Divine Protection from the Rule of the Boys

Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Sakhr ad-Dawsi az-Zahrani al-Azdi knew what was coming because the Prophet had told him.  And so, he asked Allah to take him before he had to witness it.  Allah Accepted his supplication.  He died in 59 AH — one year before Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah assumed the Caliphate and one year before the events that would culminate in Karbala’.

The Sources

Imam Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Shaybah al-Kufi, the teacher of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari himself, whose Muswannaf is among the most significant hadits compilations of the classical period, recorded that Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah used to supplicate, “O Allah, Protect me from the sixtieth year and the rule of the boys.”

Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani — whose Fath al-Bari, the definitive commentary on Swahih al-Bukhari, remains the most authoritative explanation of that collection — wrote in explanation: “He was referring to the rule of Yazid, as it was in the sixtieth year.”

What Abu Hurayrah Knew

Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah was among the most prolific transmitters of ahadits in the entire Companion generation — he transmitted approximately 5,374 narrations, more than any other Companion.  His exceptional memory and his continuous proximity to the Prophet — he followed the Prophet everywhere, sacrificing worldly comfort for the sake of knowledge — gave him access to prophetic statements and knowledge that other Companions, occupied with trade, governance, and family affairs, did not always receive.

The Prophet made multiple statements about Yazid that the classical sources preserve.  Among them is the narration recorded by Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qasthalani and others, in which the Prophet warned about a man from Banu Umayyah who would bring affliction upon the Muslim community.

The Expression: “Rule of the Boys”

“The rule of the boys” — imarat asw-swibyan (إمارة الصبيان) — is an expression that the classical scholars read as a description of Yazid’s character and conduct rather than his literal age.  Yazid was approximately 33 years old when he assumed the Caliphate in 60 AH.  He was not a boy in years.  He was a boy in governance.  He was a boy in moral character.  He was a boy in the responsibility that the leadership of the Muslim community demands — a community whose leader the Prophet described as a shepherd accountable to Allah for every member of the flock.

The classical descriptions of Yazid’s conduct — preserved in sources including Hafizh ‘Imad ad-Din Abu al-Fida’ Isma’il ibn ‘Umar ibn Katsir’s al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah, Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi’s Siyar A’alam an-Nubala’, and Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Mas’udi’s historical works — describe open wine drinking, the keeping of a pet bear, and a general indulgence in prohibited conduct that the Muslim community's leadership was supposed to model against.  These descriptions are cited across Sunni sources and are not the exclusive provenance of Shi’ah historiography.

Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal — whose position on Yazid is frequently cited by those who wish to avoid strong condemnation — is recorded in the classical sources as refusing to transmit any narrations on Yazid’s authority, which is itself a significant scholarly statement about his reliability and character.

The “rule of the boys” is therefore an expression of moral and spiritual immaturity in the highest office of the Muslim community — a man who had not developed the qualities that leadership demands and who had acceded to a position he had neither earned nor demonstrated the character to hold.

The Theological Significance of the Accepted Du’a

The acceptance of this supplication is itself a theological statement.  Allah does not Accept a supplication for protection from something that does not merit protection from.  The acceptance of the du’a is Divine Confirmation of the judgement embedded in it: that the sixtieth year and the rule of Yazid were genuinely things from which a believer of Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah’s standing should seek Divine Protection.

The Companions Who Survived

Not all the Companions were spared.  Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr — who declared the Caliphate against Yazid and held Makkah — was killed during Yazid’s reign when al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf besieged the Ka’bah with catapults.  He was killed after Yazid’s death, during the reign of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.

Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar — the scrupulously careful Companion who avoided political entanglement throughout his life — survived into the Umayyad period and died in approximately 73 AH, having witnessed events that no Companion would have wished to witness.

Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik — the personal servant of the Prophet and one of the last surviving Companions — lived until approximately 93 AH, dying in Basra.  He witnessed the entirety of the Umayyad period, including its worst excesses.  The weight of that witness is evident in the narrations transmitted from him about the Prophet’s time — the contrast between what he had seen in the Prophet’s household and what he witnessed subsequently is a recurring emotional undertone in classical biographical accounts of his later life.