Question: How did Hazrat Ali (RA) become the fourth Rightly-Guided Caliph? Was the pledge of allegiance taken from the Companions by force?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah:
The purpose of this series is to learn about the era of Hazrat Ali (RA):
The era of Sayyiduna Ali (RA) in the Rightly-Guided Caliphate is one that raises many questions in people’s minds. During this period, for the first time, two major battles occurred among the Muslims. When a student of history looks at these wars, the question arises in their mind: how did that sacred group, whom the Holy Quran called “compassionate among themselves” (Ruhamau Baynahum), come to confront each other? What role did the conspiracies of the rebel movement play in this? What role did the esteemed Companions, including Hazrat Ali, Talha, Zubair, Sayyidah Aisha, Muawiyah, and Amr bin Aas (Radiyallahu ‘anhum), play in stopping this fitna? The previous chapter concluded with the martyrdom of Hazrat Uthman (RA). We will begin this chapter with the pledge of allegiance (Bay’ah) for the Caliphate of Hazrat Ali (RA).
In this section, we will try to find answers to questions related to the Bay’ah of Hazrat Ali (RA). Before that, a question comes to everyone’s mind: why did the Companions not attack the rebels after the martyrdom of Uthman?
Since this question is related to the Bay’ah of Hazrat Ali (RA), we will begin the discussion with it.
Here, the question arises in the minds of students of history: if Hazrat Uthman (RA) had forbidden the Companions from attacking the rebels, why did they not do so after his martyrdom? Narrations show that due to the circumstances, all the Companions were in a state of shock. Their strength was also scattered. As long as Hazrat Uthman (RA) was present, their strength was united, but Hazrat Uthman himself had forbidden that strength from being used. After his martyrdom, this strength, whatever it was and however it was, became dispersed. There was a need to organize them and then prepare a course of action for the future. At that time, the armies from Kufa, Basra, and Syria were on their way, and the Companions needed time for these armies to reach Medina.
The senior Companions felt the need to appoint one person from among them as Caliph, who could organize the scattered strength of the community. Of the Shura (council) appointed by Hazrat Umar (RA), two individuals, Hazrat Uthman and Abdur Rahman bin Auf, had passed away. Now four individuals, Ali, Talha, Zubair, and Sa’d (Radiyallahu ‘anhum), remained, and one of them had to become the Caliph. Among them, the most prominent personality was Hazrat Ali (RA). He had been working as Hazrat Uthman’s deputy for a long time. Before that, he had held important positions during the era of the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), the Siddiqi era, and the Farooqi era. Therefore, the senior Companions compelled him to become the Caliph.
Tabari and Baladhuri have narrated two contradictory types of reports on this occasion.1 According to one group of narrations, Hazrat Ali (RA) was not seeking the Caliphate, but the senior Companions forced him to become the Caliph so that the Ummah could be united. All these gentlemen happily accepted Hazrat Ali (RA) as the Caliph.
According to the second group of narrations, it was actually the rebels who made Hazrat Ali the Caliph and the Bay’ah was taken from all the Companions by force. Here, we will first present the group of narrations according to which the senior Companions made Hazrat Ali (RA) the Caliph.
Muhammad bin Hanafiyyah (Hazrat Ali’s son) narrates that I was with my father Hazrat Ali (RA) on the day Hazrat Uthman (RA) was martyred. When he received the news of Uthman’s martyrdom, he immediately left his house and went to Hazrat Uthman’s house. There, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) came to him and said: “Uthman has been martyred, and it is necessary for the people to have an Imam, without whom there is no alternative. Today, on the face of the earth, we do not find anyone more deserving of it than you. There is no one today who surpasses you in accepting Islam, nor anyone who has a closer relationship and kinship to the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) than you. Therefore, take this burden on your shoulders and rescue the people from this anxiety and distress.”
Hazrat Ali said: “It is better that you make someone else your Amir (leader), and let me be his Wazir (minister). It is better that someone else is the Amir and I am his minister.” The Companions said: “By Allah! We are not prepared to give Bay’ah to anyone except you.” Hazrat Ali said: “Since you are forcing me, it is better that the Bay’ah takes place in the mosque so that my Bay’ah is not hidden from the people. The truth is, I am not entitled to this Caliphate without the consent of the Muslims.”
