Death of a Sahabi

[al-ghazalli]

I found this to be very beautiful.

Al Hajjâj kept pursuing the noble scholar Sa`îd bin Jubayr for eight years or more until he eventually found him.

Bin Jubayr was a scholar known for his scrupulous piety and a man of great knowledge and action who was waging jihâd to raise the flag of La ilaha ill Allâh the uppermost.

When he was arrested - as in the story mentioned by the author of Tuhfatul Ahwadhi - Sa`îd bin Jubayr entered upon al Hajjâj, so al Hajjâj told him:

"What is your name (and he knew his name well)?"


He answered:


"Sa`îd bin Jubayr."


So Al Hajjâj responded to him saying:


"Nay, you are Shaqiy bin Kusayr."


(Al-Hajjâj is playing with words here: Sa`îd means happy and Shaqiy means unhappy, wretched. Jubayr means one who splints broken bones, and Kusayr one who breaks them.)

Sa`îd told him:


"My mother knew better when she named me."


So Al Hajjâj told him:


"You are wretched (shaqayta) and your mother is wretched"


(shaqiyat - Al Hajjâj is again playing with words, referring to Shaqiyy -"unhappy/wretched"). Then he told him:


"By Allâh, I will replace your dunya with a blazing Fire."


Sa`îd said,


"If I knew you could do it, I would take you as a god."


So al Hajjâj told him,


"I have gold and wealth."


Bags of gold and silver were brought and spread before Sa`îd bin Jubayr in order to try him.

Sa`îd bin Jubayr said:


"O Hajjâj, if you gathered it to be seen and heard in show-off, and to use it to avert others from the way of Allâh, then by Allâh, it will not avail you (lan yughnîka) against Him in any way."


So Al Hajjâj said:


"I have a female slave-singer"


(al-mughanniyah - al-Hajjâj continues to play with words, responding in mockery to Sa`îd's words 'lan yughnîka/it will not avail you' with a word that has the same trilateral root). He told her:


"Sing for me and entertain me."


Sa`îd bin Jubayr cried, and Al Hajjâj told him:


"Are you crying out of joy?"


So Sa`îd told him:


"By Allâh, I do not cry out of joy, but I cry for the slave girl that was subjected to other than what she was created for, for she was not created to sing, and `ûd (musical instrument) was not built but for disobedience of Allâh."


Al Hajjâj said:


"Take him and turn him to other than the Qiblah. By Allâh, O Said bin Jubayr, I will kill you with a killing with which I have not killed any of the people."


Sa`îd said:


"O Hajjâj choose for yourself whatever killing you want, by Allâh you will not kill me with a killing except that Allâh will kill you with a like of it, so choose for yourself whatever killing you like."


Al Hajjâj said:


"Turn him (wallûh) to other than the Qiblah."


Sa`îd said:


"Wherever you [might] turn (tuwallû), there is the Face of Allâh." [Qur'ân, 2:115]



Al Hajjâj said,


"Put him under the earth."


Sa`îd said:


"From it [the earth] We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time." [Qur'ân, 20:55]


The Death of Al-Hajjâj



Al-Hajjâj said:

"Kill him."


Sa`îd said:


"Lâ ilaha ill Allâh Muhammadun Rasulullâh. Take it, O Hajjâj, until you meet me with it tomorrow before Allâh. O Allâh, do not give him authority over anyone after me! O One who cuts up the tyrants, cut up al Hajjâj!" -


and in the same gathering a blister appeared on Al-Hajjâj's hand and he became enraged like a bull for a whole month - he couldn't sleep from the pain and fatigue, nor could he eat and drink. Al-Hajjâj said about himself:


"No night has passed except that I saw myself swimming in blood and no night has passed except that I saw as if al Qiyamah took place and that Allâh took me to account and that I was killed for whoever I killed with one killing, except Sa`îd bin Jubayr - Allâh punished me for killing him with seventy killings."


Allâh caused him to die after a month. He is considered wretched and miserable, although he belonged to Muslims. This is because he didn't know the guidance or uprightness and because he couldn't make sense out of his life mission.

