Akhreen the best of the first and the last. He had paternal relations with Banu Hashim and Abdul Muttalib. You think that you are the best among the Banu Hashim and your parents enjoyed a better reputation and you have no mixture of non-Arab blood nor a trace of a slave-girl in your line. I see that you have made yourself as a matter of pride better than the entire tribe of Banu Hashim. Think a little.

How can we not disapprove of your words? How will you answer Allah tomorrow? You have crossed the limits and declared yourself better than those who are far superior to you in person and traits, that The History of Islam is, Ibrahim the Prophet ~- No one from amongst the descendants of your father is better and none of them became great except the sons of slave-girls. After the Prophet's ~ death none among you was born better and greater than Ali bin Husain (Imam Zainul Abdeen) and he is superior to the slave-girl's sons and they were undoubtedly better than your grandfather Hasan bin Hasan. After him no one among you was born like Mohammad bin Ali.

His grandmother was a slave-girl and she is better than your father. His son Jafar is better than you and his grandmother was a slave-girl. Your statement that you are the sons of the Prophet ~ is wrong. Allah says in his Book, ( ~b;-J ::,,. ~i 4! ~ 0l5 t:.) Muhammad (~ ) .,is not the fath,~r of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets. And Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything.

(Q. 33:40) Yes, you are the son of the Prophet's daughter and undoubtedly this relation is close but it is not entitled to inheritance nor can it be a heir to authority nor is leadership legally theirs. So how can you be an heir by yirtue of this relationship? Your father wanted it most. He made Fatima l+--:,.- .'iii ...,-----:. ; come out in the light of day, concealing her illness and buried her at night but the people did not recognize anyone but the sheikhain (two sheiks, Abu Bakr ~ and Umar -'*·) [Editor's Note: He is insinuating unjustly that Ali 4 brought his wife out to be seen by people because it would influence them to choose him as the Caliph because of his close connection to the Prophet ~ through his daughter and he buried her secretly so that the loss of this connection would not be established in the peoples mind. He goes on to insinuate that in spite of these efforts the people chose Abu Bakr and Umar over him.] All the Muslims are unanimous on the point that the maternal grandfather, maternal uncle and mother's sister cannot be heirs.

Next, you are proud of Ali's conversion to Islam before others. The answer to that is that the Prophet ~ at the time of his death, ordered somebody else to lead the Sa/at (prayer) and afterwards the people continued to make others the leader and Caliph one after the other The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) and did not pick or choose him although he was also one of the six persons from among those who the Caliph was chosen. The people took him to be a misfit for this job and spared him and did not consider him to be entitled to it. Abdur Rahman preferred Uthman ~ to him and he is an accused in the matter. (Editor: Insinuating unjustly that he was involved in the murder of Uthman ~ -) Talha ~ and Zuhair ~ fought him and Sa' d ~ refused to take oath for him.

Afterwards he took the oath for Muawiya's 4,,. Then your father again wished to be caliph and fought. His friends parted with him. His supporters became suspicious as to his right to be ruler and judge and then they unanimously fixed two persons to decide the matter. Both of those chosen agreed on his dismissal (Editor: He is selectively applying the facts, please refer back to the Vol.

I concerning Amr bin Aas and Musa Ashari's judgment concerning Muawiya 4,, and Ali 4,,). Then Hasan 4J;, became caliph and he sold out the caliphate to Muawiya ~ for clothes and money and presented his supporters to Muawiya 4,, and entrusted the leadership to the incapable (Editor: He means your family sold the caliphate to Banu Umayyah). So, even if you were entitled to it, you have already sold it and received its price. Then your uncle Husain 4J;, rebelled against lbn Marjanah (lbn Zeyad). The people joined Ibn Zeyad against your uncle to such an extent that they killed your uncle, cut off his head and presented it to Ibn Zeyad.

Then you rebelled against Banu Umayyah. They put you to death, hung one of you on the branches of a date palm, burnt him in the fire, in that way they killed Yahya bin Zaid in Khorasan. Your men were killed and your children and women were imprisoned and made to sit on camels without veils, sent them to Syria like slave girls on sale until we stood up in revolt and we demanded compensation for' your blood. Then we took revenge for the killings and we made you the masters of their lands and property. We venerated your elders.

Do you want to declare us guilty on this account? Perhaps you have been deceived because they used to mention your father having a priority over Hamza 4,;,, Abbas ~ and Jafar ~ -The fact is that whatever you have thought is not the reality. They all left the world in the highest state of cleanliness and everyone recognized their virtue and greatness without dispute. However, your father was involved in internal The Hislory of Islam fighting and killing. Banu Umayyah used to curse him as the unbelievers are cursed in the obligatory prayers.

