Chapter 5Kufa: Stage of Shi'i ActivitiesFrom the time 'Ali moved to Kufa in 36/656, or even earlier, The city of Kufa was founded in the year 17/638, about |
open pastures for grazing cattle. Informed of the hardships The description of the founding (Khitat) of Kufa given by Baladhuri gives a slightly different version of 'Umar's The planning of the new city and the organization of the |
Except for Basra, which had been founded only a year earlier With the beginning of 'Umar's caliphate and the thrust of At Kufa, on the other hand, the number of those who came There was a marked absence of large dominating clans or
This first arrangement of the population of Kufa, however, The organization of the Kufan population into the two |
when people were grouped into two broad divisions. Finally, The entire population of Kufa was thus divided into seven 1 Kinana with their allies from the ahabish and others and the 2 Quda'a, Ghassan, Bajila, Khath'am, Kinda, Hadramawt, and
Two of them, the Bajila, led by their chief Jarir b. 'Abd 3 Madhhij,(14) Himyar,(15) Hamdan,(16) and their allies.
This was 4 Tamim, Rihab, and Hawazin, all three belonging to the 5 Asad, Ghatfan, Muharib, Nimr, Dubay'a, and Taghub,(19) |
most of these belonging to the Nizari group from Rabi'a and 6 Iyad, 'Akk, 'Abd al-Qays, Ahl al-H ajar, and Hamra'. Iyad (20)
They sent a large delegation from Bahrayn to Medina in the 7 The seventh group, Sub', not specifically named by Tabari, is |
battle of Al-Qadisiya. We then hear of Tayy as one of the The city of Kufa was thus organized into seven tribal
This grouping of the tribes continued for nineteen years 1: Hamdan and Himyar (Yemenis); 2: Madhhij, Ash'ar, and Tayy (Yemenis); 3: Kinda, Hadramawt, Quda'a, and Mahar (Yemenis); |
4: Azd, Bajila, Khath'am, and Ansar (Yemenis); 5: All the Nizari branches of Qays, 'Abs, Dhubya, and the 6: Bakr, Taghlib, and all the branches of the Rabi'a 7: Quraysh, Kinana, Asad, Tamim, Dabba, Ribab (Nizaris). (30) Three important points must particularly be noticed in The fourth and last change in Kufan administration took 1: Ahl al-'Aliya; 2: Tamim and Hamdan; 3: Rabi'a (Bakr) and Kinda; 4: Madhhij and Asad.(31) There are many important points to be observed in Ziyad's |
administration system in Kufa as well. Secondly, he com-
The first group, the Ahl al-'Aliya consisted of the branches The exact number of the first settlers in Kufa is difficult to According to one report given by Yaqut, 'Umar ordered Sa'd |
Kufa started its history. Of these first settlers or early comers, The heterogeneous nature of the Kufan population, with This in effect meant that predominance and leadership must |
tribal prominence, but one of the earliest converts and a man "I am sending you 'Ammar as the governor and 'Abd Allah as The emphasis put on the qualifications and distinctions of When in 20/641 'Umar organized the system of distribution |
Kufa must have had some dominating position in the political The Muslim empire was expanding at an amazing rate
This caused a new Arab influx into Kufa. When the Muslim As a result of these new influxes, however, the population |
consideration many of those early comers of Al-Qadisiya, who With this brief outline of the foundation and early What must be noted first of all is that the population of the |
The Arab element in Kufa was extremely complex in its 1 A small number of the Quraysh from the Hijaz, with their 2 Elements that were strongly nomadic, such as Mudar 3 Semi-nomadic elements such as Rabi'a, Asad, Bakr, belonging 4 Truly south Arabian elements coming from further a field, 5 Yet another section of the Arabs who settled down in Kufa at 6 Still another section from among the Arabs counted above The second basic element of the Kufan population in There were many factors which account for their great influx, |
battle of Nihawand resulted in a large number of Persian Thirdly, the presence of those 4,000 Persians known as the
Moreover, among the prisoners of war there was a consider-
