3. Easiness of arriving at a unanimous agreement.

• Number of fuqaha (major Sahabah) was limited • Most of Sahabah that were authorites of fiqh were confined to the same area, in Madinah mostly. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 39

Stage 3 Era of the Young Sahabah and the Tabi’een Narration of the hadith (41H-132H/ 662CE-753CE) This era began with the assassination of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib by the Khawarij. Hassan, the son of ‘Ali, was put into power afterwards. He then conceded to Mu’awiyah. Afterwards there was peace and the ‘ulema’ started a new age of knowledge. This is called the generation of the hadith. ”             !  " . $%&'   ()* +, -. ' /0 12 $%& 3 415 ()* +, -.  /0 12 .“ 89:  ; < 1= “They never asked about Isnad (chain of hadith narrators) until the fitnah occurred. Only then did they start asking. “Reveal to us the names of your narrators.” They look for Ahl as-Sunnah and accept their hadith, and look for Ahl al-Bid’ah and reject theirs.” (Ibn Sireen) The fitnah… When Uthman was assassinated, the people had very different opinions as to how to solve the dilemma they now faced. ‘Ali wanted to establish the Khilafah first and then avenge Uthman’s death. Mu’awiyah, ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas, Talhah and az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam were from Banu Umayyad, the tribe of Uthman, so they thought it was most important to first avenge Uthman’s death. A’isha wanted to get revenge as well. With the exception of Mu’awiyah, all the others decided to go to Iraq to go after the murderers of Uthman. When ‘Ali heard the news, he went to Iraq to stop them. He intercepted them at a location close to Iraq where both sides agreed to first establish the Khilafah and then go after the murderers of Uthman. Though a treaty had been made, the people of Fitnah infiltrated both the armies of A’isha and ‘Ali at night and killed people from both camps. The armies saw this as a breach of treaty from the other side and combat took place. They then engaged in the “Battle of al-Jamal (the Camel)” because the camel of A’isha represented the flag of the battle. If the camel fell, then A’isha’s army had fallen. A’isha’s army was eventually defeated. ‘Ali then sent A’isha with some of his men back to Madinah. After this, she took herself out of the politics of the Ummah. ‘Ali then went to Syria where he meet the army of Mu’awiyah and engaged in the “Battle of Siffin”. The Syrians wanted to negotiate so a peace treaty was made between ‘Ali and Mu’awiyah even though no agreement was reached. Dissension broke out in the army of ‘Ali since some of ‘Ali’s supporters, who at first did not want to fight in the battle, now did not want to have peace. Thus, 10,000 men removed themselves from the army of ‘Ali and went to an area called Haruraa. They were later to be known as the Khawarij. They developed radical views. They called ‘Ali, Mu’awiyah, ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas and Abu Musa al Ash’ari kuffar. Outwardly, these men looked very pious and more righteous than even the Sahabah. The Prophet predicted their coming in the following hadith: Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 40

Narrated Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri: “…Then the Prophet looked at him (i.e. that man) while the latter was going away and said, "From the offspring of this man there will come out (people) who will recite the Quran continuously and elegantly but it will not exceed their throats. (They will neither understand it nor act upon it). They would go out of the religion (i.e. islam) as an arrow goes through a game's body." I think he also said, "If I should be present at their time I would kill them as the nation of Thamud was killed"” (alBukhari). RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa Sallam called the Khawarij “kilaabun naarDogs of the fire” ‘Ali sent his cousin ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas to negotiate and have intellectual debates with the Khawarij (i.e those who removed themselves from the army). 6000 men from amongst the Khawarij came back with ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas. It was the remaining 4000 that started to propagate the views of the Khawarij. The Sahabah did not consider the Khawarij as kuffar, but as Bugha or Ahlul-Baghi (transgressors). Therefore, the Sahabah decided to leave the Khawarij alone until they directly attacked the Sahabah. When the Khawarij killed the son of Khabbab ibn Arat and his pregnant wife, the Sahabah went to battle against them. ‘Ali’s army almost completely exterminated the Khawarij in An-Nahrawan (Battle of Nahrawan) but a few escaped and fled to the East. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) predicted that ‘Ali would fight the Khawarij. He gave a description of a man that would be killed in the battle—a man with one hand whose flesh would hang down like a breast. After the battle, ‘Ali sent the people to find this man. When the man was eventually found, ‘Ali RadiAllahu Anhu said: “Allahu akbar, sadaqa Rasulullah” and was relieved because it affirmed he was fighting the right people. Narrated Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri: “While the Prophet was distributing (war booty etc.) one day, Dhul Khawaisira, a man from the tribe of Bani Tamim, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Act justly." The Prophet said, "Woe to you! Who else would act justly if I did not act justly?" 'Umar said (to the Prophet), "Allow me to chop his neck off." The Prophet said, "No, for he has companions (who are apparently so pious that) if anyone of (you compares his prayer with) their prayer, he will consider his prayer inferior to theirs, and similarly his fasting inferior to theirs, but they will desert Islam (go out of religion) as an arrow goes through the victim's body (games etc.) in which case if its Nasl is examined nothing will be seen thereon, and if its Nady is examined, nothing will be seen thereon, and if its Qudhadh is examined, nothing will be seen thereon, for the arrow has gone out too fast even for the excretions and blood to smear over it. Such people will come out at the time of difference among the (Muslim) people and the sign by which they will be recognized, will be a man whose one of the two hands will look like the breast of a woman or a lump of flesh moving loosely." Abu Sa’eed added, "I testify that I heard that from the Prophet and also testify that I was with 'Ali when 'Ali fought against those people. The man described by the Prophet was searched for amongst the killed, and was found, and he was exactly as the Prophet had described him" (alBukhari). The remaining Khawarij then isolated themselves and created their own ideology, their own fiqh. They believed that destroying the political leadership would resolve the problems they saw. So they made a vow to assassinate ‘Ali, Mu’awiyah, and ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas. One assassin went to Iraq to kill ‘Ali. Another went to Sham (Damascus) to kill Mu’awiyah. And a third went to Egypt to kill ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas. ‘Abdur Rahman ibn Muljim managed to kill ‘Ali in Kufa, Iraq while the latter was leading Salatul Fajr. Mu’awiyah was injured in Damascus and ‘Amr’s deputy was killed instead of him since ‘Amr was not feeling well and so he sent his deputy to lead Salatul Fajr for him. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 41

