Part 69

As for their claim that he had knowledge of the unseen, this is clear from the oaths sworn by some of them, as they used to swear "by the one who has knowledge of the unseen and the visible, our lord who is in Ruqadah."464 Knowledge of the unseen is one of the unique characteristics of the divine, and no one has knowledge of the unseen except Allah, as He says: Say: None in the heavens and the earth knows the Unseen except Allah, nor can they perceive when they shall be resurrected.' (Quran 27: 65) And with Him are the keys of the Unseen [all that is hidden], none knows them but He. And He knows whatever there is in the land and in the sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.!' (Quran 6: 59) Similarly, oaths should not be sworn upon any created being, rather they should be sworn upon the Creator. The Messenger of Allah (SAAW) said: «Whoever wants to swear an oath, let him swear by Allah or else remain silent.» There are also hadiths which forbid swearing by one's forefathers.465 Oppression of everyone who disagreed with their madh-hab This was in addition to everything mentioned above, quoting from the words of Qadi Tyad about their reviling the Companions and hanging up the heads of rams above the names of the Companions and other abhorrent and reprehensible acts that they used to do.466 They would force people to join their madh-hab by threatening to kill them, and they did in fact execute four thousand men during one period. Al-Qabisi said: Those who have died in Dar al-Bahr (the 'Ubaydis' prison) in alMahdiyah from the time when 'Ubayd-Allah entered the city until now is four thousand men; they died from torture, including scholars, devoted worshippers and righteous men.467 This is in addition to those whom they killed without imprisonment and mutilated their bodies in the streets of Qayrawan. This affected the course of academic life, but despite that these trials only led the people of Muslim North Africa to increase their resolve, patience, seeking (Allah's) reward and adhering to the Quran and the Sunnah. Prohibition on issuing fatwas according to the madh-hab of Imam Malik They forbade the religious scholars to issue fatwas according to the madh-hab of Imam Malik, and regarded that as a crime punishable by beating and imprisonment, and even death on some occasions. They followed that with a type of psychological terrorism, whereby the body of the slain person would be carried around in the marketplaces of Qayrawan and they would call out, "This is the recompense of one who follows the madh-hab of Malik." They did not allow anyone to issue fatwas except those who followed their madh-hab. They did this to the juristic scholar known as alHuz'i, Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-'Abbas ibn al-Waleed, who died in 329 AH.468 Abolishing certain Sunnah practices and adding to others They added the phrase 'hayya 'aid khayr al-'amaV ('come to the best deed') to the adhan,469 and they abolished tardweeh prayer,470 after letting the people pray it for one year. For this reason most people stopped praying in the mosques, and woe betide anyone who omitted the phrase 'hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' from the adhan. An example of that is what was narrated from 'Aroos al-Mu'adh-dhin (d. 317 AH), who was a muezzin in one of the mosques. Some Shiites testified that he did not say 'hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' in his adhan. As punishment, his tongue was cut out and placed between his eyes, and he was paraded around Qayrawan, then killed.471 Nevertheless, some scholars understood the plot of the 'Ubaydis and their evil aim, which was to empty the mosques of worshippers. In order to ward off this evil, they gave permission to the muezzins to add the phrase 'hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' to the adhan, because omitting it would lead to a greater evil. One of these scholars was Abul-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Masroor al-'Abdi adDabbagh (d. 359 AH),472 who was a man of piety, worship and devotion. He understood the aims of the 'Ubaydis and said to the muezzins, "Recite the adhan according to the Sunnah in your hearts, then when you have finished, say, 'hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal,' because Banu 'Ubayd want to empty the mosques, so you doing this — as you are excused — is better than emptying the mosques."473 Banning gatherings The Fatimid state was eager to ban gatherings for fear of revolution and rebellion against them. Hence they sounded a horn at nightfall, and anyone who was found on the streets after that would be beheaded. They would also break up any gathering for the funeral of any scholar who died.474 Such actions are still perpetrated by oppressive police states which do not accept any view but that of their rulers, tyrants and 'pharaohs'.