They were called mawali (sing. mawla), or clients, a term to The non-Arab soldiers who adopted Islam and joined the |
the Hamra', or the Daylamites. They were used by the Kufan 2 The peasants (mainly Persians) whose towns and villages 3 The vast groups of Persians and others who converted to
Their lands were conquered by the Muslims, yet they were 4 Freed slaves. This group consisted of those who were taken |
5 Persians and other converts to Islam who belonged to noble The total number of all classes of mawali; however, To this population structure three observations must be Secondly, the majority of the first settlers in Kufa, whether |
undermine and suppress tribal authority. He did not, The other power group consisted of tribal leaders whose As long as 'Umar lived, the tribal leaders could not do |
al-Ta'i and Sa'sa'a b. Suhan al-'Abdi. Unseated from their 1: The strong and influential tribes and clan leaders along These leaders are generally described as the ashraf al-qaba'il; 2: People less influential in terms of tribal or clan leadership, It is against this background that the third and most critical As has been discussed in Chapter 4, 'Ali was installed as the |
opposition to 'Ali, therefore, besides the Umayyads in Syria, Taking advantage of the rivalry between Basra and Kufa, the 'Ali then entered Kufa, not to make it his capital, but only to What should be noted here, however, is that at the battle of As has been said earlier, the population of Kufa was organized |
this way he tried to restore to power those erstwhile leaders Leaders such as Al-Ashtar, Hujr, and 'Adi, together with |
unconditionally. Most of the clan leaders, on the other hand, It is generally suggested that the qurra' forced 'Ali to Similarly, it is also stated that it was the qurra' group which The word qurra' as used in the accounts of Siffin must be The main reason for the resentful attitude of the ashraf al- |
shrinking in its resources due to the lull in the conquests In It was beyond any doubt clear to the tribal leaders and Instead they insisted on dealing with the Khawarij who had The attitude of these Kufans is best indicated by 'Ali |
"Behold, I have called upon you day and night, secretly and "When I order you to march toward them during the summer
"O you who look like men but are not men, having the intellect 'Ali thus left behind the people of Kufa divided into two |
Notes to Chapter 5
(1)) Baladhuri, Futuh al-Buldan, trans. Philip K. Hitti, The Origins Have the Islamic State (Beirut, 1966), p.434; Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Buldan (Tehran, 1965), IV, p.323; Tabari; I, p.2485; Khalifa b. Khaybar, Ta'rikh, ed. Zakkar (Cairo, 1967), I, p.129
(2) See sources cited in note 1 above
(3) Muhammad Husayn al-Zubaydi, Al-Hayat al-ijtima'iya wa'l iqtisadiya fi'l Kufa (Cairo, 1970), p.25; Yusuf Khalif, Hayat al-Shi'r fi'l-Kufa (Cairo, 1968), p.23
(4) Tabari, I, p.2360; Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Buldan, IV, p.322
(5) Baladhuri, Origins, p.434
(6) M. Hind, "Kufan Political Alignments in the Mid-7th Century AD", International Journal of Middle East Studies, (October, 1971), p.351
(7) Baladhuri, Origins, pp.435 f.; Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Buldan, IV, p.323
(8) Tabari, I, p.2495
(9) ibid.
(10) For Kinana see 'Umar Rida Kahhala, Mu'jam Qaba'il al-'Arab (Damascus, 1949), p.996; 'Iqd, III, pp.339, 359; for Jadlia of Qays 'Aylan see Kahhala, p.173; 'Iqd, III, p.350
(11) For the details of these Yemeni tribes, see Kahalla, pp.957, 844 f., 63 ff, 131 f., 998 ff, 282, 15 ff respectively; 'Iqd, III, pp.371, 382, 388, 391 f., 403, 375, 385 respectively
(12) Kahhala, p.64; 'Iqd, III, p.388
(13) He led the delegation of Kinda to Medina in 9/630 to accept Islam. See Kahhala, p.999
(14) From Madhhij there were many important sub-tribes, such as Nakhkha' and Tayy. See Kahhala; p. 1062; 'Iqd, III, p.393
(15) Kahhala, pp.305 f.; 'Iqd, III, p.369
(16) Kahhala, p.1225; 'Iqd, III, pp.389 f.