So, we quarreled with them, we narrated the virtues of those who were cursed, we adopted strict measures against Banu Umayyah and punished them. Our greatness during the days of ignorance yVas by virtue of our supplying water to the . pilgrims, and this privilege was available to Abbas 4,, only. Your father quarreled with us over it. Umar bin AlKhattab ~ gave his judgement in our favor. So, we have been the owner of this honor both during the days of ignorance and the time of Islam.

During the famine in Madinah Umar bin Al-Khattab .J., prayed to Allah for rain by means of our father and he sent down rain. Though your father was alive, he did not ask for rain through him. Do you know that when the Prophet ~ breathed his last, none except Abbas ~ from among Banu Abdul Muttalib was left? Therefore, the legacy was transferred to the paternal uncle. Then several persons from Banu Hashim wanted to be caliph but none except the descendants of Abbas .J., were successful.

The authority of cup bearing already belonged to him, the Prophet's legacy from Abdul Muttalib and the caliphate came to his descendants. In short no distinction between this world and hereafter between the days of ignorance and Islam remained which Abbas .J., was not the inheritor.of. When Islam spread, Abbas ~ had stood surety for Abu Talib and his descendants and cared for them during the famine. Had Abbas 4i> not been spared in the expedition of Badr, Abu Talib and Agee! would have starved to death and would have continued to lick the utensils of Utbah and Shaibah, but Abbas .J., kept providing them with food . He saved your honor, protected you from slavery and continued to supply food and clothing.

Then in the battle of Badr, he had released Agee! by paying the ransom. So, why do you brag before us? We cared for your family during unbelief, paid your ransom, saved the honor of your elders, became the heirs to the last Prophet ~ , took revenge for you and achieved what you failed to achieve. Peace be upon you. It is understood that in the matter of racial pride Mohammad Mahdi undoubtedly started the rivalry and what Mansoor wrote, he wrote replying to this rivalry.

However, Mansoor went beyond the limit in his reply. Mohammad Mahdi wrote nothing negative about Abbas ~- The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) But Mansoor unnecessarily used impertinent words about Ali bin Abi Talib ~ -He has also slandered Ali~ when he said that the latter took out Fatima Zahra during the day time for the sake of increasing his chances of getting the caliphate. He also was very rude regarding the Hasan ~- The fact is that Hasan bin Ali -$- did not sell out the caliphate rather he unified and reconciled the two warring factions of the Muslims and thereby he fulfilled the Prophet's prophecy. Abbas ~ helped Abu Talib without doubt and brought up Aqeel and kept him with him. But to speak of it satirically and ironically does not befit a person of noble bearing.

Actually to mention such favors is considered to be a sign of meanness and by mentioning such things, he has displayed his lowness. After making the administrative arrangements · for Madinah, Mohammad Mahdi sent Mohammad bin Hasan bin Muawiya bin Abdullah bin ]afar to Makkah, Qasim bin Ishaq to Yemen and Musa bin Abdullah to Syria as Amirs. So Mohammad bin Hasan and Qasim bin Ishaq left Madinah together. The Abbasid administrator of Makkah fought and lost and Mohammad bin Hasan occupied it. After dispatching the above mentioned letter, Mansoor sent Isa bin Musa to fight with Mohammad Mahdi.

Isa was accompanied by Mohammad bin Saffah, Katheer bin Haseen Abdi and Humaid bin Qahtaba and at the time of departure Isa bin Musa and other commanders were instructed that if they got the better of Mohammad Mahdi, they should not kill him but give him pardon and safety. If he went into hiding then the civilians of Madinah who know him should be arrested and those from among the descendants of Abi Talib who visited them should have their names record and the commanders should send them to him and those who refused to call on them, the commanders should confiscate their money and property. When Isa bin Musa reached Feed, he sent for a few people from Madinah by letter. Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Omar bin Ali bin Abi Talib, his brother Omar bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib, Abu Aqeel Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Aqeel came out of Madinah and went to Isa. When Mohammad Mahdi was informed of his arrival, he consulted with his men on whether they should fight outside of Madinah or defend by remaining inside.

When the counselors The History of Islam disagreed, following the Prophet ~ , he ordered the same trench to be dug, which the Prophet ~ had originally used. Meanwhile Isa bin Musa camped at Awad. Mohammad Mahdi forbade the people of Madinah to fight outside the city and so no one was allowed to go out. When Isa approached near to Madinah, he allowed the people to go out of the city. It was a mistake that he cancelled his first order.

