to him: “To Muḥammad the Mahdī, from al-Mukhtār, the man seeking to avenge the Household of Muḥammad.” (1)

Abū Ghassān al-Nahdī related: ʿUmar ibn Ziyād told us, from al-Aswad ibn Qays, who said:
“I met a man of the ʿAnazah tribe who told me, ‘I reached Ibn al-Hanafiyyah and said, “Peace be upon you, O Mahdī.”
“He replied, ‘And upon you be peace.’
“I said, ‘I have a request.’
“When he rose to leave, I went in with him and said, ‘Blame has dogged us for loving your family until necks have been struck, we have been scattered through the lands, and we have been maltreated. Reports about you have reached us from every direction, and I wished to hear from you in person.’
“He said, ‘Keep away from these tales and hold fast to the Book of Allah; by it your first forebears were guided and by it your last descendants will be guided. If you have been harmed, those better than you were harmed before. The cause of the Family of Muḥammad is clearer than the rising of the sun.’ (2)

Ibn ʿUyaynah reported: Abū al-Jaḥḥāf—who was a Shiʿī—told us, from a man of Basra, who said:
“I came to Ibn al-Hanafiyyah when al-Mukhtār had risen in our city and said, ‘This man has emerged among us calling people to your cause. If he is acting on your instruction, we will follow him.’
“He said, ‘I will advise you as I have advised this son of mine: We, the People of the House, do not wrest this community’s authority from it, nor do we approach it except by its proper path. ʿAlī indeed believed the office was his, yet he did not fight until the oath of allegiance had first been given to him.’ (3)

Ibn ʿUyaynah also reported, from Layth, from Mundhir al-Thawrī, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī:
“I heard Abū Hurayrah say, ‘No guilt is weightier than shedding the blood of a Muslim.’
“I said, ‘He is condemning your father.’
“He replied, ‘No. The people vested him with authority; then a faction broke its pledge and he fought them. Ibn al-Zubayr envies me for my standing—he would like me to violate the Sacred Precinct as he himself violated it.’ (4)