Part 51

In reply to that, ~ Ali said: "Whomever ~Umar appointed as governor in provinces would also be put under close check, if he found anyone of them erring, he would never leave him unpunished. You have never done such thing, you are too lenient on your relatives."

*Uthmaan said, "They are also your relatives".

“Ali replied: "I give them no privilege above being relatives".

“Uthmaan: "Have you forgotten that “Umar mad Mu‘ awiyah a governor in a province and never ousted him throughout his Caliphate's era? So I did the same.”

“Ali: "You are right but I'd like to remind you that Mu‘ awiyah always held Umar in awe more than Umar's lad, Yarfa’, did !"

~Uthmaan, "Yes, I know that."

~Ali: "If you know that, why then give Mu’ awiyah free rein to do whatever he likes, issuing decisions in your name and you acquiesce in that?’

In addition to all what he said as factors that led to the escalation of the strife, there are other reasons, such as:

A very controversial doctrine introduced by a virtuous Companion, Abu Dharr Al-Ghifaari, concerning the distribution of wealth, sparked off a frenzied debate between him and Mu*awiyah. While Abu Dharr adopted a_ socialist-like approach, claiming that the wealth should be equally distributed among all Muslims, for they owned this wealth, Mu*awiyah,

* He was “Uthmaan’s cousin appointed as governor of Al-Basrah in the year 29 AH.

the then governor of the Levant, opposed that view raising the slogan "Allah is the Owner of all things"!

To this Abu Dharr counter-argued: "This sounds as someone who wants to manipulates the whole thing! Who says that Allah is not the Owner of all things?! But what I'm saying is that the state's wealth belongs to all Muslims and they should all have equal share or right to it." That is why Abu Dharr never supported the idea of amassing wealth, rather he would go for the idea that having a daily sustenance would suffice a Muslim, nothing more save what one reserves to spend in Allah's Cause. In supporting his argument, he used to cite the following verse:

"And there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah: announce unto them a most grievous penalty." (At-Tawbah: 34)

And he used to call upon the well-off class of people: "Give a due consideration to the poor (by giving them charity)".

It should not be any wonder that such an argument claimed many support among the poor class of the society, this made them too demanding and a pain in the neck of the rich who, having their backs to the wall, had no choice than to complain to the Levant's governor, Mu’ awiyah, who sent Abu Dharr back to Madeenah. Upon reaching there and confronting the Caliph, he was asked by ~Uthmaan: "What have you done to make Levantines complain a lot about you? Have you been too sharp-tongued?"

Abu Dharr replied: "Only what I said is that people should not be given free rein to amass wealth to the detriment of

others, under the slogan of "Allah is the Owner of all things".

“Uthmaan thereupon said to Abu Dharr: "My main task in this post of caliphate is to observe the obligation enjoined on me_ by Almighty Allah and to see that people also perform their duties, but not to impose an ascetic style of life on people, only what I can do is to advice them to be moderate in spending." Being dissatisfied with the answer, Abu Dharr sought the Caliph's permission to leave Madeenah. Not only that he was granted this permission, he was also honored with a befitting entourage that comprised of more than twenty camels and two servants.

Thus, the noble Companion left the Sacred City of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and settled in a place called Ar-Rabadhah, one of the Madeenan suburbs, where he later died after two years, in the year 32 AH.

In citing this incident as one of the main factors that led to the escalation of the strife, we have two points supporting this fact: First of all, Though Abu Dharr voice his own opinion on the distribution of wealth and left, the man really left behind huge numbers of supporters (the poor class) who found it an opportunity to vex their angers against people who were given to opulence and amassing wealth to the detriment of the majority of the populace. Hence, this incident drove the whole atmosphere to the boiling point in the sense that several revolutions were staged against the province's governors basked in cream of wealth, and this eventually led to a huge uprising against the Caliph himself who acquiesced in this extravagant habits. The second point is that this idea (fair distribution of wealth) was not a carbon copy of someone's imagination or say that he was just reiterating an opinion already voiced bya Persian man, ~*Abdullaah Ibn Saba’, rather, it was a refraction of rays of Islamic noble teachings laid down by the great tutor, Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

So it should not be a wonder to hear a virtuous Companion like Abu Dharr Al-Ghifaari voicing a personal opinion that greatly moves along the line with the teachings of

Islam and backing it with convincing proofs from the Glorious Quran !!

Who Is ‘Abdullaah Ibn Saba'? And What Is His Relation to the Sedition?

