Archive for month: October, 2016

Mu’awiyah son of Abu Sufyan was born out of wedlock in 602 A.D. during the jahiliyya, the time of ignorance, the period that preceded Islam. His mother, Maysun, was one of his father’s slave-girls. Maysan had a sexual intercourse with one of Mu’awiyah’s slaves and conceived Yazid by him. Mu’awiyah, in total disregard for Islamic or traditional Arab traditions, claimed Yazid as his son. A testimony to this fact is the well-documented tradition of the Prophet (ﺹ) wherein he said,
“The murderer of my [grand]son al-Husayn is a bastard.”

This tradition is quoted on p. 156, Vol. 1, of Kanz al-Ummal of al-Muttaqi al-Hindi. The stigma of being a bastard applies actually not only to Yazid but also to both Shimr ibn Thul-Jawshan and Ubaydullah ibn Sa’d, the accomplices about whom the reader will read later; all of these men were born out of wedlock.

Mu’awiyah played a major role in distorting the Islamic creed by paying writers to tailor design “traditions” to serve his interests and support his deviated views. He installed himself as ruler of Syria in 40 A.H./661 A.D. and ruled for twenty long years till his death at the age of seventy-eight. Shortly before his death, which took place in the month of Rajab of 60 A.H./May of 680 A.D., he managed to secure the oath of allegiance to his corrupt and immoral son Yazid as his successor.

He did so by intimidation once and once by buying loyalty and favours, spending in the process huge sums of money that belonged to the Muslims. The weak-minded majority of the Muslims of his time swore allegiance to him. This proves that the majority does not necessarily have to be right. Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ), together with a small band of devotees to the cause of truth, refused to bow their heads to the oppressive forces, hence this tale of heroism.

Mu’awiyah declared himself “caliph” in Syria when he was 59 years old and assumed authority by sheer force. He was not elected, nor was he requested to take charge. He did not hide this fact; rather, he bragged about it once when he addressed the Kufians saying,

“O people of Kufa! Do you think that I fought you in order that you may establish prayers or give zakat or perform the pilgrimage?! I know that you do pray, pay zakat and perform the pilgrimage. Indeed, I fought you in order to take command over you with contempt, and Allah has given me that against your wishes. Rest assured that whoever killed any of us will himself be killed. And the treaty between us of amnesty is under my feet.”1

Mu’awiyah’s rule was terror in the whole Muslim land. Such terrorism was spread by many convoys sent to various regions. Historians have narrated saying that Muawiyh summoned Sufyan ibn ‘Awf al-Ghamidi, one of the commanders of his army, and said to him, “This army is under your command. Proceed along the Euphrates River till you reach Heet. Any resistance you meet on your way should be crushed, and then you should proceed to invade Anbar. After that, penetrate deeply into Mada’in.

O Sufyan! These invasions will frighten the Iraqis and please those who like us. Such campaigns will attract frightened people to our side. Kill whoever holds different views from ours; loot their villages and demolish their homes. Indeed, fighting them against their livelihood and taking their wealth away is similar to killing them but is more painful to their hearts.”2

Another of his commanders, namely Bishr ibn Arta’ah, was summoned and ordered to proceed to Hijaz and Yemen with these instructions issued by Mu’awiyah: “Proceed to Medina and expel its people. Meanwhile, people in your way, who are not from our camp, should be terrorized. When you enter Medina, let it appear as if you are going to kill them. Make it appear that your aim is to exterminate them. Then pardon them. Terrorize the people around Mecca and Medina and scatter them around.”3

During Mu’awiyah’s reign, basic human rights were denied, not simply violated. No one was free to express his views. Government spies were paid to terrorize the public, assisting the army and the police in sparing no opportunity to crush the people and to silence their dissent.

There are some documents which reveal Mu’awiyah’s instructions to his governors to do just that. For instance, the following letter was addressed to all judges: “Do not accept the testimony of Ali’s followers (Shi’as) or of his descendants in (your) courts.” Another letter stated: “If you have evidence that someone likes Ali and his family, omit his name from the recipients of rations stipulated from the zakat funds.”

Another letter said, “Punish whoever is suspected of following Ali and demolish his house.”4 Such was the situation during the government of Mu’awiyah, Yazid’s infamous father. Historians who were recording these waves of terror described them as unprecedented in history. People were so frightened, they did not mind being called atheists, thieves, etc., but not followers of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (ﻉ), Prophet Muhammad’s right hand, confidant and son-in-law.

