Yazid bin Muawiyah, the drinker of alcohol, the public sinner, the fornicator of mothers and sisters, the killer of the Master of the Youth of Paradise (may God’s prayers be upon him), the violator of the sanctity of the People of the House (peace be upon them), the violator of Medina, the burner of the Kaaba, the killer of the Companions and the Qur’an reciters, and the violator of the honor of Muslims.
The talk about Yazid about his bad conduct and ugly nature is long, but we will mention here a brief chapter that explains something about his condition:
Yazid bin Muawiyah is a sin of Muawiyah’s sins
Al-Tabari, Ibn Al-Athir, Ibn Al-Jawzi, Abu Al-Mahasin, Ibn Abi Al-Hadid, Al-Qunduzi, Al-Nuwayri, Abdul-Qadir Al-Baghdadi and Al-Qadi Al-Tanukhi narrated, and the wording is for the first, he said:
Abu Mikhnaf said: On the authority of Al-Saqab bin Zuhair, on the authority of Al-Hasan Al-Basri, he said: There were four characteristics in Muawiyah, if he had only one of them, it would have been a sin: his usurping this nation with fools until he seized its affairs without consulting them, and among them were the remnants of the Companions and the virtuous, and his appointing his son after him, a drunkard and a drunkard, who wears silk and plays the tambourines, and his claiming Ziyad, and the Messenger of God (may God bless him and his family) said: ((The child belongs to the bed and the adulterer is stoned, and killing him is stoned, Woe to him who was stoned twice! (1) It was narrated on the authority of Al-Shafi’i that he confided in Al-Rabi’ that he would not accept the testimony of four, namely: Mu’awiyah, Amr ibn Al-Aas, Al-Mughirah, and Ziyad (2). Abdul Hamid bin Abi Al-Hadid Al-Mu'tazili said:
Al-Zubayr bin Bakkar narrated in Al-Muwaffaqiyat, and all the people who are concerned with transmitting the narrations and biographies narrated it, on the authority of Al-Hasan Al-Basri: There were four characteristics in Muawiyah, if he had only one of them, it would have been a disaster: his usurping this nation with fools until he seized its affairs without consulting them, and among them were the remnants of the Companions and the virtuous, and his appointing his son Yazid as his successor after him, a drunkard and a drunkard, who wore silk and played the tambourines, and his claiming Ziyad, and the Messenger of God (may God bless him and his family) said: ((The child belongs to the bed and the adulterer is stoned), and he killed Hujr bin Adi and his companions, so woe to Hujr and the companions of Hujr!))(3).
Yazid was the first to establish entertainment in Islam
Al-Isfahani said:
He said: Yazid bin Muawiyah was the first of the caliphs to establish entertainment in Islam, and he sheltered singers and displayed violence, and drank wine. He used to have a drink with his client Sarjun the Christian, and the Christian poet Al-Akhtal. And a rich and frivolous singer would come to him and stay with him, and he would bestow a robe of honor upon him...(4).
Al-Baladhuri said:
Yazid bin Muawiyah was the first to display drinking, and to indulge in singing and hunting, and to have female singers and boys, and to amuse himself with what the wealthy laugh at, such as monkeys and having sexual intercourse with dogs and roosters(5).
What he did with the Household of the Prophet (peace be upon them) in brief (6)
It is mentioned in the book of Al-Maqtal: What Yazid did with the Household of the Prophet (peace be upon them), and we mention here a little of that:
Abu Al-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzi said:
I said: It is not surprising that Omar bin Saad and Ubaidullah bin Ziyad did what they did and did to the Household of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) of great crime, but rather what is surprising is that Yazid let him down, and he struck him with a stick on the top of the hill of Al-Hussein (peace be upon him), and returned his noble head to Medina, and its smell had changed because he had achieved (7) the corrupt goal, so is it permissible to do this to the Khawarij? Or is it not in the Sharia that they are prayed over and buried?!
As for Yazid’s saying: I have the right to give them, this is a matter that nothing will happen to its doer and believer except damnation!
Even if he had respected the head when it reached him and prayed over it, and had not left it in a basin or struck it with a stick, what would have harmed him, and he had achieved his goal of killing? But pre-Islamic grudges, and the evidence for that is what preceded from his recitation [of the poetry of Ibn al-Zubayri]:
If only my elders had witnessed Badr . . . . (
Sabt Ibn al-Jawzi mentioned in his Tadhkirat what his grandfather had mentioned, saying:
My grandfather said: It is not surprising that Ibn Ziyad fought al-Husayn (peace be upon him), and that he gave Umar ibn Sa`d the power to kill him and al-Shimr, and that he brought the heads to him. Rather, what is surprising is that Yazid abandoned him and struck his teeth with a stick, and that the family of the Messenger of God (may God bless him and his family) were carried as captives on the backs of camels, and that he resolved to hand over Fatima bint al-Husayn (peace be upon him) to the man who had asked for her, and that he recited the verses of Ibn al-Zubayri:
If only my elders had witnessed Badr . . . .
And that he returned the head to Medina, and he thought that its smell had changed (9), and his only intention was to disgrace and reveal the smell of the head. Is it permissible for him to do this to the Khawarij? Is it not the consensus of Muslims that the Khawarij and rebels should be shrouded, prayed over, and buried? And so is the saying of Yazid: I may take you captive when the man asked for Fatima, daughter of Al-Hussein (peace be upon them both). This is a saying that does not convince its speaker and doer with a curse. If there were no pre-Islamic grudges and Badrist grudges in his heart, he would have respected the head when he reached it, and would not have struck it with a stick, and would have shrouded it and buried it, and would have been good to the family of the Messenger of God (may God bless him and his family) (10). Yazid bin Muawiyah, the killer of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him)
Every party has supporters, and every leader has helpers who follow him and walk in his path. Satan has subjugated a party to Yazid bin Muawiyah, who walk in his path, praise him, and defend him so that he will not be touched by a bad word. A group took it upon themselves to defend him and clear his name, each according to his ability and closeness to his master and lord Yazid bin Muawiyah. These people wanted to support the enemies of religion and oppose his supporters.
Sabt Ibn al-Jawzi said:
My grandfather said: Judge Abu Ya'la wrote a book in which he mentioned who deserves to be cursed, and he mentioned Yazid among them. He said in the aforementioned book: The one who refuses to allow cursing Yazid is either unaware of that, or a hypocrite who wants to give the impression of that, and perhaps he provoked - deceived - the ignorant with his saying (peace be upon him and his family): ((The believer is not a curser)).
The judge said: This applies to those who do not deserve to be cursed (11).
We mention the statements of some of those who declared that Yazid bin Muawiyah (may God curse him) killed Imam Hussein (peace be upon him):
Nabd Al-Shaab Weekly Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Jaafar Al-Khabouri