Kumayl and Abid al-Rahman bin al-Ashath

:Kamal al-Seyyed

2012/08/15

908

King Ratbil ruled Turkey. Al-Hajjaj sent Abid al-Rahman bin al-Ashath to Turkey to invade it. Abid al-Rahman went deep into the Turkish land. He won victories at some battles. So, he sent al-Hajjaj a letter. In the letters he asked him to stop fighting to refresh his fighters.

Al-Hajjaj's answer was full of abuses. Meanwhile, he ordered Abid al-Rahman to go deeper into the Turkish lands.

Abid al-Rahman and his fighters knew al-Hajjaj's wicked aims. So, they decided to revolt against al-Hajjaj and Abid al-Malik.

After Abid al-Rahman had announced the revolution, he came back from Turkey. Many people supported him. The Qur'an readers were the first to support him.

The Qur'an readers formed a battalion. Kumayl bin Ziyad led the battalion.

Because the Kufians suffered from persecution, they also supported the revolution.

The number of revolutionaries was over one hundred people. This number included the Qur'an readers, worshippers, poets, religious jurists, and the commoners. Half the number were foreigners. They suffered from racial discrimination. The Umayyads preferred Arabs to non-Arabs.

Saeed bin Jubair, the most famous jurist, was among the revolutionaries. He made people eager to start the revolution.

Personalities