—the Battle of Abū ʿUbayd’s Bridge.

Mukhtār grew up to become one of the leading figures of Thaqīf, endowed with shrewd judgment, eloquence, courage, and cunning—yet scant in piety.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “In Thaqīf there will arise a liar and a ruthless destroyer.” (1)

The liar was this man: he claimed that revelation came to him and that he possessed knowledge of the unseen. The ruthless destroyer was al-Ḥajjāj—may Allah disfigure them both.

Aḥmad said in his Musnad: Ibn Numayr narrated to us, ʿĪsā ibn ʿUmar (2) narrated to us, al-Suddi narrated to us from Rifāʿah al-Fitiyānī (3), who said:

“I entered upon Mukhtār, and he tossed me a cushion, saying, ‘Had Jibrīl not just risen from it, I would have set it before you.’

“I wanted to strike off his head, but I remembered a hadith that ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥamq had told me. He said:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever grants a believer safety for his life and then kills him, I repudiate the killer.” (4)’”

Mujālid narrated from al-Shaʿbī, who said:

“Al-Aḥnaf read to me a letter from Mukhtār in which he claimed to be a prophet. Mukhtār had departed from al-Ṭāʾif after al-Ḥusayn was killed and made for Mecca, where he came to Ibn al-Zubayr. He had earlier been banished to al-Ṭāʾif because of his wickedness, so he professed loyalty…"