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The Caliphate of Imam Ali (A.S.)
By: Muhammad Husayn Tahmasebi
Now the Muslims laid their heads together to select a competent person who could run the caliphate in the right path and could restore their lost rights.
They thought of Imam ‘Ali (as), whose conduct was very reasonable during this long period since the Prophet's death.
In the end they came to a conclusion that nobody else was well qualified for that task except ‘Ali ibn Abu-Talib. They rushed towards his house to pay homage to him as he had said in one of his speeches: “They leapt upon me as camels leaping upon each other going to drink water ... in a way that I thought they would kill me or would kill another one before me.”
Imam ‘Ali said to them: “Leave me alone and look for another one. It is important for you to know that the Qur’an and the Prophet's Sunnah will guide my actions and I will never turn back from the right path in order to satisfy the interests of some certain groups or to assure someone’s worldly wishes. Therefore, you cannot tolerate my evenhanded policies and judgments. I will be as counselor for you better than to be a chief. Do not urge me to be the caliph.”
The people began to cry and shout loudly. They said: “O Ameer-al-Mu’mineen (the master of believers) do you not see what complicated problems the Muslims are facing? Do you not see that Islam is going to collapse?”
But Imam ‘Ali refused to accept the offer because he knew that people would like to play with divine caliphate as a means to gain their worldly desires and that it was impossible to restore the present circumstances as they were at the Prophet's time.
When the people insisted on him importunately, Imam ‘Ali (as) delivered a speech to clear away all the excuses they might cling to. He said: “If you want me for your worldly desires, leave me alone and choose another one who may realize your wishes. I will not give up the principles of Islam (equity, reverence for the law, human rights and the like) to secure neither my authority nor the interests of the others. With regard to the subject of the rights and privileges enjoyed by every one, I do not care for the influential people because all the peoples are equal before God. If you have decided to pay homage to me, think it over and over because after the homage if you protest against me or put obstructions in my way, I will force you to come back to the right path. Bear in mind these conditions, and then you can reach your heart's desires.”
Of course the previous ruling class and the rich, especially Talhah and Al-Zubayr, would not be content with the caliphate of Imam ‘Ali (as) but the glory and the greatness of the revolution made them keep silent. Since they (Talhah and Al-Zubayr) were appointed as members of the council established by ‘Umar to select the caliph after his death, they considered themselves as Imam ‘Ali's equivalents, but they had to pay homage to him unwillingly.
Next day Imam ‘Ali (as) said in his speech regarding the government's plan: “The public are hereby notified that a decree will be issued against those who have made money in unlawful ways and their monies will be requisitioned. The offenders will be soon prosecuted ...”
Those, who had misappropriated certain things from the public treasury, were irritated when they heard Imam ‘Ali’s speech and felt sorry for paying the homage.
Imam ‘Ali believed that all classes of people, whether Arab or non-Arab, black-skinned or white- skinned, were equal to each other before the law. He would never want a minority to act according to what they liked and to heap what they took from the majority by force. He would never be content with a minority to be offensive against the majority of helpless and miserable people, who groaned under injustice with no rescue.
Imam ‘Ali (as) said: “Achieve equality among yourselves and do not discriminate against one another because hearts are always ready to make mischief and dispute among you.” He also said: “I cannot tolerate such injustice that a group of people, under the pretense of noble descent and lineage, takes the products of common people's labor and then scorn them.”
When the ceremonies of the homage were finished, Talhah and Al-Zubayr, contrary to their expectation, were not invited by Imam ‘Ali (as) to co-operate in the affairs of the state. They determined on going to meet him and request the rule of Kufa and Basra. As Soon as they came into the caliphate house, Imam ‘Ali (as), who was busy with official works, suddenly blew out the candle and lighted another one at once. When they asked about the reason, he replied: “The first candle belongs to Bayt al-Mal (public treasury) and I was busy with the caliphate affairs and since you have come here for a private business, so I lighted my own candle.” They looked at each other and left hopelessly.
Many politicians, long ago, criticized Imam ‘Ali (as) by saying that it was not expedient to rouse the great influential companions by his decisions. Furthermore they said that why he did not humored the previous walis that caused them to make troubles for him. Was it not tactful for him to wait until he overcame the state affairs and then to change the situation according to his desired plan?
These objections are not acceptable because the Shia believe that Imam ‘Ali (as) was the representative of God and His Apostle on the earth and he was not of those who told people lies and deceived them to secure their own power.
As a matter of fact, the polity of the divine religions is not comparable to the other systems of rule.
Islam is based on humanity, equity, justice and other good qualities. Its main purpose is to direct people to monotheism and godliness. The Imamate is an infallible position. Consequently Imam ‘Ali (as) would be responsible to God if he himself or one of his officers offended against the law. His natural morality and his religious duty would require him to ensure the enforcement of the divine law; therefore he always would speak out what was rightful and he would not care whether people were pleased or displeased.
Those who had misused certain things from Bayt al-Mal at the days of Uthman expected that Imam ‘Ali (as) would give them free rein in the state affairs or, at least, he would counsel with them about the general decisions.
Imam ‘Ali (as) was well-known as a practical man and people respected him so highly. However, a few of them hated his righteousness as he himself had said: “How do those, whom my justice is annoying, endure injustice?”
On the other hand there was a dispute between Imam ‘Ali (as) and A’ishah, the Prophet's wife, because of some misunderstanding. She always had a grudge against him.