Salim bin Abi al-Ja’d narrates that Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma) used to say: “I did not like Hazrat Ali (RA) going to the mosque because I feared that the (rebel) people might raise a clamor against him. But Hazrat Ali did not accept my opinion and went to the mosque. There, all the Muhajireen and Ansar gathered and gave him Bay’ah. Then the other people gave him Bay’ah.”
(Tabari. 35H/3/2-18)
Along with this narration, there is also the narration of Abu Bashir al-‘Abidi, according to which Hazrat Talha and Zubair (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma) were also among those who compelled Hazrat Ali (RA) to accept the Bay’ah. First, Hazrat Talha said:
“Abu al-Hassan! Extend your hand so we may pledge allegiance to you.” Hazrat Ali replied: “I have no need for the Caliphate. Whomever you wish to make Caliph, I am happy with him and I am with you in this matter.” After that, the Muhajireen and Ansar kept coming and requesting Hazrat Ali to accept the position of Caliph.2 Hazrat Ali set only one condition for becoming Caliph: that he would not take even a single dirham from the Bayt al-Mal (treasury) without the consent of the people. The first person to give Bay’ah was Hazrat Talha (RA). His hand had been wounded (maimed) in the Battle of Uhud while protecting the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). When he gave Bay’ah with this injured hand, a person named Habib bin Dhu’ayb (who was probably a rebel) said: “The Bay’ah that begins with a maimed hand cannot be complete.”3
(Tabari. 3/2-19)
About a very blessed hand, this person made a sarcastic remark, which expressed his malice.
Hasan al-Basri (Rahimahullah) states that he saw Hazrat Zubair giving Bay’ah to Ali (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma) in a forest. This suggests that these gentlemen were meeting together and planning to get rid of the rebels and were making a pact on it.
(Tabari. 3/2-19)
Ahnaf bin Qais (Rahimahullah) narrates that during the siege by the rebels, he came to Hazrat Talha and Zubair (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma) and asked them: “I feel that Hazrat Uthman (RA) will be martyred. After him, whom do you advise me to give Bay’ah to?” They both replied: “Ali.” I asked: “Are you both satisfied with Ali’s caliphate and are you really advising to pledge allegiance to him?” They replied: “Yes.” After this, Ahnaf (RA) went to Makkah. There he met Sayyidah Aisha (RA) and he also sought her advice. She also advised him to give Bay’ah to Hazrat Ali (RA).
(Tabari. 36H/3/2-113)
This narration shows that the opinion of Hazrat Talha, Zubair, and Aisha (Radiyallahu ‘anhum) was also that Hazrat Ali should be the next Caliph. Yes, they certainly imposed the condition that the murderers of Uthman would be eliminated.
These narrations are consistent with the character of the Companions. A selfless person like Hazrat Ali (RA) accepted the caliphate only for the welfare of the Ummah; otherwise, there was no negative emotion in his heart. The same was the case with Hazrat Talha, Zubair, and Sa’d (Radiyallahu ‘anhum). Previous narrations show that Hazrat Ali certainly had a desire for the caliphate to serve the religion, but it was not such that he would create fitna and fasad (strife and chaos) for it. When the Ummah decided in favor of Hazrat Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (RA), Hazrat Ali accepted it wholeheartedly, and when the caliphate was offered to him, he accepted it after much thought in the interest of the Ummah.
On one hand, the sincere Companions wanted to make Hazrat Ali the Caliph, and on the other hand, the rebels were looking for a Caliph under whose cover they themselves could rule. For this purpose, they repeatedly came to Hazrat Ali, Talha, Zubair, and Sa’d (Radiyallahu ‘anhum), but these gentlemen kept putting them off. Once, these people also went to Ibn Umar (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma), but he also refused.
(Tabari. 3/2-23)
Finally, one day, Malik al-Ashtar grabbed Hazrat Ali’s (RA) hand in the market and forcibly gave him Bay’ah. After this, his companions dragged Hazrat Talha and Zubair (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma) and, placing a sword on their necks, forcibly took Bay’ah from them. Hazrat Sa’d and Ibn Umar refused this Bay’ah. The rebels wanted to take their lives, but Hazrat Ali himself guaranteed their safety and saved them.
