ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar wrote to the people of Madinah, urging them to desist, yet Muslim ibn ʿUqbah nonetheless arrived; they engaged him in battle and vented their anger on Yazīd. He retaliated, dealt them a crushing blow, sacked the city for three days, and then moved on. While on the road he was struck with paralysis and died, having handed command over to Ḥuṣayn ibn Numayr at the beginning of 64 AH. Ibn ʿUmar rebuked the insurgents for tearing the community’s unity apart.

Zayd ibn Aslam reported: Ibn Mutīʿ came in to Ibn ʿUmar during the nights of al-Ḥarrah, and Ibn ʿUmar said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Whoever withdraws his hand from obedience will have no plea on the Day of Resurrection.’” (1)

Al-Madāʾinī said: Muslim ibn ʿUqbah marched against them with twelve thousand men, and Yazīd supplied each man with forty gold dinars.

Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr said to him, “Send me; I will spare you the trouble.” He replied, “No. Only this brute will do for them. By Allah, I shall not pardon them after the kindness and repeated clemency I have shown.”

Al-Nuʿmān pleaded, “I adjure you by Allah, Commander of the Believers, concerning your own clansmen and the Helpers of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar also spoke to him, saying, “If they repent, there is to be no action taken against them. Summon them three times, Muslim, and then proceed against the renegade Ibn al-Zubayr. And treat ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn well.”

Jarīr, transmitting from al-Ḥasan, said, “By Allah, hardly anyone escaped them; even the two sons of Zaynab bint Umm Salamah were killed.” (2)

Al-Mughīrah ibn Miqsam said: “Musrif ibn ʿUqbah plundered Madinah for three days, and a thousand maidens were violated.”

Al-Sāʾib ibn Khallād said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Whoever terrifies the people of—’”