|
To implement this perfidious
plan Qais invited Fairoz and other Muslim officers to his house
for talks. Some Muslims fell into the trap and were speedily despatched
by the assassins; but at the eleventh hour Fairoz got wind of the
plot and of the organisation behind it. Having no military force
at his disposal for immediate use, Fairoz sought safety in flight.
He left San'a. Qais came to know of his departure and pursued him,
but Fairoz was able to evade his pursuers and reach the hills where
he found a safe refuge. This happened in June or July 632 (Rabi-ul-Awwal
or Akhir, 11 Hijri).
For the next six months Fairoz remained
in his mountainous stronghold, where over the months he was joined
by thousands of Muslims who were prepared to shed their blood to
oust Qais and restore Muslim rule in the Yemen. Fairoz organised
these Muslims into an army. When he felt strong enough to face Qais
in the field, he marched to San'a with this army. Qais awaited him
here, and in mid-January 633 (late Shawal, 11 Hijri) they joined
battle just outside the town. The Muslims were victorious, and Qais
fled to Abyan, where Ikrimah was to rest later, after subduing Mahra.
At Abyan, Qais was joined by other apostate
chiefs, but they fell out amongst themselves. Seeing no hope of
further successful opposition to Madinah, they all surrendered to
the Muslims and were subsequently pardoned by the Caliph. Some of
these apostate chiefs, after re-entering Islam, fought bravely in
Iraq and Syria during the years that followed.
The last of the great revolts of the apostasy
was that of the powerful tribe of Kinda, which inhabited the region
of Najran, Hadhramaut and Eastern Yemen. The progress of events
in this revolt followed much the same pattern as elsewhere.
On the death of the Prophet, the Kinda became
restive, though they did not break into revolt immediately. The
governor of Hadhramaut was Ziyad bin Lubaid who lived at Zafar,
the capital of Hadhramaut. An honest, Allah-fearing Muslim, he was
extremely strict in the collection of taxes, which caused some heart-burning
among the Kinda. All their attempts at evading full payment of taxes
were thwarted by Ziyad.
In January 633 (Shawal, 11 Hijri), the discontent
of the Kinda came to a head. One of their minor chieftains had handed
in a rather fine camel as part of the tax. He later changed his
mind and asked to have it back but Ziyad rejected the request. This
chieftain then sent some of his men to steal the camel.
In return Ziyad sent a few soldiers to catch
the camel-lifters. Shortly afterwards the camel and the culprits
were brought in and locked up. Next morning a riotous assembly of
the Kinda demanded the return of their imprisoned comrades. Ziyad
refused to release the thieves, announcing that they would be tried
under Muslim law. At this the situation exploded.
Large sections of the Kinda revolted and
apostatised. They not only refused to pay taxes or abide by the
laws of Islam but also took up arms to oppose the authority of Madinah
with violence. Several other dissident elements joined them in this
purpose, and together they established military camps and prepared
for war.
One of these rebel camps was at Riyaz, not
far from Zafar. To this Ziyad sent a column on a night raid which
turned out to be eminently successful. Some apostates were killed,
several captured, and the rest driven away. As the captives were
being taken to War, they passed the greatest of the Kinda chiefs,
Ash'as bin Qais, who had not yet turned apostate. "O Ash'as",
the captives called to him, "We are of your mother's clan."
The tribal loyalty of Ash'as proved itself stronger than his faith
or his respect for central authority. Accompanied by many of his
warriors, he intercepted the Muslim column, liberated the captives,
and sent the Muslims home empty-handed.
This marked the beginning of the revolt
of Ash'as. The Kinda flocked to his standard in large numbers and
prepared for battle, but the strength of the two forces, apostate
and Muslim, was so well balanced that neither side felt able to
start serious hostilities. Ziyad waited for reinforcements before
attacking Ash'as.
1. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 545.
| 
