It is understood that in the matter
of racial pride Mohammad Mahdi undoubtedly started the rivalry and what Mansoor
wrote, he wrote replying to this rivalry. However, Mansoor went beyond the
limit in his reply. Mohammad Mahdi wrote nothing negative about Abbas (رضي الله عنه).
But Mansoor unnecessarily used
impertinent words about Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله
عنه). He has also slandered Ali (رضي الله
عنه) when he said that the latter took out Fatima Zahra during the
day time for the sake of increasing his chances of getting the caliphate. He
also was very rude regarding the Hasan (رضي الله عنه).
The fact is that Hasan bin Ali (رضي الله عنه)
did not sell out the caliphate rather he unified and reconciled the two warring
factions of the Muslims and thereby he fulfilled the Prophet's prophecy. Abbas
(رضي الله عنه) helped Abu Talib
without doubt and brought up Aqeel and kept him with him. But to speak of it
satirically and ironically does not befit a person of noble bearing. Actually
to mention such favors is considered to be a sign of meanness and by mentioning
such things, he has displayed his lowness.
After making the administrative
arrangements for Madinah, Mohammad Mahdi sent Mohammad bin Hasan bin Muawiya
bin Abdullah bin Jafar to Makkah, Qasim bin Ishaq to Yemen and Musa bin
Abdullah to Syria as Amirs. So Mohammad bin Hasan and Qasim bin Ishaq left
Madinah together. The Abbasid administrator of Makkah fought and lost and
Mohammad bin Hasan occupied it.
After dispatching the above
mentioned letter, Mansoor sent Isa bin Musa to fight with Mohammad Mahdi. Isa
was accompanied by Mohammad bin Saffah, Katheer bin Haseen Abdi and Humaid bin
Qahtaba and at the time of departure Isa bin Musa and other commanders were
instructed that if they got the better of Mohammad Mahdi, they should not kill
him but give him pardon and safety. If he went into hiding then the civilians
of Madinah who know him should be arrested and those from among the descendants
of Abi Talib who visited them should have their names record and the commanders
should send them to him and those who refused to call on them, the commanders
should confiscate their money and property.
When Isa bin Musa reached Feed, he
sent for a few people from Madinah by letter. Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Omar
bin Ali bin Abi Talib, his brother Omar bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib, Abu
Aqeel Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Aqeel came out of Madinah and went to Isa. When
Mohammad Mahdi was informed of his arrival, he consulted with his men on
whether they should fight outside of Madinah or defend by remaining inside.
When the counselors disagreed, following the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم), he ordered the same trench to be dug,
which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
had originally used. Meanwhile Isa bin Musa camped at Awad. Mohammad Mahdi
forbade the people of Madinah to fight outside the city and so no one was
allowed to go out. When Isa approached near to Madinah, he allowed the people
to go out of the city. It was a mistake that he cancelled his first order.
The people of Madinah in large
numbers along with their families went to the mountains for safety because of
this, only a very small number remained with Mohammad Mahdi in Madinah to fight
Isa. It was at that time that he realized his blunder and he sent his men to bring
them back but they could not. Isa left Awad and camped at a distance of four
miles from Madinah. He deployed a part of the army on the road to Makkah so
that Mohammad Mahdi would not be able to escape and go to Makkah. Then he sent
word to him, "Caliph Mansoor grants you pardon and safety, invites you
towards judgment by the Book and Sunnah and threatens you with the consequences
of rebellion."
Mohammad Mahdi sent back the reply
that he was a man who never turned his back for fear of being killed. On 12
Ramadan 145 A.H., Isa bin Musa went ahead and camped at Jurf. On 14 Ramadan 145
A.H. he stood at a high place and spoke loudly, "O the people of Madinah!
I grant you safety provided you don't intervene between Mohammad Mahdi and me
and stay neutral."
The Madinah people heard and began
to abuse him and Isa went back. The next day he went to the same place again
with the intention of fighting and spread out his commanders around Madinah.
Mohammad Mahdi also came out to face him. His flag was held by Uthman bin
Mohammad bin Khalid bin Zubair and his saying was Ahad, Ahad (One, One). Abu
Ghulmash was the first to come out from his side to challenge the enemies.
Several renowned commanders from Isa's side came onto the field to answer his
challenge but they all lost their lives. Then the battle began with both sides
exhibiting real bravery.
The commanders of both sides
displayed wonderful swordsmanship and breached the opposing lines. Then at
Isa's instance Humaid bin Qahtaba moved towards the nearest wall of the trench
with his troops. Mohammad Mahdi's men tried to prevent them by shooting arrows
at them but Humaid continued his forward march firmly and leveled it to the
ground, crossed the trench and began hand to hand combat with Mohammad Mahdi's
soldiers. This gave Isa the chance to fill up the moat at several places to
make a way across it. The cavalry crossed the moat and pounced upon Mohammad
Mahdi's army and a fierce battle ensued.