The people of Madinah in large numbers along with their families went to the mountains for safety because of this, only a very small number remained with Mohammad Mahdi in Madinah to fight Isa. It was at that time that he realized his blunder and he sent his men to bring them back but they could not. Isa left Awad and camped at a distance of four miles from Madinah. He deployed a part of the army on the road to Makkah so that Mohammad Mahdi would not be able to escape and go to Makkah. Then he sent word to him, "Caliph Mansoor grants you pardon and safety, invites you towards judgment by the Book and Sunnah and threatens you with the consequences of rebellion." Mohammad Mahdi sent back the reply that he was a man who never turned his back for fear of being killed.

On 12 Ramadan 145 A.H., Isa bin Musa went ahead and camped at Jurf. On 14 Ramadan 145 A.H. he stood at a high place and spoke loudly, "O the people of Madinah1 I grant you safety provided you don't intervene between Mohammad Mahdi and me and stay neutral." The Madinah people heard and began to abuse him and Isa went back. The next day he went to the same place again with the intention of fighting and spread out his commanders around Madinah. Mohammad Mahdi also came out to face him. His flag was held by Uthman bin Mohammad bin Khalid bin Zubair and his saying was Ahad, Ahad (One, One).

Abu Ghulmash was the first to come out from his side to challenge the enemies. Several renowned commanders from Isa's side came onto the field to answer his challenge but they all lost their lives. Then the battle began with both sides exhibiting real bravery. The commanders of both sides displayed wonderful swordsmanship and breached the opposing lines. Then at Isa's instance Humaid bin Qahtaba moved towards the nearest wall of the trench with his troops.

Mohammad Mahdi's men tried to prevent them by shooting arrows at them but Humaid continued his forward The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) march firmly and leveled it to the ground, crossed the trench and began hand to hand combat with Mohammad Mahdi's soldiers. This gave Isa the chance to fill up the moat at several places to make a way across it. The cavalry crossed the moat and pounced upon Mohammad Mahdi's army and a fierce battle ensued. Mohammad Mahdi's army was small and the invaders out-numbered them several times over and they were more fully armed. The battle continued from morning to the time of the mid-afternoon prayer.

Mohammad Mahdi granted open permission to his men to save themselves if they liked. His followers requested him repeatedly to save himself and to go to Basra or Makkah and after collecting men and weapons anew to face his opponents again. But he gave the same reply to all, saying, "If you want to save yourselves, you are at liberty to go anywhere you like but I cannot flee because of fear of the enemy." Finally, only 300 men were left with him and at that time one of his men, Isa bin Khudair burnt the register containing the names of those who took the oath with him. Then he went to the jail and killed Rabah bin Uthman and his brother. Mohammad bin Qasri shut the door of his room and survived.

After doing this, he came back to Mohammad Mahdi and began to fight again. His cavalry cut off the legs of their horses, broke into pieces their sheaths, took the pledge of death and attacked the enemies. The attack was so fierce and horrible that Isa's army suffered a defeat and retreated and fled. A few of Isa's men climbed around a hill and went down its other side into Madinah, took a black covering of an Abbasid woman and waved it over the minaret of the mosque like a flag. Mohammad Mahdi's men were out of their wits when they saw it.

They thought that Isa's men had taken possession of Madinah and they moved backward. Isa's fleeing soldiers took advantage of the opportunity they rallied and attacked again. One of the groups entered the city from Banu Ghaffar's side and began to fight with Mohammad Mahdi. The situation was contrary to what he expected. Mohammad Mahdi did not expect that Banu Ghaffar would allow a way for the enemy to enter.

Resolving himself to this he moved forward and called out to Humaid bin Qahtaba to single combat but Humaid did not dare to come out to face him. Mohammad Mahdi's men again launched the attack on the enemies. Isa bin Khudair was fighting very valiantly. Isa bin Musa went forward and called him The History of Islam loudly, "I grant you safety and pardon. Give up fighting." But Isa bin Khudair did not care about this and continued until he fell down exhausted and mortally wounded.

Mohammad Mahdi began to fight over his dead body. Isa bin Musa's soldiers attacked him from all sides and he retaliated and pushed them back. He displayed such matchless valor and his martial art was so superior, that none from among Isa bin Musa's soldiers dared to fight with him. At last, some one speared him from behind. As he bent down a little under its impact, Humaid bin Qahtaba rushed forwar, The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) man, to take the oath.

