The Loyalty of al-Ḥuraysh b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shaybānī

After the martyrdom of al-Imām Zayd ❪؏❫, his son al-Imām Yaḥyā b. Zayd ❪؏❫ departed al-Kūfa in secrecy with a group of companions. Their journey led them into Khurāsān, where they eventually reached the city of Balkh. There, al-Imām Yaḥyā ❪؏❫ resided in the home of al-Ḥuraysh b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shaybānī, who offered him protection and refuge.

Meanwhile, Yūsuf b. ʿUmar wrote to Naṣr b. Sayyār, urging him to have Imām Yaḥyā ❪؏❫ captured. Naṣr, in turn, dispatched orders to his henchman, ʿAqīl b. Muʿqil al-Laythī, stationed in Balkh, commanding him to arrest the Imām. Upon learning that the Imām was in the house of al-Ḥuraysh, ʿAqīl immediately demanded that he be handed over.

But al-Ḥuraysh denied knowing his whereabouts. In retaliation, he was brutally beaten with six hundred lashes—yet he did not confess.

Furious, the henchman swore:

“By Allāh, I will not stop striking you until you either hand him over, or you die!”

To this, al-Ḥuraysh responded with unshakable resolve:

“By Allāh, if he was under these two feet of mine, I would not have lifted them! So, do whatever you want!”

Such was the loyalty, courage, and sacrifice of those who shielded the family of the Prophet ﷺ, preferring death and torment over betrayal.

Sources:

• al-Maṣābīḥ
• al-Shāfī
• Amālī Abī Ṭālib
• Maqātil al-Ṭālibīyyīn