"Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr" decided to demolish the Kaaba and rebuild it.. the truth is that it had been very badly damaged by the fire.. he consults his companions.. and "Jabir ibn Abdullah" and "Ubayd ibn Umayr" advise him to demolish it.. while "ibn al-Abbas", may God be pleased with him, refuses and says to him.. that the repeated demolition of the Sacred Kaaba and its rebuilding will create in people's hearts a contempt for it and for its sanctity.

But "ibn al-Zubayr" takes his decision in the year 64 AH.. and he demolishes the Kaaba until he stops at its foundations.. and he rebuilds it anew.. and he makes two doors for it.. and he increases its dimensions.. and he repairs the Black Stone with silver because it had begun to crack.. and he places it with his own hand.. and he smears its outer walls with musk and then drapes it with silk.

And at the same time, "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan" had secured the seat of the caliphate after his father "Marwan ibn al-Hakam".. amid seditions, divisions, turmoil and revolutions.. the first of which was a man named "al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi".. and he was a military man who took control of Kufa and made it almost independent.. and he raised the slogans of "the blood of al-Husayn" and "the blood of Ali" together.. and he was planning to build a state centred on Iraq.. to bring down the Umayyad state.. and he called his project "the Alid State".

And "al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi" had already sworn allegiance to "Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr". And he decided to begin his project by fighting the killers of al-Husayn.. and indeed he marches on Basra and kills "Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan".. and after him "Khawli ibn Yazid al-Asbahi", and after them "Umar ibn Saad", and after them he turns to "Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad".. the one who gave the orders to kill al-Husayn, and took the family of the Prophet captive.

He sends against him an army led by "Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar al-Nakha'i", and "ibn Ziyad" comes out against him with a comparable army.. and they meet in the year 66 AH at the "Khazir" River between Erbil and Mosul.. and there.. the army of Kufa prevails.. and "Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar" finally cuts off the head of "Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad".. and sends it to "Mukhtar al-Thaqafi" in Kufa.

The truth is that "Mukhtar al-Thaqafi" exterminated most of the killers of Imam al-Husayn, except for a few who managed to escape him.. and he kept hunting them until the year 67 AH.. when "Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr" sensed the danger of "al-Mukhtar".. who had begun to act as though he were an independent third caliph, taking decisions on his own, opposing "ibn al-Zubayr" and refusing his orders, despite having sworn allegiance to him.. so he sent his brother "Musab ibn al-Zubayr" and ordered him to finish off "al-Mukhtar" and his men down to the last man.

Indeed "Musab's" army succeeds in defeating "al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi".. and he withdraws to his palace and takes cover in it.. so they besiege him for four months.. until his store of provisions runs out.. so he asks his companions to go out and fight, and they refuse except for 19 men...

And "al-Mukhtar" realises that it is the end.. so he bathes and perfumes himself.. and anoints his beard with musk.. and he opens the doors of the palace and goes out to fight with his nineteen companions.. until they all die.. and this was a fatal mistake by "Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr", because "al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi" was a strong ally.. with his death.. "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan" is greatly relieved.. especially since "Musab's" army is now in Iraq.. and "Abdullah ibn Marwan" begins to harass them constantly and drain their strength in a manner resembling guerrilla warfare.

And the "Kharijites" in this period.. divided their work over two fronts.. one front supporting "ibn al-Zubayr" and at the same time fighting him and sending his information and secrets to "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan".. and another front fighting "Abd al-Malik" himself.. so that both would fall and collapse.. and the way would be left for the Kharijites to win the seat.

And the Kharijites split into new factions, which in turn split further and further.. each faction saying "we have nothing to do with the others".. and the truth is that they are all one and all of them garbage and all of them bloodthirsty, insane traitors and all of them terrorists just the same. So factions arise such as the "Azariqa", the "Sufriyya" and the "Najdat". And while the Azariqa Kharijites were threatening Basra, the Sufriyya Kharijites were threatening Kufa, and so on.

In the end, and in the same year, a man named "al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi" rises to prominence, drawing close to "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan" because he succeeds in crushing all the revolts of his opponents in Iraq and the surrounding cities.. so he sends him to fight the Kharijites.. and "al-Hajjaj" was ferocious and knew no mercy.. so he crushes the Kharijites and tears their forces apart and scatters them.

And on the other side, in the war between "Abd al-Malik" and "ibn al-Zubayr".. "Abd al-Malik" writes to his opponent "Musab".. the brother of "al-Zubayr".. who had been an old friend of his.. and asks him to withdraw and leave the matter between him and "Abdullah".. but "Musab", in his chivalry and honour, refuses to abandon his brother at all.

And here.. the armies of "Abd al-Malik" and "Musab" meet in a battle that history has preserved for us under the name "the Battle of Dayr al-Jathaliq".. in which "Musab ibn al-Zubayr" is killed.. and Iraq returns to the control of the Umayyad state.. and "Abd al-Malik" appoints over it his brother "Bishr ibn Marwan".

And al-Hajjaj's success was dazzling.. it pleased "Abd al-Malik".. so he sends him at the head of an army to the Hejaz to get rid of "Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr".