(Tabari. 3/2 -24, 26)
Here, the question arises: according to the narrations mentioned above, the senior Companions forced Hazrat Ali to become Caliph, but these narrations mention that the rebels forcibly made Hazrat Ali the Caliph and then forcibly took Bay’ah from others. Are these two accounts not contradictory? If an attempt is made to reconcile them, the situation that emerges is that the Muhajireen and Ansar, especially Hazrat Talha and Zubair (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma), willingly gave Bay’ah to Hazrat Ali (RA), and this Bay’ah was conditional on him becoming the leader of the sincere Muslims and crushing these rebels. When the rebels learned of this plan, they forcibly conducted their own Bay’ah of Hazrat Ali (RA) and forced others to do so, in order to spread misunderstandings among the population of Medina. The senior Companions had no problem with the Bay’ah of Hazrat Ali, but they were not going to accept a Bay’ah conducted under the rebels, because they feared that the rebels would now seize power. This is why the rebels forcibly took the Bay’ah from these gentlemen.
The critics of Hazrat Ali (RA), especially the Nasibi sect, have made many accusations against him, the biggest of which is why he did not crush the rebels immediately after becoming Caliph?
He appointed rebel leaders, especially Malik al-Ashtar and Muhammad bin Abi Bakr, as governors. In the Battle of Jamal and the Battle of Siffin, the rebels were at the forefront of his ranks. The rebels had more influence on the government, and he took no action against the murderers of Uthman. What was the reason for all this? If he could not do all this, then why did he accept the Caliphate in the first place, or if he did accept it, why did he not resign?
Since the critics have not correctly analyzed the situation at that time, these questions arise for them. Here, we will first examine the situation that Hazrat Ali (RA) faced when he became Caliph. Then we will examine the actions he took against the rebels.
As is clear from the narrations mentioned above, the Muhajireen and Ansar had willingly elected Hazrat Ali (RA) as the Caliph.4 The first to give Bay’ah was Hazrat Talha (RA), who pledged allegiance with his injured hand. Hazrat Zubair (RA) also gave him Bay’ah, and on one occasion, he secretly gave Bay’ah in the forest. These were the two gentlemen who had the full potential to become Caliph, and if Hazrat Ali had not accepted the Caliphate, one of them would have become Caliph. These gentlemen now wanted to gather the Muslims under the leadership of Hazrat Ali (RA) and take decisive action against the rebels. At the time these matters were proceeding, the rebels were also present in Medina with their full force. The people who had gone for Hajj had not yet returned to Medina, and the situation of the Muslims’ strength was the same as it was before the martyrdom of Uthman. The armies from Kufa, Basra, Syria, and Egypt were still on their way when they received news of the martyrdom of the oppressed Caliph. Now they were in a state of confusion about what to do.
When the rebels saw that if the Muslims united, they would be in trouble, they decided to fight for their survival. They quickly came and surrounded Hazrat Ali (RA), effectively taking him hostage, and established their own government in his name. The actions taken by these rebels after that were their own responsibility, but since they used Hazrat Ali’s (RA) name, the objection was raised against his person. The government was, in fact, that of the rebels, and Hazrat Ali, in these unfavorable circumstances, tried his best to reduce their influence. We will detail this further.
It was not easy for these rebels to overcome a great brave man like Hazrat Ali, but the problem he faced at that time was that he did not have enough strength to confront the rebels head-on. If the Companions had attacked the rebels in scattered groups, it would have been nothing but suicide. Emotional people of today might find this objectionable, but anyone who thinks with reason instead of emotion knows that in such a situation, fighting and giving one’s life is tantamount to strengthening the enemy. If Hazrat Ali had fought and died there along with his companions, the entire population of Medina would have been at the mercy of the rebels. Knowing the nature of the rebels, it can be well estimated that perhaps the honor of the women of Medina would not have been safe, and their elderly and children would have been slaughtered.
