المُختَارُ بنُ أَبِي عُبَيدٍ الثَّقَفِيّ — مُنتَقِمُ كَربَلَاءَ الَّذِي قَتَلَ عُبَيدَ اللَّهِ بنَ زِيَادٍ وَابنَ عُمَرَ بنِ سَعدٍ وَحَكَمَ الكُوفَةَ ثَمَانِيَةَ عَشَرَ شَهرًا وَيُتَذَكَّرُ بِصُوَرٍ مُختَلِفَةٍ فِي التَّقَالِيدِ السُّنِّيَّةِ وَالشِّيعِيَّةِ وَالإِسمَاعِيلِيَّة
Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi (المُختَارُ بنُ أَبِي عُبَيدٍ الثَّقَفِيّ; b. circa 1 AH/622 CE; d. 67 AH/687 CE in Kufa; son of Abu Ubayda ibn Masud al-Thaqafi, the commander killed at the Battle of the Bridge against the Sassanid Persians; spent the night of Karbala imprisoned in Kufa by Ibn Ziyad — he had been detained before reaching Husayn; after Karbala, he worked to consolidate a Kufan revolutionary movement in the name of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya [Ali's son by a wife other than Fatima] — presenting him as the awaited mahdi; took control of Kufa in 66 AH/685 CE; executed Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad [the governor who ordered Karbala and killed the Imam] and Umar ibn Saad [the military commander at Karbala]; his forces killed Shimr ibn Dhil-Jawshan [who beheaded Husayn]; sent heads of Karbala perpetrators to Zayn al-Abidin [Husayn's surviving son] in Medina; claimed to receive divine revelation via the angel Jibril — this claim disturbed even his Alid supporters; Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya reportedly disavowed his extremist claims; was killed by Mus'ab ibn Zubayr who ruled from Basra; Sunni tradition largely condemns him as a liar-claimant; Shi'a tradition is divided — later Twelver sources condemn his 'ghuluww' [extremism] but acknowledge his revenge as historically valuable; Ismaili tradition focuses on his role in the emergence of Kaysaniyya theology) is one of the most complex and contested figures of early Islamic politics.
The Revolutionary Movement
Al-Mukhtar built his movement on the combination of two elements: (1) genuine popular anger at the perpetrators of Karbala among the Kufan mawali (non-Arab converts); and (2) the claim that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya was the Imam-Mahdi awaiting his moment.
The mawali — Persian, Nabataean, and other non-Arab converts — who had been economically and socially marginalized were the backbone of his army. This was the first major political movement in Islamic history to explicitly draw on the resentments of the non-Arab Muslim community.
The Executions
Between 66-67 AH, al-Mukhtar’s forces located and killed most of the principal actors in the Karbala massacre:
- Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad: The Umayyad governor who authorized the killing of Husayn, killed in battle near Mosul
- Umar ibn Saad ibn Abi Waqqas: The military commander at Karbala who gave the order to fight
- Shimr ibn Dhil-Jawshan: The soldier who beheaded Husayn
When the heads were sent to Zayn al-Abidin in Medina, his response was reportedly one of silent prayer and weeping — he neither endorsed nor condemned al-Mukhtar’s methods.
The Theological Problem: Wahm
Al-Mukhtar claimed to receive wahm (divine inspiration) through an intermediary angel. This claim — unique among political actors of the era — disturbed even his supporters. Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya reportedly sent word that he had not authorized these claims. This episode became the defining reason why later Shi’a traditions treat al-Mukhtar with ambivalence: his political achievements were real; his theological claims were rejected.
See also: Karbala, Ashura Karbala Commemoration, Seerah Husayn Ibn Ali, Seerah Al Hurr Ibn Yazid Al Tamimi, Seerah Al Qasim Ibn Al Hasan