the leading men among the Arabs. The ignorant man’s misunderstanding arose when he heard that al-Hajjāj had killed “the nobles,” since in his parlance “the nobles” were (1) the Hāshimites, or some of them. In some lands, the descendants of al-Abbās are regarded as the nobles, while in others the descendants of Alī are regarded as such.

No religious ruling is attached to the designation “nobles.” Rather, the rulings apply to the Banū Hāshim, such as the prohibition against their receiving charity, their being the family of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and other such matters.

Al-Hajjāj had married a daughter of Abd Allāh ibn Jafar, but the Banū Umayya would not accept this and took her away from him, because they held the Banū Hāshim in high esteem.

In sum, it is not known in Islam that the Muslims ever took captive a woman whom they knew to be a Hāshimite. Nor was al-Husayn’s family taken captive. Rather, when they entered Yazīd’s house (2), lamentation arose within his household. [He treated them with honor] (3) and gave them the choice between staying with him and going to Medina. They chose to return to Medina. Nor was al-Husayn’s head paraded about. Accounts of these events contain falsehoods (4) whose detailed treatment lies beyond the scope of this discussion.

As for the calamities and punishments that he says resulted from al-Husayn’s killing, there is no doubt that killing al-Husayn was among the gravest sins, and that whoever committed it, approved of it, or assisted in it deserves from Allah the punishment merited by those who commit deeds of that kind. Yet his killing was no graver than the killing of those superior to him, including prophets, the earliest forerunners, those killed in the war against Musaylima, the martyrs of Uhud, those killed at Bi’r Maūna, the killing of Uthmān, and the killing of