She previously used to excite the people against Uthman because she was sure that Al-Zubayr, her sister's husband, or Talhah, her cousin, would be the successor of Uthman; therefore she often said the people: “Kill this old hyena! God may kill him. He has become apostate indeed.”34When she knew that the people had paid homage to Imam ‘Ali (as), she decided to defy.
In order to carry out her intention, she left Medina for Mecca to stay there in order to incite people against Imam ‘Ali. She would say pityingly: “Uthman was oppressively killed and I would take vengeance on his killer. O people, rise and help me!”
On hearing this, Talhah and Al-Zubayr went to meet Imam ‘Ali (as) to take leave of him to go to Mecca under the pretence of pilgrimage. Imam ‘Ali (as) said: “I am sure that you have plots against me, but I do not bother you as long as you have not disturbed the public peace.” They really wanted to take part in the plot, which was developed against Imam ‘Ali (as) by A`ishah.
In spite of the fact that Imam ‘Ali knew their designs, he did not restrain them because in Imam ‘Ali's opinion it was not allowable to arrest one, who had just designed to commit a crime but had not put it in practice yet because one might repent before committing the crime.
Have you ever heard that a commander ignores a probable danger for the sake of the law?
History often mentions that as soon as any ruler gets a hint of a plot against himself, he will immediately get rid of those who have hatched the plot either by killing or imprisoning them.
But Imam ‘Ali said to them: “You are free to go wherever you wish but be careful not to disturb the public peace.” The Holy Qur’an says: “There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error ...” (2:256).
Hereon Imam ‘Ali (as) gave the Muslims the maximum freedom to the extent that they would not encroach on the others’ freedom.
All the companions and the ex-walis had paid homage to Imam ‘Ali (as) except Mu’awiyah, the wali of Syria, Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, the son of the second caliph, and Sa’d ibn Abu Waqqass. The last two persons were good for nothing but Mu’awiyah was a sagacious man, who was in no way bound by morality and he did not heed the religious laws. He always had enmity towards Imam and his utmost desire was to attain the position of caliphate.
When he took over Kufa at during the time of Imam Hasan, he said to the people: “I have not come here to correct your religious problems. I have come to rule over you and to manage you.” He became very powerful during twenty years of rule and especially at the reign of Uthman.
Imam ‘Ali (as), in conformity to religious standards, decided to depose Mu’awiyah. Someone said to him: “It is not wise to discharge Mu’awiyah so soon. It requires careful handling. Wait a bit until your rule gets strong then you do what you like?”
Imam ‘Ali replied: “This doesn't conform to my belief because I will be responsible to God if Mu’awiyah offends against law and deprives people of their rights during my ruling. I will be answerable on the Day of Resurrection.”
Now let us see what was going to take place in Mecca. Some of the rich and ex-officers believed A’ishah's pretenses. They came to an agreement to incite the people of Iraq against Imam ‘Ali (as) especially the people of Basra because their tribes were living there and they might be of some help.
At last an army of three thousands men, whose expenses were paid by the previous walis, marched towards Basra.
When A’ishah was about to leave Mecca, she went to meet Ummu-Salamah (another wife of the Prophet) asking her to accompany her in this journey.
Ummu-Salamah was a good and kind woman. She tried to remind A’ishah of some of the Prophet's sayings about Imam ‘Ali (as). She said to her: “One day, if you remember, the Prophet and I came into your room and at the same time ‘Ali (as) came in and whispered with the Prophet for a long time. You wanted to interrupt him and said to ‘Ali: “It is my turn today to be with the Prophet after nine days. Now you came here to turn his attention from me to some other things.”
I saw that the Prophet's face reddened with anger and he said: “Be quiet A’ishah! By God, whoever displeases ‘Ali and bears him a grudge, is not one of the believers.” Then you came back feeling sorry.”
A’ishah said: “Yes, I remember.’
Ummu-Salamah added: “Do you remember that one day you were washing the blessed head of the Prophet (S) and I was cooking Hiss (a kind of Arabian soup), suddenly the Prophet raised his head and said: “I wish I knew at which of you the dogs of Haw’ab(a place near Basra) would bark.
She certainly will be damned on the Day of Resurrection.” Then I said: “I seek refuge in God and His Apostle if I would be that one.” Then the Prophet pointed to you and said: “Beware if you would be that one.”
A’ishah said: “Yes, I remember.”
Ummu-Salamah said: “I remind you again that one day I and you were with the Prophet (S) in a trip when Abu-Bakr and ‘Umar joined us to rest under a tree while ‘Ali (as) was busy mending the Prophet's shoes. They said to the Prophet (S): “May we ask you about who will be your successor and to whom we will resort after you?” The Prophet replied: “I know who he is and I show the evidence of his dignity and prudence, but if I inform you of his name, you will keep off him as the Israelites when they kept off Aaron.” Then I asked the Prophet: “Who would be our Imam after you?” He said: “It is that man who is mending my shoes.” Then I and you ourselves saw that ‘Ali was patching the shoes.”
A’ishah said; “Yes, I remember.”
Ummu-Salamah said: “If it was so then why are you instigating people to revolt against ‘Ali (as) under the pretext of avenging Uthman's blood?” She said: “I want to reform the Muslims’ affairs.” Sharh Nahj al-Balaghah by ibn Abul Hadeed As the Prophet had said, A’ishah on her way to Basra got at a place where some dogs barked at her. It reminded her of the Prophet's admonition. She asked her camel driver about the name of that place. When she knew that it was Haw’ab and that she was the one, whom the Prophet had talked about, she refused to proceed further.