There was another reason for refraining from immediate action against the rebels, and its roots were embedded in the tribal psychology of the pre-Islamic (Jahiliyyah) era. Those who have studied tribal systems understand well that a tribe used to be a political, social, and economic unit. Tribals were trained from childhood that the most important thing in the world is their tribe. If any action was taken against any person of their tribe, it was considered an attack on the tribe, and the whole tribe would stand up in his support. Tribals are not concerned with whether what their man did was right or wrong. They are trained in such a way that they must support their brother in every situation and condition, whether he does good or evil. In some people, this tribal zealotry (asabiyyah) is ingrained to such an extent that the standard of right and wrong itself becomes their tribal interest. In their view, right is what their tribe did, and wrong is that which harms their tribal interest. There is no need for a reference for this psychology. We can see this thing not only in the tribes of our time but also in political parties and even friendly cliques.
The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) trained his Companions in such a way that they forgot these tribal prejudices and decided right and wrong based solely on their conscience. In fact, these Companions did just that. Thus, we see that the Ansar sacrificed for the Muhajireen, and the various families of the Muhajireen chose the best individuals from among themselves. But it is also a fact that not all individuals from the tribes living far from Medina had accepted the effect of this training. In any case, centuries are required to end a tradition established over centuries. That is why that tribal honor and zealotry were present in them with full force, and it was on this basis that they became tools for people like Musaylimah the Liar.
Hazrat Ali (RA) was faced with this problem: if he fought these rebels and eliminated them, their tribes would rise in their support. In this way, the strength of these rebels, which was currently only a few thousand, would increase tenfold, and dozens of wars would have to be fought to deal with them. Later events proved that his viewpoint was absolutely correct: for the time being, let matters cool down, and when the writ of the government is properly established, then full force action should be taken against these rebels.
A question is also asked: Hazrat Ali (RA) was advised by Ibn Abbas, Hassan, and Mughira bin Shu’bah (RA) not to accept the Caliphate and to go to his lands in Yanbu or some other place, otherwise the blame for the murder of Uthman would fall on him.
(Tabari. 3/1-448)
Why did he not accept this advice? The reality is that if Hazrat Ali (RA) had done so, there would have been no one to look after the people of Medina, and who knows what the rebels would have done to them. It is the greatness and magnanimity of Hazrat Ali that he did not prefer to endanger the lives, property, and honor of the people of Medina to save his own life and reputation. He gained time with great wisdom, prudence, and forbearance so that he could complete his plan.
Hazrat Ali’s (RA) plan was based on these points:
He worked with such secrecy in this matter that he did not even let his close, sincere companions and sons, Ibn Abbas and Hassan and Hussain (Radiyallahu ‘anhum), get wind of it, lest the rebels become alert upon seeing their confidence. It is possible that readers may hesitate to accept this part of Hazrat Ali’s (RA) plan, but according to Tabari’s narration, later when the rebels learned of this plan, the details of the plan were revealed from their own mouths. Here we are presenting parts of those narrations in which the details of Hazrat Ali’s plan are stated by Malik al-Ashtar himself:
(Before the Battle of Jamal) Malik Ashtar Nakha’i said: We were well aware of the intentions of Talha and Zubair, but we were unaware of Ali’s intentions until today. By Allah! The opinion of all of them about us is the same. If Zubair, Talha, and Ali make peace, it will be on our blood. Come! Why don’t we attack Ali and send him to Uthman? This will create a new fitna, which will be exactly according to our wishes, and we will pass the time peacefully in it.
(Tabari. 3/2-108)
(After the Battle of Jamal, Malik al-Ashtar said:) “Did we kill this old man (Hazrat Uthman RA) so that Yemen goes to Ubaidullah bin Abbas, Hijaz to Qatham bin Abbas, Basra to Abdullah bin Abbas, and Kufa Ali takes for himself?”
(Tabari. 3/2-107)
Here, Ashtar’s statement gives an idea of what Hazrat Ali’s (RA) plan was..!
After becoming Caliph, Hazrat Ali (RA) gave a sermon, in which the rebels were also among the audience. In it, he particularly tried to appeal to the faction of rebels who were sincere in their origin but had joined the rebels merely due to propaganda in Hazrat Ali’s (RA) name. He tried to make them realize what a great crime they had committed by martyring Hazrat Uthman (RA) and committing rebellion.
“Allah Azza wa Jall has revealed a Book that guides people. In this Book, all kinds of good and evil are described. Now you people should accept the good and leave the evil. Fulfill the obligations of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, He will admit you to Paradise. Allah Ta’ala has forbidden many matters which are not hidden at all. More forbidden than all haram things is the blood of a Muslim (an allusion to the killing of Uthman), and He has commanded sincerity and unity with Muslims. A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand other people are safe, except in the case where Allah Himself has ordered him to be punished.””