[Ahmed7]

Who I al-Hajjaj? A general for a ruler? Why was he so evil? And who was his superior (Khalifa) at the time?

[al-ghazalli]

Al-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf (May Allah give him what he deserves) was the governor of Iraq. The Caliphs at the time were Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and then al-Walid I of the Umayyad.

He is the same person who bombarded Makkah al-Makkaram and brought raining boulders down on al-Masjid al-Haram.

He is the same person whom Asma (May Allah be Pleased with Her) the daughter of Abu Bakr shows nothing but disdain and baraa' for this sc*m bag (in Sahih Muslim.)

He made the blood of the Sahaba Abdullah ibn Zubayr halal.

but he also called war upon the scholars of Basra - slaughtering their Fuqahaa' and the reciters, as is mentioned by Ibn Hajr and others.

Ibn Hajr mentions the following Taabi'in that declared him a kaafir:

سعيد بن جبير والنخعي ومجاهد وعاصم بن أبي النجود والشعبي وغيرهم

He also mentions that Taawoos said, "I am shocked (or amazed) at the one who calls him a mumin."

Ibn Abi Dunyaa reports this with a Saheeh chain up to Al-Miswar ibn Makhramah:

وقال بن أبي الدنيا حدثني أحمد بن جميل ثنا عبد الله بن المبارك أنا عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله بن دينار عن زيد بن أسلم قال أغمي على المسور بن مخرمة ثم أفاق فقال أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله أحب إلي من الدنيا وما فيها عبد الرحمن بن عوف في الرفيق الأعلى مع الذين أنعم الله عليهم من النبيين والصديقين والشهداء والصالحين وحسن أولئك رفيقا وعبد الملك والحجاج يجران أمعاءهما في النار

He basically is declaring his station in Hell.

Ibn Hajr declared this narration saheeh in his entry in Tahthib At-Tahthib.

[Salman Al-Farsi]

assalam alaykum

No doubt hajjaj was a tyrant, opperessive and he murdered, but as far as I understand the character of Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqafi (rha) has been tremendously distorted by the Shias. Even the above account of Said ibn jubayr, I have only read thru shia sources.

However, there is a good side to Hajjaj which never gets mentioned, it was during his rule that Islamic state reached India, Turkmenistan and Spain. When the ship of traders going from ceylon to hijaz was raided by the Hindus at Debel, consequently women were dishonoured and upon hearing this hajjaj did not sit idle like the pathetic rulers of today, he dispatched an army immediately followed by a grand army to not just avenge the dishonouring of the women but also to establish Allah's rule in the heart of hindu empire. Musa bin Nusayr was his commander who held north Africa, and hajjaj dispatches Tariq Bin Ziad to Spain again at the plight of a woman.

It is also reported that he spent the last days of his life in repentence, just before his death he called the people to his courtyard and he begged for people's forgiveness, tears were flowing thru the crowds as he closed his eyes and met his Lord Azz wa jal.

It is reported that likes of Imam hassan al-Basri and Umar ibn abdul Aziz (rha) who likened him to the Fir'own and often cursed him prayed for his forgiveness.

In my opinion, if necessary we should recall historic details of his tyranny and tyranny caused by some other corrupt governors who became very powerful under the ummayad Khilafah but we should refrain from cursing them, particularly Hajjaj as he repented openly and publicly. Actually I will try to find his final address before death its quite touching.

Importantly, in contrast with the current day rulers from Abdullah to Mubarak and musharaf, he was still better than all of them put together because he did not neglect implementation of Islam (tyranny aside), he did not sell out to the kuffar, and he did not sit there with a huge army filling his belly at the plight of dishonoured women, unlike the cowards of today who did not move an inch at the letter of Fatima from abu gharaib.

May Allah Tala give hajjaj what he deserves. Ameen

[khanbaba]

assalam alaykum

No doubt hajjaj was a tyrant, opperessive and he murdered, but as far as I understand the character of Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqafi (rha) has been tremendously distorted by the Shias. Even the above account of Said ibn jubayr, I have only read thru shia sources.

