Al-Mukhtār had already learnt that they had gone out to see Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah—he disliked this and feared that Ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah might brand him a liar concerning what he had attributed to him, for he had acted without Ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah’s permission. (1)

He therefore considered rising up before their return, and began chanting for them in rhymed prose of the soothsayers; in the end, events unfolded exactly as he had chanted. (1)

When they came back and informed him of what Ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah had said, the Shīʿah’s resolve to rise with al-Mukhtār ibn Abī ʿUbayd grew all the stronger.

Abū Mikhnaf relates (2) that the Shīʿah commanders said to al-Mukhtār, ‘Know that all the commanders of Kūfah are with ʿAbd Allah ibn Muṭīʿ and are united against us. If only Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter al-Nakhaʿī were to pledge allegiance to you, he alone would suffice us against everyone else.’

Al-Mukhtār therefore sent a group to invite him to join them in avenging al-Ḥusayn, reminding him of his father’s past service alongside ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him). He replied, ‘I have answered your call on condition that I be the one in charge of your affairs.’

They said, ‘That is impossible, for the Mahdī has sent al-Mukhtār to us as his vizier and his summoner.’ Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter fell silent, and the envoys returned to al-Mukhtār and told him what had happened.

After three days al-Mukhtār went to him with a number of his leading supporters. Entering upon Ibn al-Ashter, the latter rose, honoured him, and sat with him. Al-Mukhtār invited him to join their cause and produced a letter, allegedly from Ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah, urging him to join his Shīʿī companions in supporting the Prophet’s family (peace and blessings be upon him) and in avenging al-Ḥusayn.

Ibn al-Ashter said, ‘Letters have come to me from Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah in a very different style.’

Al-Mukhtār replied, ‘That was then; this is now.’

Ibn al-Ashter asked, ‘Who will testify that this is his letter?’ A group of al-Mukhtār’s men stepped forward and attested to it. Ibn al-Ashter rose, seated al-Mukhtār in his own place, pledged allegiance to him, and ordered fruit and a honeyed drink to be brought.

Al-Shaʿbī recounts: ‘My father and I were present at that gathering concerning Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter. When al-Mukhtār departed, Ibrāhīm said to me, “O Shaʿbī, what do you think of the testimony those men gave?” I replied, “They are Qurʾān-reciters, commanders, and leading figures; I do not think they would testify to anything except what they know.” He said: “I concealed my own misgivings about them, yet I wanted them to rise and avenge al-Ḥusayn, for I shared the party’s view.”’

Ibrāhīm then took to visiting al-Mukhtār at his house, he and those of his clan who obeyed him. The Shīʿah agreed that their rising would be on the night of Thursday, after fourteen nights of Rabīʿ al-Awwal had passed that year—66 AH. (3)

Word of their plan and deliberations reached Ibn Muṭīʿ. He therefore dispatched the police to every quarter of Kūfah, ordering each commander to guard his sector so that no one could leave it.

When Tuesday night arrived, Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter set out for al-Mukhtār’s residence with one hundred men of his people, coats of mail beneath their cloaks.

Iyās ibn Muḍārib met him and said, ‘Where are you going, Ibn al-Ashter, at this hour? Your conduct is suspicious. By Allah, I will not let you go until I bring you to the governor so that he may decide your fate.’ Ibrāhīm seized a spear from a man’s hand, thrust it into the hollow of Iyās’s throat, and he fell. Then he ordered a man to sever his head and went on.