Another aspect of the government of Mu’awiyah was the racist discrimination between Arabs and non-Arabs. Although they were supposed to have embraced Islam which tolerates no racism in its teachings, non-Arabs were forced to pay khirajand jizya taxes that are levied from non-Muslims living under the protection of Muslims and enjoying certain privileges, including the exemption from the military service. A non-Arab soldier fighting in the state’s army used to receive bare subsistence from the rations.

Once, a dispute flared up between an Arab and a non-Arab and both were brought to court. The judge, namely Abdullah ibn amir, heard the non-Arab saying to his Arab opponent, “May Allah not permit people of your kind (i.e. Arabs) to multiply.” The Arab answered him by saying, “O Allah! I invoke You to multiply their (non-Arabs’) population among us!” People present there and then were bewildered to hear such a plea, so they asked him, “How do you pray for this man’s people to multiply while he prays for yours to be diminished?!” The Arab opponent said, “Yes, indeed, I do so! They clean our streets and make shoes for our animals, and they weave our clothes!”

Imam al-Husayn’s older brother, Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ), was elected in Medina on the 21st of the month of Ramadan, 40 A.H./January 28, 661 A.D. as the caliph, but his caliphate did not last long due to the terrorism promoted by Mu’awiyah who either intimidated, killed, or bribed the most distinguished men upon whom Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ) depended to run the affairs of the government.

Finally, Mu’awiyah pushed Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ) out of power after signing a treaty with him the terms of which were, indeed, honourable and fair, had they only been implemented. Finding his men too weak or too reluctant to fight Mu’awiyah, Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ) had no alternative except to sign the said treaty with a man whom he knew very well to be the most hypocritical of all and the most untrustworthy. Since there are too many ignorant folks who dare to blaspheme and cast doubt about the integrity of Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ), we have to review the terms of that treaty and leave the reader to draw his own conclusion; those terms, in brief, were:

1) Mu’awiyah shall rule according to the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (ﺹ) in the territories under his control.
2) Mu’awiyah shall have no right to nominate his successor.
3) All people in Syria, Iraq, Hizaj and Yemen shall lead their lives safely and securely.
4) The lives and properties of the followers (Shi’as) of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (ﻉ), wherever they may be, shall remain safe and secure.
5) Mu’awiyah shall not try, openly or secretly, to harm or to kill Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ) son of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (ﻉ), his brother Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ), or any other member of the family of the Prophet (ﺹ), nor shall they be threatened or terrorized.
6) The abusive language, the cursing of Imam Ali (ﻉ) during prayer services (ordered by Mu’awiyah and continued after his death for a long period of time) at the Grand Mosque of Damascus shall be stopped.

Mu’awiyah had ordered all Imams who led congregational prayers not to descend from their pulpits before cursing Ali (ﻉ), a practice which they labeled as “Sunnah.” It is documented that one such Imam forgot once to curse Ali (ﻉ), whereupon people shouted at him that he had violated the Sunnah. Those who prayed at home and who forgot to curse Ali (ﻉ) after their prayers felt obligated to repeat them, being convinced that such cursing was an integral part of the compulsory prayers without which they would not be accepted by Allah…

Such abominable blasphemy continued from the year when Othman was killed, that is, 35 A.H./656 A.D. till it was terminated by orders of the only righteous Umayyad caliph, namely Omer ibn Abdul-Aziz, one year after his becoming caliph, that is, in 100 A.H../718 A.D., for a total of 62 years. Historians say that the public actually did not stop cursing Ali (ﻉ) even then but continued to do so for at least 18 more years, extending the total to 80 years… Omer ibn Abdul-Aziz was killed in 101 A.H./719 A.D. after having ruled for only two years and five months because he was fair and just and, most importantly, because he was sympathetic to the Prophet’s family (Ahl al-Bayt); peace and blessings of Allah be with him.

Shortly after concluding the said treaty, Mu’awiyah lured Imam al-Hassan’s wife, Juda daughter of al-Ash’ath ibn Qays, into poisoning her husband with the promise that he would marry her off to his son and heir apparent Yazid. Juda killed her husband who died on Safar 28, 50 A.H./March 30, 670 A.D. She was cursed by the Almighty with an embarrassing ailment for which nobody could find any cure. Mu’awiyah, as expected, did not fulfill his promise.