“You people act upon all general and specific commands before death comes, because the people are present before you, and death is encircling you. Meet death while being light from sins. People just keep waiting for each other. You people fear Allah regarding the ruin of Allah’s servants and His cities, because you will surely be questioned about it. You will even be asked about the quadrupeds and the grass. Obey Allah, avoid His disobedience, and accept whatever good you see. Leave whatever evil you see, and remember the time when you were few in number and weak on the earth.”
(Tabari. 3/2-28)
What effect could this eloquent sermon of Hazrat Ali (RA) have on the hard-hearted rebels, but it seems that their simple-minded elements must have been influenced by this sermon. He ordered the rural people to return to their respective areas, which they accepted, but the rebellious insurgents refused to obey this order. Some people’s slaves were also involved in the rebellion. Hazrat Ali announced that any slave who does not return to his master, we have no responsibility for him. This announcement greatly displeased the rebel leaders because they were seeing that in this way Hazrat Ali (RA) was shattering their strength.
(Tabari. 3/2-31)
On this occasion, some Companions came to Hazrat Ali (RA) and said:
“Ali! We pledged allegiance to you on the condition that you would establish the Hudud (limits) of Allah. You know that this entire group of rebels is involved in the murder of Uthman, and thus they have made the blood of Muslims lawful. Therefore, it is obligatory for you to take Qisas (retribution) from all these people.” Hazrat Ali replied: “My brothers! I am not unaware of these matters like you, but what can we do about this group that has become our master? We are not their masters, and furthermore, some of your (own) slaves have also joined this murder, and some villagers have joined them, and they are your friends and force you to do whatever they want. So in these circumstances, do you have the power to take Qisas?” They replied: “No.”
Hazrat Ali said: “By Allah! I am seeing the same thing that you are seeing. I understand that these conditions are exactly like the conditions of the era of Jahiliyyah (ignorance), and the substance of Jahiliyyah is still found in this group (the rebels). The reason for this is that Satan does not have a specific path and method by which, following that method, he always keeps the earth happy (meaning, Satan always plays new tricks). People have become of several kinds regarding the matter of the Caliphate. One group has the same opinion as yours. The second group’s opinion is against yours, and one group neither supports this opinion nor that opinion. Until the people unite on one opinion and the hearts are corrected, Qisas is not possible. Now, go from my presence and see what new situations arise. Study these situations and return to me.”
(Tabari. 3/2-30)
This also reveals Hazrat Ali’s (RA) plan: first, gather his own strength well, and then strike a decisive blow against these rebels all at once.
Now the situation became such that the rebels began to feel threatened by Hazrat Ali (RA), so they surrounded him, and it became impossible for him to openly plan with his sincere companions. When the Quraishi people saw that Medina was now effectively ruled by the rebels, they started leaving. The people of Banu Umayyah went towards Syria because they were the ones who had also fought the rebels to save Hazrat Uthman (RA). Therefore, they were afraid that the rebels would kill them first. A large number of people went to Syria, and some left for Makkah, Basra, and Kufa. The result of this was that Hazrat Ali (RA) was left with very few sincere companions, and the rebels took control of his army and civil administration. In this way, the matter of crushing the rebels was postponed. The truth is, whoever had been the Caliph at that time, the situation would have been the same.
As we have stated before, the rebels’ mission had multiple stages, which we detail once again:
It is true that the rebels succeeded in the first stage, but this was also a partial success. They succeeded in martyring Hazrat Uthman (RA), but they could not place a puppet Caliph on the throne in his place. Unfortunately for them, or fortunately for the Muslims, the personality whose name they used to raise the movement was far superior in wisdom and knowledge to these rebels. It was not easy for the rebels to use Hazrat Ali (RA) for their desired purposes. Although Hazrat Ali (RA) temporarily agreed to a few of the rebels’ demands, he made his own plan with great wisdom and knowledge, which was later brought to completion by Hazrat Hassan (RA). We will see later that due to the actions of Hazrat Ali, Talha, Zubair, Aisha, Muawiyah, Hassan, and some other Companions (Radiyallahu ‘anhum), the rebels faced complete failure at the second stage, and their movement could not succeed. If they had succeeded at this stage, they would have seized all the resources of the Muslim world. Then those resources, which were being spent for the welfare of the common Muslims, would have fallen into the hands of these rebels, who would have used them for their own interests. Their anti-Islamic elements would have created new innovations (bid’ahs), and who knows what they would have done to the religion.
