and had them sent on to Iraq, while Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq was in tears for them.
Their maternal half-brother, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—born of Fāṭimah daughter of al-Ḥusayn—was seized along with them. It was said that they were packed into camel-litters with no bedding beneath them, and others related that four hundred men from the tribes of Juhaynah and Muzaynah were taken in the same convoy.
Ibn Abī al-Mawālī narrated: “I was jailed together with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥasan. When al-Manṣūr reached al-Rabadhah (1) on his return from the pilgrimage, he summoned ʿAbd Allāh to appear before him, but he refused. I entered—his uncle ʿĪsā ibn ʿAlī was present—and offered the greeting of peace. He snapped, ‘May God not grant you peace! Where are the two profligates, the sons of the profligate?’
“I asked, ‘Will telling the truth help me?’
“‘And what is that?’ he said.
“I replied, ‘My wife is divorced—and I bind myself by every oath upon me—if I know where they are.’
“He would not accept it, and ordered that I be beaten with four hundred lashes. I lost consciousness and was returned to my fellow prisoners.
“Next he sent for their brother al-Dībāj. Al-Dībāj swore to him, but al-Manṣūr refused to believe him, had him flogged one hundred lashes and shackled. When he came back, his shirt was stuck to his body with blood.”
(1) A village belonging to the environs of Madinah, close to Dhat Irq on the Hijaz route for anyone travelling from Fayd toward Mecca. It contains the grave of the eminent Companion Abu Dharr. To silence the doubts spread by agitators and partisan polemicists influenced by Western ideas regarding Abu Dharr’s stay in al-Rabdha, we quote the most reliable account, the hadith recorded by al-Bukhari, 3/217–218, in the Book of Zakah (chapter: “Wealth from which zakah has been paid is not hoarded treasure”) and again under his commentary on Surat al-Baraʾa (chapter: “Those who hoard gold and silver”). Zayd b. Wahb relates: “I passed by al-Rabdha and found Abu Dharr there. I asked, ‘What made you settle in this place?’ He replied, ‘I had been in Syria and disagreed with Muawiyah about the verse, ‘Those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah—announce to them a painful punishment’ (al-Tawbah 34). Muawiyah claimed it was revealed concerning the People of the Book, whereas I said it applies to us as well as to them. Words passed between us, so he wrote to Uthman complaining of me. Uthman summoned me to Madinah; I came, and the people crowded around me as though they had never seen me before. I mentioned this to Uthman, who said, ‘If you wish, withdraw and live nearby.’ That is what brought me to this place. Even if an Abyssinian slave were appointed over me, I would hear and obey.’”