Hassan took over after the death of his father ‘Ali. The Prophet predicted this and made du’aa for Hassan to unite the two factions of the Muslims. Hassan then later conceded to Mu’awiyah for the sake of unity. This year became known as the Year of Jama’ah (Community). By conceding to Mu’awiyah, Hassan fulfilled the prophecy of the Prophet. Mu’awiyah came into power and hence the Umayyad dynasty was established. Narrated Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): “I heard The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) talking at the pulpit while Al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting beside him and he (i.e. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) ) was once looking at the people and at another time Al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him), and saying, "This son of mine is a Sayyid (i.e. chief) and perhaps Allah will bring about an agreement between two sects of Muslims through him"” (alBukhari). Geographical and Political Preview: The Umayyad Dynasty Mu‘awiyah was the governor of Sham during the Khilafah of ‘Umar. So the people of Sham loved him and he loved them. Thus, when he became Khalifah, he moved the Islamic state from Kufa, Iraq to Damascus, Syria. Sham was a point of trade because of its close proximity to the Roman Empire so it became like a cultural center. Mu’awiyah continued to try to make peace between the Muslims but the Khawarij continued to think of ways to revolt against the khalifah and the Shi’a emerged in Iraq. During the rule of Mu’awiyah, a monarch system was first suggested. This was not received well by the Muslim public. While Mu’awiyah was getting weaker, he consulted people who adviced him to give the khilafah to his son, Yazid. Many of the Sahabah were forced to give bai’ah (allegiance) to Yazid. Some of them procrastinated their bai’ah while others escaped so they would not be forced to give bai’ah. ‘Abdullah ibn Zubayr escaped to Makkah. Hussain (the son of ‘Ali) went to Makkah and joined ‘Abdullah ibn Zubayr. They declared war against Yazid under the claim that the people did not approve of him. The people of Iraq then invited Hussain to join them saying that they will support him as they supported his father (‘Ali) and brother (Hassan). ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar advised Hussain not to go to these people for they betrayed ‘Ali, and would betray him (Hussain) as well. Nevertheless, Hussain left for Iraq. Yazid learned about Hussain’s migration to Iraq and sent an army to fight against him. Hussain was killed in this battle (Battle of Karbala). He did not receive the help from the Iraqis as he was promised thus, the same people who had offered their help to Hussain aided in murdering him by not supporting him when the time arrived. Marwan ibn Hakm took over the dynasty after Yazid’s death. He is considered the true founder of the Umayyad dynasty. After Marwan, all the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty consisted of his sons and grandsons with the exception of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 42

‘Abdullah ibn Zubayr was defeated by Al-Hajjaj, a ruthless man, during the khilafah of ‘Abdul Malik ibn Marwan. During the battle, Al-Hajjaj, besieged Makkah and sent catapults towards the Ka’bah. He did not fear destroying the Ka’bah. Hence, there is much animosity against the corrupt and ruthless rule of the Umayyads. The Umayyads only ruled for about 90-91 years and then their dynasty collapsed. The Umayyad dynasty collapsed when the Abbasids (also descendents of the Prophet) began allying with the Muslims from the East (the non-Arabs). The Umayyads and the Abbasids fought at a river between Iran and Iraq and the Umayyad dynasty was hence eliminated from the East. However, some of the Umayyads escaped to North Africa and then Spain. In Spain, they were able to re-establish the Umayyad dynasty for another 300 years. ‘Abdur Rahman ibn Hisham ad-Dhaakil was the founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain. In order to escape from the Abbasids in Syria, he jumped into the Euphrates and swam until he reached the opposite shore. His brother, who was with him, became tired in the middle of the swim and decided to return to the shore, against the pleas of ‘Abdur Rahman. Thus ‘Abdur Rahman ibn Hisham ad-Dhaakil saw his own brother killed before his eyes by the Abbasids who were saying that they would not harm the brothers. When ‘Abdur Rahman eventually reached Al-Andalus, he was able to gain supporters and re-establish the Umayyad dynasty in Spain. Era of the Young Sahabah and the Tabi’een Narration of the hadith (451H-132H/662CE-753CE)
Characteristics of the Stage