Page 260 - Pure Life 20

260 / ( PURE LIFE, Vol. 6, No.20 (Rajab 1441. Esfand 1398. March 2020)

He insisted on his legitimacy based on his own

special position as a direct descendant of Muhammad
and his legitimate legatees. As a consequence, he left
Medina, his home town, to take refuge in Mecca in 60
AH. Muawiyah warned Yazid specifically about
Hussein ibn Ali, since he was the only blood relative of
Muhammad. Abd Allah ibn Abbas and Abdullah ibn
Umar did not want to start another civil war and
wanted to wait. Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr challenged
them and went to Mecca.
According to Fitzpatrick et al. the Yazid succession,
which was considered as an "anomaly in Islamic
history", transformed the government from a
"consultative" form to a monarchy, named the
Umayyad dynasty, with its capital in Damascus.
Yazid instructed his Governor Walid in Medina to
force Hussein ibn Ali as well as the other prominent
figures to pledge allegiance to Yazid. Hussein refused
it and said that "Anyone akin to me will never accept
anyone akin to Yazid as a ruler (Karbala – The Facts
and the Fairy-tales)."
Hussein departed Medina on Rajab 28, 60 AH (680
AD), two days after Walid's attempt to force him to
submit to Yazid I's rule. He stayed in Mecca from the
beginnings of the month of Sha'aban and all of the
months of Ramadan, Shawwal, as well as Dhu al-Qi'dah.
It is mainly during his stay in Mecca that he received
many letters from Kufa assuring him their support and
asking him to come over there and guide them. He
answered their calls and sent Muslim ibn Aqeel, his
cousin, to Kufa as his representative in an attempt to
consider the exact situation and public opinion.