Talhah and Al-Zubayr gave a perjured witness that the place is not Haw’ab and they brought fifty persons to witness falsely that it was not Haw’ab.
Finally she determined to proceed forward to Basra. It was a surprise to the people when they saw her riding a camel to the battlefield.
The Holy Qur’an, addressing the Prophet's wives, says: “And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore” (33:33).
She, in this manner, had missed her stateliness and honor.
When they arrived at the gate of Basra, Uthman ibn Hunayf, the wali, came out with his men and stopped in their way being ready for the war. They took the field and before long some were killed from both sides. A’ishah intervened and stopped the fighting. They came to an agreement that the actual situation would remain as it was until Imam ‘Ali (as) arrived at Basra.
But after less than forty-eight hours they made a nightly attack on the wali of Basra and killed forty innocent men of his. Uthman was badly beaten and his beard was plucked. Then they looted the public treasury and the grain stores and they also killed twenty guards.
A noble man of Basra named Hakim ibn Jabalah met the chiefs of the invaders trying to convince them to stop the attack but the war raged between them and at last Hakim and Seventy persons of his companions were killed.
When Imam ‘Ali (as) knew about the march to Basra he, accompanied by five hundred of the Prophet’s companions, left Medina for Basra.
When he got at Thi-Qar, a place between Kufa and Basra, he sent his dear son Imam Hasan and Ammar ibn Yasir to Kufa to call the people for the war. Although Abu Musa, the wali, Opposed and created many difficulties for dispatching the forces, seven thousand fighters joined Imam ‘Ali's army. Some other soldiers under various standards united with Imam ‘Ali before he reached the field near Basra.
There were many great companions, many youths of the Hashemites and Imam ‘Ali’s sons; Imam Hasan, Imam Hussein and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyah among the army.
Imam ‘Ali (as) dismounted from his horse and offered a four rak’as prayer and then he prostrated himself on the ground. He was heard praying for his enemy and saying: “O God, the Sustainer of the earth, grant us their good and protect us from their evil!”
At first he ordered that no one of his men should attack the enemy before they made an attack on them. Then he, unarmed, came forward and called Talhah and Al-Zubayr to witness when saying: “Both of you and A’ishah know that I am free from the guilt of Uthman's blood and I would never say what you used to say about him. Did I force you to pay homage or you did willingly?”
Al-Zubayr was affected by these words but Talhah got angry and began to growl.
A young man got permission to go before the enemy with a copy of the Qur’an but he was killed by an arrow. Thus they declared war.
Ammar ibn Yasir, the great Prophet’s companion, went to warn them of the consequences of the war but they were impervious to his arguments and he also was answered by arrows.
Imam ‘Ali ( s ) did not allow his men to attack the enemy yet. He believed in negotiation between the both parties before beginning the war. He thought it was the only way to solve the quarrels; therefore his men were not allowed to start the war before the enemy.
The opposite army went on sending arrows like the rain. Some brave combatants of Imam ‘Ali's men were killed.
Imam ‘Ali came in front of the enemy without wearing armor and called out: “Where is Al-Zubayr?” When Al-Zubayr saw Ameer-al-Mu’mineen unarmed, he came out and stood before him. Imam ‘Ali said: “O Al-Zubayr, do you remember one day when the Prophet said to you that you would fight against me and that your side would be wrong?”
Al-Zubayr replied: “Yes, he had said so.”
Then Imam ‘Ali (as) asked him: “Why have you come then into the battlefield?” He replied: “I have forgotten what the Prophet had said. I would not have come here if I had recalled it.” Imam ‘Ali (as) said: “It is well that now you recall it.” He said: “Yes.” After saying this, he went straight to A’ishah and after a short conversation he turned the reins of his horse and left the field.
When Imam ‘Ali (as) returned to his army, he noticed that the enemy has attacked the right and left flanks of his army. He said: “Now the excuse is null.” He called for his son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and said to him: “Attack the enemy now.” But the shower of the enemy's arrows made him stop.
Imam ‘Ali (as) Shouted: “Risk yourself and go ahead through the arrows and spears.” But he hesitated to attack because of a storm of arrows coming from the enemy. Imam ‘Ali (as) said to him: “Why do not you go ahead.” He said: “Father, I do not find a way to proceed through these showering arrows.”
When Imam ‘Ali (as) saw this irresolution of his son Muhammad, he took the sword and the banner from him and made such an attack upon the enemy that disturbance and fright covered their ranks. Whichever side he attacked, it became clear. Heads and bodies were falling under the hooves of the horses. Then he returned and said to his son: “You must fight like this.” Muhammad took his sword and attacked the enemy with a group of Ansar. They left heaps of dead bodies on the field.”
On the other side of battlefield the men were sacrificing their lives around the camel (of A’ishah) devotedly in spite of the falling heads and bodies one over the other.
Imam ‘Ali (as) ordered his men by saying: “Cut off the camel's leg. It is a devil.” Then he made a severe attack again and finally cries of “peace” were heard here and there.
As soon as the camel fell down, the enemy ran away towards the desert and leaving A’ishah alone in the heat of the fight. But thousands of fighters were killed for the sake of holding the rein of the camel.
