Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Fourth Caliph of the Muslims

ALI BELONGED TO THE CLAN OF BANU HASHIM, the most
distinguished clan in all Arabia; and in Banu Hashim, he belonged to the most
distinguished family – the family of Abdul Muttalib. Abdul Muttalib had ten sons. Two
of them were Abdullah, the father of Muhammad Mustafa, and Abu Talib, the father of Ali.
Abdullah and Abu Talib were the children of the same mother whereas their other brothers
were born of the other wives of their father.

Ali's mother, Fatima, also belonged to the clan of
Hashim. She was the daughter of Asad the son of Hashim. Asad and Abdul Muttalib were
brothers. She was thus the first cousin of Abdullah and Abu Talib.

Ali's mother, Fatima bint Asad, was the second woman
in all Arabia to accept Islam, the first being Khadija.

Fatima bint Asad was the foster-mother of Muhammad
Mustafa, the Messenger of God. She brought him up as her own son, and in fact, loved him
more than her own children, and he called her his mother.

Ali's father, Abu Talib, was the Defender of Islam,
and he was the Protector and Guardian of Muhammad. He supported Islam and Muhammad
consistently, and he was undaunted in the face of opposition and threats from the pagans.

Both in Makkah and Medina, Muhammad Mustafa declared
that Ali was his brother in this world and in the Hereafter.

Ali was the victor of the battle of Badr. He alone
killed half the number of all the Makkans who were killed in that battle.

Muhammad Mustafa, the Apostle of God, gave his only
daughter, Fatima Zahra, in marriage to Ali. God blessed this marriage with children. Those
children were God's most devout servants. Their greatest pleasure in life was to wait upon
their Lord.

In the battle of Uhud, most of the Muslims fled from
the battlefield. One who did not flee, was Ali. He saved the life of his master, Muhammad,
that day.

At the siege of Medina, Ali killed Amr bin Abd Wudd,
and thereby saved Medina from being overrun, and its people from being massacred.

Ali captured Khyber. With Khyber's conquest, Islam
became a state with territory. Until the conquest of Khyber, Islam was only a city-state,
confined to the walls of Medina.

Ali was the secretary who indicted the Treaty of
Hudaybiyya.

When Makkah capitulated to the Prophet, Ali rode his
shoulders, and smashed the idols in the Kaaba. He and his master, Muhammad, purified the
House of God for all time by removing all vestiges of idolatry and polytheism from it. In
this manner, Ali collaborated with Muhammad, the Messenger of God, from beginning to end,
in constructing the framework of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

In the battle of Hunayn, the Muslims fled once
again. Ali put himself between the Apostle and the pagan warriors who wanted to kill him.
He fought against them until the Muslims rallied.

In October 630 (9 A.H.) the Apostle led an
expedition to Tabuk, and he appointed Ali his viceroy in Medina.

Among all the companions of the Prophet, Ali was the
most knowledgeable. He had thorough knowledge of the Qur’an, and its interpretation.
He was the best of all judges, and he was the most eloquent orator of the Arabs.

Just before his death, the Prophet equipped and
organized an expedition to Syria, and he appointed Usama bin Zayd bin Haritha, its
general. With the exception of Ali, he ordered all the Muhajireen to serve under Usama.
Ali was to stay with him in Medina.

In the defence of Islam, it was Ali's family which
offered the greatest sacrifices. Obaidullah ibn al-Harith who was killed in the battle of
Badr, and was the first martyr of Islam in the battlefield, was his first cousin. Mas'ab
ibn Umayr and Hamza were killed in the battle of Uhud, and both of them were his uncles.
Jafar Tayyar who was killed in the battle of Mootah was his elder brother.

When Muhammad Mustafa died, Ali performed his
obsequies, and gave him burial. He knew what the other companions were doing when he was
busy with these duties but he did not allow anything to distract him. He kept his duty
ahead of his interests, and his principles ahead of politics.

Edward Gibbon

"The birth, the alliance, the character of Ali,
which exalted him above the rest of his countrymen, might justify his claim to the vacant
throne of Arabia. The son of Abu Talib was, in his own right, the chief of the family of
Hashem, and the hereditary prince or guardian of the city and temple of Mecca. The light
of prophecy was extinct; but the husband of Fatima might expect the inheritance and
blessings of her father; the Arabs had sometimes been patient of a female reign; and the
two grandsons of the Prophet had often been fondled in his lap, and shown in his pulpit,
as the hope of his age, and the Chiefs of the Youth of Paradise. The first of the true
believers might aspire to march before them in this world and in the next; and if some
were of a graver and more rigid cast, the zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by
any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint: his
wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious sayings; and every
antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his eloquence and
valor. From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the Apostle
was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his
vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses. The son of Abu Talib was afterwards
reproached for neglecting to secure his interests by a solemn declaration of his right,
which would have silenced all competition, and sealed his succession by the decrees of
Heaven. But the unsuspecting hero confided in himself: the jealousy of empire, and perhaps
the fear of opposition, might suspend the resolutions of Mohammed; and the bed of sickness
was besieged by the artful Ayesha, the daughter of Abu Bakr and the enemy of Ali.

The hereditary claims and lofty spirit of Ali were
offensive to an aristocracy of elders, desirous of bestowing and resuming the scepter by a
free and frequent election; the Koreish could never be reconciled to the proud
pre-eminence of the line of Hashem." (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)

The foregoing characterization is correct in general
but some statements in it need qualification.

