Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (7/485)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

had been sowing corruption in the land: shedding blood, blocking the roads, and violating what Allah has made inviolable. Among those they murdered was ʿAbd Allah ibn Khabbab (1), a Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They took him captive while his wife—who was pregnant—accompanied him.

They asked, “Who are you?” He replied, “I am ʿAbd Allah ibn Khabbab, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and you have alarmed me.” They said, “No harm will come to you; relate to us what you heard from your father.” He answered, “I heard my father say—he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘There will be a fitnah (civil strife): in it the one who sits is better than the one who stands, the one who stands is better than the one who walks, and the one who walks is better than the one who runs.’” (2)

They then took him (3) by the hand, and as he walked along with them they came upon a pig that belonged to one of the ahl al-dhimmah (a non-Muslim under Muslim protection). One of them struck it with his sword and split its hide. Another said to him, “Why did you do that? It belongs to a dhimmī.” So the man went to the owner, sought his pardon for what he had done, and satisfied him. A little later a date fell from a palm-tree; one of them picked it up and put it in his mouth. Another objected, “Without permission and without payment?” So he spat it out.

Yet after all this they brought ʿAbd Allah ibn Khabbab forward and slaughtered him. They then approached his wife. She pleaded, “I am a pregnant woman—will you not fear Allah?” But they killed her too and ripped open her abdomen to extract her unborn child.

When the people heard of these atrocities they feared that if they went to Syria and became occupied in fighting its people, these men would strike their families and homes with the same savagery. They dreaded their treachery (4) and advised ʿAlī to begin with these rebels; once he had finished with them he could then march against the Syrians (5), with everyone safe from the evil of the Khārijites. Consensus formed around this plan, and in it lay great benefit for both Iraq and Syria as well—[for had these men gained strength, they would have ruined the whole land, Iraq and Syria alike, sparing neither child nor adult, man nor woman, because in their view the people were so corrupt that nothing could reform them but total slaughter].

Accordingly, ʿAlī sent a messenger of his own to the Khārijites—al-Ḥārith (6) ibn Murrah al-ʿAbdī—saying, “Bring me accurate news of them, ascertain their situation, and write to me about it plainly.” When he reached them they killed him on the spot. On hearing this, ʿAlī resolved to confront them first (7) before turning to the people of Syria.

[[Account of the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī’s march against the Khārijites]]

When ʿAlī and the army with him resolved to begin with the Khārijites, his herald called upon the people to set out. He crossed the bridge, prayed two rakʿahs (units of prayer) there, then ʿAlī took the route past Dayr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, then Dayr Abī Mūsā, and then along the bank.

(1) In manuscript A: “bin Ḥabbāb,” which is a scribal error. The biography of ‘Abd Allah bin Khabbāb is recorded in al-Isti‘āb (vol. 2, p. 894). (2) Ahmad transmits it in al-Musnad (vol. 5, p. 110). The hadith is ḥasan (good) with its supporting chains, though its narrative context is weak. (3) In manuscript A: faqādūhu. (4) In manuscript A: “their dwellings and that they committed this deed, and they feared their attackers.” (5) In manuscript A: “that he should begin with them, and once he had finished with them, they would accompany him to al-Shām (Syria).” (6) In the printed edition: al-ḥarb (“the war”), which is a corruption. (7) In manuscript A: “ʿAli then went to them and left the inhabitants of al-Shām (Syria).”

قد عاثوا في الأرض فسادًا وسفكوا الدماء وقطعوا السبل واستحلوا المحارم، وكان من جملة من قتلوه عبد الله بن خباب (١) (صاحب رسول الله ﷺ ) ، أسروه وامرأته معه وهي حامل فقالوا: من أنت؟ قال: أنا عبد اللّه بن خباب صاحب رسول الله ﷺ وإنكم قد روعتموني فقالوا: لا بأس عليك، حدِّثنا ما سمعت من أبيك فقال: سمعت أبي يقول: (سمعت رسول اللّه ﷺ يقول) : "ستكون فتنة القاعد فيها خير من القائم، والقائم خير من الماشي، والماشي خير من الساعي" (٢) فاقتادوه (٣) بيده، فبينما هو يسير معهم إذ لقي بعضهم خنزيرًا لبعض أهل الذمة فضربه بعضهم [بسيف] فشق جلده فقال له آخر: لم فعلت هذا وهو لذمي؟ فذهب إلى ذلك الذمي فاستحله [مما فعل] وأرضاه، وبينا هو معهم إذ سقطت تمرة من نخلة فأخذها أحدهم فألقاها في فمه، فقال له آخر: بغير إذن ولا ثمن؟ فألقاها ذاك من فمه، ومع هذا قدموا عبد اللّه بن خباب فذبحوه، وجاؤوا إلى امرأته فقالت: إني امرأة حبلى، ألا تتقون اللّه، فذبحوها وبقروا بطنها عن ولدها، فلما بلغ الناس هذا من صنيعهم خافوا إن هم ذهبوا إلى الشام واشتغلوا بقتال أهله أن يخلفهم هؤلاء في ذراريهم وديارهم بهذا الصنع، فخافوا غائلتهم (٤) ، وأشاروا على على بأن يبدأ بهؤلاء، ثم إذا فرغ منهم ذهب إلى أهل الشام" (٥) بعد ذلك والناس آمنون من شر هؤلاء فاجتمع الرأي على هذا وفيه خيرة عظيمة لهم ولأهل الشام أيضًا [إذ لو قوي هؤلاء لأفسدوا الأرض كلها عراقًا وشامًا، ولم يتركوا طفلًا ولا طفلة ولا رجلًا ولا امرأة، لأن الناس عندهم قد فسدوا فسادًا لا يصلحهم إِلَّا القتل جملة] . فأرسل علي إلى الخوارج رسولًا من جهته وهو الحارث (٦) بن مرة العبدي، فقال: اخبر لي خبرهم، واعلم لي أمرهم واكتب إلي به على الجلية، فلما قدم عليهم قتلوه ولم ينظروه، فلما بلغ ذلك عليًا عزم على الذهاب إليهم (٧) أولًا قبل أهل الشام. [[ذكر] مسير أمير المؤمنين علي إلى الخوارج] (لما عزم عليٌّ ومن معه من الجيش على البداءة بالخوارج) نادى مناديه في الناس بالرحيل [إليهم] فعبر الجسر فصلى ركعتين عنده ثم سلك علي دير عبد الرحمن، ثم دير أبي موسى، ثم على شاطئ

(١) في أ: بن حباب، تحريف، وعبد اللّه بن خباب ترجمته في الاستيعاب (٢/ ٨٩٤). (٢) رواه أحمد في المسند (٥/ ١١٠) وهو حديث حسن بشواهده، دون سياق القصة فهي ضعيفة. (٣) في أ: فقادوه. (٤) في أ: وديارهم ويفعلوا هذا الصنيع وخافوا غائلتهم. (٥) في أ: بأن يبدأ بهم ثم إذا فرغ منهم ساروا معه إلى الشام. (٦) في ط: الحرب؛ تحريف. (٧) في أ: عليًا سار إليهم وترك أهل الشام.