A’ishah was escorted by her brother Muhammad ibn Abu-Bakr to the house of Safiyya bint(“Bint” means the daughter of and “ibn” means the son of) Harith in Basra and then she was sent to Medina respectfully.
This war began at an afternoon and finished in the same evening. One thousand and seventy men were killed from Imam ‘Ali's army of twenty-two thousand persons, whereas seventeen thousand persons were killed from the enemy out of thirty thousands.
When Imam ‘Ali captivated A’ishah, instead of reproaching her, he was kind enough to her. He also overcame his most revengeful and obstinate enemies like Marwan, Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr and others in this battle but they were forgiven permitted to go wherever they like.
In the same way the idolaters of Quraysh tribe were formerly forgiven when the Prophet (S) had conquered Mecca.
During his praying for the killed men, Imam ‘Ali was heard praying for the enemy: “O God, if they fought against me unknowingly or with intention of setting up the rightness and justice, they were innocent (I hope them to be remitted).”
Throughout the history's memory, no commander would ever act so generously when he won a victory. Imam ‘Ali’s generosity and clemency were much more than to be counted.
He wrote in his famous epistle to Malik al-Ashtar, the wali of Egypt: “People are usually subjected to weakness and they may do wrong things on purpose or by mistake. You should forgive them if you would like to be forgiven by God. Do not regret your forgiving someone and do not be pleased when punishing someone.”
Removal of Mu’awiyah
Neglecting the other troubles, the ruling of Mu’awiyah in Syria was the most complicated matter that Imam ‘Ali (as) confronted at the beginning of his caliphate.
When Syria was conquered by the Muslims, Yazid, the elder brother of Mu’awiyah, was appointed as the wali by Abu-Bakr and then Mu’awiyah took it over at the reign of ‘Umar. Therefore the Umayyads (Mu’awiyah's family) had ruled over Syria for twenty- four years before the caliphate of Imam ‘Ali (as).
This time was quite long enough for a clever and sagacious man like Mu’awiyah to prepare the first steps for ruling as a caliph over the Muslims and he succeeded to do it at last.
Mu’awiyah, by nature, had a great skill to put down his opponents’ claims and he knew their hopes and wishes well.
On the other hand, Syria was the richest country among the other Islamic territories and Mu’awiyah, who was careless about how to spend the public monies, could weather every difficulty easily. Those, who wanted to impose themselves upon people, gathered in Syria and did their best to form the foundation of his rule.
Some critics criticized Imam ‘Ali (as) and thought that he was unable to handle the state affairs and did not know how to manage the task. But they did not know that there was a great difference between the religious government and the other kinds of governments.
The difference was that according to the religious laws, dishonesty, deception and even white lies were not acceptable. In this respect Imam ‘Ali (as) could not agree with Mu’awiyah, who was indifferent to the religious matters. Furthermore he had refused to pay homage to Imam ‘Ali (as) in spite of the fact that all the Muslims and the great companions of the Prophet had submitted to him willingly.
At any rate a few letters were exchanged between Imam ‘Ali and Mu’awiyah but regretfully Mu’awiyah was impervious to Imam ‘Ali’s advices. Finally the battle of Siffeen took place.
The Battle of Siffeen
Mu’awiyah made preparations for the war and set off towards Imam ‘Ali's area with forty thousand soldiers. They got at a place called Siffeen between Syria and Iraq. Mu’awiyah arrived there earlier than Imam ‘Ali (as) and occupied the bank of the river. He closed the way to the watering place that no one else could get water except his followers.
Imam ‘Ali's army reached the place and they were badly thirsty. They found that there was no any drinking place for them to get water. The enemy controlled the water carefully that getting water was not possible easily.
Imam ‘Ali (as) sent word to Mu’awiyah but he refused to open the way to the watering place. Imam ‘Ali (as) was obliged to say to his men: “Get up and get water by sword.” Those thirsty soldiers attacked the guards, dispersed them away and occupied the watering place.
Now the Iraqis wanted to pay the Syrians in their own coin but Imam ‘Ali (as) did not want to requite evil with evil and said: “Do not prevent anyone from getting water.” Hence every one could take water freely.
Then Imam ‘Ali (as) sent some persons to warn Mu’awiyah of the consequences of the war and to reason with him the homage. Some other groups also acted as intermediary to prevent bloodshed but Mu’awiyah used every excuse to declare the war.
He pretended that he would not let Uthman's blood be lost. He had hung the bloodstained shirt of Uthman on the pulpit of the great mosque of Damascus, around which thousands of Syrians used to weep for Uthman's innocence and then they had sworn to avenge his blood.
Since Mu’awiyah had accused Imam ‘Ali of Uthman’s murder, the Syrians were in favor of Mu’awiyah to fight against the Iraqis.
Mu’awiyah was really an autocrat in Syria since the reign of the second caliph ‘Umar and he would never submit to Imam ‘Ali (as) to lose the position. Hereon he involved the Muslims in a war that its bad effect has still remained till the present time.
At last the battle raged and Imam ‘Ali's army of ninety thousand soldiers confronted the Syrian army of one hundred thousand soldiers. During the first week some fighters of both parties came forward day after day and fought each other. Some of both sides were killed. In this manner the battle became more widespread and bloodshed increased.