Gibbon has erred in stating that Ali did not secure
his interests by a solemn declaration of his right by the Prophet. The Prophet had made
such a declaration, not once but many times, as noted before.

The historian has also spoken of the Prophet's
"fear of opposition." The Prophet had no fear of anyone. He had overcome much
more formidable enemies than those whose opposition could "frighten" him in his
hour of triumph.

Gibbon further speaks of "a free and frequent
election." The aristocracy of elders was desirous of bestowing and resuming the
scepter but only to itself, and not by a free and frequent election. Abu Bakr's accession
to the throne was an "improvisation," and Umar was the "king-maker" in
his case. When Abu Bakr was dying, he appointed Umar as his successor by a fiat. In doing
so, he dispensed with the farce of election. Umar, before his death, formed a panel of six
electors, and restricted the choice of khalifa to it. No one outside this panel could be
chosen as khalifa.

The only election which was really free was that of
Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was elected in the first and the last free election ever in the
entire history of Islam.

Lastly, Gibbon says that Koreish could never be
reconciled to the proud pre-eminence of the line of Hashem. He is right. But the same
Koreish who could not be reconciled to the proud pre-eminence of the line of Hashem, were
very eager to be reconciled to the proud pre-eminence of the line of the erstwhile
idol-worshippers and the usurers of Makkah. In their eagerness to be reconciled to the
latter, the Koreish who had resumed the scepter earlier, now bestowed it upon them.

The Restoration of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
– (The Caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib)

After the murder of Uthman, fear and panic seized
the companions of the Prophet. The members of Umar's electoral committee retreated into
the safety of anonymity. The fate of Uthman had struck terror into their hearts. The whole
country was seething with agitation, and no one, no matter how daring and ambitious, was
willing to put his neck into the loop by accepting the responsibility of running the
government. It was a responsibility fraught with the gravest perils.

But something had to be done. The vessel of Islam
could not be left adrift for long, and a firm hand had to be found to keep it on an even
keel.

Twelve years of misgovernment had shaken the Muslims
out of their long slumber and smudginess. Now they realized that the leadership of the
community ought to be in the hands of a man who would put public interest ahead of the
interests of his own family. Therefore, as soon as Uthman died, all eyes turned to Ali.
The companions of the Prophet could not think of anyone else who had the ability and the
grit to put an end to graft in the government and to anarchy in the land, and to restore
peace, and law and order to the Dar-ul-Islam which was battered by economic and social
conflict, and was buffeted by a rapid succession of traumas.

All the leading Muhajireen and Ansar, therefore,
gathered in the Mosque of the Prophet, and agreed, at a caucus, to ask Ali to take charge
of the government, and to steer the ship of state to safety. A delegation then called on
Ali, and requested him to accept this responsibility.

Tabari says in his History that the Muhajireen and
the Ansar almost mobbed Ali. They told him that the umma was without a leader, and the
government was without a head, and that he, i.e., Ali, alone was the most qualified person
to fill the position, not only because of his propinquity with Muhammad Mustafa, the
Messenger of God, but also because of his personal qualities and his services to Islam.

It was the first time since the death of the Apostle
of God that it occurred to anyone in Medina that there was such a thing as a
"qualification" to be a caliph. In the past the question of qualification had
been shelved each time a new ruler had to be found. Umar made Abu Bakr khalifa because the
latter was the oldest of the companions. Abu Bakr reciprocated Umar's gesture by choosing
him as his successor. Uthman was chosen khalifa because he was rich and weak.

Ali, however, did not accept the offer of the
companions, and said that he preferred to be an adviser rather than the caliph.

But the companions also did not accept Ali's
refusal, and said:

"No man has given more distinguished service to
Islam, nor is anyone closer to Muhammad than you. We consider you to be the worthiest of
all men to be our Khalifa." (Tarikh Kamil, Vol. III, p. 98, Ibn Atheer)

Ali still did not agree, and the companions still
persisted, and said:

"We appeal to you in the name of God to accept
the caliphate. Don't you see the state of the umma? Don't you see new perils rising
everywhere in the lands of Islam? Who will check them if not you?" (Tarikh Kamil,
Vol. III, p. 99, Ibn Atheer)

But Ali was unmistakably cool to the idea of
accepting the caliphate. It was not a conventional coolness but was the result of long and
sober reflection.

In the past, on one occasion, "ambition"
had cost Ali the throne of Arabia. Umar had remarked that he would have appointed Ali as
ruler of the Muslims if he (Ali) had not been too "ambitious." Umar spoke as if
to be ambitious was something reprehensible. His remark also presupposed that he himself
and some others had become khalifas without any ambition. Perhaps the khilafat was
something that had been forced upon them much against their will; and they had no choice
but to accept the burden of its responsibility!

Since Umar and Abu Bakr had no ambition, both of
them, and Abu Obaida ibn al-Jarrah, all three, must have been either driven or dragged
into the outhouse of Saqifa!

The reception by Ali of the request of the
companions to accept the khilafat, would suggest that he had, at last, said farewell to
ambition. In the past, he had never missed an opportunity to draw public attention to the
primacy of his own rights, and to the justice of his case. He believed that it was his
inherent right to become the first successor of the Apostle of God. This right was not
something that other people could "give" him, even though they could take it
away from him, and they did.