However, there is a good side to Hajjaj which never gets mentioned, it was during his rule that Islamic state reached India, Turkmenistan and Spain. When the ship of traders going from ceylon to hijaz was raided by the Hindus at Debel, consequently women were dishonoured and upon hearing this hajjaj did not sit idle like the pathetic rulers of today, he dispatched an army immediately followed by a grand army to not just avenge the dishonouring of the women but also to establish Allah's rule in the heart of hindu empire. Musa bin Nusayr was his commander who held north Africa, and hajjaj dispatches Tariq Bin Ziad to Spain again at the plight of a woman.

It is also reported that he spent the last days of his life in repentence, just before his death he called the people to his courtyard and he begged for people's forgiveness, tears were flowing thru the crowds and he closed his eyes and met his Lord Azz wa jal.

It is reported that likes of Imam hassan al-Basri and Umar ibn abdul Aziz (rha) who likened him to the Fir'own and often cursed him prayed for his forgiveness.

In my opinion, if necessary we should recall historic details of his tyranny and tyranny caused by some other corrupt governors who became very powerful under the ummayad Khilafah but we should refrain from cursing them, particularly Hajjaj as he repented openly and publicly. Actually I will try to find his final address before death its quite touching.

Importantly, in contrast with the current day rulers from Abdullah to Mubarak and musharaf, he was still better than all of them put together because he did not neglect implementation of Islam (tyranny aside), he did not sell out to the kuffar, and he did not sit there with a huge army filling his belly at the plight of dishonoured women, unlike the cowards of today who did not move an inch at the letter of Fatima from abu gharaib.

May Allah Tala give hajjaj what he deserves. Ameen


Good post
=)

[al-ghazalli]

As Salam Alikum

It is true that some Ulema did not make takfir of him sidi Salman but rather they stayed silent.

I understand the character of Hajjaj bin Yusuf Thaqafi (rha) has been tremendously distorted by the Shias. Even the above account of Said ibn jubayr, I have only read thru shia sources.

lol the shia's tend to distort anyone who has ever hurt the ahl-bayt but seriously i'm deeply offended if your saying I took this from shia sources lol :P

I would never stoop that low lol, the source was Tuhfatul Ahwadhi and I also provided the quotes of Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani showing that some Tabien declared him a kafir.

Ibn Hajr mentions the following Taabi'in that declared him a kaafir:

سعيد بن جبير والنخعي ومجاهد وعاصم بن أبي النجود والشعبي وغيرهم

He also mentions that Taawoos said, "I am shocked (or amazed) at the one who calls him a mumin."

Ibn Abi Dunyaa reports this with a Saheeh chain up to Al-Miswar ibn Makhramah:

وقال بن أبي الدنيا حدثني أحمد بن جميل ثنا عبد الله بن المبارك أنا عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله بن دينار عن زيد بن أسلم قال أغمي على المسور بن مخرمة ثم أفاق فقال أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله أحب إلي من الدنيا وما فيها عبد الرحمن بن عوف في الرفيق الأعلى مع الذين أنعم الله عليهم من النبيين والصديقين والشهداء والصالحين وحسن أولئك رفيقا وعبد الملك والحجاج يجران أمعاءهما في النار

He basically is declaring his station in Hell.

Ibn Hajr declared this narration saheeh in his entry in Tahthib At-Tahthib.

Here is an athar from Sahih Muslim Book 031, Number 6176:

Abu Naufal reported: I saw (the dead body) of Abdullah b. Zubair hanging on the road of Medina (leading to Mecca). The Quraish passed by it and other people too, that Abdullah b. Umar happened to pass by it. He stood up there and said: May there be peace upon you, Abu Khubaib (the Kunya of Hadrat 'Abdullah b. Zubair), may there be peace upon you Abu Khubaib, may there be peace upon you, Abu Khubaib! By Allah, I used to forbid you from this; by Allah, I used to forbid you from this, by Allah I used to forbid you from this. By Allah, so far as I know, you had been very much devoted to fasting and prayer and you had been paying very much care to cementing the ties of blood. By Allah, the group to which you belong (are labelled) as (a) wicked (person) is indeed a fine group. Then 'Abdullah b. 'Umar went away. The stand 'Abdullah (b. 'Umar) took in regard to the inhuman treatment (meted out to 'Abdullah b. Zubair) and his words (in that connection) were conveyed to Hajjaj (b. Yusuf) and (as a consequence of that) he (the body of Abdullah b. Zubair) was brought down from the stump (the scaffold) by which it was hanging and thrown into the graves of the Jews. He (Hajjaj) sent (his messenger) to Asma' (bint Abu Bakr, 'Abdullah's mother). But she refused to come. He again sent the messenger to her with the message that she must come, otherwise he would bring her forcibly catching hold of her hair. But she again refused and said: By Allah, I will not come to you until you send one to me who would drag me by pulling my hair. Thereupon he said: Bring me my shoes. He put on his shoes and walked on quickly swollen with vanity and pride until he came to her and said: How do you find what I have done with the enemy of Allah? She said: I find that you wronged him in this world, whereas he has spoiled your next life. It has been conveyed to me that you used to call him ('Abdullah b. Zubair) as the son of one having two belts. By Allah, I am indeed (a woman) of two belts. One is that with the help of which I used to suspend high the food of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and that of Abu Bakr (making it out of the reach) of animals and, so far as the second belt is concerned, that is the belt which no woman can dispense with. Verily Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) told us that in Thaqif, there would be born a great liar and great murderer. The liar we have seen, and as far as the murderer is concerned, I do not find anyone else besides you. 'Thereupon he (Hajjaj) stood up and did not give any reply to her.

[Salman Al-Farsi]

Isnt it enough that he repented openly and publicly and died in state of repentence?? Or is there a particular reason or point being made behind this exposure which I fail to see?

I see alot of benifet in exposing the rulers of today, who are corrupt, have killed the callers of Islam in mass numbers, they are allies of the kuffar and they rule the Muslims with kufr. But I don't see any benifet in exposing people from over a thousand years ago, when no one would ever deny hajjaj was corrupt and he spread tyranny and opperession??

[Ahmed7]

Besides being a tyrant, he ruled by the laws of Allah?

And since he's just a governor why does he have so much freedom? It looks as though he was running the show. Shouldn't the Khalifa step in and remove governors who are out of line? I thought these two:

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and
al-Walid I of the Umayyad.

were just rulers?

[.: Anna :.]

interesting

[Salman Al-Farsi]

Besides being a tyrant, he ruled by the laws of Allah?

And since he's just a governor why does he have so much freedom? It looks as though he was running the show. Shouldn't the Khalifa step in and remove governors who are out of line? I thought these two:

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and
al-Walid I of the Umayyad.

were just rulers?

Ruling by the laws of Allah tala means he ensured that Soverignty was with Allah Tala alone, entire Shariah was implemented comprehensively from hudud to iqtisad and hukm, jihad to extend and defend the Ummah never ceased. Unlike the rulers today who do not rule by the laws of Allah Tala, soverignty of most Muslim countries belongs to the kuffar, thier ruling system and economic systems are kufr.

It is apparent that there was a serious mismanagement in the ruling structure after the passing away of Sayeduna Usman (ra) perhaps not intentional. Prior to that Sayeduna Umar (ra) ensured that Governors (wulaa) were replaced every six months, so he would call back the governors and replace them with new governors and also he did the same with Ameeral jihad. however after the passing away of uthman this ceased, and in result Imaam Muawiyah (ra) became a very powerful governor (wali) of Syria consequently his son Yazid usurped power and became a Mutasalit. During the period of Hajjaj ibn yusuf Thaqafi similar structural mismanagement took place where he became incharge of the whole region including the army (usually the army is under the command of Ameerul jihad who is delegated assistant of the khaleefah NOT wali). As for Hajjaj the power got to his head and began to abuse power. The same is for the likes of Walid and Marwan and soon this period of tyranical rule was removed and replaced with the righteous Khaleefah Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (rha).