In the eighth day ibn Abbas (the Prophet's cousin) and Malik al-Ashtar, the two courageous men, attacked the enemy's right and left flanks that Mu’awiyah’s forces had to retreat from the field several times.
In the ninth day Imam ‘Ali (as) himself came forward with his men and made such an attack that the whole battlefield rocked and the enemy’s rows broke off under storms of arrows and spears. Imam ‘Ali came and stood where Mu’awiyah could be seen. Imam ‘Ali challenged him saying: “Come towards me. Let the winner of the fight be the ruler.”
Although Amr ibn al-Aas, Mu’awiyah’s counselor, encouraged Mu’awiyah but he began to go back.
The historians mentioned that Imam ‘Ali (as) had showed such bravery in Siffeen, that you seldom see it’s like in the history. Everywhere he appeared, the enemy's lines were confused and they scattered before his sword like ants and locusts. No one dared to face him unless he was killed in the first rush. Therefore he occasionally changed his dress and horse.
Suddenly, in the thick of the fight, a man leaped forward and assaulted Imam ‘Ali (as), who evaded the danger. Then Imam ‘Ali hit the man upon his back with his sword. The man was split into two halves. The people thought that Imam ‘Ali’s hit had missed the man but when his horse jumped two separated halves fell down on the ground. The enemy knew later that he was Imam ‘Ali (as) in disguise.
Some days passed in this manner and the Iraqi army had the advantage over the enemy many times because of the continuous and break-neck attacks. At the night of al-Hareer(Hareer is an Arabic word. It means “to howl” and “to whine”. The fallen and wounded soldiers were howling in that livelong night) when the successive rushes of Imam ‘Ali's men reached the highest point and continued till the morning, the killed were more than thirty thousand ones.
In the tenth day Malik al-Ashtar and Ibn Abbas again assaulted the enemy severely and their men showed a high spirit of sacrifice. The spirit of the Syrians was broken and signs of defeat appeared among them.
While the battle was still raging the, enemy found that winning a victory by sword was impossible. Amr ibn al-Aass, who was prone to mischief and was famed for shrewdness, planned to play a trick.
He suggested to Mu’awiyah by saying: “Let us raise some copies of the Qur’an on the spears and then the armies of the two sides are to be called to make the Qur’an as arbitrator. This act will create separation among them. Consequently many soldiers will stop fighting and many others will like to keep on it. The result will be to our privilege because, in this way, we can put off the war for a while to get rid of this distress.
Some pages of the Holy Qur’an were raised on the spears and consequently the form of the war was changed.
When Imam ‘Ali (as) saw that the Holy Qur’an had become the device of their trickery, he said: “Be careful and do not be deceived. They invented this trickery just to get rid of defeat. They are neither interested in the Holy Qur’an nor connected with the religion. We are fighting against them to follow the Holy Qur’an's principles. Keep on the war to obtain the victory over the dying enemy.”
But unfortunately a large number of his army began to shout and cry. They said to Imam ‘Ali: “We prefer the verdict of the Qur’an and if you do not respond to the call of Qur’an, we will deal with you as we did with Uthman. You have to stop the war at once.”
Imam ‘Ali (as) did his best to make them understand the trick but they were impervious to his arguments. They had forgotten the Prophet's saying: “‘Ali is always with the Qur’an and the Qur’an is with ‘Ali. They will never separate until they come to me at Kawthar River (a river in paradise).”( Refer to ibn Mardwayh’s Manaqib, al-Haythami’s Majma’a, vol.1 p.p.236, al-Hakim’s Mustadrak, vol.3 p.p.134 and al- Fakhr ar-Razi’s Tafseer, vol.1 p.p.111).
The battle still raged but they made Imam ‘Ali (as) send a word to Malik al-Ashtar40 asking him to come back from the field. When Malik received the order, he was surprised.
He said: “This is not the time to leave the battle. Tell Imam ‘Ali (as) to wait a little until I come back with the tidings of victory.” The message was delivered to Imam ‘Ali (as) but many soldiers shouted and urged upon him that Malik must come back as soon as possible. The messenger came back to Malik and said: “They are all in chaos. If Imam ‘Ali's life is dear to you, go back to him at once.”
Malik was obliged to go back to Imam ‘Ali (as). After scolding the rebellious soldiers he said: “According to the homage you paid to him, obeying him would be obligatory for you.” But regretfully they paid no attention to his saying.
Then it was agreed that each party should nominate an arbitrator to decide the matter of the caliphate according to the Holy Qur’an. Amr ibn al-Aass was nominated by Mu’awiyah’s followers and Abu Musa al-Ash’ari was chosen by Imam ‘Ali’s followers as arbitrators. Imam ‘Ali (as) had in mind to appoint ibn Abbas or Malik al-Ashtar as his agent but army did not listen to him and they stuck to Abu Musa.
Some spies of Mu’awiyah were in rapport with a few heads of Imam ‘Ali's army. They used to aggravate the condition.
The historians mentioned that Abu Musa was a stupid man and that he had not shown confidence and trust in Imam ‘Ali (as). He even prevented the people from joining Imam ‘Ali’s army.
When the rebels insisted on that Abu Musa should be the arbitrator, Imam ‘Ali (as) said: “Now you do not listen to me. Well, choose your own way! It is not far when you will bite your fingers regretting your misdeed.”
Finally Abu Musa and Amr were chosen as arbiters. They put their heads together and decided to depose Mu’awiyah and ‘Ali (as) from the seat of the caliphate and then to let the people choose an adequate person for that rule. They were to announce their decision to the people.