The keystone in the policy of the government of
Saqifa, as noted before, was to debar Ali and the Banu Hashim from the caliphate. In this
its first two incumbents were successful. The third incumbent, however, was killed in the
midst of a breakdown of law and order, and he did not have the time to appoint his own
successor. But if he had lived, he would have, without a doubt, appointed his son-in-law,
Marwan, or his cousin, Muawiya, his successor.

Ali was bypassed on three successive occasions in
the past. But now, after the death of Uthman, the Muslims felt that they were, for the
first time, really free to elect or select a caliph for themselves, and their choice for
the position was Ali. A coincidence of events had, at last, brought the long-sought
caliphate within his reach.

But to everyone's surprise, Ali was not showing any
eagerness to grasp it. Why?

Actually, Ali's desire to become caliph was not
prompted by ambition as Umar had claimed even though there is nothing wrong in being
ambitious. Ali wanted to become caliph because he knew that he and he alone had the
ability to steer the vessel of Islam on the same course which the Apostle of God had
charted for it. Other people, he knew, lacked this ability.

The institution of khilafat which was the legacy of
Muhammad, the Messenger of God, and which, therefore, ought to have been the symbol of the
moral and spiritual authority of Islam to the rest of the world, had become, instead, in
the course of the quarter-century since his death, the symbol of undiluted materialism and
naked imperialism. Profound changes had taken place in the lifestyle of the Muslims.
Instead of imitating the pure and austere life of Muhammad, most of them imitated alien
lifestyles. What propelled them now, was not the ideals of Islam but the lust to become
rich and powerful at any cost. The pristine simplicity and the egalitarianism of the times
of the Prophet of Islam, had become demoted. The quality of the life of the umma had
visibly declined.

Ali knew all this better than anyone else. He had
kept his finger on the pulse of the Muslim umma, and he had monitored its progress or its
lack of progress in all directions.

Ali also knew that the caliphate was no longer
something that one could take with "its roses and its thorns." The roses were
all gone; and all that was left, were the thorns. Accepting the caliphate now would only
mean wearing a crown of those thorns.

In 656 the caliphate was little more than a legacy
of turbulence and deficits.

Ali figured that if he accepted the caliphate, there
would be two courses open before him, and he would have to adopt one of them. One course
would be to follow the drift of events; to acquiesce in the general moral decline; to
connive at the corruption and rapacity of the provincial governors; to give the
bureaucracy a free hand in exploiting and oppressing the umma; and to tolerate the
anti-Islamic and neo-pagan practices of the new aristocracy. But such a course is
repugnant to Islam, and therefore, was even more repugnant to him.

The second course for Ali, was to accept the
challenge of the whole world that would inevitably array itself against him, and to fight
against it regardless of consequences as long as it disobeyed the commandments of God. If
he did, he would only be imitating his late friend and master, Muhammad. The latter had
also challenged the whole world and had fought against it regardless of consequences when
he had first proclaimed his mission. Ali knew that if he accepted the caliphate, the new
Arab aristocracy would challenge him, and his reign would begin with a civil war. A civil
war is not an auspicious beginning but what was the alternative for him?

The choice before Ali was not between winning the
civil war if there was one, or not fighting at all; it was instead, between what is right
and what is wrong; between truthfulness and deception; between adherence to principle and
pursuit of realpolitik. He wanted to rebuild the infrastructure of the Islamic society or
rather to restore the infrastructure just as it was in the times of the Apostle of God but
he realized that he could do this only in the teeth of most determined opposition from the
Quraysh.

Ali considered all this, and then wishing not to
inaugurate his caliphate with a civil war, turned down the request of the companions to
become the khalifa of the Muslims.

The author of the book Kitab-ul-Imama was-Siyassa
gives the following account of these events:

When the delegation of the Muhajireen and the Ansar
called on Ali and requested him to accept the khilafat, he refused. The delegation
returned to the Mosque and reported its failure to the companions who were present there.
But the latter said, "When the news of the murder of Uthman reaches the other parts
of the empire, no one will pause to ask if a new khalifa has been elected or not, and the
anarchy which now is confined to Medina, will spread to all the provinces. There is only
one way to check lawlessness from spreading, and that is to compel Ali to become caliph.
Therefore, go back to him, and insist upon his taking charge of the government, and do not
return until he agrees to do so. In this way, the news of the death of Uthman and the
accession of Ali to the throne, will travel together to every part of the Dar-ul-Islam,
and the situation will remain under control."

The delegation returned to see Ali, and this time,
its members went beyond customary entreaties. They said that the Muslim umma was in an
impasse, and if he didn't extricate it, he would be answerable to God and His Messenger
for it. Would he abandon the umma of Muhammad in the impasse, they asked. This new wrinkle
seemed to work. But being aware of the massive opposition to himself of the Quraysh, Ali
was still lukewarm in accepting the proposal. He, therefore, hedged his acceptance with
conditions of his own, and said to the delegates:

"I have perfect knowledge and understanding of
the Book of God, and of the practices and precedents of His Messenger. In ruling the
Muslim umma, I shall put their commandments and prohibitions before everything else. I
shall not show any flexibility in this matter. I shall take charge of the government only
if this condition is acceptable to you. If it is, and the Muslims are willing to take the
oath of allegiance to me, then tell them to assemble in the Mosque of the Prophet."
The delegation was ready to accept any conditions, and readily agreed to abide by Ali's
terms.