In any case, when the rebels captured the central government, it was the success of the first stage of their mission. Now they began the second phase of their plan. The biggest threat to them was the strong governors of Basra, Kufa, Syria, Yemen, and Egypt, whom they feared. Their plan was to appoint weak governors in their place and, just like the model in the center, a group of rebels would remain with them like a shadow and rule in their guise. They forced Hazrat Ali (RA) to issue an order to change the governors. Thus, at the beginning of 36 AH (i.e., just a few days after Hazrat Ali RA took over the caliphate, as Hazrat Uthman RA was martyred on 18 Dhu al-Hijjah 35 AH), the order for the dismissal of the governors of Basra, Kufa, Yemen, Egypt, and Syria was issued, and in their place, Uthman bin Hunaif was appointed for Basra, Ammarah bin Shahab for Kufa, Ubaidullah bin Abbas for Yemen, Qais bin Sa’d bin Ubadah for Egypt, and Sahl bin Hunaif (Radiyallahu ‘anhum) for Syria.
(Tabari. 3/2-37)
We know that this doesn’t happen in any ordinary company in the world, that a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), upon taking charge, first fires the department heads and managers and appoints other people in their place. If a CEO makes such a mistake, the company will be ruined the very next day, and matters will get out of anyone’s control. Here, the question arises in the mind of a student of history: if this is the case with an ordinary company, can it be expected from a prudent and wise person like Hazrat Ali (RA) regarding the complex affairs of an empire stretching from Balochistan to Libya, that the first thing he did after taking power was to dismiss the former governors?
Anyone with an iota of sense can know that such a thing cannot be expected, not just from Hazrat Ali (RA), but even from an ordinary CEO. Hazrat Uthman (RA) had given the governors their positions only after consulting all the Companions, and all these governors had performed extraordinary achievements, which we have detailed in previous series.
Shortly before the martyrdom, upon the rebels’ complaints, Hazrat Uthman (RA) had conducted an inquiry against them through impartial men, from which it was found that all these governors were working perfectly fine, and except for these few rebels, the general public was fully satisfied with them and even loved them. In these circumstances, there was no justification for dismissing these governors. Yes, the rebels had a strong justification: these governors were the biggest obstacle to the fulfillment of their ambitions. That is why they forced Hazrat Ali (RA) to change them. Hazrat Ali (RA) reluctantly accepted the rebels’ demand to gain time, but even in this, he did not give them a chance to have their own way; instead, he appointed only those people as governors in whom the Muslims had full confidence.
Tabari and Baladhuri have transmitted a long narration reported by Muhammad bin Umar al-Waqidi, according to which Hazrat Mughira bin Shu’bah and Abdullah bin Abbas (RA) advised Hazrat Ali to keep these governors, especially Hazrat Muawiyah, in their posts, but Hazrat Ali (RA), God forbid, held such a grudge against these governors that he could not tolerate them in their posts for even a day.
For this narration to be false, it is enough that the one reporting it is this very Waqidi, whose falsehood is well-known. Secondly, if Hazrat Ali (RA) had disliked these governors, he would have stopped Hazrat Umar or Uthman (RA) at the time of their appointment, but there is no such narration in which Hazrat Ali (RA) had ever expressed his disapproval of these gentlemen before.
This campaign to change the governors was not entirely successful, and according to the narration of Saif bin Umar, the situation turned out as follows:
Now there were four groups in the Muslim world:
According to the narration of Saif bin Umar, Hazrat Ali (RA) now sent letters to the governor of Kufa, Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, and the governor of Syria, Muawiyah (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma), demanding their Bay’ah. Hazrat Abu Musa al-Ash’ari accepted this demand, but Hazrat Muawiyah gave no reply. Instead, he sent a person from the Banu Abs tribe as a messenger to Hazrat Ali, who came and told him that I have left behind a people who are not satisfied with anything less than Qisas for Hazrat Uthman (RA), and sixty thousand old men are weeping over the blood-stained shirt of Hazrat Uthman.