Having succeeded in getting Imam al-Hassan (ﻉ), Imam al-Husayn’s older brother, killed, Mu’awiyah sent letters to one of his Umayyad relatives, namely Marwan ibn al-Hakam, a cousin of Othman ibn Affan and bearer of his seal, a seal which he used quite often for his own gains and even without the knowledge of the aging caliph, instructing him to obtain the oath of allegiance for his son Yazid as his (Mu’awiyah’s) successor.

By the way, the Umayyads succeeded in making this same Marwan caliph in 64 A.H./683 A.D., and his government lasted for seventeen months till it ended in 65 A.H./684-85 A.D. when he died at the age of 63 and was buried in Damascus. Marwan, accordingly, delivered a speech following the prayers and concluded it by saying, “The commander of the faithful (meaning Mu’awiyah) is of the view that he chooses his son Yazid to succeed him as your ruler following in the footsteps of Abu Bakr and Omer ibn al-Khattab…”

He was at that moment interrupted by Abdul-Rahman son of first caliph Abu Bakr. “Nay!,” Abdul-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr shouted, “You mean in the footsteps of Kisra (Khosro, emperor of Persia) and Caesar (emperor of Rome)! Neither Abu Bakr nor Omer appointed their sons or relatives as their successors…!”

In 51 A.H./671 A.D., Mu’awiyah performed the pilgrimage then went to Medina where he called to his presence Abdullah son of second caliph Omer ibn al-Khattab. His father, Omer , succeeded Abu Bakr as the caliph in 13 A.H./634 A.D.; he remained caliph for ten years till he was killed by a Persian slave in the month of Thul-Hijja, 23 A.H./November 644 A.D. He was succeeded by Othman ibn Affan who ruled for eleven years (till 35 A.H./656 A.D.). Mu’awiyah said to Abdullah ibn Omer, “O son of Omer ! You used to tell me that you never liked to sleep one night without knowing who your Imam (here the word means “ruler”) is, and I warn you against spreading the seeds of dissension among the Muslims or corrupting their views.”

Abdullah praised Allah then said, “There were other caliphs before you who had sons who were not inferior to yours, yet they did not decide to do what you have decided to do regarding your son. Rather, they let the Muslims make their own choice. You warn me against dissension, and I am not an advocate of dissension. I am just one of the Muslims, and if they are unanimous regarding an issue, I will then add my voice to theirs.”

Having said so, Abdullah left. Then Muhammad, son of first caliph Abu Bakr, referred to above, was presented before Mu’awiyah. The latter started his rhetoric but Abdul-Rahman interrupted him by saying, “All you want to say is that you wish we obey your son after obeying Allah, and this, by Allah, we will never do. And, by Allah, we shall settle this issue by mutual consultation among the Muslims; otherwise, we will treat you as you were treated at the dawn of Islam…!” Then he, too, stood up and left

Yazid son of Mu’awiyah was born in 17 A.H./645 A.D. and inherited his father’s post in 60 A.H./680 A.D. He ruled for only three years and one month then died in mid-Rab’iul-Awwal of 64 A.H./December 14, 683 A.D. at the young age of 38. He was a playboy, a drunkard, and a man who used to enjoy seeing animals fight. He used to play with animals. Monkeys were dressed in gold-embroidered multi-colored clothes and trained to dance for him, and he had salaried “officials” to look after his animal collection.

Such collection included monkeys and race dogs. He was fond of gambling and wine drinking, and he demonstrated disrespect towards the Mosque of the Prophet (ﺹ) and towards the Ka’ba itself, causing very serious damages to its structure as the reader will come to know in a later part of this book. He forced women to take their veils off and killed thousands of innocent people and encouraged the rape of women, girls, and children during the uprisings that took place in Hijaz, particularly in the Harra incident, details of which will follow. In short, Yazid did not have one iota of respect for Islamic tenets or moral ethics. Strange enough, there are some ignorant Muslims who sing his praise, justify and defend his barbaric conduct…

This much gives the reader an idea about what type of persons Abu Sufyan, Mu’awiyah, and Yazid were. Now let us review the brief biography of their opponents.

KARBALA AND BEYOND

• 1. Ibn Abul-Hadid, Sharh Nahjul-Balagha شرح نهج البلاغة, Vol. 16, p. 15.
• 2. Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 86.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.

