any leniency.
I said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib nursed a deep grievance against the Umayyads because of their oppressive conduct, and he refused to accept any stipend from them.
Maʿn ibn ʿĪsā narrated: Mālik related to us, from Ibn Shihāb: I once said to Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, “If only you would move out to the desert,” and I described to him the Bedouin life—its simplicity and the tending of sheep. He replied, “But what about attending the ʿIshaʾ prayer?” (1)
Ibn Saʿd related: al-Walīd ibn ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Agharr al-Makkī informed us; ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Sulaymān narrated from Abū Ḥāzim: I heard Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib say, “During the nights of al-Ḥarra I found myself alone in the mosque—there was not another soul inside. Soldiers from Syria would enter in groups, saying, ‘Look at this madman!’ Yet whenever the time for prayer arrived, I heard a call to prayer coming from the direction of the grave. I would then step forward, pronounce the iqāmah, and perform the prayer, while no one else was in the mosque.” (2)
This ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd is weak.
Al-Wāqidī said: Ṭalḥah ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib narrated to us, from his father, who said, “During the days of al-Ḥarra (3) Saʿīd remained inside the mosque and did not leave; he continued to pray with them….”
(1) Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 131.
(2) Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 132.
(3) This is the volcanic plain of Ḥarra Wāqim to the east of al-Madina; it was the site of the well-known battle. Ibn Ḥazm writes about it in his Jawāmiʿ al-sīra, p. 357: “Yazid dispatched armies against al-Madina, the sanctuary of the Messenger of Allah, and against Mecca, the sanctuary of Allah. He slaughtered the remaining Muhajirun and Ansar on the Day of al-Harra, which ranks among the gravest calamities to befall Islam, for the most eminent Muslims—what was left of the Companions and the foremost of the Tabiʿun—were killed openly and unjustly, both in combat and in cold blood. Cavalry roamed inside the Prophet’s Mosque, defecating and urinating in the Rawda between the grave and the pulpit. No congregational prayer was held there, and no one remained in the mosque except Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, who never left it. Had it not been for the testimony of ʿAmr ibn ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan and Marwan ibn al-Ḥakam before Muslim (or Mujrim) ibn ʿUqba al-Murri declaring him insane, he would have been killed. The people were forced to pledge allegiance to Yazid ibn Muʿawiya as though they were his slaves—he could sell them if he wished, or set them free if he wished. One man proposed pledging on the basis of the Quran and the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, so Yazid ordered his execution, and he was beheaded in cold blood. This criminal ravaged Islam, plundered al-Madina for three days, and treated it with utter contempt.”