The Killing of Qutaybah b. Muslim (1)(2)
may Allah have mercy on him
He gathered the troops and armies and resolved to depose Sulayman b. ʿAbd al-Malik from the caliphate and withhold obedience to him. Qutaybah reminded the soldiers of his zeal, his conquests, his justice toward them, and the lavish sums he had distributed among them. When he finished speaking, no one answered him. He therefore began to upbraid and disparage them—tribe by tribe, faction by faction. At that they grew angry, recoiled from him, dispersed, determined to oppose him, and worked for his death.
The man who shouldered the task was one Wakiʿ b. Abi Suwd (3). He raised a large force, advanced against Qutaybah, and did not relent until he killed him in Dhu al-Hijjah of this year. Along with Qutaybah he slew eleven of his brothers and nephews; none survived save Dirar b. Muslim. Dirar’s mother was al-Gharraʾ bt. Dirar b. al-Qaʿqaʿ b. Maʿbad b. Saʿd b. Zurara, and his maternal uncles protected him. ʿAmr b. Muslim—who had been governor of Juzjan—was killed as well, together with ʿAbd al-Rahman, ʿAbd Allah, ʿUbayd Allah (4), Salih, and Yasar (5). These were all sons of Muslim, along with four of their own sons. Wakiʿ b. Abi Suwd crucified them all.
Qutaybah b. Muslim b. ʿAmr b. Ḥuṣayn b. Rabiʿah, Abū Ḥafṣ al-Bāhilī, ranked among the noblest and best of commanders. He was one of the illustrious, discerning leaders—courageous, seasoned in war, favored with auspicious victories, and endowed with praiseworthy judgment. [Through him Allah guided to Islam a multitude that none can number but Him; they embraced the faith and submitted to Allah—Exalted is He—and, as detailed above, he opened many of the great lands, regions, and mighty cities. Allah, glorified be He, will not waste his efforts nor disappoint the labor of his struggle and jihad] (6).
Yet he slipped—a lapse that brought about his destruction. He deviated—may his nose be rubbed in the dust—by casting off obedience, and death overtook him at once; he abandoned the community and thus died a death of the pre-Islamic age. Nevertheless, the good deeds he performed beforehand may, by Allah’s grace, wipe away his sins and erase from him