What had Imam Husayn’s revolution meant in history? Some people who are not familiar with its motives, innocently inquire about its results. Others have even questioned the wisdom of striking at a mighty force like the Umayyads, which was fatal. Although the revolution’s motives have already been discussed, a brief review of the changes in the Muslim World after Imam Husayn’s revolution is appropriate;

1. Murdering Imam Husayn (as) the grandson of the Prophet (S) was a great shock to the whole Muslim world. This is not to mention the way he was murdered or the treatment given to his family who had the highest esteem and respect of all Muslims. Consequently, all Muslims dissociated themselves from the Umayyad’s deeds and policies. Indeed, who wants to share in the certain curse upon those who murdered the family of the Prophet?

Thus, this revolution had done the task of unveiling the Umayyad’s un-Islamic character to the general public and left no doubt in any person’s heart about the Umayyad’s substance.

Therefore, the concepts which the Umayyad’s were propagating in order to distort the ideals of Islam found no listening ear any longer, diverting the Umayyad’s mischief of changing Islamic concepts and ideals.

2. Imam Husayn’s revolution set a lively example as to the duty of Muslims in such conditions. It had deeply penetrated peoples’ hearts and produced great pains within them for not doing their Islamic duty. This feeling which pained people all the time transformed into repentance and then to an open revolt against the Umayyad’s regime. Thus, the revolution provided the stimulant to move their spirit and set it in a dynamic movement. Indeed, the Islamic movement was put to a new gear throughout the rest of the Islamic history.

A series of revolutions manifesting Imam Husayn’s revolutionary spirit and reforms emerged at successive intervals. Tawabeen’s revolution took place immediately after Karbala’s tragedy. Another revolution at Madina was aiming at doing away with the Umayyads deviated regime. Al-Mukhtar Al-Thaqafi led another revolution which stormed the Umayyad’s regime in Iraq and he was able to punish all principal collaborators in the campaign against Imam Husayn in Iraq. Mitraf ibn Al-Mughira’s revolution against Hajjaj and Abdul Malik was another result.

However, there were a chain of revolutions in all parts of the Muslim world which eventually did away with the Umayyad’s regime. Imam Husayn’s revolution was the principal slogan of the revolutionaries against the Umayyad’s. The Abasides came and soon their conduct was exposed as not that which the family of the Prophet was advocating. They realized that the revolution’s results were stolen and before they could do anything, the main personalities which carried the revolt through were treacherously eliminated by murder, poison and imprisonment.

The attempts to restore Islamic conduct have never ceased throughout Islamic history. Bitter experiences and intermittent material failures are natural results of struggle. Most importantly is the triumph of the Islamic spirit against intimidation and attempts to obscure its shining face and glory. A ceaseless revolution in Muslim lives is a reality, which the enemies of Islam failed to extinguish.

The secret key of this blessed revolution lies in the firm faith in God, the unshakable conviction, which puts material supremacy and gain in an inferior position to God’s satisfaction. These ideals were demonstrated by Imam Husayn when the Muslims were in need of such an example most.

The revolution of Imam Husayn was not solely for changing a government, if it was so, then it would be wrong to call it a revolution. Imam Husayn was advocating a drastic change in the social set up, the economic and political structures and refining Islamic concepts from foreign ideas which had crept into Muslims’ minds and thoughts.

Imam Husayn wanted to change the life of Muslims to be in conformity with Islamic laws and ideals. Indeed, this explains one main reason for why Imam Husayn was let down by the tribes of Kufa after being promised support, and his call was ignored by the rest of the Muslim world. Hence, a revolution means a drastic change in one’s life or the collective life when applied to a large scale.

The motives for revolution were numerous, some were direct grievances of the general people while others were ideological. The following were the most apparent:

1. The most important motive was the attempt to distort Islamic concepts and ideals. This aspect was of extreme importance and preoccupied the minds of responsible Muslims at that time. The fabrication of Hadiths was all too common, which had a poisonous effect on the lives of Muslims. This was giving the Umayyads for a while, a free hand to carry out their inhuman deeds and policies, but the mask of religion which they used to hide their un-Islamic conduct was extremely dangerous.

In the long run, this could have changed Islamic concepts of ruling and inverted social ideals, thus, stripping off this mask and exposing the true Umayyad’s picture was of utmost necessity.

2. The state’s structure was built on an un-Islamic basis. Quraish was born to rule, Arabs were second class citizens, and non-Arabs constituted the base of the society’s pyramid. That was the general social picture of the Muslim world under the Umayyads dynasty. Freedom of thought and expression were denied, when one dared to express an opinion contrary to that of the Umayyad’s; prison became his home, his property was robbed, and even his life was at stake.

3. The Umayyads considered the Muslim world to be their own property. The alms (Zakat) and other Islamic dues were collected, but no one knew nor could they question where that money went. Large gifts and donations were given to a few cruel governors and tribal chiefs in order to secure their allegiance. Large sums of money were wastefully spent on racing, gambling, wine-making, and buying slave women to entertain high-class people in power. Hence, the majority of Muslims were left near starvation level while the ruling group all enjoyed the social and material privileges.

4. The Muslims had apparently got used to the un-Islamic rule of the Umayyads as time passed by. Their resistance slackened and some people began adjusting themselves to the new conditions. Hence, the revolutionary spirit of Islam began to disappear gradually from Muslims’ lives and thoughts. Therefore, a new stimulant to their souls was necessary to activate their lives and try to restore Islamic conduct to the society.

The following points are the main features of his rule.

1. Authority

Muawiya assumed authority by sheer force; he did not hide this fact and put it plainly in his address at Kufa. He said “O people of Kufa, do you think I fought you to establish prayers or giving alms (Zakat) or perform pilgrimage?” He continued, “I know you pray, pay alms, and perform pilgrimage. Indeed, I fought you in order to command you with contempt, and God has given me that against your wishes. You must be certain that whoever has killed any of us, then he will be killed. And the contract between us of amnesty is under these feet of mine”.

2. Terrorism

Muawiya’s rule caused terror throughout the whole Muslim land; this was spread by him sending convoys to various regions of the country. It was narrated that Muawiya summoned Sufyan ibn Auf Al-Ghamidi, one of his army commanders, and said “This Army is under your command, proceed along the river Euphrate till Heet. Any resistance in the way should be crushed, and then invade Anbar. After that, penetrate deep into Madaain”

He further said “O Sufyan, these invasions will frighten the Iraqis and please those who like us. Such campaigns would attract frightened people to our side. Kill whoever (those) having different opinions from ours, loot their villages and demolish their houses. Indeed, the War against money is similar to killing but is more painful to their hearts”.

Another commander, Basar ibn Artat, was summoned and ordered to proceed towards Hijaz and Yemen. Muawiya instructed him, “Proceed to Madina and expel its people, meanwhile (any) people in the way who are not from our camp should be terrorized. When you enter Madina, let it appear as if you are going to kill them. Make it appear that your aim is to exterminate them. Then pardon them. Terrorize the people around Mecca and Madina and scatter them”.

3. Islamic Concepts and Laws

During Muawiya’s reign even basic human rights were denied to people, no-one was free to express their opinion, spies were employed to terrorize people and the army and police spared no opportunity to crush the people and silence their voices.

Some of the documents of the time reveal Muawiya’s instructions to his governors, including the following letter, which was addressed to all his judges. “Do not accept the witness of Ali’s followers or his descendants in courts”, another letter stated “If you have evidence that some person likes Ali and his family, then omit his name from the rations of Zakat”, another letter continued, “Punish whoever is suspected to follow Ali and bring his house down”. Such was the situation of Muawiya’s rule.

Historians who were recording the waves of terror described them as unprecedented within history; the people were so frightened that they did not mind even being called atheists or thieves, just not followers of Imam Ali.

Another facet of Muawiya’s rule was the discrimination between Arabs and non-Arabs. It is an established fact that non-Arabs during Muawiya’s reign were treated as third class citizens, although they embraced Islam they still had to pay Kharaj and Jizyah! Non-Arab soldiers in the state armies used to fight for bare subsistence level.

Once a dispute between an Arab and a non-Arab was presented to a court, the Judge was Abdullah ibn Amir, during the procedure the non-Arab sadly remarked to his opponent “May God not multiply people of your kind (meaning Arabs)”, The Arab answered him light heartedly “O God, increase their population among us (meaning non-Arabs)”. The people who were present asked the Arab in a state of bewilderment “How do you pray for their increase while he prays for your decease?” The Arab answered “Yes indeed, they clean our streets, make shoes for our animals, and weave our clothes”.