(17) Kahhala, p.1225; 'Iqd, III, p.389
(18) Kahhala, pp. 126 ff., 315, 1231 respectively; 'Iqd, III, pp.344 ff, 343 f., 353 ff.
(19) Kahhala, pp.21 ff., 888, 1042, 1192, 664 120 ff. respectively; 'Iqd, III, pp.340 ff., 35', 319, 358, 356, 359
(20) Kahhala, pp.52 ff
(21) Of uncertain origin. Some said they belonged to the Qahtanis, others describe them as 'Adnanis from al-Dayth b. 'Adnan. .See Kahhala, pp.802 f.
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(22) Kahhala, pp.726 f.; 'Iqd, III, p.357
(23) Kahha1a, p.726
(24) Baladhuri, Origins, pp.440 f.; El2 article "Daylam"
(25) Kahhala, p.726
(26) Kahhala, p.691
(27) Maqatil, p. 61; Sharh, XVI, p.38. See p. 142 below
(28) Kahhala, p.689
(29) Tabari, II, pp.304 ff. See p.200 ff below
(30) Massignon, Khitat p.11. Cf. Tabari, I, p.3174; Khalif, Hayat ash-Shi'r fi'l Kufa, p.29
(31) Massignon, Khitat, pp.15 f. Cf. Tabari, II, p.131; Khalif, op. Cit., pp.30 f.
(32) Tabari, II, p.131
(33) Tabari, I, pp.2221 f.
(34) Ma'jam al-Buldan, IV, p.324
(35) Baladhuri, Origins, pp.436,440; Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Buldan, IV, p.323
(36) Ibn Sa'd, VI, p.9
(37) ibid, VI, p.12-66
(38) Ibn Sa'd, VI, p.7; Ba1adhuri, Origins, p.448
(39) 39 Ibn Sa'd, VI, pp.13 f.; Tabari, I, p.2645
(40) Ibn Sa'd, VI, p.7
(41) Tabari, I, pp. 2414 f.
(42) Tabari, I, p.2496. For the institution of the 'arif see E12 article "'Arif"
(43) Tabari, I, p.2633
(44) Tabari, I, p.2805
(45) Tabari, I, p.2418
(46) Massignon, Khitat, p. 13; Tabari; I, p.2418
(47) Tabari, I, pp.2418 f.
(48) Ibn Sa'd, VI, p.11
(49) Tabari, I. p.2464
(50) S.A.A1-'Ali, Al- Tanzimat al-ijtima'iya wa'l-iqtisadiya fi'l Basra, 2nd ed. (Beirut, 1969), pp.88 ff.
(51) ibid, p.82
(52) Tabari, II, p.1072
(53) Tabari; I, p.2668
(54) Tabari, I, p.2927
(55) ibid.
(56) Tabari, I, p.2651
(57) Baladhuri, Ansab, V, p.46
(58) Tabari; I, pp.3075 ff; AI-Imama wa'l-siyasa, I, p.47
(59) Hind, op. cit., p.361
(60) Tabari, I, p.3174
(61) Nasr, Waq'at Siffin, p.105
(62) Ibn A'tham, II, p.350; Nasr, Waq'at Siffin, p.12
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(63) Tabari, I, p.3279
(64) Tabari, I, p.3256
(65) Hind, op. cit., p. 363
(66) e.g., Khutabat nos. 21, 23, 24, 42, to cite but a few
(67) For 'Ali's fiscal policies and egalitarian attitude, see Tabari, I, p.3227
(68) Mas'udi, Muruj, II, p.404
(69) ibid., p.407
(70) Nahj al-Balagha, I, pp. 76-79; Mubarrad, Kamil, I, pp.20 f., with slightly different readings in some cases. I have followed the Nahj al- Balagha's text.
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