Question:

What is our opinion of Abu Lu’lu and his assassination of the 2nd Caliph?

Answer:

We strongly believe in al-Tawwali & al-Tabbari, that is, loving the lovers of Ahlul-bayt (a.s), and freeing ourselves from their enemies and all those who oppressed them. Now in regards to Abu Lu’lu:

Firstly, there is no reliable information about him. Also we have no historical evidence that Abu Lu’lu was a Muslim, let alone a Shi’a. He was Zorastrian or Christian who was captured in one of the wars and became the slave of Moghira Ibn Sho’ba (the governor of Kufa). Moghira imposed a heavy tax on him and so he took his complaint to Umar Ibn Khattab, but Umar ignored him. Holding grudges against Umar, he assasinated him and injured some other innocent bystanders and finally commited suicide [Behar. 31:119].

Secondly, assassination is not confirmed in Islam. This is evident from the actions of Muslim ibn Aqeel in Kufa, when he had the chance to avert the tragedy in Karbala by assassinating Ubaidullah Ibn Ziad, but he refrained from carrying out the act because he realised it was Islamically inappropriate to do so.

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei