Part 53

Another question may be raised now, which is: Would it not have been better for ~ Uthmaan to accept these two offers in order to escape danger and to block the avenues that might lead to evil? ~Uthmaan's stance, in fact, was excusable on account

of his good character and kind nature which led him to believe that people would not violate their pledge of allegiance to their Caliph. The situation therefore paved the way for the violation of the Caliph's rights, which ushers in what we call the last stage of ~ Uthmaan's caliphate.

The Siege of Caliph's House and His Martyrdom:

In the middle of year 35 AH, some indigenes of these three cities, namely Egypt, Basrah and Al-Kufah decided to march to Madeenah in order to perform the yearly Hajj.

And in Shaawaal of the same year about 600 or 1000 Egyptian men set for Hajj under the leadership of AlGhafiqi Ibn Harb Al--Kki. And no doubt Ibn As-Sawdaa', the man behind this sedition, was with them. The number of the Basarites reached the aforementioned figure, and their leader was Hargoos Ibn Zuhayr As-Sa‘ di. Also the people of Kufah came with nearly the same number of their Basarite neighbors, and they were led by “Amr Ibn Al-Asamm. But, their hidden mission was as follows: to request from the caliph to remove the governors of their various cities, and if he refused he should resign as caliph; if he did not do so willingly, they would achieve their purpose by force.

In fact they disagreed on whom the new Caliph would be as each group had a different person in mind, which they concealed from the other groups. For instance, the Egyptians wanted ~Ali to become the Caliph, while the Basarites wanted Talhah Ibn *Ubaydullah. The people of Kufah preferred AzZubayr Ibn Al--Awwaam as the Caliph. According to AtTabari, every group believed that the success of this mission would be to its favor, and that its choice would be the next Caliph.

The Egyptians insisted that the Caliph should replace their governor Ibn Abi Sarh with someone else. To prevent the occurrence of sedition, ~Uthmaan granted their request and appointed Muhammad _ Ibn Abi Bakr as the governor of Egypt. So the Egyptians returned to their home. In this respect, many historians, like At-Tabari, state: As soon as the Egyptian delegates led by Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr set off to return to Egypt, they saw someone riding towards them. He continued accelerating until they noticed him, suspected him and arrested him. So they maltreated him in order to expose the purpose of his mission. When they searched him, they found that he had a letter with ~Uthmaan's seal. The letter was sent to the governor of Egypt ~Abdullaah Ibn Sa*d Ibn Abi AsSarh. The Caliph ordered him to arrest the delegates on reaching Egypt, and to kill all of them.

This unbelievable event was enough to sow anxiety and hatred in the hearts of people. So they returned to Madeenah. Their Iraqi comrades had not returned because the last part of their plot had not finished. Thus, the Egyptians came to the Caliph and showed him the letter. ~Uthmaan said to them: "Two men witnesses should be provided to testify to this, or I swear by Allah, the One who has no associate, that I did not write, dictate or know anything about this letter. In order to show his innocence, he explained to them that the letter might have been forged: “You know that someone else could have written this letter and forge the seal." At this point, they asked him to present his scribe Marawaan Ibn Al-Hakam, whom they were sure wrote the letter. But the Caliph refused lest they may assassinate him. They insisted with their demand, and the Caliph also insisted on his stance, and_ the situation became awkward. These people lay siege to the house of ~ Uthmaan and prevented him from going out even to lead people in Salaah.

The letter, which the Caliph sent to the people of the cities before things got out of hand, read: In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. To start with, Almighty Allah sent Muhammad with the truth, and as bearer of glad tidings and as a warner. He delivered the Message Allah sent down to him, and passed away after accomplishing his mission. He left behind Allah's Book (the Glorious Quran) which makes clear what is lawful and what is forbidden, and explains the predestined things. The Prophet implemented Allah's Law upon those who liked it or not. Then the tenure of Abu Bakr and “Umar came, and they did the same thing. I was nominated by the council of consultants (Ash-Shura) without my request for the post of caliph; I was selected with the consensus of the consultants. I followed the Prophet's Tradition and not my own whims; 1 was guided by the Quran and not by fabricating my own ideology. But to my surprise, I was attacked and condemned without offending. I have never approved of anything that the Quran rejects. They opposed me without any evidence or reason. The insurgents blamed me of doing things done by my predecessors and approved by learned people of Madeenah, which is no doubt the best.

1 endured this situation for years although I could see and hear all movements and reactions. Later they continue to demolish the rulings of Allah and transgress against us while we are beside the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his sacred Mosque and in the land of Hijrah (Madeenah). As usual the Arabs have become loyal to them. They are like the confederates in the battle of Al-Ahzaab (the confederates), and they are about to invade us. So whoever finds himself able to join us, should join us.