As for the first question, he is said to be a Jew from (the tribe of Himyar. His mother was a black slave, that is why he was called ‘Ibn as-Sawaad' (the son of blackness). * Abdullaah Ibn Saba’ embraced Islam during the rule of *Uthmaan, yet strong doubts surrounded his conversion. A modern researcher stated that his conversion to Islam was instigated by a clandestine group aiming at either of two things: dividing Muslims as regards religion or politics for his mission combined belief in both nomination of the caliph "Wisiyyah" and the return of the Prophet "Raj*ah". The former requires that it is none other than * Ali who should be appointed a caliph and that *Uthmaan should give up the caliphate by rebellion against him. The latter means the belief that Prophet Muhammad will come back again to life just as Jesus, peace be upon him, will.

As for his connection with the sedition, it was the strongest, most serious and influential in respect to the incidents and developments of the sedition. Ibn Saba' started off in Basrah where he propagated his wicked mission among all groups of people. Among his sayings which constitute the basis of his mission are: "Each Prophet has Wasiyy (a nominated successor) and Ali is the successor nominated by Muhammad, so who, then, does more wrong than one who does not abide by the nomination of the Prophet?" and "* Uthmaan illegitimately seized it (the caliphate), so you should revolt against this, starting by laying accusations against your leaders and pretending that you are enjoining good and forbidding evil." Ibn Saba' also attacked the great companions; he was the first to accuse Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and degrade them. Yet, * Ali

dissociated himself from Ibn Saba' and accused him of lying against Allah and His Messenger. [bn Saba’, however, continued his deviate claims to the extent that he claimed, "It is strange for one to believe that Jesus will descend and deny that Muhammad will return" deceiving people by searching for proof (for his claim) in Allah's saying,

(NO aay "otha St Sat) OT al ale (o5) wall Or

"Verily He Who ordained the Quran for thee, will bring thee back to the Place of Return." (Al-Qasas: 85)

Once the governor of Basrah knew about his claims, he dismissed him. Ibn Saba’ therefore headed for Kufah where he resumed his destructive activity. Yet, soon the Kufah's governor dismissed him, too. He next went to Syria. By that time, he already poisoned the atmosphere in Iraq spreading such evil thoughts that deeply affected many people whose faith was still frail even though they were Muslims.

In Syria, Ibn Saba’ could hardly do anything. That was because Syria was under a_ strong, intelligent and far-sighted governor, namely Mu‘awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyaan. Ibn Saba' continued his devilish journey to Egypt where he found a fertile soil for his lies. There he incited the public against the caliph and aroused bitter feelings in their breasts against him. The absence of Egypt's governor *Abdullaah Ibn Sa*d Ibn Abi Sarh, who was preoccupied with fighting the Romans and the people of Nubia, made his task in Egypt an easy one. Perhaps the fact that Ibn Abi Sarh was callous in collecting taxes and asking Egyptians to pay more than the obligatory sum played an important role in stirring hatred and resentment against him.

In propagandizing his ideas, Ibn Saba’ made use of two men from Quraysh: Abu Hudhayfah and Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr. The former was hostile to ~ Uthmaan because he did not appoint him for any administrative office though ~ Uthmaan took upon himself the responsibility of fostering and raising him after the death of his father. But why did the caliph refuse to confer on him a governmental office? Some narrators point: "This is because he was not an eligible candidate for authority in the eyes of the caliph who knew that his foster-son had once drunk wine. He (‘Uthmaan) openly said to him: ‘Had you been eligible, | would have appointed you, but you are not.' " As for the latter, he closely related to ~ Ali Ibn Abi Taalib who married his mother, Asmaa' Bint Abi ~Umays, after the death of Abu Bakr. Thus, he was raised in the house of his stepfather. Ibn Abi Bakr's enthusiasm for ~ Ali therefore was the reason why he supported Ibn Saba' and teamed up with against the caliph.

That way, the front opposing the caliph was stretching even though their activities remained covert until then (i.e. 34 AH). These activities took the form of mutual messages between the indignant persons here and there which included censure of the caliph and his officers in all provinces and mentioned certain attitudes that they regarded inconvenient. The voice of their censure gradually grew louder and was frequently discussed by people until it reached the caliph himself. ~Uthmaan, in turn, delegated four of the great companions to discuss these issues and search for the real reasons behind complaints filed by inhabitants of different provinces. He sent Usamah Ibn Zayd to Basrah, Muhammad Ibn Maslamah to Kufah, ~ Abdullaah Ibn ‘Umar to Syria, and ~ Ammaar Ibn Yasir to Egypt. The first three delegates returned to the capital and found that there was nothing to justify these complaints, but ~Ammaar stayed in Egypt and its governor, Ibn Abi Sarh, sent to ~Uthmaan informing him that ~Ammaar was drawn to some people in Egypt and that they managed to sway him to their