(Kitab-ul-Imama was-Siyassa)

After the death of Umar, his confidante, Abdur
Rahman bin Auf, had offered khilafat to Ali on condition that he would give a pledge to
follow the policy and the regulations of Abu Bakr and Umar. Ali refused to give any
pledge, and kicked at the offer made by Abdur Rahman bin Auf. Now the same khilafat was
being offered to him once again but without any conditions. In fact, it was he (Ali) who
was placing conditions upon acceptance by him of the offer being made by the Muslim umma.

Ali told the companions that he would not defer to
their judgment; instead, they would have to defer to his judgment if they insisted on his
taking charge of the government. And he added that they – the Muslims – would
have to give him unquestioning obedience – in peace and in war. They agreed. Their
agreement was the victory of principle. The Muslim umma had, at length, surrendered to
Ali's principles!

The umma of Muhammad, the blessed Messenger of God,
in quest of security and salvation, had "drafted" Ali ibn Abi Talib to reverse
the drift toward anarchy and chaos in Dar-ul-Islam. Tabari, the historian, says that Ali
was "drafted" on Thursday. The citizens of Medina were very happy with their
success in "drafting" him, and they said that they would offer their Friday
prayer with their new caliph.

"Why not the best?" was the question in
the mind of the Muslim umma when it "drafted" Ali as the caliph of Islam. When
it was at last free to choose, it chose, instinctively and inevitably, the very best.
Also, when the Muslim umma was insisting that Ali should occupy the highest position in
Islam, it was unconsciously spurning all "the gluttons of privilege" who were
infesting Dar-ul-Islam.

On Friday, 18th of Dhil-Hajj, 35 A.H. (June 17,
656), Ali ibn Abi Talib entered the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina, and walked to the
pulpit through the crowd of the Muslims. The crowd sat in an expectant mood, the currents
of excitement flashing through it, and it appeared to heave convulsively. There was an
almost palpable sense of tension and renewal in the "national" spirit of the
Muslims.

Ali held a bow in his hand, and he leaned against
the pulpit as the Muslims began to take the oath of allegiance to him. Between him and
them, it was "an open covenant openly arrived at," and there was nothing
clandestine about it. Most of the Muhajireen and the Ansar who were in Medina, gave him
their pledge of loyalty.

Ibn Hajar Makki writes in his famous book al-Sawa'iq
al-Muhriqah:

"The veterans of Badr said (to Ali):’No
one is more worthy of khilafat than you. Put out your hand so that we may give you our
pledge of loyalty.' And they gave him the pledge of their loyalty."

It was the first time, and the last time, in the
history of Islam, that a ruler was not foisted upon the Muslims. They chose their own
ruler, and their choice was spontaneous. Neither force, nor the threat of the use of
force, nor pressure nor bribes, nor double talk, were employed in his election. There was
no hysteria to grab power. Everyone was free to give or to withhold his pledge. Ali
himself was accepting the pledges almost mechanically, lost as he was in the reverie of
the times of his master, Muhammad, when he was accepting the pledges of the Quraysh just
after the conquest of Makkah in 630.

Edward Gibbon

A tumultuous anarchy of five days was appeased by
the inauguration of Ali; his refusal would have provoked a general massacre. In this
painful situation he supported the becoming pride of the chief of the Hashemites; declared
that he had rather serve than reign; rebuked the presumption of the strangers; and
required the formal if not the voluntary assent of the chiefs of the nation.(The Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire)

Talha and Zubayr were the first of the companions of
the Prophet to take the oath of allegiance to the new caliph. The Muhajireen and the Ansar
were the next. They were followed by the commoners. The first non-companion who took the
oath of allegiance to Ali, was Malik ibn Ashter, the most famous swordsman of Arabia.

Hudhaifa ibn al-Yamani was one of the leading
companions of Muhammad. He was living in Kufa and was confined to bed with a protracted
sickness. When he heard the news of the accession of Ali to the throne, he asked to be
taken to the great mosque of Kufa. When the Muslims gathered to say prayers, he ascended
the pulpit and read the sermon (khutba). He thanked God for His blessings, and he invoked
His blessings upon His Messenger, Muhammad, and upon the members of his family, and said:

"O Muslims! I have received news that in
Medina, Ali ibn Abi Talib has been elected the successor of the Messenger of God. I call
upon you to give your pledge of loyalty to him because he is with Truth and Truth is with
him, and next to the Prophet himself, he is the best of all those who have been created or
will ever be created."

Hudhaifa then symbolically placed his right hand on
his left hand, and said: "O Lord! Be Thou a Witness that I have taken the oath of
allegiance to Ali, my new caliph. Accept my thanks that Thou hast given me enough time to
see him become the sovereign of the umma of Muhammad, Thy Apostle."

Hudhaifa was taken back to his home, and a few days
later he died. He was one of the most trusted and most beloved friends of Muhammad
Mustafa.

The Ansar, in general, had shown very great
enthusiasm in bringing Ali to the throne but among them there were some men who withheld
their pledge of loyalty from him. They were:

Zayd bin Thabit

Hassan bin Thabit

Kaab bin Malik

Abu Saeed Khudri

Muhammad bin Maslama

Nu'man bin Bashir

Rafa' bin Khudaij

Maslama bin Mukhalid

Kaab bin 'Arja

Among the Makkans, the following companions did not
take the pledge of loyalty to Ali:

Abdullah bin Umar bin al-Khattab

Saad bin Abi Waqqas

Mughira bin Shaaba

Abdullah bin Salam

Qadama bin Ma'azoon

Suhaib bin Sinan

Wahban bin Saifi

Usama bin Zayd bin Haritha

When Ali's attention was drawn to those men who had
not given him their pledge of loyalty, he said that loyalty was not something that could
be obtained by force. To be meaningful, he said, it had to be voluntary. Later, it was
reported to him that the same men were quietly slipping out of Medina. Ali made no attempt
to stop them. He said that under his rule, everyone was free to stay in Medina or to leave
it, and that he himself was not going to force anyone to stay or to leave. His political
opponents all left Medina, and most of them went to Syria or to Makkah.

(A few months later, the battle of Basra or the
battle of the Camel was fought. Abdullah bin Umar bin al-Khattab and Saad bin Abi Waqqas
declared their neutrality in it. Theirs was a moral neutrality over issues of right and
wrong though they knew who was right and who was wrong. Some others also claimed that they
were "non-aligned," but they were "non-aligned" in favor of Ali's
enemies).

Yaqoobi, the historian, says that after the
inauguration, Sa'sa'a ibn Sauhan 'Abidi, a companion, said to Ali:

"By God, you have brought honor and glory to
the khilafat. Khilafat has not brought honor and glory to you. You have elevated it by
accepting it; it has not elevated you. You didn't need it; it needed you."

Another historian, Khatib Baghdadi, has quoted Imam
Ahmad bin Hanbal as saying:

"Khilafat was not an ornament for Ali; he was
an ornament for khilafat."

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal put the whole truth in a
nutshell. Ali was indeed the ornament and glory of khilafat.

Presently, the Muezzin called adhan for the Friday
prayer. Ali, the new caliph, led the congregation. After the prayer, he delivered the
inaugural speech. He began his address by praising God, and by thanking Him for His
countless and uncountable blessings and mercies one of which was that He had restored his
(Ali's) right to him. He invoked God's blessings upon Muhammad Mustafa, and upon the
members of his family, and then said:

"O Muslims! You have given me your pledge of
loyalty, and I know that you have not done so without forethought. Yet, your aims and my
aims in the tasks lying ahead of us, may not necessarily be the same. I want to mobilize
you for obedience and service to God; but many among you are hoping that I will give them
rich estates or high ranks in the government. This is something that will not happen.

"Remember that there are two ways of life; the
right and the wrong. Some of you will adopt the right way and others the wrong. You are
free to choose. But if you see that a majority has adopted the wrong way, do not be
dismayed or surprised by it. It has often been like that, and the world is full of
paradoxes. But Justice and Truth will triumph in the end even if at a given moment they
may appear to be on the defensive.

"Verily, when God sent Muhammad as His
Messenger to this world, there was not a single soul in all Arabia who knew anything about
guidance and rectitude. He led the Arabs out of the wilderness of sin and iniquity until
they saw the light of guidance, and found the road to eternal salvation. I was by his side
from the beginning of his mission to its end, and I fought against disobedience to God all
my life. I never felt weary of the struggle nor I was ever dismayed by the opposition of
the guardians and champions of the pre-Islamic order, no matter how formidable it was.

"O Muslims! I call upon you to assist me in my
program of reconstruction. God is a Witness to my statement that my paramount objective is
to restore justice in Dar-ul-Islam, just as it is His wish that I do so. I shall not rest
until I have destroyed injustice. Listen to this with attention: I shall not transgress
the bounds of the Book of God for anything. I will not be partial to anyone whoever he may
be. In my sight, all of you are equal. I shall promulgate the Laws of God which are
enshrined in His Book, and I shall do so in the light of the precedents only of His
Apostle, Muhammad, the blessed one.

"My mission today is the same as it was in the
times of the Messenger of God, Muhammad; may God bless him and his family, and it's to
establish or to reestablish the Kingdom of God on this earth."

In these words, Ali expressed the policy of his
government. He defined his aims, and explained how he would realize them. He focused on
refurbishing the highest office in Islam, and he outlined the principles of his political
philosophy.

The men of perception could sense that Ali's
government was going to be very different from the governments of the past, not only in
style, expression and emphasis, but also in character, substance and philosophy. They
sensed that there was going to be an absolute and qualitative difference between them.
They knew that he would check the erosion and corrosion of private and public standards of
morality. His accession to the throne, therefore, was not welcome to the guardians of a
social system the underpinnings of which were privilege and force, and laxity and
license.

Astoundingly, it appeared as if history was going to
repeat itself. In Makkah, Muhammad Mustafa was confronted by the guardians of a social
system which rested upon privilege, force and exploitation. When he tried to change that
system, its guardians challenged him. Their challenge led to armed conflict. Now Ali was
confronted with the same system, and his attempt to change it, was also going to end in
armed conflict with its guardians.

On the other hand, Ali's accession to the throne was
very welcome to another class of people – the one composed of the poor, the
destitute, the disabled, the powerless, the exploited, and those who lived in fear and
terror. The members of this class knew, as if by instinct, that Ali would give them
freedom from fear and poverty. They knew too that given the opportunity, Ali would work on
the whole ecology of Muslim society, and would change it. The rhythm, the lilt and the
tenor of his speeches lighted little candles of new hope and new idealism in their hearts,
and they could foresee that he would revive the political heritage of Muhammad, the
Apostle of God, in his government.