As soon as the letter of relief reached all the provinces, troops began to arrive at the Capital (Al-Madeenah) to end (you wrote lift the siege from the house of the Caliph. Mu’ awiyah

sent an army under the command of Habeeb Ibn Masalamh AlFihri; and Ibn Abi Sarh sent troops led by Mu‘ awiyah Ibn Hudayj As-Sukooni; while those of Kufah were led by AlQa*qaa* Ibn ‘Amr and At-Tameemiyy.

In Madeenah, the young people like Al-Hasan and AlHusayn, ~Abdullaah Ibn Az-Zubayr and others hastened to protect the Caliph and prevent the insurgents form reaching the caliph and his family. Food and water were secretly brought to the Caliph's house. The siege took as long as twenty days, in which Madeenah was thrown into confusion, and controlled by the insurgents.

When the period of Hajj was over and support came from Madeenah in favor of the Caliph, this made things difficult for the insurgents. So they decided on this ground to execute their mission immediately before things got out of hand and before were overpowered by the allied forces supporting the Caliph. They tried to break into the Caliph's house, but failed because of the resistance of the Ansaar and the Muhajireen. Then the insurgents decided to burn ~Uthmaan's house. They climbed the walls and attacked him while he was reciting the Glorious Quran silently. Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr did not hurt the caliph, but Al-Ghafiqi Ibn Harb immediately hit ~ Uthmaan with an axe he was holding. Then anther one struck him with his sword. On seeing this ugly scene, the Caliph's wife, Naa'ilah tried to protect him, but the sword chopped off her fingers. One of the insurgents ultimately put an end to the Caliphs life by striking him. The insurgents robbed the Caliph's house and the Baitul-Maal.

This event took place on Friday, 18" Dhul-Hijjah, 35

These evil men only allowed the people to bury the Commander of the Faithful in secret. Then his decent and clean body was finally laid to rest at night and his burial was attended by a few mourners.

This unfortunate and painful incidence brought an end to the life of the third Rightly-Guided Caliph, ~Uthmaan Ibn * Affaan, at 80 years of age. It was undoubtedly an abundant life of one of the revered Companions, one of the pious early Muslims who strove in Allah's Cause with his soul, money and his utmost service and selfsacrifice. To justify this event was nothing but pain felt by all the Muslims. Its effect is still remembered in the Muslim world today.

*Uthmaan's martyrdom closed the first chapter of the grave and heavy violence that erupted among the early Muslims. It also opened another file for this violence, which caused disruption among the Muslims and the unrest continued to the advent of 36 AH.

If one should comment on this painful end of one of the most prominent men of Islam, one will no doubt cry that these evil insurgents had committed an enormity and killed a soul who should not have been killed except with the course of justice. They are sinful for what they did, and they will be questioned by Allah concerning more sins that occurred through their evil acts and deeds. For they caused the death of elite of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, such as Talhah, Az-Zubayr, * Ali and many. Others who were killed during the continuous conflicts resulted in the shedding of much blood which happened during the tenure of the fourth Caliph; * Ali [bn Abi Taalib.

> alt gal y4 gle “Ali Ibn Abi Talib

may Allah be pleased with him

"Are you not content to stand to me as Haroon (Aaron) stood to Moosa (Moses), except that there is no Prophet after me."

His Embracing of Islam

Hadiths on His Virtues

“Ali's Exegesis of the Quran

Some of His Wise Sayings

Some of “Ali's Wise Sayings, Sermons and Moral Values Some Merits of the Commander of Faithful

A Brief Sketch of “Ali's Private Life, Islamic Legal Rulings and Words

The Hadiths Narrated in Connection with the Kharijites “Ali, May Allah Be Pleased With Him, Takes over Revenge

The Situation between “Ali and Mu’ awiyah Flares up The Battle of Al-Jamal (the Camel)

The Aftermath of Al-Jamal Battle

The Preparation for the Battle of Sifeen

The Battle of Siffeen

The Final Phase of “Ali's Caliphate

The Death of the Commander of the Faithful

His name is “Ali Ibn Abi Taalib_(whose name was “Abdu Manaaf), Ibn ~Abdel Muttalib (whose name was Shaybah), Ibn Haashim (whose name was Al-Mugheerah), Ibn Qusayy (whose name was Zayd), Ibn Kilaab, [bn Murrah, Ibn Ka‘b, Ibn Lu'yy, Ibn Ghaalib, Ibn Fihr, Ibn Maalik, Ibn Nadr, Ibn Kinaanah. He was also known as Abu Turaab (the father of dust), a name given to him by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, whose daughter (Faatimah Az-Zahraa') he married.