Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

• Kūfah and Baṣrah
Although the Khawārij had a presence there for a while, 1 they did not
remain there for long. With the Umayyads killing, imprisoning, and
banishing them, they encountered overwhelming pressure, and were thus
compelled to flee to various places. Hence, for example, during the reign of
Ziyād ibn Abīhi 2 and his son ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād 3 thirteen thousand of
them were killed in Kūfah and Baṣrah. Likewise during the time of ʿUbayd
Allah ibn Ziyād alone four thousand of them were imprisoned. 4
However, these pressures did not deter them, for whenever they would
find a chance they would launch their attack. 5
• ʿUmmān (Oman)
In ʿUmmān the Khawārij were found at a very early stage, the exact time of
their arrival there, however, is unknown. It is alleged that the first people
to introduce this dogma to ʿUmmān were some of the survivors of the
1 Al-Maʿrifah wa al-Tārīkh 3/81; al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt 17/359.
2 Ziyād ibn ʿUbayd al-Thaqafī. The governor of Iraq who was known as Ziyād ibn Abīhi or Ziyād ibn
Sufyān or Ziyād ibn Abī Sufyān. He was born in the year of Hijrah. He accepted Islam during the era of
Abū Bakr I and was a genius and master mind. ʿAlī I used him and thereafter Muʿāwiyah I.
He earned acclaim for his prolific oratory and for his sternness against those who opposed him. He
passed away in 53 A.H. in a plague. See: Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 19/162; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/494;
al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt 15/6; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/61.
3 ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād al-Thaqafī. The governor of Iraq after his father. He was born in 39 A.H.
and his mother was from the daughters of the Persian kings. He took charge of Baṣrah at the age of
twenty two and was intimidating. He dared to do things which were not permissible, like his order to
summon Ḥusayn I before him, even if they were forced to murder him whilst intercepting him.
He was killed in 67 A.H. See: Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 19/162; Tārīkh al-Islām 5/175; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ
3/545; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah8/283.
4 Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 3/375; Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī 2/275; Simṭ al-Nujūm al-ʿAwālī 3/220.
5 Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī 2/264.
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