Al-Mukhtar
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Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al Thaqafi was an early Islamic revolutionary who led an abortive rebellion against the Umayyid Caliphs who ruled the Muslim world after the murder of the fourth Caliph, Ali ibn Abu Talib.
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[edit] 622 – 632: Muhammad's era
Al-Mukhtar was born in Ta'if in 622 CE, 1 AH, the year Muhammad began the Migration to Medina. He was the son of a martyr in one of the first Islamic battles, and grew up in Medina while it was under the rule of Muhammad.
[edit] 645 – 683: Yazid I's era
When the third Umayyid Caliph took power, an increasing number of Muslims were dissatisfied with their government, and the hereditary succession of men they saw as bad muslims and worse rulers.
[edit] 685 – 687: Abd al-Malik's era
The rebellion which broke out in 686 CE was supported by the faction of Muslims who would later become known as the Shi'a-the 'party of Ali.'[citation needed] Al-Mukhtar led the rebellion, which was launched from Kufa, in present-day Iraq, but he claimed that he was rebelling on behalf of Ali's son Ibn al-Hanifiya. Al-Hanifiya, who Al_Mukhtar claimed was the Mahdi-the saviour of the Muslim people-did not take an active part in the rebellion.
Al-Mukhtar was defeated and killed by government and local tribal forces under the command of Musa'ab outside of Kufa in April 687, and many of his followers were killed in the subsequent repression.
[edit] Legacy
Some of his remaining followers constituted a distinct sect, known as the Kaysanites Shia, which continued to exist-awaiting al-Hanifiya's return-for the next two hundred years.
Mukhtar and his rebellion were instrumental in the development of the concept of the Mahdi in Islam, and in the group of Muslim dissidents who eventually became known as the Shi'a [citation needed].
