Karbala and the second civil war

Part oneKarbala

In the autumn of 680 CE, as pilgrims were gathering in Makkah for the Hajj, al-Husayn ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) left the city with his family and a small band of followers. He was the Prophet's ﷺ grandson, and he was heading for Iraq. To see why, we need to go back a few months.

Muawiya had died in April 680, and his son Yazid became caliph, as Muawiya had arranged. Two prominent men would not pledge allegiance to him: al-Husayn and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him). Both left Madinah quietly for Makkah. They held that a son should not inherit the caliphate from his father, and they doubted that Yazid was fit to lead. Al-Husayn also had a special place among Muslims as the Prophet's ﷺ grandson through his daughter Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her). Many senior Muslims urged caution, and the question weighed on the whole community.

From Kufa, in Iraq, letters began to reach al-Husayn. The city had loved his father, and its people invited him to come and lead. He sent his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil ahead to see how matters stood. Then the governor of Iraq, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, took control of Kufa, and the support melted away. Al-Husayn was already on the road.

On the plain of Karbala, not far from the Euphrates, the governor's forces blocked his path. On 10 Muharram 61 AH, in October 680 CE, al-Husayn was killed there, together with many of the men of his family and his companions. The survivors of his family were taken to Damascus, and his son Ali, later known as Zayn al-Abidin, was among them. The descendants of al-Husayn through him are honoured to this day.

Few events have been mourned so widely. Muslims of every tradition grieve for the Prophet's ﷺ beloved grandson, and the tenth of Muharram, Ashura, carries that memory. Scholars and historians have differed over the politics of the time, including whether al-Husayn should have set out as he did, and how far Yazid himself was responsible. They agree on the loss.

From the hadith

Narrated Abu Sa'eed:

that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Al-Hasan and Al-Husain are the chiefs of the youths of Paradise."

Part twoTwelve hard years

The grief did not end the crisis. In 63 AH the people of Madinah, angry at Yazid's rule, rose against him. An army from Syria defeated them at the Battle of al-Harra, just outside the city, and entered Madinah. Accounts differ on how much the city suffered. All of them record a grievous wound for the home of the Prophet ﷺ.

The army went on to Makkah, where Ibn al-Zubayr had taken refuge, and besieged it. The Kaaba was damaged in the fighting. Then news came that Yazid had died in Syria, in Rabi al-Awwal 64 AH, and the army withdrew. Ibn al-Zubayr now claimed the caliphate. He held the Hijaz, and much of the empire, including Iraq and Egypt, pledged to him. When the Kaaba had to be repaired, he rebuilt it.

Yazid's young son Muawiya II ruled only briefly and left no heir. The Umayyad cause looked finished in Syria. Marwan ibn al-Hakam, an older member of the family, took the lead, and in August 684 his supporters won the Battle of Marj Rahit, near Damascus, against Syrian tribes who had sided with Ibn al-Zubayr. Marwan then secured Egypt, and he died in 685, leaving his son Abd al-Malik as caliph.

Meanwhile, Kufa was alive with other movements in the name of al-Husayn's family. A group called the Penitents, who regretted that they had not stood with him, marched out in 65 AH and were defeated in Syria. Al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi seized the city for a time in 686 in the name of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, a son of Ali, and was put down in 687. Historians and scholars have judged him very differently. Kharijite groups were also active in Iraq and Iran.

Abd al-Malik spent the next years winning Syria's tribes and securing the northern frontier. In 691 he defeated Ibn al-Zubayr's brother Mus'ab in Iraq and took Kufa. He then sent his general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf to Makkah. In 692, after a siege during the Hajj season, Ibn al-Zubayr died defending the Haram. His mother, Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them), lived to see it. With his death the civil war ended.

Part threeHow it is remembered

The Second Fitnah was fought mostly by men who had grown up together in Quraysh and in the Prophet's ﷺ own city. Many of them were the sons and grandsons of Companions. Muslims remember it as a grief, not as a story with heroes on one side only.

Sunni and Shia Muslims remember Karbala in different ways and with different customs. Both honour al-Husayn and the family of the Prophet ﷺ. Many scholars across the centuries have urged the ummah to speak of that generation with care, to avoid cursing and to learn from what happened.

Few events have been mourned so widely.

WatchThe lecture for this chapter

Lecture Al MuqaddimahYazid, al-Husayn and the Second Civil War (opens on YouTube)

The mapWhere it happened

• Makkah
• Madinah
• Kufa
• Karbala
• Marj Rahit near Damascus

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

SourcesSources for this chapter