Another Prophecy made by Imam Ali (a.s.) regarding the Umayyad dynasty and the Abbasid dynasty

Ibn e Abil Hadeed writes:

“In another sermon, Imam Ali (a.s.) told a few points regarding the Umayyad and the Abbasid dynasties.

          In this sermon that begins with:

''حتّی بعث اللّٰہ محمداً صلّی اللّٰہ علیہ شھیداً و بشیراً و نذیراً''

‘Until God deputised Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) as a witness, giver of good tidings and warner’….after the description of a few words and phrases from the text in which Imam (a.s.) has expressed his grief and promised that the Umayyad dynasty will soon give away the power in the hands of others, a detailed historic discussion has been presented in this manner:

          Imam Ali (a.s.) repeated his grief and grumble and said:

‘Your hands are extended in this world while the hands of the leaders are held away from you. Your swords are hanging over the individuals of Ahlebait – who are the leaders and true commanders- while their swords are held away from you.’

          Imam Ali (a.s.) indicated towards how Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family will be martyred, as if he was witnessing it speaking about it and his speech was based on the perception that had occurred in his mind. Then he says:

          ‘Beware that for every blood (that is shed) there is an avenger and for every right there is a claimant. The avenger for our blood is like the judge for his own claim, and it is Allah who is such that if one seeks Him, then He does not disappoint him, and one who runs away from Him cannot escape Him.’

          And that he said: ‘It is such that Allah will judge for his own claim’; it means that Allah will not leave any stone unturned in avenging our blood. Just like a ruler who judges for his own claim and is the judge himself. In such a case, he will strive to attain his claim with all his might.

          Thereafter, Imam Ali (a.s.) swore and addressed the Umayyad rulers by their name and said that they will shortly see their possession in the hands of others and in the house of others and their enemies will snatch the kingdom from their hands very soon and it happened just the way Imam Ali (a.s.) had prophesied. The power remained for merely ninety years in the hands of the Umayyad rulers and it returned to the Hashemite dynasty thereafter and Allah avenged them by the hands of their harshest enemies.

 

The defeat and escape of Marwan bin Muhammad in the battleof Zaab and his death – as per the narration of Ibn e Abil Hadeed

Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas moved with a massive force in order to retaliate and fight against Marwan bin Muhammad – the last Umayyad caliph- and stood against each other near the river ‘Zaab’[1] in the land of Mosul.

          Even though Marwan brought forward a huge force but he got defeated and evaded the battlefield while the forces of Abdullah bin Ali dominated him and killed a large number of his soldiers. Marwan evaded towards Syria while Abdullah bin Ali and his soldiers kept on trailing him.

          Marwan went towards Egypt and was followed by the soldiers of Abdullah who killed him and all his close relatives in ‘Buseer Ashmoneen’ – an area in Egypt.

          Abdullah bin Ali stampeded around eighty individuals of the Umayyad dynasty near the river ‘Abu Fitrus’[2] – a place in Palestine and later killed all of them, and his brother Dawood bin Ali did the same with about the same number of people from his family in Hijaz and assassinated them in different manner.

          When Marwan was killed, his two sons Abdullah and Ubaidullah, both his heirs, were with him and both of them fled towards a place ‘Uswan’ in Egypt, and went towards the land of Nauba (Sudan) and faced extreme difficulties on their way, where Abdullah bin Marwan was killed along with his group and some died on the way out of the sufferings and thirst.

          Ubaidullah reached the land of ‘Bajja’ with a group of life-stricken people and crossed the Red sea to reach the shores of the city of Jeddah. Ubaidullah went along with the survivors from his family and relatives secretly from city to city and were happy to live the life of a common man after the days of their kingdom. Eventually, Ubaidullah got arrested by the men of Saffah and was imprisoned. He remained imprisoned during the remaining years of Saffah’s rule and in the rule of Mansoor, Mahdi, Hadi and some part of Rasheed’s rule.

          Rasheed freed him from the prison when he became an old man who had lost his vision and asked him about himself.

          He said: O leader of the faithful! I was imprisoned when I was young and my eye-sight was intact and now I am released in such a condition that I have grown old and have lost my vision.

          It is said that he died during the reign of Rasheed and it is also said that he was alive till the reign of Ameen.

*  *  *

         As per a narration, Ibrahim bin Walid bin Abdul Malik, who was set apart from the Caliphate and was pronounced the caliph after the death of his brother Yazid bin Walid bin Abdul Malik, was killed along with Marwan; and according to another narration, Marwan (the donkey) had killed Ibrahim before this incident.

          Immediately after facing defeat in the battle of Zaab, Marwan went towards Mosul, but the people of Mosul restricted his entry inside the city. He unwillingly went to Harran where he owned a house and some assets. The people of Harran did not accept the removal of the act of cursing Imam Ali (a.s.) from the pulpits and mosques and said that: ‘Any prayer that is performed without cursing Ali (a.s.) is not acceptable’!!!

          Abdullah bin Ali chased Marwan with his soldiers but Marwan evaded from his reach and crossed the river Euphrates immediately after he reached Harran. Abdullah bin Ali descended with his troop in Harran and demolished the castle of Marwan which was built by him costing ten million dirhams and all his treasuries and assets were stored in it.

          Marwan descended near the river Abu Futrus along with the members of his family and the Umayyad dynasty and some of his close relatives. At the same time, Abdullah bin Ali moved towards Damascus and took the city under his possession. Walid bin Mu’awiyah bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan was deployed by Marwan with a force of fifty thousand soldiers in Damascus but the Almighty initiated a conflict between them regarding the superiority of the Nazaris over the Yemenis or the Yemenis over the Nazaris which resulted in an internal dispute which concluded at the death of Walid bin Mu’awiyah.

          It is said that he died amidst the battle against Abdullah bin Ali.

Abdullah occupied Damascus and caught Yazid bin Mu’awiyah bin Marwan and Abdul Jabbar bin Yazid bin Abdul Malik and presented them as prisoners before Abul Abbas Saffah who killed both of them and hanged their bodies in Hairah.

          Abdullah bin Ali killed a large group of Marwan’s friends and relatives and the followers of the Umayyad dynasty in Yaraan and later came near the river Abu Futrus and killed about eighty men from the Umayyad dynasty and this incident occurred in the month of Zil Qa’da, 132^nd Hijrah.[3]