place in Kufa where Ibn Ziyad had received the head of Husayn. Mukhtar himself was killed in battle by Ibn Zubayr in 67 or 68 AH. Ibn Zubayr, however, did not view Zayn al-Abedin as responsible for Mukhtar's uprising and thus left him unharmed. Similarly, Zayn al-Abidin was not harmed by the Umayyad al-Hajjaj when the latter defeated and killed Ibn Zubayr, following the siege of Mecca in 73 AH. Succession to Husayn Among the descendants of Muhammad, Ali was the natural candidate for the imamate as the only surviving son of Husayn after Karbala. Though he cannot accept or reject them, Jafri also lists a number of Shia traditions about the appointment of Ali as the next Imam by his father, Husayn. Nevertheless, after the death of Husayn, a number of factions within the Shia, including the Tawwabin, felt that the Umayyad Caliphate should be overthrown and that it fell to Imam to lead the rebellion. As a result of Zayn al-Abidin's quiescent policy, those groups rallied behind Mokhtar who revolted under the auspices of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. Shia sources, however, emphasize that Mokhtar turned to Ibn al-Hanafiyaah only after only the rejection by Zayn al-Abidin. For his part, Ibn al-Hanafiyaah neither repudiated Mukhtar's propaganda nor made any public claims about succession to Husayn. Jafri suggests that Ibn al-Hanafiyaah, not being a descendant of Muhammad, might have been unwilling to claim the imamate for himself. Donaldson recounts a Shia tradition which describes how Zayn al-Abedin and Ibn Hanafiyyah agreed to appeal to the sacred Black Stone of the Kaaba to determine which of the two was the true successor. There, Ibn Hanafiyyah prayed for a sign to no avail. Zayn al-Abedin's prayer was, however, answered and the Black Stone spoke in favor of his imamate. The tradition notes that the miracle satisfied Ibn Hanafiyyah. Abu Khalid al-Kabuli, a companion of Ibn Hanafiah, turned to Zayn al-Abidin afterwards. In addition to Abu Khalid, Shia sources list Qasim ibn Awf and a few others among the prominent Shias who abandoned Ibn al-Hanafiyyah. Ismailils maintain that Ibn Hanafiah was appointed by Husayn as a temporary Imam and a cover to protect the true Imam, Zayn al-Abidin. The question of rightful succession to Husayn, as between his son and Ibn al-Hanafiyyah, divided the Shia and diverted considerable support away from Zayn al-Abidin, at least until the death of al-Zubayr and, with it, the