Perhaps the most dangerous mischief Muawiya had embarked upon was the fabrication of Hadiths. When he was facing Imam Ali (as) as an adversary, he found his case to be hopeless, his past was dark and shameful, whilst that of Imam Ali was glorious and shining. In order to sustain his campaign and boast his followers, Muawiya had to attract weak character companions and employ them to fabricate Hadiths.

Naturally, his aim was to boast his campaign, challenge adversaries, and legalize his claim to rule. Muawiya’s order was to not narrate any Hadith or incident in favour of Imam Ali but to fabricate a similar one and attribute it to Uthman, Umar and Abu Bakr. The second phase of this psychological warfare was to put Hadiths in Muawiya’s favour. The third phase was to silence people and keep them calm at what he did whether in wronging Muslims or his violation of Islamic laws.

This trend of fabrication of Hadiths, was constituting a grave danger to the integrity of Islam. Hadiths are considered as the secondary source of Islamic legislation after Qur’an, therefore it was very important to divert such a danger. The exposition of this trend to the Muslims at large was very vital, this was done by disgracing those who embarked upon this terrible mischief and those who nurtured it. A few samples of the fabricated Hadiths are as follows.

Through Abu Hurairah, the Prophet said “God has trusted three for his revelation: myself, Jabriel and Muawiya”. I wonder what God was doing for the revelation when Muawiya was ‘part of the non-Muslims’ camp. Again, Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet had given Muawiya an arrow and told him “Take this arrow until we meet in Paradise”. What a lucky arrow to enter Paradise. Abdullah ibn Umar claimed that the Prophet said “You will see greed after me, and things which you would disagree with”, the people asked “O Prophet of God, then what do you order us?” The Prophet said, “Do the governor’s right and ask God for yours”.

Another fabricated Hadith said to be narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar “Endure what you do not like of your governors, because if you separate from the group (Jama’a) one foot and then died, you would have died as an unbeliever”

These fabricated Hadiths are not only principally contradicting the Quran and other verified Hadiths but are calling Muslims to be slaves of their rulers, exactly what the Ummayads’ were aiming for.

Imam Husayn’s Revolution: An Analytical Review

How did Muawiya ascend the ruling stage, and even dare claiming the succession of the Prophet? What happened to the Muslim World to be silent at the assumption of power by an ignoble person like Yazid?

Indeed, it is astonishing to witness the indifference and irresponsibility shown by the vast majority of Muslims as if Islamic values and ideals were totally alien to that society. What had happened to the dynamic forces which had awakened the world, when the Prophet’s voice had not yet died away?

Regarding the responsibility of Muslims, he once said, “He who sees a cruel governor, violating Gods laws, breaking his Covenant, acting in contract to the Tradition of the Prophet, doing mischief and intruding upon people’s rights, then does not try to change that governor through action or speech, God has promised him a suitable place in Hell”.

We all may wonder over the causes of deviation that led to this deplorable situation. We know for sure that Islam is a perfect and practical religion, and there is no doubt of its ability to guide the Muslims to a stable and prosperous life. Therefore, the question of deficiency in its Islamic Message, or the way it was conducted by the Prophet (S) has no place.

Therefore the only possible errors are confined to; the subsequent status of the Muslims, their handling of affairs or their conformity to the Islamic laws; besides the ‘natural’ obstacles encountered in the sequence of events.

This topic is so large that it cannot be dealt with in this short review; nevertheless, it is important to review it.

It is well-known that the Islamic State vastly extended its borders, embracing huge population sizes. In this short time of conquest, it made cultural assimilation near to impossible; this was coupled with the language difficulties and primitive means of communications and propagation. This caused many Arab tribes to have fought against Islam, after the Prophets departure to the next world, who were under the political influence of Islam.

Needless to say that any real and thorough cultural transformation needs time as a basic factor and a complete transition from one culture to another might require many generations before the new culture is firmly established.

The second factor in determining any cultural change is the presence of any ideological leadership, especially one that has a deep insight into the message and is potentially ready to sacrifice for its success. Naturally, such a leader is expected to conform by the ideological messages and orders, otherwise the aim of his presence would not be realized.

The Muslims had elected Abu Bakr as the successor to the Prophet and the events which
accompanied that election was sadly recorded by all historians. This is by no means an objection to, nor an attack on the ability of the respected companion Abu Bakr (may God be pleased with him). But careful observation leads to the conclusion that Abu Bakr himself remarked that there were other people who were more able than himself for the task.