The State of the Umma at Ali's Accession to the
Throne

When Ali took the reins of the government in his
hands, he was confronted with a most alarming situation. The whole country was seething
with agitation, and his enemies swarmed everywhere like hornets. Two modern Pakistani
historians, Professor Sayed Abdul Qadir and Professor Muhammad Shuja-ud-Din, have summed
up the state of the Dar-ul-Islam in 656 as follows:

Muslims were no longer united. They had split into
many camps. Most Muslims put their own interests ahead of the collective interests of the
umma.

The recent conquests had delivered into the hands of
the Muslims the immense wealth of two of the richest empires of the world – the
Persian and the Roman. Everyone wanted a share out of this bonanza, and tried to grab all
that one could. In the ruthless quest for money, most Muslims quietly put aside the ideals
of Islam as if they were irrelevant.

Though Talha and Zubayr, two of the most powerful
companions, were the first to take the oath of allegiance to Ali, they were also the first
to repudiate it. By breaking their pledge, they pushed the umma into civil war.

Muawiya was Uthman's governor in Syria. The
rebellion of Talha and Zubayr against the lawful authority in Medina, encouraged him also
to defy it. Ali invited him to give his pledge of loyalty to him but he refused, and
instead, demanded from him (from Ali) action against the murderers of Uthman. Muawiya had
little interest in Uthman, but he had great interest in compounding Ali's difficulties. He
hoped that Ali would try to penalize all those men who had rebelled against Uthman; they
would resist him, and their resistance would lead to civil war. Civil war in Medina, he
figured, would make it possible for him to seize the khilafat.

But Ali did not walk into this trap, and said to
Muawiya: "First give me your pledge of loyalty, and let me restore peace in the
empire. Once conditions return to normal, then we shall, all of us, bring the killers of
Uthman to trial, and justice shall prevail." But Muawiya had no intention of taking
the oath of loyalty to Ali. He, therefore, kept insisting on the arrest and the execution
of the murderers of Uthman.

Commenting upon Muawiya's answer to Ali, the two
professors further say:

"In our opinion, Ali was absolutely right. The
interests of individuals, no matter how important they may be, cannot be sacrificed over
the interests of the ‘nation.' Whatever the personal tragedies of some important
figure, the integrity of the state must be protected at all costs. ‘National'
interests remain paramount, and cannot be sacrificed over the interests of an individual.
To assure the security of the dominion of Islam is the first responsibility of the head of
the Muslim umma. If Ali had acted upon Muawiya's suggestion, war would have erupted in
every part of the empire. But Ali's enemies did not share his solicitude for peace, and
their attitude led to civil war among the Muslims. If Talha, Zubayr and Muawiya had any
sincerity, they would have subordinated their own interests to the interests of Islam, and
Muslims would not have shed each other's blood." (History of Islam, Part I)

The foregoing is a correct assessment of the
political scene in the House of Islam when Ali took charge of the government. Many other
historians have also analyzed the events which took place before the civil war of the
Muslims. They have tried to pinpoint its causes but most of them, it appears, have missed
an important point, or if they have not, then they have tried to suppress it.

The collapse of the house of Saqifa was bound to be
followed by much turbulence. But the point which the historians have been unwilling to
admit is that the dragon's teeth which sprouted during Ali's caliphate, had all be sown in
the times of his predecessors. The rebellions which broke out in his time, all had their
roots in the past. Sir John Glubb, a modern historian, writes about the caliphate of Umar
bin Abdul Aziz as follows:

"The reign of Umar bin Abdul Aziz, was
remarkably free from sedition and civil strife, yet it may be argued that it was in his
time that the seeds were sown of that revolution which was utterly to destroy the dynasty.
This was not surprising but rather in accordance with normal political development. For it
has often occurred that a country has remained quiet throughout periods of arbitrary and
autocratic rule but that sedition has broken out as soon as a more just and liberal
administration has been established. Thus the benevolent khilafat of Umar bin Abdul Aziz
inaugurated the movement which was to lead to the ruin of his family." (The Empire of
the Arabs, p. 175, 1963)

Sir John Glubb has made both a right and a wrong
deduction in the foregoing paragraph. He is right in stating that "it has often
occurred that a country has remained quiet throughout periods of arbitrary and autocratic
rule but that sedition has broken out as soon as a more just and liberal administration
has been established." The empire of the Arabs was quiet throughout the periods of
the arbitrary and autocratic rule of the Saqifa government but sedition broke out as soon
as the just and liberal administration of Ali was established.

But we cannot agree with the historian when he
claims that it was in the time of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz that "the seeds were sown of
that revolution which was utterly to destroy the (Umayyad) dynasty." Such seeds were
sown not in the time of Umar bin Abdul Aziz but were sown both by his predecessors and
successors.

Nor can we agree with the assertion of the historian
that "the benevolent khilafat of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz inaugurated the movement which
was to lead to the ruin of his family." The truth is just the contrary. It is most
probable that the saintly conduct of Umar bin Abdul Aziz gave a reprieve to the Umayyads,
and that, but for him, they might have perished much earlier than they did.

Umar bin Abdul Aziz does not fit the stereotype of
the Umayyads. He was so God-fearing and God-loving and they were so godless that they just
could not coexist. They liquidated him through poison.

Dr. Hamid-ud-Din

There was no great campaign nor any new country was
conquered in the caliphate of Umar bin Abdul Aziz. And yet, his caliphate is very
important in the history of Islam because of the reforms he instituted. He revived true
Islamic democracy and the traditions of the Khulfa-i-Rashida (the rightly-guided caliphs).