And because "ibn al-Zubayr's" army was very weak.. "al-Hajjaj" prevails time after time.. until we reach Taif.. and there "al-Hajjaj" encamps and waits for all the opponents of "ibn al-Zubayr" to join him.. and waits for reinforcements from the caliph "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan".. indeed the supplies reach him and his army grows.. and he marches on Mecca and besieges it.

And as the siege drags on.. the people of Mecca fall into a severe, violent famine, to the point that "ibn al-Zubayr" is forced to slaughter horses to feed the old women and the children.. and as the siege intensifies along with exhaustion and hunger.. most of his forces and men withdraw from around him.. and surrender to "al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf".. and "ibn al-Zubayr" takes cover with his remaining men in the Sanctuary.. and "al-Hajjaj" positions the archers and the catapults on Mount Abu Qubays and Mount Quayqian.. the "two Akhshab" that were mentioned before in a noble hadith on the tongue of "Gabriel", peace be upon him.

Many accounts say that "al-Hajjaj" in fact began bombarding the Kaaba with the catapult.. balls of rock and burning stones falling from on high to kill "ibn al-Zubayr" and his followers and destroy parts of the sacred structure.. among the few who rejected these accounts was "ibn Taymiyyah".. who said that "al-Hajjaj" had no justification for besieging the place for months.. because it was a place easy to storm.. and "al-Hajjaj" was "a lover of the Sacred Kaaba, one who revered it, and he could not possibly have pelted it with a catapult". Meaning "ibn Taymiyyah" did not impugn the chain of transmission.. he used reason and logic in this particular account.. the two things that he rejected in almost everything and preferred transmission over them.

And I do not know why jurists stood alone in defending "al-Hajjaj" here on the grounds of "reason and logic", which they always reject.. al-Hajjaj was not a Companion in the first place, nor did he have any special sanctity of any kind.. merely a man from the Umayyads.

Thunderbolts fall from the sky and strike "al-Hajjaj's" battalions and destroy and burn a few of the catapult machines.. so his men are shaken and imagine that it is the wrath of God.. but the thunderbolts also fall around the Kaaba and strike "ibn al-Zubayr's" men at that very moment.. so he declares to his men that this is a perfectly natural event.. and to be expected from the climate of the Hejaz at this time of year.. but the situation strained his men greatly.. and before a psychological defeat could close in on them.. he decides to end the matter.. and he grants safe conduct "to ibn al-Zubayr" if he surrenders.

But "Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr" refuses "al-Hajjaj's" safe conduct.. so he is forced to advance towards him, and fight him and kill him.. and "Abd al-Malik's" orders had been that they should kill him even if he hid in the heart of the Kaaba.

"Woe to the people from you, and woe to you from the people".. it seems the prophecy came to pass in full.. "al-Hajjaj" finally kills "Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr" and crucifies him.. and he is victorious and the Hejaz is subjected to the authority of the Umayyad state.

"al-Hajjaj" sends to summon the mother of "al-Zubayr".. Lady "Asma", daughter of "Abu Bakr al-Siddiq", may God be pleased with them both.. and she was a very old woman.. and it was said that she had lost her sight.. while some said "she kept her sight sound to the end of her life".. so when "al-Hajjaj" sent for her to appear before him.. she refused to go to him.

So he sent to her again: "You will come, or I shall send someone to drag you by your horns".. meaning "if you do not come, I will send someone to drag you by your hair".. and "horns" here means the braids of hair.

So she replies to him: "By God, I will not come to you until you send someone to drag me by my horns".. "I am not coming.. and show me how you will send someone to drag me by my hair".. so he goes to her himself.. and he says to her gloatingly: "What do you think of what I did to your son?".. and she says to him: "You ruined his worldly life, and you have ruined your own hereafter."

They cut off the head of "ibn al-Zubayr" and send it to "Abd al-Malik".. and at that point.. the word is united behind him.. and the rule of the "Islamic State" is secured for him with no opponents.. and the body of "ibn al-Zubayr" remains crucified for days.. until "Abdullah ibn Umar" goes to al-Hajjaj and tells him that this is not right and that the body ought to be taken down.. so he takes it down and it is buried in Mecca.. and his mother "Asma" grieves for him bitterly.. and she follows him about two months later.

And in the year 86 AH.. corresponding to 705 AD, "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan" dies at the age of about sixty.. and after him "al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik" takes over.

And after the work of "Abd al-Malik" and "al-Hajjaj".. "al-Walid" inherits a highly stable state.. strong.. which no one can threaten.. and he rules it for ten years in relative calm.. until he dies at Dayr Marwan in the Ghouta of Damascus and is buried there.

And because his brother "Sulayman" was in Palestine at the time.. they find no one among his blood relatives to pray over him.. except a single man from among his cousins.. from the descendants of "Umar ibn al-Khattab", may God be pleased with him.. who prays over him and buries him.. and it is decreed for him to become the next caliph, who, although he is not one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.. has come to be called "Umar II".. or "the fifth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs".

"Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz".. of whom, and of whose rule and precious life, the telling would take long.

So there remains.. more to be said.

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The previous posts are in the first comment.

The picture is from Tabuk.

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