Mukhtar, then thirteen years old, remained in Iraq after the Muslim conquest of this region,[2] and was raised by his uncle Sa'd ibn Masud al-Thaqafi.

The Battle of Siffin ended in stalemate (July 657), when Ali's forces refused to fight in response to Mu'awiya's calls for arbitration.

Arbitration could not settle the dispute between Mu'awiya and Ali and the latter was subsequently murdered by a Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljam in January 661.

After hearing the news, he attempted to gather supporters from Kufa's environs, but Ibn Aqil's revolt was defeated and he was executed before Mukhtar returned to the city.

[10] Some accounts state that Ibn al-Zubayr himself sent him to Kufa as governor with instructions to gather force capable of resisting Umayyad attempts to reconquer Iraq.

[17] In Kufa, Mukhtar began recruiting people to take revenge against the killers of Husayn, promising them victory and fortune.

Most pro-Alid Kufans supported Ibn Surad because he was Muhammad's companion, and as a result, Mukhtar was unable to attract many recruits.

He criticised the Tawwabin's actions as premature and destined for failure, arguing that Ibn Surad was old, weak, and militarily inexperienced.

[19][20] Doubting the authenticity of Mukhtar's claims, a group of Alid partisans from Kufa went to Mecca seeking verification from Ibn al-Hanafiyya.

[22][23] Nonetheless, when he wanted to visit his followers in Kufa, he was deterred by a rumour, floated by Mukhtar upon hearing this news, that the true Mahdi would not die if struck by a sword.

Mawali, hitherto treated as lower-grade citizens, were entitled to war booty and army salaries and allowed to ride horses.

[19][29] At this stage he controlled most of Iraq and its dependencies including Arminiya, Adharbayjan, Jibal and parts of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia).

[29] By then Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan had taken reigns of the Umayyad power in Syria and was struggling to regain control of the lost provinces.

He had invented it to increase his support among more religious people and compared it to the Ark of the Covenant,[35][36] but orientalist Julius Wellhausen holds he was not the originator of the concept.

[41] In 686, Mukhtar feigned an offer of military support to Ibn al-Zubayr against an impending Umayyad attack on Medina with the ultimate intention of ousting him.

[27] One of Mukhtar's wives, Umrah bint Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari, refused to denounce her husband's views and was consequently executed,[51] while his other wife condemned him and was spared.

[52] His grave is, reportedly, located inside the shrine of Muslim ibn Aqil, at the back of the Great Mosque of Kufa.

After the death of Ibn al-Hanafiyya, some Kaysanites believed that he had not died but was hidden in Mount Radwa and would return some day to rid the world of injustice.

"[67] Sunni Muslims hold Mukhtar a liar who claimed prophethood and consider him an enemy of the Alids, who used their name to gain power, and executed Husayn's killers to consolidate his support among pro-Alids.

[68] According to Wellhausen, although he did not explicitly call himself a prophet, the allegations took root because of his boasting and excessive claims, which he made in the rhymed prose style of ancient Arabian soothsayers.

[71] They maintain that the allegations levelled against him regarding prophethood, his role in the Kaysanites sect, and his lust for power are Umayyad and Zubayrid propaganda.

[68] Early Shia, however, had a hostile opinion of him, that arose from his attitude toward Hasan and his alleged incompetence during Ibn Aqil's revolt.

[74] Husayn's great-grandson, Ja'far al-Sadiq, is reported to have said: "The Hāshimites neither combed nor dyed their hair until al-Mukhtār sent us the heads of those who killed al-Ḥusayn.

While early historical accounts are unanimous in portraying Mukhtar in a negative light,[75] modern historians hold a variety of views.

Wellhausen writes that although Mukhtar did not claim to be a prophet, he made every effort to create the impression that he was one, and spoke in a way as if he sat in the counsel of God.

[67] Historian Hugh Kennedy writes that Mukhtar was a revolutionary who tried to put together a united Kufan coalition but was beset by internal divisions and let down by the Alid family.

I slew everyone who had taken part in shedding their blood and I have continued doing so until this day ...[76] Islamicist Moshe Sharon describes this as an accurate description of his activities.

[76] Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina, on the other hand, calls him an ambitious politician who manipulated the religious sentiments of common people for his own good.

[77] As with Maqtal-namas narrating the synthesized version of the story of Karbala, various Mukhtar-namas romanticizing the events of the life and movement of Mukhtar were written during the Safavid era.

[78] An Iranian television series, Mokhtar Nameh, based on the Shia perspective of his life and revolt, was produced in 2009 garnering significant popularity.