The reason why I am making a fuss over this is because, there were only a handful of rulers who abused power and I can list them all here from top of my head from the thousand year old history of Islam. The orientalists and the enemies of Islam have used these few examples to make the point that Islam is corruptable and the caliphate became corrupt due to defects in its principles of ruling. These arguments are utterly rubbish because there is absolutely no evidence that any of these rulers did Not implement Islam, did not propogate islam or the Caliphate ceased to function.. infact what I highlighted previously it was during the rule of hajjaj that Islamic state extended to Spain, Indian and north africa where Allah's law became supreme. As human beings people are limited and hence corruptable but this has absolutely no bearings on Islam as a perfect system of governenance.

In contrast with the rulers of today, who have abandoned Islam and have resorted to adopting democracy, capitalism, communism, socialism, bathism and every kufrism available in the market.

[al-ghazalli]

Isnt it enough that he repented openly and publicly and died in state of repentence??

As you've stated the opinions on him are divided, the Hanablis and Malikis and some Shafi issued a fatwa of kufr on him, even though our Ulema were aware of his repentance.

He made the blood of the Sahaba halal by killing Abdullah ibn Zubayr (May Allah be Pleased with Him) and he harassed the daughter of Syedina Abu Bakr, Asma Bint Abu Bakr (May Allah be Pleased with them Both)

The Tabien themselves were aware of this fact yet some of them called him a taghut while others were more explicit as Ibn Hajar mentions and declared him a kafir.

But the article was posted for its beautiful message, that Jihad is any many forms and one of the best jihads is to give warning to a tyrant.


May Allah shower his mercy on the Companions of Syedina Muhammad and curse those who oppressed them.

[Ahmed7]

So Hajjaj is the kind of ruler the Prophet means when we says (I'm paraphrasing): Obey them even if they beat your backs.

And all the other hadiths which state that you have to obey the rulers even if they are tyrants?

Isn't strange though, this man ruled by the laws of Allah, sent out armies for the sake of Allah and died on repentence, while Saddam (no offense to him) didn't rule by the laws of Allah during his whole reign, didn't fight jihad for the sake of Allah, and didn't publicly repent from Baathi beliefs (but he said the Shahadah; Allah alone knows his station) yet some Muslims rush for his aid and call him a martyr?

[Salman Al-Farsi]

So Hajjaj is the kind of ruler the Prophet means when we says (I'm paraphrasing): Obey them even if they beat your backs.

And all the other hadiths which state that you have to obey the rulers even if they are tyrants?

Isn't strange though, this man ruled by the laws of Allah, sent out armies for the sake of Allah and died on repentence, while Saddam (no offense to him) didn't rule by the laws of Allah during his whole reign, didn't fight jihad for the sake of Allah, and didn't publicly repent from Baathi beliefs (but he said the Shahadah; Allah alone knows his station) yet some Muslims rush for his aid and call him a martyr?

absolutely... you are correct, and I think you have made a very good point. :up:

[faqir]

Ibn Sa'd relates in at-Tabaqaat (7/163-165):

A group of Muslims came to al-Hasan al-Basree (d.110H) -
rahimahullaah - seeking a verdict for rebelling against al-Hajjaaj.
So they said:

"O Abaa Sa'eed! What do you say about fighting this oppressor who has
unlawfully spilt the blood, and unlawfully taken wealth, and did
this, and did that?" So al-Hasan said:

"I say not to fight him. If this is a punishment from Allaah, then
you will not be able to remove it with your swords. If this is a
trial from Allaah, then be patient until Allaah's Judgement comes,
and He is the best of judges."

So they left al-Hasan and disagreed with him and rebelled against al-
Hajjaaj, so he killed them all.

And about this, al-Hasan used to say:

"If only the people had patience, when they were being tested by
their unjust ruler it would not be long before Allaah gives them a
way out. However, they always rush for their swords, so they are left
to their swords. By Allaah! Not even for a single day did they bring
about any good."