Part 59

Truthful, and His Messenger conveyed the Almighty's Message. ~Ubaydah As-Salmaani then went up to him (* Ali) and said: "O Commander of the Faithful! By Allah Who has no partner, I heard what you have said, from Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, * Ali made him swear three times to confirm what he (* Ubaydah As-Salmaani) had said. The version of the Hadith quoted herein is that of Muslim. This Hadith was also reported by Abu Dawood.

~ Ali, May Allah Be Pleased With Him, Takes Over:

As soon as “Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was made caliph, he delivered a keynote address which conditions then desperately called for. “Ali started off by reminding Muslims of the Glorious Quran which Allah revealed to guide man to the right path. He next called on them to do good and forsake evil. He also told them to fulfill Allah's Obligations and to preserve His sanctities, on top of which is the sanctity of a Muslim's life. ~ Ali hence publicly declared his views regarding any act of aggression against a Muslim, be he a caliph or otherwise. In his address, he also highlighted points of strength in the Muslim nation and urged them to strive for the Sake of Almighty Allah, fear Him and abide by His Commands so as to win His handsome reward.

* Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, immediately fell to undertaking the responsibilities of his new post. At that point, he had_ to take care of two very urgent, not to mention thorny, issues. The first was punishing the assassins of his predecessor, ~Uthmaan Ibn *Affaan, may Allah be pleased with him, who were still freemen on the loose, and who were also confident that the new caliph would never even think of taking action

against them, since they were the single major military power on the scene. However, almost every single person who did not take part in the revolt against ~ Uthmaan demanded that the new caliph immediately adopt a firm stand against the sinful insurgents.

Talhah and Az-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with both of them, along with other Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, walked in on ~ Ali and said: "We demand that vengeance be taken on the assassins. Those men took the liberty of shedding that man's blood." "Fellow brothers," ~Ali answered, "I am well-aware of that. But how do I handle people who have control over us, whereas we have none over them? You saw how your servants revolted with them and your Bedouins declared loyalty to them. They can do with us whatever they please. Do you think we are in a position to do that which you ask for?" "No," they returned. ~ Ali then rejoined, "I swear by Allah, I will not do but that which you agree to. Let us wait till people calm down, the fury in their hearts abates, and each retrieves his right. So leave me now, and see which way things will go then come back to me."

It, therefore, becomes clear that “Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was of the view that they should wait till he managed to have a firmer grip on matters, and be in full control of the situation. ~Ali realized his power had to surpass that of the insurgents in order for vengeance to be taken properly. The elite of the Muslims had no choice but to agree and wait impatiently.

The second issue “Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was up against had to do with the governors of the provinces who were mostly a sources of constant complaints from people

during the rule of *Uthmaan, may Allah be pleased with him. “Ali had to make up his mind whether to dismiss them or keep them in their posts for a while till he managed to hold sway all through.

In ~ Ali's opinion, the governors whom * Uthmaan had appointed were primarily responsible for all the events that ensued. He had even advised * Uthmaan to be firmer with them till things were back under control. He anticipated that the situation might be aggravated and matters could take a turn for the worse. Therefore, no sooner had people pledged allegiance to “Ali than he replaced all of *Uthmaan's governors at once. Instead, he appointed * Abdullaah Ibn * Abbaas as the governor of Yemen; *Uthmaan Ibn Haneef as the governor of Basrah; ‘Imarah Ibn Shihaab of Kufa, and Qays as the governor of Egypt. Sahl Ibn Haneef was asked to take charge of governorship of Syria from Mu* awiyah.

Despite being a shrewd politician, ~ Ali's adamant adherence to what is right won the better of him. He was a man of unshaken principles who would never turn a blind eye to whomever he was displeased with. He believed that pretending to be on good terms with them was a screaming violation of honesty and straightforwardness. He, therefore, did not hesitate for a minute to depose them all.

