the dawn prayer; during it he recited Sūrah, “Indeed, We have granted you a manifest victory” (48:1).

Daybreak disclosed that it was the first of Rajab of that very year. On that day Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah addressed the people of Madinah. He spoke against the Banū al-ʿAbbās, listing matters for which he reproached them, and told the audience that there was no town he had entered whose people had not already pledged to hear and obey him. Consequently, the people of Madinah all gave him their allegiance, save only a few.

Ibn Jarīr relates (1) that Imām Mālik issued a legal opinion instructing the people to pledge to him. When someone said, “But we already have an oath of allegiance to al-Manṣūr,” Mālik replied, “You were coerced; a coerced person is bound by no bayʿah.” On the strength of Mālik’s ruling they pledged their allegiance, after which Mālik remained in his house.

When Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar was invited to swear allegiance, he said to him, “Nephew, you are going to be killed.” Some people were deterred by that, yet the majority stayed with him.

Muhammad appointed ʿUthmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Khālid ibn al-Zubayr in charge of the city, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Makhzūmī as judge, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb over the police, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Miswar ibn Makhramah over the register of stipends. He assumed the title al-Mahdī, hoping to be the figure mentioned in the ḥadīths we shall cite in the Book of Tribulations and Battles, but he was not that man, nor did he attain what he hoped for—verily we belong to Allah.

Some inhabitants of Madinah slipped out of the city the very night he entered it, traversed the long stages, and reached al-Manṣūr in seven nights. They arrived while he was asleep and said to al-Rabīʿ the chamberlain, “Ask leave for us to enter upon the Caliph.” He replied, “He is not to be awakened at this hour.” They insisted, “It is imperative.” Al-Rabīʿ informed the Caliph, who came out and said, “Woe to you! What news do you bring?” They replied, “The son of Ḥasan has risen in Madinah.” Al-Manṣūr displayed neither concern nor alarm; he merely asked, “Did you see him yourself?” They answered, “Yes.” He said, “By Allah, he and everyone who follows him are doomed.” He then ordered the man imprisoned. When further reports confirming the uprising arrived in succession, al-Manṣūr released him and granted him one thousand dirhams for every night—seven thousand dirhams in all.

Once al-Manṣūr was certain that the revolt had broken out, he became distressed. One of the astrologers said, “Commander of the Believers, have no fear of him. By Allah, even if he were to gain control of the whole earth he would not last more than seventy days.”

Al-Manṣūr then instructed all the principal commanders to go to the prison, meet ʿAbd Allah ibn Ḥasan—the father of Muhammad—inform him of his son’s rebellion, and hear what he had to say. When they entered and told him, he asked, “What do you think Ibn Salamah”—meaning al-Manṣūr—“will do?” They replied, “We do not know.” He said, “By Allah, stinginess has ruined your master. He ought to spend freely and recruit men; if he prevails it will be easy to recover what he has spent, and if not, then nothing in the treasuries will be his—what he hoarded will belong to someone else.”

They returned to the Caliph and informed him of this. The advisers urged the Caliph to take immediate action, so he summoned ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā, commissioned him for the task, and said, “I shall first write him a letter to warn him before we fight.” He wrote:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

From ʿAbd Allah, Commander of the Believers, to Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah:

﴾The recompense of those who…﴿