# Why did Husayn go to Kufa when he was warned not to? *Letters from Kufa, the resistance in the Hijaz, and warnings to Husayn* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/iabl5vis3rg/s/12/ - Date: 2020-10-16 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Karbala & it's precursors | Mufti Abu Layth (40:51–45:10) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaBL5ViS3Rg&t=2451s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/iabl5vis3rg/ **Topics:** Karbala; The companions **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says Husayn was invited by thousands in Kufa but warned by his relatives and Ibn Abbas, who urged Yemen instead, while Ibn al-Zubayr resisted Yazid from Makkah. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he does not believe Yazid was a kafir, but accepts that most people would have seen him at the very least as a disappointment. **Evidence, his words at 41:17:** “certain things that people say about him being a kafir. I don't believe I don't agree with that, but I do accept that most people would have clearly seen him at the very least as a disappointment” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaBL5ViS3Rg&t=2477s) ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth says that in Kufa thousands of the political Shia of Ali were writing to Husayn to come and receive their allegiance, disappointed with Yazid. He repeats that he does not agree Yazid was a kafir, but accepts most people would have seen him at the very least as a disappointment, and as one who did grave damage by attacking the city of the Prophet. In the Hijaz, he says, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr had died, Abdullah ibn Umar and Abdullah ibn Abbas pledged to Yazid to avoid bloodshed, and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr and Husayn resisted, Ibn al-Zubayr making Makkah his base and winning hearts among Arabians who felt the home cities of Islam had lost their prominence. Husayn's relatives, including his brother, warned him not to go to Iraq, and Ibn Abbas advised him to go to Yemen, whose people had been loyal to his father, rather than to the wavering people of Iraq; but he went, sending his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil ahead. ## Sources and names cited - Husayn ibn Ali - Yazid ibn Mu'awiya - Abdullah ibn Umar - Ibn Abbas - Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr - Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr - Muslim ibn Aqil - Shia ## Transcript (machine tier, 40:51–45:10) [40:50] And he does. He goes to Kufa and he's got it on lock. Now, in Kufa you have now we've fast forward we've come back to that point. You have a bunch of people, so many in their thousands, who are writing to Arabia. They're writing to Hussein. They are from the Shia to Ali. Uh they are from the Shia political Shia. They are telling Hussein, "Come here. We will give you our allegiance. [41:17] We're going to make you in charge. We want you. Not we're going to make you, but we want you." And people are disappointed with Yazid, understandably so. Yazid And look, I Yazid by I mean, I I don't I don't believe he was a kafir. Okay, so there's certain things that people say about him being a kafir. I don't believe I don't agree with that, but I do accept that most people would have clearly seen him at the very least as a disappointment, if not just as somebody who's doing damage and done grave damage to Muslims and Islam. [41:56] Because he attacked Medina. He attacked the city of the prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So, I mean, this guy, you know, he has no bounds. He's so Now, what's happening is in in the Hijaz, in Mecca, you've got certain people who are prepared to set up resistance. And amongst them you have these four. [42:20] The son of Abu Bakr Abdur Rahman has passed away, natural death. So, you have Abdullah ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn Abbas, and then the latter two, Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Hussein. Now, the former two, Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abdullah ibn Umar, they decide to to just give their allegiance to Yazid. They say, "You know, this isn't what we don't like him, but this is just going to lead to bloodshed. [42:52] There's no point, you know, there's no point being dead over this. So, they just give him the allegiance. The latter two resist. Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Hussein. Now, radiyallahu anhu. Now, Abdullah ibn Zubayr says, "I'm going to set up camp. I mean, not just camp, but my base in Mecca. [43:18] I will establish a military resistance to him." Now, there was something There's an interesting point here. Many Muslims had felt over the last few decades because the shift from Medina and Mecca had gone to the Middle East, where remember the ancient kings of Arabs used to live, they felt the Arabian Muslims felt that the home cities of Islam had lost their prominence. [43:47] That it's not You know, and they kind of felt this. So, what Why Abdullah ibn Zubayr setting up Mecca once again as he actually won the hearts and minds of many Muslims. Hussein radiyallahu anhu was being meanwhile invited to Iraq. Now, this thing of him going to Iraq, this was this was the thing that Mhm. [44:17] You see, Abdul His own relatives warned him against this. Even his own brother. They told him, "Don't go. That this is a cataclysmic mistake. That do not go." Abdullah ibn Abbas actually gave him some very uh sound advice. He said to him that look, "The people of Yemen were always loyal to your father. [44:43] If you are to resist, go to Yemen. The people of Iraq were never loyal to your father. That Shia were kind of like a wavering bunch. So, but he did but he didn't listen, radiyallahu anhu, and he felt that look, I'm going to go. Now, he did send his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil to go check it out. [45:09] And Muslim ibn Aqil goes there, but he can't unfortunately send the message back in time and he himself is killed uh by under the instructions of Obaid, who catches him, he kills him, and um you know, and the people And this is it, the Shia betray him. You know, they And in fact, this There's a uh a famous saying that uh there's a poet, Farazdaq, who meets Hussein when he's on route because he hasn't received the message that what's happening over there. ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment iaBL5ViS3Rg/s/12. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/iabl5vis3rg/s/12/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.