From the time of Muawiya, the caliphate had become
the personal government of the caliph. All those evils which are a part of the autocratic
and despotic governments, had entered the caliphate. The people had lost their freedom.
Bayt-ul-Mal (the public treasury) had become the private purse of the ruler. Nothing from
it was spent to relieve the distress of the poor, and all of it was spent on the luxury
and the pleasures of the ruling class. Umar bin Abdul Aziz resolved to put an end to these
practices. The first thing he did, was to seize the vast estates which the Umayyad barons
had appropriated for themselves.

Many unfair and illegal means were adopted to bring
extra revenues in the state treasury. For example, those Dhimmis (non-Muslims living under
the protection of the Islamic State), who accepted Islam, were forced to pay jizya
(poll-tax). According to the Qur’anic law, only non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic
State have to pay jizya. Umar bin Abdul Aziz sent orders to all the governors in the
provinces that if a Dhimmi accepts Islam, jizya must not be charged from him. He put an
end to this practice, and many hundreds of thousands of Dhimmis became Muslim after the
promulgation of this order.

Muawiya had begun the custom of cursing Ali ibn Abi
Talib in public. He himself and his governors and state functionaries used most
intemperate and abusive language from the pulpits in the mosques for Ali. After Muawiya,
his successors carried on this practice. But Umar bin Abdul Aziz stopped it. He ordered
his governors to read verses of Qur’an from the pulpits instead of cursing Ali.

These reforms were not welcomed by the Umayyad
hierarchy, and the caliph's love for fair-play and justice did not make him very popular
with it. The Umayyad barons believed that if he ruled the empire for any considerable
length of time, then they would lose their power and their perquisites. They, therefore,
hatched a conspiracy, and administered poison to him in his food. He died from the effects
of this poison in Rajab of 101 A.H. (A.D. 720). (History of Islam, published by Ferozsons
Ltd., Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan, pp. 324, 331, 332, 333, 1971).

It was inevitable that a man like Umar bin Abdul
Aziz would become a martyr. He is one of the martyrs of Islam. May God have mercy on his
noble soul.

Ali faced challenges of monumental scope. But he was
not overawed by them. With a pure heart and a mind totally committed to God's Will, he
began the work of restoring peace and God's rule to the House of Islam. Oath-taking for
Ali was hardly over when rebellions erupted all around him. If he dealt with one of them,
another reared its head. Thus the few years of his reign were spent in trying to quell
them. Some of his critics insinuated that the rebellions were the result of his
"imprudence."

The rebellions in Ali's reign were not caused by his
imprudence. As pointed out above, they had their roots in the past. Any other man would
have faced the same set of problems, and it is most probable that he would have been
unable to grapple with them.

Under the circumstances, Ali ran the administration
of the country, and also tried to contain the rebellions as was his duty. He defeated one
group of rebels in Basra, and he would have defeated the other in Siffin if the latter had
not taken recourse to treachery. Even during these turbulent times, he carried out
important economic and social reforms.

Though the causes of the rebellions antedate the
caliphate of Ali himself, a few of them may be amplified as follows for a better
understanding of the events which took place later.

1. Ali's policy was purely Qur’anic. He was not
going to compromise with Islamic ethics and principles for the sake of hanging on to power
and authority. If he had also adopted the policy of realpolitik, he would have been
eminently successful but doing so would have changed the character of his government from
Islamic to "Aristotelian."

Ahmad Hasan Zayyat of Egypt, says in his book, Adab
al-Araby (p. 174):

"Ali knew absolutely no flexibility in matters
of religion, and he knew no double-dealing in worldly matters. It was this sublimity of
his character of which Muawiya took every advantage."

2. Ali did not try to please the rich and the
powerful at the expense of the poor and the weak. He invariably put the interests of the
poor and the weak ahead of the interests of the Arab aristocracy. The Arab aristocracy
resented this, and showed him its resentment.

When distributing the revenues of the state
treasury, Ali made no distinction between high and low, rich and poor, and Arab and
non-Arab. In his sight, they were all equal. The Arab lords protested against such
treatment but he ignored their protests. Soon their protests exploded in civil war.

3. As soon as Ali took charge of the government, he
dismissed all the governors and officers appointed by Uthman. But many of them had no
intention of giving up their positions.

Dismissal of Uthman's Governors

When Ali took charge of the government, Uthman's
governors and tax collectors were plundering the country without any fear of being
questioned by the central government. Ali's first act was to issue orders of their
dismissal.

Mughira bin Shaaba was one of the companions of the
Prophet. Umar had appointed him governor of Kufa but Uthman had dismissed him. He had not
taken the oath of allegiance to Ali but he advised him against making any radical changes
in policy and personnel. He said that if the governors appointed by Uthman did not
acknowledge his (Ali's) authority as caliph, then he could not remove them from their
jobs. He warned Ali that if he dismissed them summarily, before consolidating his own
power, they would rebel against his authority.

Ali's first cousin, Abdullah ibn Abbas, also gave
him advice which, in substance, was the same as that of Mughira. Prudence, he said,
dictated caution at the moment.

But such advice was not acceptable to Ali. He
believed that he was accountable to God for all his deeds, and he could not, therefore,
allow unworthy and corrupt men to rule over the Muslims. He, in fact, considered himself
accountable to God, not only for his own deeds, but also for the deeds of his governors.
He, therefore, placed his trust in God, knowing that he was doing the right thing, and
refused to rescind his orders.