After some formalities, Amr said to Abu Musa: “It is impolite that I precede you. You are older than me. You announce first.” Abu Musa became proud after this flattery and came before the crowed and saying: “We both determined on deposing Mu’awiyah and ‘Ali ibn Abu-Talib and hereupon the Muslims have the right to choose a caliph as they like.”
Then it was Amr's turn. He said: “O people, you heard just now that Abu Musa deposed ‘Ali (as) from his position and I approve it. But there is no reason that makes me depose Mu’awiyah so I appoint him as the caliph.”
As soon as Amr ended his words, the Muslims made a protest against the verdict of the arbitrators but no attention was paid to their protest.
Abu Musa cried hoarsely and said to Amr: “You deceived me. You are like a dog. If you attack it, it will bark and if you leave it alone, it will bark.” Amr said to him: “You are like the ass, which bears books.”
However Amr's trick firmed the authority of Mu’awiyah to some extent more than before.
The simple-minded people, who forced Imam ‘Ali to accept the arbitration, thought highly of the two arbitrators and thought that their verdict would be according to the Holy Qur’an but they had not paid attention to the Holy Qur’an, whereas some verses of the Holy Qur’an had praised Imam ‘Ali and had urged the Muslims to follow him. The Holy Qur’an says: “O you, who believe! Be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones” (9:119).
Many of the great Sunni commentators mentioned that “the true ones” were Muhammad (S) and ‘Ali (as) and “be with them” meant that the Muslims should follow them.41
The arbitrators had forgotten the Prophet's words: “‘Ali (as) is the wisest, the best judge and the most superior to all of you. Opposing his sayings and judgments is opposing me and opposing me is opposing Allah and that is blasphemy.”42
Could this short sketch of arbitration be a guide to the Muslims or the Qur’an and the Prophet's Sunnah in order not to be trapped by the enemy’s tricks and not to go after the worldly transient desires?
It is much regrettable that some authorities make use of deceitful devices to exploit the poor nations unfairly under the name of humanism.
Imam ‘Ali (as) believed that both science and religion should be adopted to serve the human beings. He said: “Allah has not made it obligatory for the ignorant to learn until He has made it obligatory for the learned to teach.” He also said: “Whoever trades and does not know the rules of religion, will fall in usury.”
The Battle of Nahrawan
After appointing the arbitrators, the people, who insisted on Imam ‘Ali (as) to accept arbitration, began to say that it was heresy to appoint someone as arbitrator except Allah. The Holy Qur’an says: “The judgment is only Allah's; He relates the truth and He is the best of deciders”43
And since Imam ‘Ali (as) had accepted the arbitration then he turned heretic. Of course they have distorted the meaning of the verse and hereby they caused the simple-minded people to separate from Imam ‘Ali's army.
When Imam ‘Ali knew the conspiracies, he sent some of the great companions towards them and then he himself went to their camp and finally they dispersed after hearing convincing evidences.
When they arrived at Kufa they began to tell a lie again that Imam ‘Ali (as) had broken the agreement of arbitration and that he was going to fight against the Syrians once again.
Imam ‘Ali (as) refuted their allegation and hereupon these people rebelled against him. They encamped in a place named Nahrawan near Baghdad. These people were called (Khawarij) the Kharijites.
When Imam ‘Ali (as) heard the verdict of the two arbitrators, he wrote to the Kharijites that the verdict was according to the arbitrators’ own wishes and not according to the Holy Qur’an. He said that he had not accepted it; therefore he had decided to fight the Syrians and that the Kharijites should support him this jihad.
They replied: “Since you had accepted the arbitration, you turned heretic. If you confess your fault and repent, we will think over the matter and then we will inform you of what we will do.” This letter indicated their insisting on rebellion.
Imam ‘Ali (as) had formerly prepared and equipped an army to march towards Syria, but his men expressed their desire to deal with the Kharijites first because they had killed the wali of Nahrawan and his maid, who was pregnant, and they also had butchered three other innocent women. Another man, who was sent for investigation, was killed too.
Consequently Imam ‘Ali (as) turned towards Nahrawan and sent the Kharijites a word that the murderers of the wali and the killed women should be handed over to him to be punished. They replied: “We altogether killed them.”
Imam ‘Ali (as), as usual, did not want to begin the war; therefore he sent a man with a word of peace to them. As a result of this meeting, many groups separated from the Kharijites and joined Imam ‘Ali's army. Those, who remained, were four thousand persons. They did not care for killing or being killed.
Imam ‘Ali prevented his men from beginning any attack but they put their arrows in the bows and drew out their swords from the sheaths. In this critical situation Imam ‘Ali (as) warned the Kharijites that the war would be hard for them, but they were so enthusiastic that they rushed suddenly against Imam ‘Ali's men and caused a bloody fight.
As Imam ‘Ali (as) had foreseen formerly, they all were killed except nine persons, who fled away to save their lives. Only eight persons of Imam ‘Ali's army were martyred.
Surprising it was! Who had suffered from oppression more than Imam ‘Ali (as)? Those who encouraged people to kill Uthman, after killing him, they accused Imam ‘Ali of being the guilty and tried their best to avenge.
Those, who insisted on him to stretch his hand to pay homage, broke their homage and waged the battles of al-Jamal (the camel) and Nahrawan.