He wrote back, "Nephew, you will be killed. How can I take the oath for you?" Hearing his reply some people who had taken the oath retracted it. Hamadah bint Muawiya came to Ismail bin Abdullah and said to him, "Your statement has alienated many people from Mohammad Mahdi but my brothers are still with him. I am afraid they may also be killed with him." In brief, alienation of his relatives and members of his family kept him from growing powerful otherwise, the caliphate might have possibly come to the descendants of Hasan 4;,. If he had escaped and stayed clear of Madinah or had not revolted so soon and had waited for his brother to follow suit and both of them had revolted together, success would have been sure.

Mansoor and the Abbasids were lucky that the Abbasid army had to fight Mohammad and Ibrahim one after another while their strength remained undivided. The Rebellion of Ibrahim bin Abdullah When Mansoor had come on a visit to inspect the building of Baghdad, Ibrahim bin Abdullah, Mohammad Mahdi's brother, was with him in disguise. He escaped to Kufa and Mansoor sent out spies to hunt him down. When he thought that Ibrahim was in Basra, he sent a spy to every house there, though Ibrahim was with Sufyan bin Hibban Qammi at his house in Kufa. lt was a well-known fact that Sufyan was a close friend of Ibrahim. Sufyan was horrified to see how tight the surveillance was.

He !Tlapped out a plan to allow Ibrahim to leave safely. He went to Mansoor and said to him, "Give me in writing a permit for free passage for me and my slaves and a small body of soldiers so that I may arrest Ibrahim wherever we find him." Mansoor did accordingly. Sufyan returned home he had Ibrahim put on his slave's clothes, took him with them and left Kufa with his small force. He came to Basra, deployed the soldiers to search eac_h house. When the soldiers had left, he sent him to Ahwaz and he himself went into hiding.

Sufyan bin Muawiya was the Amir of Basra at that time. When he found out, he collected the deployed soldiers and started searching for Ibrahim bin Abdullah and Sufyan bin Hibban but without success. Mohammad bin Haseen was the Amir of Ahwaz. When Ibrahim reached Ahwaz, he stayed with Hasan bin Habeeb. His spies informed the Amir of Ahwaz that Ibrahim was in Ahwaz.

He began searching The History of Islam for him. Ibrahim remained hidden in Habeeb' s house for a long time and continued to let people participate in the propagation for his cause. In 145 A.H. Yahya bin Zeyad bin Hibban Nabti called Ibrahim to Basra and enthusiastically began to invite the people to take the oath for Mohammad Mahdi. A large group of learned and influential people took the oath. 4000 people were enrolled in the Basra Register as having taken the oath.

During this period, Mohammad Mahdi revolted in Madinah and wrote to Ibrahim to revolt in Basra. Mansoor had sent a few commanders to Basra as a precautionary measure so that they might help the Administrator of Basra, Sufyan bin Muawiya, if there was any sign of mutiny. If Ibrahim had risen in revolt then as Muhammad Mahdi had requested, Mansoor would have been quite helpless and both the brothers would have gathered strength. However, at that time, Ibrahim was sick in Basra and so he temporarily delayed his revolt. When Mansoor sent the army to fight with Mohammad Mahdi, Ibrahim rebelled in Basra on 1 Ramadan 145 A.H.

Jafar and Muhammad, the sons ofSulaiman bin Ali, Mansoor's cousins had been lying in wait along with 600 men outside of Basra by the orders of Mansoor. As soon as the brothers heard the news of Ibrahim's rebellion, they attacked and only 50 men were sent out to face those 600 men yet they defeated them and forced them to flee. Ibrahim captured all of Basra and took the oath from the people in general and proclaimed a general amnesty and pardon. He then withdrew two hundred thousand dirhams from the treasury and distributed it at the rate of 50 dirhams to each of his men. Then he sent Mughira to Ahwaz along with 100 soldiers.

The administrator of Ahwaz, Mohammad bin Haseen, came out with 4000 soldiers to fight the small force but they defeated the 4000 soldiers and Mughira captured Ahwaz. Ibrahim sent Amr bin Shaddad to Persia where the Governor Ismail bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib and his brother Abdus Samad clashed with him but they suffer a defeat and Amr bin Shaddad occupied Persia. Similarly, Haroon bin Shams Ajli was ordered to march towards Wasit and he defeated Mansoor's Governor Haroon bin Humaid Ayadi and captured Wasit. In short, the day Mohammad Mahdi and Isa bin Musa clashed with each other leading to Muhammad Mahdi's martyrdom, Basra, Persia Wasit and a big part of Iraq had gone out of Mansoor's control. Syria