Hazrat Ali (RA) said:
“You people are demanding the Qisas of Uthman from me. O Allah! I declare my innocence from the blood of Uthman. By Allah! Now the murderers of Uthman will be saved, except for the one whom Allah wishes to kill, because when He intends a matter, He accomplishes it.”
(Tabari. 3/2-40)
When the rebels found out about this messenger, they ran to kill him and abused him. He also abused these rebels in return. What happened after that is not mentioned in the narration. It seems likely that the Companions must have saved this messenger, otherwise, his murder would have been mentioned. According to the narration of the famous narrator Saif bin Umar, who is called a liar (kadhdhab), Hazrat Ali (RA) then announced a military expedition to Syria, to which the people of Medina responded lukewarmly, and no one was ready to go. The part about the military expedition in the narration seems correct, but that Hazrat Ali would have done this is not reasonable. Surely, this is the work of Saif bin Umar or some other narrator, who attributed the actions of the rebels to Hazrat Ali.
To understand Hazrat Ali’s (RA) position, we must put ourselves in his place. On one side were those rebels who were in no way sincere to Islam, had martyred the Caliph of the time, and now wanted to completely seize power to amass wealth and create fitna among Muslims. On the other side were the people of Syria, who until now had proven to be sincere Muslims. They had not denied the caliphate of Hazrat Ali (RA); rather, their only demand was that these rebels be removed from power and held accountable for the unjust blood of Hazrat Uthman (RA). The governor of Syria, Hazrat Muawiyah (RA), had shown the best performance among the governors appointed by the Rightly-Guided Caliphs until now and had kept the Roman Empire in check.
You yourself consider: if you were in Hazrat Ali’s (RA) place in this situation, where would your sympathy lie? With the rebels or with the people of Syria? What was more important: dealing with the rebel murderers of Hazrat Uthman (RA) or launching a military expedition against Syria? Not just a military general, but even a common man would answer that when one front is already open and the position there is not yet stable, it is not appropriate to open a new front. We are sure that Hazrat Ali’s (RA) viewpoint was also this. This view is also supported by those narrations according to which, upon returning from the Battle of Siffin, Hazrat Ali (RA) convinced the rebels to accept the governorship of Hazrat Muawiyah. He said:
Do not dislike the authority (imarat) of Muawiyah. By Allah, if he is gone, you will see heads falling from shoulders like the Hanzal (colocynth) fruit falls.”
(Ibn ‘Asakir. 59/151-152. Ibn Abi al-Hadid. Sharh Nahj al-Balaghah. 12/40)
Ibn ‘Asakir has mentioned five chains of transmission (isnads) for this narration. This statement of Hazrat Ali relates to the time after the war with Hazrat Muawiyah (Radiyallahu ‘anhuma) had already taken place. We are certain that even before the war, there was no malice in Hazrat Ali’s heart regarding Hazrat Muawiyah, and he never wanted to remove him from his post. It was the rebels who tried to remove him from this post because Hazrat Muawiyah was the biggest obstacle in their path.
If we look from the rebels’ point of view, it is clearly visible that the expedition to Syria was very important so that the second phase of their plan could be completed. The people of Syria were united under the leadership of Hazrat Muawiyah (RA) and were the biggest obstacle to the completion of any of the rebels’ plans. For this reason, the rebels launched a military expedition towards Syria and, according to their old method, used Hazrat Ali’s (RA) name extensively. The people of Medina were bound to respond lukewarmly to any plan of these rebels, so this plan of theirs also failed, and no army set out for Syria.
Meanwhile, information was received that in Basra, Hazrat Talha, Zubair, and Aisha (Radiyallahu ‘anhum) had gathered an army and had eradicated the rebel group there. Upon this, Hazrat Ali (RA) left Medina with these rebels, and after a short time, the incident occurred which is called the Battle of Jamal.
In the next series on history, Insha’Allah, we will read how the Battle of Jamal occurred among great personalities like the Companions. Did the Companions really fight among themselves? And are all the things said about the Battle of Jamal true?
(And Allah Ta’ala knows best what is correct.)
Reference: https://alfurqan.info/problems/601
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