They even threatened him with death if he would not accept the arbitration and when he accepted it, he was charged with heresy and then they wanted him to repent. Above all, he was the first man in Islam, whose certain right was usurped by political collusions.
At the same time Mu’awiyah decided to extend his domain; therefore he sent his armies to different cities of Imam ‘Ali's domination. He, hereby, created disorder and confusion so that Imam ‘Ali (as) could find no peace of mind. He sent many groups of marauders and killers to put down the opposition and to obtain homage by force.
The Prophet (S) had said to Imam ‘Ali before: “After me you will fight against the perfidious (those who fought in the battle of al-Jamal), the oppressors (Mu’awiyah’s followers) and the apostates (the Kharijites).”
Muhammad, the great educator, trained the people of that time so that they could make the civilized world of those submit to them days within half a century because they could control their personal desires easily by virtue and abstinence.
As a result of the social and moral education, those people never thought of achieving their own aims. They just thought of the benefit of the ummah. Really, the successive victories of the Muslims at the first age of the Islamic state were due to their principles and morals.
At the days of Abu-Bakr and ‘Umar these principles were still protected but at the reign of Uthman, the people did not pay much attention to those principles. On the other hand, the Muslims obtained victory over many countries and consequently they gained a lot of goods and spoils which led them to laze in luxury.
They practiced the luxurious and splendid life of the Romans and the Persians and made the new generation understand that no one could live at ease without riches. Hereupon the policy of the Islamic caliphate was changed into monarchy and tyranny.
This atmosphere was quite favorable for a man like Mu’awiyah, who was ambitious and wanted to found a hereditary sultanate instead of the Islamic caliphate. But Imam ‘Ali (as) wanted to restore the Prophet's Sunnah and the simplicity of the life during the time of the two caliphs; Abu-Bakr and ‘Umar and this made him face troubles that at least he was martyred.
The people gathered in Syria to firm Mu’awiyah's rule.
The historians mentioned that Imam Hasan, the elder son of Imam ‘Ali (as), who defended the religion, declared the war against Mu’awiyah. In the thick of the battle, some commandants of Imam Hasan’s army received a bribe from Mu’awiyah. They left Imam Hasan and joined Mu’awiyah.
Imam Hasan, facing many difficulties, was obliged to come to terms with Mu’awiyah. Contrary to the agreement, Mu’awiyah decided to appoint his son Yazid as his successor. Yazid was dissolute and ignominious.
He was a mass of sins and faults. Mu’awiyah poisoned Imam Hasan to clear clearing the way for his son. Finally he managed to appoint Yazid by force or by bribing the oppositionists when necessary.
The brave rising of Imam Hussein, the other son of Imam ‘Ali(S), which had a regretful consequence, was also the result of immorality spread among the people and the loss of the favorable atmosphere of the divine caliphate. It showed that people would prefer material concerns to principles.44
Since Imam Hussein (S) was the greatest fighter against tyranny, I deem it my duty to remind the readers briefly how he sacrificed himself for defeating injustice and oppression.
The death of Mu’awiyah, all the Muslims, willy-nilly, paid homage to Yazid except four persons.Imam Hussein was one of them.
The people of Kufa invited Imam Hussein to reform the bad political and social situations and to guide them to the right path. They sent him more than twenty-five thousand letters inviting him to set out towards Kufa.
In the meanwhile he was offended by the wali of Medina to force him to pay homage to Yazid but he left Medina for Mecca at night with his household. The Umayyads pursued their adversary even in Mecca. They intended to remove this obstacle by killing Imam Hussein. Imam Hussein, because of the reverence of Kaabah and that he did not want any bloodshed to be committed inside it, left Mecca towards Kufa.
He confronted a host of one thousand soldiers on the way to Kufa. The commander of them asked Imam Hussein to pay homage to Yazid; otherwise he would not be allowed to enter the city. He refused the proposal and then he had to pitch tents in a torrid place named Karbala.
The wali of Kufa dispatched an army of thirty thousand persons to Karbala within four days to surround Imam Hussein and his household. They occupied the watering places in order to force Imam Hussein to surrender when suffering thirst. They were so hard-hearted that they did not pay any attention for the children’s crying because of thirst.
There were one thousand persons with Imam Hussein when he got at Karbala. He told them that they had the option to leave or to stay, because he would be killed in that journey. They left him in groups and only seventy-two persons, including his sons, brothers and nephews accompanied by their wives and children, remained to support him. Every one of those devoted men made a short speech showing his sincerity.
At any rate they all were terribly thirsty. The worse of it was that the enemy did not have any pity even for the suckling babies and the old persons. It was three days that water was not found in the tents and the all were terribly thirsty especially the children.
Next day early in the morning, the enemy put arrows in the bows and shot at Imam Hussein’s tents. They hereby declared the war.
Some of Imam Hussein's companions were martyred in this attack. The companions then began, one by one, to attack the enemy and each one killed a good few of the enemy.
Then it was Imam Hussein’s turn to sacrifice himself. It was the sacrifice that made the world think with great respect and admiration of this nonesuch hero.
Try to think about a man, who was thirsty, tired and faced many terrible difficulties since early in the morning till the noon. He mounted and dismounted his horse many times to bring the dead bodies of the martyrs to the tents and exactly at this critical moment the enemy proposed again that he had no option but to be killed or pay homage to Yazid.
