Ruins of Al-Mutawakkill's Mosque at Samarra. Allah Never Tolerates Tyrants.
Dr.Mazhar
Naqvi
Al-Mutawakkil, the cruel Abbasid Caliph, is often portrayed as a
ruler with an eye for magnificence and hunger to build. His regime is also branded
as an era of commercial growth. But all his greatness come to a naught when one
looks at his tyranny, injustice and repeated efforts made by him to destroy the
holy shrine of Imam Hussain at Karbala.
History records that he built world’s largest mosque at Samarra
near Baghdad. The mosque had 17 aisles and its walls were decorated with mosaic
of dark blue glasses. The minaret of the mosque was 55 meter high with a spiral
ramp. Mutawakkil is also reported to have built as many as 20 palaces in his
endeavor to turn Samarra as one of the largest cities of the world. Historians
have somewhat remained restrained in criticizing Mutawakkil for his deep rooted
hatred against the followers of Ahle-bait or else they would have not dubbed
him as one of the greatest ruler of the Abbasid empire. Rather, he should have been
included in the list of the most tyrant and barbaric ruler. The persecution of
Imamis surpassed even Umayyad during his reign. His cruelty against Imamis deserves
more condemnation because his predecessors had toppled Umayyad government on
the plea of avenging the blood of Imam Hussain. Though most of Abbasid caliphs
bore grudge against Imams and their followers and always tried to find means to
end their holy lives with restrain, Mutawakkil exhibited his hatred against
progeny of Prophet Muhammad openly.
He ordered the demolition
of Imam Hussain's shrine multiple times. He also ordered people not to
visit Karbala for ziarat of Imam Hussain’s
shrine. He severely punished those who defied the restriction. He killed a
large number of people who preferred to visit Karbala even at the cost of their
lives. Hundreds and thousands of others were put behind the bars for defying
the restriction. His zeal to destroy Karbala can be gauged from the fact that
the holy city was demolished for times during his rule and a large number of
Imamis lost their lives on each occasion. The demolition was carried out by his
over-zealot governors Ibrahim ad-Daizaj and Umar bin Faraj.
Mutawakkil also imposed economic sanctions on devotees of Ahle-bait.
He instructed his officials not to extend any help or assistance to Imamis.
Hence, the poverty among the lovers of Ahle-Bait resulted in a situation that many women had to share one dress with each
other. Adversity forced one of them to
wear it to offer prayers and then handover the dress to another woman. Imami
ladies used to sit at their spindle semi-naked with unveiled heads due to the
sanctions and poverty that was thrusted upon them by Mutawakkil. While he
killed those praising the progeny of messenger of Allah, he offered costly
gifts to those who composed poems to defame Imams and their doctrines. He also
did not let remain the 10th Imam Ali Naqi peacefully in Medina. He
summoned him to Samarra and put him under house-arrest. Mutawakkil maintained a
strange and unpredictable relationship with Imam. Often he trusted and
respected him and but on several occasions displayed enmity towards him. He always
wondered as to why imam enjoyed more popularity and affection as compared to
him. Out of jealousy, he hatched a conspiracy to assassinate Imam Naqi but his
bid failed. Then, he decided to humiliate and degrade Imam through other means.
Once Mutawakkil sent his soldiers to arrest Imam from his house and present him
to the ‘royal’ presence.
When Imam Naqi reached
the palace, Mutawakkil was in a drunken state. He asked Imam to sit next him and then offered a glass of
wine. Imam refused the offer and said: "By Allah never has wine entered my
body. Excuse me from it." The tyrant then ordered him to recite poems for his
entertainment. When Imam expressed his inability Mutawakkil said: "There
is no excuse; you must read some poetry." Having no option, Imam recited a
poetry that only a descendant of Prophet’s family could have done in front of a
cruel and barbaric ruler Mutawakkil. Imam recited:
“They stayed on
mountaintops strictly guarded,
But could not save themselves even when protected by the
valiant ones,
The grandeur of high bastions had to come down,
Then, what ultimate baneful dwelling they got in the corner
of grave,
The voice from Heaven called out them after burial:
Where are throne, the crown and the clothing of the body?
Where the faces that remained are concealed under the veils,
Protected from dust by these coverings,
The voice of the grave seemed to say in reply,
Those faces are now the dwelling abode of worms,
The food they had eaten and the wine they had drunk beyond
measure,
Have resulted in making them today the food of worms” .
Upon listening to
the voice of Imam Naqi resonated with a deep and effected melody, Mutawakkil
threw his glass away and started crying. The flame of truth extinguished the
light of his party. For persecuting Imam and his followers, Mutawakkil’s death
was orchestrated by his own son. He was killed by his own most trusted Turk slaves
along with his Prime Minister Fath ibne Khaqan in December 861 AD The assassins
cut Mutawakkil and Fath into so many pieces that their flesh mixed with each
other and their corpses rolled down in a carpet and thrown into a corner.
(References available on request)
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