Muslim at the House of Taw’a
Ibn Aqeel’s feet took him to the quarters of Banu Jiblah who belonged to the tribe of Kindah. He stood at the door of a house of a freed bondmaid named Tawa who had a number of sons. She used to be the bondmaid of al-Ash’ath ibn Qays who freed her. Aseed al-Hadrami married her, and she gave birth to his son Bilal who was in the crowd when his mother was standing at the door waiting for him.
Muslim requested her to give him some water, which she did. He then requested her to host him, telling her that he was a stranger in that land without a family or a tribe, and that he belonged to a family capable of intercession on the Day of Judgment, and that his name was Muslim ibn Aqeel. She took him to a room which was not the same one where her son used to sleep, and she served him some food. Her son was surprised to see her entering that room quite often, so he asked her about it. She refused to answer his question except after obtaining an oath from him to keep the matter to himself.
But in the morning he informed Ibn Ziyad of where Muslim had been hiding. Ibn Ziyad dispatched al-Ash’ath accompanied by seventy men who belonged to the Qays tribe in order to arrest him. Upon hearing the horses’ hoofs ploughing the ground, Muslim realized that he was being pursued, so he hurried to finish a supplication which he was reciting following the morning prayers. Then he put on his battle gear and said to his hostess Tawa: “You have carried out your share of righteousness, and you have secured your share of the intercession of the Messenger of Allah. Yesterday, I saw my uncle the Commander of the Faithful in a vision telling me that I was going to join him the next day.”
He came out to face them raising his unsheathed sword as they assaulted the house, succeeding in repelling their attack. They repeated their attack, and again he repelled them, killing as many as forty-one of their men, and he was so strong that he would take hold of one man then hurl him on the rooftop.
Ibn al-Ash’ath sent a messenger to Ibn Ziyad requesting additional enforcements. The messenger came back to him carrying the latter’s blame of his incompetence. He, therefore, sent him this message: “Do you think that you sent me to one of Kufa’s shopkeepers, or to a Nabatean from Heera?! Rather, you sent me to one of the swords of [Prophet] Muhammad ibn Abdullah !” Ibn Ziyad then assisted him with additional soldiers.
Fighting intensified. Muslim and Bakeer ibn Hamran al-Ahmari exchanged blows. Bakeer struck Muslim on the mouth, cutting his upper lip, wounding the lower and breaking two of his lower teeth. Muslim fiercely struck him with one blow on his head and another on his shoulder muscle, almost splitting his stomach, killing him instantly.
Then they attacked him from the house’s rooftop, hurling rocks at him. They kept burning reed bales then throwing them at him. He attacked them in the alley. His wounds were numerous; he bled extensively, so he supported his body on the side of the house. It was then that they assaulted him with arrows and stones. “Why do you hurl stones at me,” he asked them, “as non-believers are stoned, the member of the household of the pure Prophet that I am? Do you not have any respect for the Messenger of Allah with regard to one of his own descendants?”
Ibn al-Ash’ath said to him, “Please do not get yourself killed while you are in my custody.” Muslim asked him, “Shall I then be captured so long as I have some strength in me? No, by Allah! This shall never be.” Then he attacked Ibn al-Ash’ath who fled away before him. They attacked him from all directions. Thirst had taken its toll on him. A man stabbed him from the back, so he fell on the ground and was arrested.
Another account says that they dug a hole for him which they covered then fled before him, thus luring him to fall into it, then they arrested him. When they took his sword away from him, he wept. Amr ibn Ubaydullah as-Salami was surprised to see him weep. A man without his weapon is helpless, defenseless and vulnerable.