Mohammad Mahdi's army was small and
the invaders out-numbered them several times over and they were more fully
armed. The battle continued from morning to the time of the mid-afternoon
prayer. Mohammad Mahdi granted open permission to his men to save themselves if
they liked. His followers requested him repeatedly to save himself and to go to
Basra or Makkah and after collecting men and weapons anew to face his opponents
again. But he gave the same reply to all, saying, "If you want to save
yourselves, you are at liberty to go anywhere you like but I cannot flee because
of fear of the enemy." Finally, only 300 men were left with him and at
that time one of his men, Isa bin Khudair burnt the register containing the
names of those who took the oath with him.
Then he went to the jail and killed
Rabah bin Uthman and his brother. Mohammad bin Qasri shut the door of his room
and survived. After doing this, he came back to Mohammad Mahdi and began to
fight again. His cavalry cut off the legs of their horses, broke into pieces
their sheaths, took the pledge of death and attacked the enemies. The attack
was so fierce and horrible that Isa's army suffered a defeat and retreated and
fled. A few of Isa's men climbed around a hill and went down its other side
into Madinah, took a black covering of an Abbasid woman and waved it over the
minaret of the mosque like a flag.
Mohammad Mahdi's men were out of
their wits when they saw it. They thought that Isa's men had taken possession
of Madinah and they moved backward. Isa's fleeing soldiers took advantage of
the opportunity they rallied and attacked again. One of the groups entered the
city from Banu Ghaffar's side and began to fight with Mohammad Mahdi. The
situation was contrary to what he expected. Mohammad Mahdi did not expect that
Banu Ghaffar would allow a way for the enemy to enter. Resolving himself to
this he moved forward and called out to Humaid bin Qahtaba to single combat but
Humaid did not dare to come out to face him. Mohammad Mahdi's men again
launched the attack on the enemies. Isa bin Khudair was fighting very
valiantly.
Isa bin Musa went forward and called
him loudly, "I grant you safety and pardon. Give up fighting." But
Isa bin Khudair did not care about this and continued until he fell down
exhausted and mortally wounded. Mohammad Mahdi began to fight over his dead
body. Isa bin Musa's soldiers attacked him from all sides and he retaliated and
pushed them back. He displayed such matchless valor and his martial art was so
superior, that none from among Isa bin Musa's soldiers dared to fight with him.
At last, some one speared him from behind. As he bent down a little under its
impact, Humaid bin Qahtaba rushed forward and pierced his chest with his
javelin. When two javelins passed through his chest from the front and the
back, he fell dead. Humaid bin Qahtaba quickly got down from his horse and
severed his head and brought it to Isa bin Musa. Immediately after the death of
this valiant warrior, Madinah fell to Isa bin Musa. He sent his head and the
letter of victory to Mansoor by the hands of Mohammad bin Abilkarâm bin Abdullah
bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jafar and Qasim bin Hasan bin Zaid bin Hasan bin Ali
bin Abi Talib. This disaster occurred on Monday 15 Ramadan 145 A.H. between the
afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer.
Isa bin Musa hanged Mohammad Mahdi's
dead body on a cross between Madinah and Thaniyatul wada'. His sister Zainab
took permission and buried his dead body in Baqi. In this battle Mohammad
Mahdi's brother Musa bin Abdullah Hamza bin Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Ali bin
Husain, Ali bin Zaid bin Ali bin Husain bin Ali, Zaid bin Hasan bin Zaid bin
Hasan fought on Mohammad Mahdi's side. It is surprising that the fathers of Ali
and Zaid were Mansoor's supporters. Similarly, there were other Hashmite and
Alawiite fathers and sons who were pitted against one another.
Perhaps they were horrified at the
sight of Banu Abbas's killings and annihilation as was Ali bin Husain (Zainul
Abedeen) who was so shocked and terrified having been witness to the scene at
Karbala that he never did anything against Banu Umayyah and always supported
them. In the same way, the influential among the Alawiites considered
opposition of Banu Abbas to be the cause of destruction. Mohammad Mahdi defeat
simply because his own relatives did not support him and that their lack of
support alienated others. So when he took the oath from the people of Madinah
and announced his caliphate after imprisoning Rabah bin Uthman, he sent for
Ismail bin Abdullah bin Jafar, an old man, to take the oath. He wrote back,
"Nephew, you will be killed. How can I take the oath for you?"
Hearing his reply some people who had taken the oath retracted it. Hamadah bint
Muawiya came to Ismail bin Abdullah and said to him, "Your statement has
alienated many people from Mohammad Mahdi but my brothers are still with him.
I am afraid they may also be killed
with him." In brief, alienation of his relatives and members of his family
kept him from growing powerful otherwise, the caliphate might have possibly
come to the descendants of Hasan (رضي الله عنه).
If he had escaped and stayed clear of Madinah or had not revolted so soon and
had waited for his brother to follow suit and both of them had revolted
together, success would have been sure. Mansoor and the Abbasids were lucky
that the Abbasid army had to fight Mohammad and Ibrahim one after another while
their strength remained undivided.
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