Question:

Did Yazid kill the Muslims in Medina who opposed him?

Answer:

Buraid Ibn Mu’awiyah reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “Yazid, the son of Mu’awiyah, entered Medina, intending to make the pilgrimage. He had a man brought to him by the Quraish and when he arrived, Yazid said to him: “Do you confirm to be a servant of mine? If I want, I will sell you and if I want, I will keep you.” The man said to him: “By God, O Yazid, neither are you nobler than I among the Quraish nor is your father more excellent than mine, both in the age of ignorance and in that of Islam, and you are neither more excellent nor better than I am in religion. So how should I confirm what you are asking for?” Yazid said to him: “If you do not confirm it to me, by God, I will kill you!” The man said to him: “That you murder me is not more outrageous than your murder of Husain, the son of Ali (a.) and son of the Messenger of God (s.).” Thereupon Yazid gave an order for him and he was murdered. (A conversation of Ali, son of Husain (a.), with Yazid, May God curse him) He then had Ali, son of Husain (a.), brought in and told him something similar to what he said to the man from the Quraish. Ali Zain-ul-Abidin (a.) said to him: “Will you consider it, if I do not confirm it to you, to murder me as you murdered the man yesterday? Yazid, May God curse him, said to him: “So it is.” Ali Zain-ul-Abidin (a.) said to him: “I confirm to you what you demand and am a reluctant servant. If you want, keep and if you want, sell.” Thereupon Yazid, May God curse him, said to him: “Near is the evil through you. I have spared your blood, and it has taken away nothing of your glory.” Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi writes: “Good (Hasan) and as for his statement: “He entered Medina, intending to make the pilgrimage.” So it is strange, because it is known among the people who deal with the stories of life, that this cursed man never entered Medina after his succession. He never even left Syria until he died and went to hell, but it may be that this refers to Muslim Ibn Uqbah, whom this cursed man hired when he sent him to kill the inhabitants of Medina.” [Al-Kafi of Al-Kulaini, volume 8 page 234 – 235 Hadith 313; Mir’at-ul-Uqul of Al-Majlisi, volume 26 page 178 – 179].

ابن محبوب، عن أبي أيوب، عن بريد بن معاوية قال: سمعت أبا جعفر عليه السلام يقول: إن يزيد بن معاوية دخل المدينة وهو يريد الحج فبعث إلى رجل من قريش فأتاه فقال له يزيد: أتقر لي أنك عبد لي، إن شئت بعتك وإن شئت استرقيتك فقال له الرجل: والله يا يزيد ما أنت بأكرم مني في قريش حسبا ولا كان أبوك أفضل من أبي في الجاهلية والاسلام وما أنت بأفضل مني في الدين ولا بخير مني فكيف أقر لك بما سألت؟ فقال له يزيد: إن لم تقر لي والله قتلتك، فقال له الرجل: ليس قتلك إياي بأعظم من قتلك الحسين بن علي عليهما السلام ابن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله فأمر به فقتل. (حديث علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام مع يزيد لعنه الله) ثم أرسل إلى علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام فقال له مثل مقالته للقرشي فقال له علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام: أرأيت إن لم أقر لك أليس تقتلني كما قتلت الرجل بالأمس؟ فقال له يزيد لعنه الله: بلى فقال له علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام: قد أقررت لك بما سألت أنا عبد مكره فإن شئت فأمسك وإن شئت فبع، فقال له يزيد لعنه الله: أولى لك حقنت دمك ولم ينقصك ذلك من شرفك. وقال شيخ الإسلام المجلسي رحمه الله: حسن قوله عليه‌ السلام دخل المدينة وهو يريد الحج هذا غريب إذا لمعروف بين أهل السير إن هذا الملعون بعد الخلافة لم يأت المدينة بل لم يخرج من الشام حتى مات ودخل النار ولعل هذا كان من مسلم بن عقبة وإلى هذا الملعون حيث بعثه لقتل أهل المدينة

Comment:

While the followers of Yazid [Here!] accuse the imam (a.) of having behaved wrongly after the threat to kill him, they seem to have no problem with the fact that Abraham (a.) in their books sent his own wife past the tyrant of his time to be raped: [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith 2104] and [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith 3179]