Your Eminence Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi, peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings
What is your opinion of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi? Some say his movement was far from religion?
And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings
In speaking about al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (rh), and in order to know the nature of his movement and to do him justice regarding it, we present some points that we consider useful in this regard:
1/ History in general has been subjected to great distortion, and deliberate distortion has reached upright personalities and movements that raised the banner of truth and of rights in the face of the oppressors. The Umayyads sponsored the writing of history by drawing historians close so that they would write what suited their political temperament and their intellectual orientation. Therefore it is natural that the writings about al-Mukhtar contain distortion, because he rose up to take revenge for Imam al-Husayn (a) and aimed to establish the justice that Islam called for and Imam ʿAli (a) applied. The historians were not content with transmitting the events concerning al-Mukhtar; rather, they attached their own projections to their lines and steered the reader toward what they wanted.
2/ We should fully know that al-Mukhtar's movement was a political movement that confronted the forces of oppression and tyranny and stood up for the oppressed. Al-Mukhtar himself entered into political complexity; we should not read him with a simple mentality, as a person who lived, prayed, gave charity and slept; rather, we must read the political reality at that time, and know how sensitive the situation of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) was, and the like. On the other hand, we should not read al-Mukhtar as we read the Infallibles: in the movement of the Infallible you cannot see any room for error, because error is not admissible in his case, even if it is small. As for other men, such as al-Mukhtar and others, we must look at their movement as a whole; they may err somewhat, but that does not call us to deny them justice.
3/ Instead of rejecting al-Mukhtar's movement and casting doubt on him with naive mentalities that measure the thinking of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) by the levels of ordinary human beings, we must look closely at that genius of Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) in managing the community's affairs pertaining to the Message, and we must respect every letter that issued from the Infallible concerning al-Mukhtar, so as to read it with an analytical reading befitting the station of the divine Imamate.
4/ We see that whoever wants to write or speak about al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi should either confine himself to what history has transmitted about his deeds—his retribution against the killers of Imam al-Husayn (a) and his attempt to realize the justice of Imam ʿAli (a)—without offering an evaluation.
Or else he should rise to the level of historical analysis built on Qurʾanic foundations and the values of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), so as not to deprive al-Mukhtar's great project of its due.
5/ Imam al-Baqir (a) said to the son of al-Mukhtar: (May Allah have mercy on your father... He did not leave any right of ours without demanding it; he killed our killers and sought retribution for our blood). Can the Infallible's invoking mercy be taken lightly? And can the significance of the Infallible's statement about the nature of al-Mukhtar's role be diminished?
That is not possible except in the lexicons of those who lack knowledge of the stations of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). A single letter from the Infallible is a great medal of honor, and their statement is the glory of this world and the Hereafter.
6/ Muslim ibn ʿAqil, who held a special status with Imam al-Husayn (a), chose the house of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi to be the first station in which he received thousands of those pledging allegiance. Al-Mukhtar was a lover of Imam ʿAli (a), and at the end of his course he restored cheerfulness to Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a): the Imam showed joy and distributed gifts, and the women of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) resumed their normal life, which had been clothed in grief since the tragedy of Karbala.. All of that was an effect of what al-Mukhtar achieved in his movement..
So would Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) really be displeased with him?! If that were so, it would be a contradiction in the Infallible's opinion and stance—we seek refuge with Allah—for how could he celebrate what he was not pleased with?! We seek Allah's forgiveness for thinking that..
Rather, we say that this is the wisdom of al-Sajjad in managing the affairs of the community, and through this and the like the Umayyad state fell.
The analysis of al-Mukhtar's movement is a small part, as an example of the depth of understanding of the approach of Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) and of how the affairs of the community are managed.
The discussion about al-Mukhtar is long; it includes reflections on the distortions of al-Mukhtar by the Umayyads and the Zubayrids, and reflections on the incoherence of the historians of the Umayyad court in their claims.
May Allah have mercy on al-Mukhtar, and may Allah have mercy on that cry that was for the Ahl al-Bayt (a).