Imam Hussein said: “That bastard (ibn Ziyad, the wali of Kufa) made me choose one of two things, the death or the shame of submission. I will never prefer living with ignobility to being killed for the sake of God. Martyrdom is an honor in our family.”
Then he came towards the women's tents to say goodbye for the last time. They surrounded him and mourned over his forlornness and loneliness. He heartened them with soft words and said to them that they should be patient with calamities. Then he set to the battlefield.
According to the traditions of fighting in those days, it was man to man challenge. When Imam Hussein killed many of their brave heroes, no one else dared to fight him alone.
The enemy altogether made assaults. Imam Hussein beat them constantly. When they saw that they were not a match for him, they began to shoot at him with showers of arrows and spears.
Thurayh ibn Shurayk struck his right shoulder with a sword. A poisoned arrow hit his heart and then he fell down on the ground.
The enemy began to rush towards the women's tents. Imam Hussein shouted at them loudly: “If you have no faith, be at least freemen in this world according to your tribal traditions.” They returned and martyred him.
There is an article, written by an English learned woman under the title of "Three Martyrs". She says briefly: “In the history there were three praiseworthy men, who sacrificed themselves for exalting the word of "rightness" and for spreading justice and liberty among the people. They excelled all the other devotees in the world. The first one was Socrates, the philosopher of ancient Greece. The second one was Jesus Christ and the third was Imam Hussein, the son of Imam ‘Ali (as) and the Prophet's grandson from his daughter.”
She added: “If you study their lives deeply, you will know that Imam Hussein’s devotion is more important than the first two persons. He was forced to emigrate and was involved in many difficulties. His companions were killed, while being thirsty, before his eyes. He himself was put to death tragically, while he knew that his wives and children would be taken as captives to Kufa.”
That was a summary of the sad story of the greatest fighter, who fought against tyranny and autocracy and who denied himself before all the pleasures and he did not want to submit to abjectness and debasement.
Let us return to the main subject.
After the process of the arbitration, Mu’awiyah began to attack various places of Imam ‘Ali's domination. He spread killing and marauding all around and caused fear for the people of the far quarters of Kufa.
Imam ‘Ali (as) summoned the people to chase the enemy but the people did not respond to him. It seemed that the people were unwilling to fight. He encouraged them again to take part in the war at least for protecting their country.
At last a force of four thousands, headed by Hijr ibn Adiy, rose to chase the enemy. There was a short encounter between the two parties but the enemy ran away.
A few days before his martyrdom, Imam ‘Ali summoned the commanders and after scolding them for their idleness and listlessness, he said: “I have decided to fight against Mu’awiyah. If no one comes to help me, I will go to Siffeen with my own relatives only.”
They knew that he would practice what he said. Hereon they collected the people and said: “It will be disgraceful for us, if he is killed alone.”
In order to avoid this public disgrace, forty thousand persons flew to their arms and got ready for the battle. They promised to fight against Mu’awiyah to the bitter end, but unfortunately the criminal hand of ibn Muljim ended the life of the great leader of the believers.
It was to be regretted too much that his life failed him to reach his goal. When his beard was colored with his head's blood, he said: “I swear by the god of Kaabah that I won.”
Yes, he was troubled with a train of events that he could do nothing but to grieve.
Although many people were fascinated by his high characteristics, some others, who had heaped monies during the reign of Uthman, could not endure his justice. They often caused seditions and plotted to overthrow his government.
On the other hand, Imam ‘Ali couldn’t be indifferent to the misdeeds of his officers or to the expenditure of the public money for private motives and political purposes. And, above all, he had to resist his relatives' unlawful desires lest they would weaken the pillars of the religion.
Some critics criticized Imam ‘Ali and said that it would be much better if he did not accept the caliphate after Uthman in order not to be involved in so many difficulties or at least he should have resigned his post and had left the people alone especially when the spies misguided the people to wrong him in Siffeen.
They ignored that the Muslims themselves rushed towards him and begged him insistently to stretch his hand in order to pay homage to him as the caliph.
The people knew well that he was that fair man, who would never ignore the interests of the Muslims for the sake of his own interests.
Furthermore, according to the divine law when there were enough numbers ready to support the right, then the religious leaders had to rise to get back the lost rights of the oppressed ones from oppressors.
He said: “By Allah, who split grains to grow and created all the creatures, unless the people had not paid homage to me and unless Allah had not put the ulema under obligation that they had not to be silent in front of the oppressors and had not to be away from supporting the oppressed, I would have slackened the reins of the caliphate and I would have done what I had done the first day after the Prophet's death”
In another part of the same sermon he said: “The crowd of people leapt upon me as thirsty Camels when leaping upon each other at the watering place. They wanted to pay homage to me importunately. They crowded around me from every side in a way that Hasan and Hussein were about to be crushed under feet.”
On the other hand, if Mu’awiyah ruled over an army like the Iraqis, he would have become involved in many troubles, as he himself said to his friends: “I am ruling upon such stupid people, who obey me blindly, but Imam ‘Ali's followers strive hard for the sake of the religious matters and they think over the problems diligently and sometimes they dispute with Imam ‘Ali (as) . Consequently there is no secrecy about the state affairs. Imam ‘Ali discloses all the affairs before people but I conceal my affairs. This is the secret of my success.”
Imam ‘Ali ( s ) said: “Mu’awiyah is not more intelligent than me. He flatters and cheats.”
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