Mukhtar al-Thaqafi

Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd Al-Thaqafi was a pro-Alid revolutionary based in Kufa. He led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months during the Second Fitna. Mukhtar is a controversial figure among Muslims; condemned by many as a false prophet, but revered by Shi’a because of his support for the Alids. Modern historians’ views range from regarding him as a sincere revolutionary to an ambitious opportunist.

About Mukhtar al-Thaqafi in brief

Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd Al-Thaqafi was a pro-Alid revolutionary based in Kufa. He led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months during the Second Fitna. Mukhtar is a controversial figure among Muslims; condemned by many as a false prophet, but revered by Shi’a because of his support for the Alids. Modern historians’ views range from regarding him as a sincere revolutionary to an ambitious opportunist. After his death, his followers formed a radical Shi’a sect, later known as the Kaysanites, who developed several novel doctrines. The mawali went on to play a significant role in the Abbasid Revolution sixty years later. He was born in Ta’if in 622 CE to a Muslim army commander from the Banu Thaqif tribe, and Dawma bint Amr ibn Wahb ibn Muattib. He remained in Iraq after the Muslim conquest of this region, and was raised by his uncle Saad ibn Masud al-Thqafi. He died in 661, a few years before his son Yazid became caliph of the United Caliphate. He is buried in the city of Mosul, in the province of Anbar, in northern Iraq, and is survived by his wife and two children, including a son and a daughter-in-law, who died in 9th century. His grandson, Al-Husayn ibn Ali, was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680, and he was succeeded by Umar.

Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave Piruz Nahavandi in 644, after which his successor, Uthman, ruled for twelve years before being assassinated by rebels in 656. His son Hasan abdicated the caliphate to Muawiyah in August 661 and the capital was transferred to Damascus, thus founding the Almayad Caliph. In August 663, Mukhtar reportedly recommended that Hasan be handed over to his uncle in return for political favour, but he was rebuffed. Scant information about Mukhtar’s life exists about early in his life and he is believed to have died in early 680s. He had a son, Abi Bakr, who was killed at the battle of the Bridge in November 634. He later became governor of nearby al-Mada’in. After Umar’s death, Ali, a cousin of Muhammad, became Caliph and moved the capital from Medina to KufA, where Mukhtar held some minor office under him, and Mukhtar’s uncle became governor. A few companions of Muhammad refused to recongnise Ali’s authority, and war broke out. Ali reluctantly agreed to talks but a faction of his forces, later called Kharijites, broke away in protest, condemning Ali’s acceptance of arbitration as blasphemous. The Battle of Siffin ended in stalemate, when Ali’s forces refused to fight in response toMuawiyah’s calls for arbitration.

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