It is indeed eye-catching, the many incidents and Hadiths in Islamic history, which encourage Muslims to follow and proclaim the leadership of Imam Ali after the Prophet.

In Tafseer Abi Ishaq, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisabouri Al-Thaalibi, who died in 337 A.H., gave a commentary on the following verse:

“Your guardians are God, His Prophet, and the believers who pray and give alms while prostrate to God. Regarding those who disobey God, His Prophet and the believers, the party of God are the victors” (5:58,59).

He quoted Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari stating, “I heard the Prophet (S) with these ears or would I be deaf, and saw him with these eyes or would I be blind; the Prophet once said, “Ali is the leader of the best believers, and the killer of unbelievers, the victor is he who supports him, and weak who doesn’t “.

Abu Dharr added, “One day we were praying with the Prophet, a beggar had entered the mosque. The beggar was requesting people for help but none helped him except Imam Ali. While Imam Ali was offering his prayer, he donated his silver ring by pointing his finger to the poor man and the latter took it filled with joy.

After this incident the Prophet prayed humbly to God and said, “O God, my brother Moses asked You, “O my God, expand my breast; ease my task for me; and remove the impediment from my speech, so that they may understand what I say; and give me a Minister from my family, Aaron, my brother; add to my strength through him, and make him share my task that we celebrate thy praise without stint, and remember thee without stint”. And You answered: “Granted is thy prayer, O Moses”. “O God I am your servant and Prophet. Expand my breast; ease my task; and give me a Minister from my family, Ali, my brother; add to my strength through him, and make him share my task”.

Abu Dharr concluded: “By God, as soon as the Prophet completed his prayer the trustworthy Gabriel came with the following verses:

“Your guardians are God, His Prophet and the believers who pray and give alms while prostrate to God . . . !” (5:58, 59).

Ibn Sinan narrated this incident in Sahih Al-Bukhari and Ibn Abbas narrated this story in Asbab Al-Nuzol by Imam Wahidi. All interpreters of Kanz Al-Umaal held the same opinion of the cause of the revelation of this.

On a different occasion, the Prophet (S) told Imam Ali, “You are to me as Aaron was to Moses, but there is not Prophet after me”. But perhaps the most outstanding occasion which sank into people’s memories, is the Prophet’s speech during his last pilgrimage. Amongst a large congregation of Muslims he declared, “He whoever I am his master, Ali is his master too. O God assist whoever supports him and disgrace those who have enmity towards him”.

Indeed, whilst these are only a few of the quotations about Imam Ali, their consistency and the number and variety of people who confirmed the authenticity of the stories leaves no room for doubt that Imam Ali was chosen by God and His Prophet to be the ideological leader after the Prophet’s departure. Hence it can be safely concluded that Imam Ali’s exclusion from his assigned duty marked the first major mistake. The inevitable consequences were a slow deviation which ended up in a turbulent stream of events, which no one was able to exercise control over.

Abu Bakr’s reign lasted approximately two years, which was an eventful epoch. The dangers besieging the Muslims were so great that the very existence of the Muslim community was threatened, only being eliminated by the many sacrifices of the Muslim community.

Umar ibn Al-Khattab was appointed by Abu Bakr as the Caliph, his rule being for ten years. His reign is particularly important because of the vast changes and events which took place during his time. The conquest of vast areas brought enormous wealth to the Muslims, but the way this wealth was handled created complex problems, eventually forcing Umar to admit their grave consequences. Indeed, he tried to reform the laws but it was too late to act, for by that time he was murdered.

Umar ibn Al-Khattab was the first person in charge of Muslim affairs to start uneven donation of provisions among Muslims. He used to prefer some people to others for various reasons, generating social classes and sparking off enmity and rifts within the Muslim society. His policies were also not in conformity with the traditions of the Prophet or even with Abu Bakr’s policies.

Umar was sad when he saw the unrest and rifts within the Muslim community, once declaring “I was informed that people have distinct gatherings. When two sit together they talk of the different groupings and separate entities, by God that is harmful to your religion, honour and unity”. Realising the cause of this social phenomenon he added, “I used to allure people in order to gain their goodwill by preferring some to others. But if I lived this year, the distribution of wealth will be even among all people as the Prophet and Abu Bakr used to do.”

