Indeed, al-Qāʾim was also known as Nizār ⦗1⦘. After he had seized most of Egypt in 307 AH, the caliph al-Muqtadir sent an army against him under the command of Muʾnis. The two forces met in a well-known engagement; al-Qāʾim then fell back toward the Maghrib, and famine and plague ravaged his troops and their mounts, while al-Muqtadir’s army pursued him for several days ⦗2⦘.

Al-Qāʾim died in Shawwal 334 AH while under siege in al-Mahdiyyah ⦗3⦘, whereupon his son al-Manṣūr took power.

The scholars of the Maghrib were unanimous in their decision to fight the house of ʿUbayd because of the open, unequivocal unbelief they had proclaimed. I have examined several historical chronicles on this matter, each confirming the other.

When certain scholars were censured for marching with Abū Yazīd the Kharijite, one of them replied: “How could I not go forth when I myself heard blasphemy? I attended a session in which there were both Western and Eastern Sunnis, and among them was Abū Quḍāʿah the propagandist. A leading figure entered and said, ‘Let one of their elders come here, my master—he has been raised to the side of the Messenger of Allah,’ meaning Abū Quḍāʿah. No one uttered a word.” ⦗4⦘

In the handwriting of a jurist it is recorded ⦗5⦘: “In Rajab 331 AH al-Makawkab stood up, reviling the Companions and assailing the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The heads of donkeys and rams were hung on shopfronts with placards claiming that they were the heads of the Companions.”