The Slaying of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr (1)

may Allah have mercy upon him

Ibn Jarīr (2) relates: In this same year al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf executed Saʿīd ibn Jubayr. The reason was that al-Ḥajjāj had put him in charge of the army’s funds when he dispatched him with Ibn al-Ashʿath to fight Rutbīl, king of the Turks. When Ibn al-Ashʿath rebelled, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr rebelled alongside him. After al-Ḥajjāj defeated Ibn al-Ashʿath and his followers, Saʿīd fled to Isfahan. Al-Ḥajjāj wrote to his deputy there ordering that Saʿīd be sent to him; when Saʿīd learned of this, he slipped away. Thereafter he performed ʿumrah every year and made the pilgrimage as well. Eventually he sought refuge in Mecca and stayed until Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Qasrī became its governor. Some advisers urged Saʿīd to flee, but he said, “By Allah, I am ashamed before Allah to keep running away. Is there any escape from His decree?”

ʿUthmān ibn Ḥayyān then replaced ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz as governor of Madinah and began sending the Iraqis who were there to al-Ḥajjāj in chains. Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Qasrī followed his example and selected from among those with him in Mecca Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, Mujāhid ibn Jabr, ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, and Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb (3).

It is also said that al-Ḥajjāj wrote to al-Walīd informing him that Mecca harbored certain seditious people. Khālid therefore sent these men to him, but he pardoned ʿAṭāʾ and ʿAmr ibn Dīnār because they were Meccan natives and forwarded the remaining three. Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb died on the road before reaching his destination, and Mujāhid was imprisoned and remained there until al-Ḥajjāj himself died.

As for Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, when he was brought before al-Ḥajjāj the governor said to him, “O Saʿīd, did I not entrust you with my affairs? Did I not employ you? Did I not do such-and-such for you?” To each question Saʿīd replied, “Yes,” so that those present thought he would be released.

Then al-Ḥajjāj asked, “What made you rise against me and repudiate the allegiance to the Commander of the Believers?”

Saʿīd replied, “Ibn al-Ashʿath took that pledge from me and imposed it upon me.”

At this al-Ḥajjāj grew furious; he swelled up until the edge of his cloak slipped from his shoulder and said, “Woe to you! Did I not come to Mecca, kill Ibn al-Zubayr, take the people’s oath of allegiance, and accept your own oath to the Commander of the Believers ʿAbd al-Malik?”

Saʿīd answered, “Indeed.”

He continued, “Then I came to Kūfah as governor of Iraq, renewed the oath of allegiance for the Commander of the Believers, and again accepted your oath to him—did I not?”

Saʿīd said, “Indeed.”

Al-Ḥajjāj exclaimed, “So you break two oaths to the Commander of the Believers and keep one to the weaver, son of a weaver! Guard, strike off his head.”

His neck was struck, and as his head fell a small white patch became visible upon it.

Al-Wāqidī says: When Saʿīd ibn Jubayr was brought before al-Ḥajjāj he said, “O wretch, son of a shatterer! Did I not come to Kūfah—”