After nearly three decades of political activities, the delegates of the Abbasids found the situation in Khorasan suitable for a rebellion against the Umayyads. They contacted Ibrahim Imam, urged him to approve a military uprising, and he accepted. During the Hajj season, Ibrahim Imam met Abu-Muslim, a brave, young, loyal, talented Iranian, and selected him as his representative for Khorasan. He asked Abu-Muslim to initiate the uprising in Khorasan, and appointed him as the governor for every land that he seized. He also gave him a black cloth as the flag for his army, which later became the flag of the Abbasids during their government. The black color symbolically represented that they were mourning the oppression of the Umayyads against the family of the Prophet. Their intention was to trigger the emotions of the people, and to incite them towards their uprising. Ibrahim Imam suggested that Abu-Muslim massacre every person who was against their uprising, or was a supporter of the Umayyads. Abu-Muslim initiated his uprising in a village close to the city of Merv, in the current Mary, Turkmenistan . In one night, the residents of about 60 villages in that area joined him. The governor of Khorasan asked the Umayyad Caliph, Marwan II, to recruit an army. However, Marwan II could not support him, as he was dealing with internal conflicts in his government. Due to his politics, Abu-Muslim did not allow the Arab tribes in Khorasan to be reunited to support the Umayyads. Over a period of around two-and-a-half years of continuous military combat, Abu-Muslim seized all of Khorasan, and moved his army towards Iraq. His army could finally enter Kufa without any notable resistance from the Umayyads . Upon achieving power, Abu-Muslim killed all of his rivals in Khorasan. He killed everyone who was against him, including the delegates of the Abbasids, and the tribal leaders. He was a merciless man who would kill anyone whom he feared, or was suspicious of for his position. In total, he killed more than 600,000 people to establish and stabilize the Abbasid government. This number is multiple times higher than the number of the people who were killed by Hajjaj, the brutal governor of Iraq, decades ago.Abu-Muslim contacted Imam Sadiq to gain his influential support for his uprising. He sent a letter to the Imam claiming to invite the people to the Imam, and supporting the Imam’s candidacy for the caliphate. The Imam responded, “You are not my follower, nor is this time my time.” The Imam knew that Abu-Muslim was serving the Abbasids, and was loyal to them. He was also a bloodthirsty man responsible for the loss of many innocent lives. Truly, such a government would not have been accepted by the Imam as an eligible authority. Thus, the Imam rejected any support or collaboration with Abu-Muslim.
Category
📚
Learning