A rather serious measure taken by the Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab was his appointment of six nominees to the Caliphate post. This, it is believed had induced a desire in the nominees to ascend one day to this powerful and honorable position. Since it was only a matter of time for everyone, they were engaged in preparing the way for their own ascents.

Eventually Uthman ibn Affan was chosen by Abdul Rahman ibn Auf to be the next Caliph, after being turned down by Imam Ali. Imam Ali refused to accept the Caliphate post because Abdul Rahman ibn Auf put a condition which meant retaining the status quo and preventing any radical change.

Uthman’s policies were resented by the vast majority of Muslims. His monetary policy was the focus point of their resentment, because he donated large amounts of money to his relatives while the rest of the people were left empty handed (Muruj Al-dhahab 2/241 by Al-Masaudi Al-Ansab and Al-Ashraf (5/25,-28,48,52) by Al-Baladhiri).

Indeed, the governors who were assisting in administering the Muslim country had neither ability nor piety and is believed their appointment was because of their kin to Uthman. For instance, Al-Waleed ibn Aqabah ibn Abi Muaeet was appointed to govern Kufa. Al-Waleed was reputed to be a drunkard and when the people’s dissatisfaction with his behaviour peaked and Uthman replaced him, it was with Saaid ibn Al-As, who had the famous statement “Iraq is Quraish’s garden, we take or leave of it whatever we like” (Muroj Al-dhahab 2/346 by Al-Masaudi).

Muawiya who was governing Damascus and Jordan during the reign of Umar, Uthman added to his state Hams, Palestine, and Jazera. Egypt’s governor was Abdullah ibn Abi Sirah, with all of its previous governors being Uthman’s relatives. The most striking feature of this bunch of rulers was their contempt for people’s rights and dignity, they simply looked at the whole Muslim country as their private property, as demonstrated in Al-Waleed’s aforementioned statement.

Moreover the principal treasury at Madina was not utilised in its rightful ways. Many Muslims like the treasurer’s trustees, Ammar ibn Yasir, Abu Dharr and similar distinguished companions objected strongly against Uthman”s monetary policies. Uthman’s reply to those people was, “We take from the treasury whatever we want inspite of some people’s objections”.

These policies were not only foreign to Islamic conduct and ideals, but caused tremendous sufferings and hardships to the majority of Muslims. Many responsible Muslims played their role in warning Uthman against these deviations but their advice was in vain. Thus, the situation reached its danger point one day and exploded, resulting in Uthman’s murder. This act of violence as I believe could have been avoided by using some peaceful methodology.

The chaotic conditions and the deterioration of the Muslims material and social statuses forced them to rethink their past, present and future. Perhaps it was like a film passing in their minds, reminding them of previous events which were connected with their present. It is normally the last incident and last speech which remain alive in peoples’ memories. Indeed, it was the Prophet’s famous speech in Khum during his last pilgrimage which was recalled.

Muslims remembered that significant event where there were more than one hundred thousand Muslims present and the Prophet was briefing the Islamic message to them. Being within the middle of that anxious crowd, listening carefully to every word he (asa.h.f) uttered, and watching every sign he made. The Prophet took Ali ibn abi Talib’s hand and raised it while saying “O, people who-ever I am his master, then Ali is his master too. O, God, assist those who support him and disgrace those who do not”.

Thus after the cloud of events surrounding Uthman’s death settled, the Muslims hurriedly went to Imam Ali (as) calling him to perform his assigned duty, but the abnormal situation existing at that time made the task difficult indeed. Indeed, the very acceptance of his duty during such a situation was not healthy.

Imam Ali’s reply to the Muslims was negative. He (as) said “Leave me aside and seek someone else, we are heading at a subject which has many facets and various colours, neither the hearts would rise to, nor the minds would be firm upon. The horizons are black and gloomy while reason is rejected. You should know that my acceptance means what I know will he applied and obeyed. I shall not conform to ones ideas or listen to others reproachment. On the other hand, leaving me aside means I am one of you, listening and conforming to whom you have appointed for your affairs. I am better a minister than commander for you”.

In this speech, perhaps, he (as) wanted to gauge peoples’ interests and determination. Moreover, he showed his disinterest for power and ruling if that was an aim by itself. But the vast majority of Muslims were determined to see the Prophets’ words and will be implemented, and they left no choice to Imam Ali but to accept his rightful role of being the ideological leader to the Muslim community.