Imam Sajjad (a.s.) during the Rulership of Yezid bin Muawiya
In the earlier part of Yezid's rulership Imam Husain (A.S) dealt with Yezid directly. After the martyrdom of Imam Husain (A.S) on 10th Muharram A.H. 61, Imam Zainul Abidin (A.S) became the direct target of Yezid's cruelty and ill-treatment. He became a prisoner. He was chained and taken first to Kufa and then to Damascus.
The Imam's greatest enemies were Ibne Ziyad (The governor of Kufa) and Yezid. They were very unhappy to see Imam alive. They did not understand why he was not killed in Kerbala. You will remember that Ibne Ziyad had given orders to kill the Imam in Kufa but Hazrat Zainab had stopped him from doing so. Such orders were also given in Damascus by Yezid. There the public stopped Yezid from carrying out his orders of killing the Imam (A.S).
Yezid set the Imam (A.S) free in A.H 62 after a great pressure from the public. He was looking for another small excuse to go after the Imam (A.S). The Imam (A.S) therefore had to keep away from politics and work to spread true Islam from the quietness of his home. This was a very wise step. For as we shall soon see, all those who raised their heads against the rulers at this time were brutally killed and their missions destroyed. For example, the Muslims of Medina rose against Yezid in A.H 64 under the leadership of Abdulla Bin Hanzalah .They paid a heavy price; for this Syed Amir Ali describes this in his book "A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SARACENS" in the following words:
"... The noblest companions of the Prophet, both Ansar and Muhajerin, perished in that disastrous fight ... The Public Mosque was turned into a stable and the shrines were demolished ... Its best men were killed or fled for safety into distant countries. The few who were spared had to acknowledge themselves slaves of Yezid ..."
Indeed amongst the thousands of people of Medina killed included 700 who had committed the whole Qur'an to memory 12000 married women and 1000 virgin girls were rapped. 1000 illegitimate children were born.
However, Imam Zainul Abidin (A.H) was saved from this because he took no part in this rising. Those who managed to go to him too were saved. In this way, he kept 55 the Mission of Islam alive at a time when all others were made to bow down to Yezid.
What happened in Medina would have happened in Mecca too. For after punishing the People of Medina, Yezid's army went to Mecca to punish Abdullah bbne Zubair who had made himself the ruler of Mecca. The people of Mecca closed the doors of the city. Before Yezid's force commanded by Hasin Bin Namir could break into Mecca, Yezid died in A.H 64. Hasin therefore returned to Damascus. Ibne Zubair was left to rule Mecca - for the time being for as we shall soon see, the Ummayas were to return at a later date in A.H. 73 and punish him too.
Adopted from the book : "A Brief Biography of Ali bin Husain (a.s.)" by : "Muhammad Reza Dungersi Ph.D"