The Situation between ~ Ali and Mu‘ awiyah Flares up:

“Ali sent a messenger to Mu*awiyah asking him to pledge allegiance. Mu*‘awiyah, however, turned back the messenger with no answer. Later, during the month of Safar - i.e. two months after the assassination of ~Uthmaan - Mu*awiyah sent a message to * Ali in which he wrote "From Muawiyah to “Ali”. This is a phrase that meant that Mu’awiyah did not recognize ~Ali as a caliph, nor did he pledge allegiance to him. ~ Ali asked the messenger about the truth of the matter. The messenger replied: "J left behind me people who would settle for nothing less than punishment.” The messenger also told ~Ali that fifty thousand sheikhs of Syria were bemoaning the death of ~Uthmaan and were determined to fight until the assassins were handed over to them. “Ali replied, "O Allah! You know it well that I am free from any charge of * Uthmaan's assassination. 1 swear by Allah that the assassins have escaped. "

In his book, Al-Milal wan Nihal, Ibn Hazm points that Mu*awiyah never doubted * Ali's virtue or the fact that he did merit the caliphate. However, he was of the view that chastisement of the assassins should have taken precedence over the pledge of allegiance. He also saw that he had more right than anyone else to demand that vengeance be taken on them. Therefore, Mu*awiyah held punishing the perpetrators asa prerequisite to pledging allegiance to “Ali, although he was

well aware of the fact that the caliph would not be able to do so at that point. The reason was because the perpetrators belonged to the tribes that basically constituted the majority of “Ali's followers and soldiers. Mu’ awiyah is even reported to have sent ~ Ali a message in which he outspokenly accused him of granting refuge to *Uthmaan's assassins, being his escort, supporters and followers. It, therefore, becomes evident that Mu’ awiyah's obstinate demand can only mean one thing: that Mu’ awiyah insisted on rejecting the pledge of allegiance that all Muslims, with the exception of Mu‘ awiyah and people of Syria, paid ~ Ali.

It is only natural that the caliph would realize the necessity of having people of Syria join Muslims in pledging allegiance, even if that would require fighting them for it. After much mulling over and deliberation, that was precisely what “Ali, backed by most of his men, decided to do. He therefore prepared to head for Syria so as to fight those rebels and to preserve the unity of the nation. However, unexpected tidings from Makkah forced him to change his plans and postpone the march to Syria.

The Battle of Al-Jamal (the Camel):

The Mother of the Faithful, *Aa‘ishahh, may Allah be pleased with her, was on her way from Makkah to Medinah when she received the sad news of the assassination of *Uthman. She was also offended to learn that people of Medinah unanimously pledged allegiance to * Ali as Muslims' new caliph. *Aa'ishahh therefore decided not to return to Medinah thus declaring her extreme outrage and condemnation of the sad events that took place. Instead, she headed back to Makkah repeating: “I swear by Allah that ~Uthmaan was unjustly killed. I swear by Allah that I will demand that he be avenged!" Despite the fact that it was repeatedly narrated that

the Mother of the Faithful, may Allah be pleased with her, was against *~Uthman's policies during his final years, the sad end that he came to stirred feelings of grief and sorrow in every Muslim's heart. Besides, ~Aa'ishahh, more than anyone else, knew full well *Uthman's lofty status among the Companions and was aware that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, held him dear.

The reason why ~ Aa‘ishahh was against * Ali's caliphate and her insistence on taking vengeance on the assassins of *Uthmaan was because she may have thought that people of Medinah, including ~ Ali, were being lax in defending the victimized caliph and protecting him from harm. Moreover, Talhah and Az-Zubayr had asked * Ali's permission to head for Makkah to perform the minor pilgrimage. No sooner had they arrived there than they joined the Mother of the Faithful in her call and declared that they were coerced into paying allegiance to the new caliph. They also announced that they were no longer under any obligation toward him now that they were away from him. The Ummayads too left Medinah upon ~Uthman’s assassination and made for Makkah. Marawan bn Al-Hakam stood out and lead all those who demanded that the assassins of the martyred caliph be punished wherever they may be.