Colonel Osborne

Ali had been advised by several of his counselors to
defer the dismissal of the corrupt governors previously appointed until he himself was
secure against all enemies. The Bayard of Islam, the hero without fear and without
reproach refused to be guilty of any duplicity or compromise with injustice. This
uncompromisingly noble attitude cost him his state and life, but such was Ali. He never
valued anything above justice and truth.

Some people imagine that if Ali had not dismissed
Uthman's governors, he would not have provoked them into challenging him. But such an
opinion rests upon naivet. The governors of Uthman would have challenged Ali regardless
of what he had done. They were his old enemies.

Following are some of the reasons why Ali dismissed
Uthman's governors:

1. Ali's aim was to restore the government of
Muhammad Mustafa, and to enforce the Islamic system. To do this, he had to
"purify" the government which he had inherited, by excising from it the ravening
pack of the Umayyads. In their stead, he had to appoint God-fearing men who believed they
were accountable to God for all that they did.

2. Muslims had requested Uthman to remove his
conceited and egoistic governors, and to appoint pious men in their stead. But he turned a
deaf ear to their request whereupon they took other steps to force a change of governors.
If Ali had temporized in this matter, they would have toppled his government just as they
toppled the government of his predecessor.

3. If Ali had not dismissed the governors of Uthman,
he would have made himself vulnerable to the charge of "guilt by
association."

4. Muawiya was not content with ruling Syria alone;
he wanted to rule the whole empire of the Muslims as its khalifa. When he noticed that
Uthman had made many enemies for himself, he tried to take advantage of the situation. He
suggested to Uthman that he should leave Medina, and go with him (with Muawiya) to Syria,
where, he assured him, he would be safe whereas in his own capital, he warned him, he
might be killed. Muawiya had very good reasons to try to take Uthman to Damascus. Once in
Damascus, Uthman would have become a "figurehead khalifa." Muawiya would have
taken all his authority out of his hands into his own, and would, thus, have become
khalifa de facto in his (Uthman's) lifetime, and de jure after his death. But Uthman did
not go to Syria, and Muawiya's strategy did not work. But when Uthman was killed, he
launched his campaign against Ali seeking vengeance for his blood. Ali had little choice
in the matter but to dismiss him.

5. Uthman had appointed governors not because they
had any ability or because they loved to serve the Muslims. He appointed them only because
they were related to him. Ali considered these appointments a trespass on the rights of
those men who were qualified by their ability, piety, and service to Islam, to rule the
Muslims. He, therefore, removed them.

6. Uthman had appointed members of his own family as
governors of the provinces. His governors had men and materials necessary for war. Uthman
was in a state of siege in his palace for 49 days. He sent many appeals to them to come
and rescue him but they did not come, and he was killed. If these governors could abandon
their own benefactor so casually, how could Ali depend upon them in an exigency to obey
him? He, therefore, decided not to be at their mercy.

A certain Abu Tufail Kinani, a resident of Medina,
once went to Damascus to see Muawiya. When they met, the following exchange took place
between them:

Muawiya: Where were you when Uthman was killed?

Kinani: I was in Medina.

Muawiya: Did you do anything to save his life from
his enemies?

Kinani: No.

Muawiya: Why not? You knew that it was your duty to
do your utmost to save him.

Kinani: I suppose it was. But whatever it was that
prevented you from trying to save his life, also prevented me from trying to save his
life.

The New Governors

In Moharram of 36 A.H., Ali appointed the following
governors:

1. Qays ibn Saad Ansari, the governor of Egypt.

Qays was able to enter Egypt without opposition and
to take charge of the government. In Egypt, he found the Muslims divided into three
groups. One was composed of his own supporters; the second of his opponents, i.e., the
supporters of Uthman; and the third group was undecided in its loyalty. Qays decided not
to meddle with the last two groups, but to give his whole-hearted attention to the
administration of the country.

Qays, in physical appearance, was the most
impressive man in Medina. He was tall, stern and powerful in build; and he was noted for
his knowledge, piety and eloquence. He was also a man of great perception and foresight,
and was more than a match for men like Muawiya, Amr bin Aas and Mughira bin Shaaba in
ingenuity and intelligence. But like his own master, Ali, he too did not believe that ends
justified the means. His philosophy of life was governed by the principle that political
policy must be subject to the ethics of Qur’an.

2. Uthman bin Hunaif, the governor of Basra.

Uthman was also able to enter Basra and to take
charge of the government. He too found the Muslims in Basra divided into three groups as
Qays had found in Egypt, and he too adopted the same policy as Qays had in Egypt.

Uthman bin Hunaif belonged to a distinguished family
of the Ansars. He was a close friend of the Prophet. During the khilafat of Umar, he was
the financial commissioner of Iraq.

3. Ammara bin Shihab Ansari, the governor -
designate of Kufa.

Ammara left Medina to take charge of his duties in
Kufa. But when he reached Zabala, a way-station on the road to Iraq, he met one Talha bin
Khuwaylid Asadi, coming from Kufa. He advised Ammara to return to Medina, or else, he
said, he would be killed in Kufa. Thereupon, Ammara did not go to Kufa, and returned to
Medina.

4. Sahl bin Hunaif Ansari, the governor - designate
of Syria.

Sahl left Medina. Before he reached the Syrian
frontier, he met a body of cavalry. They asked him who he was and where he was going. He
told them that he was the new governor of Syria. They said they were Syrians and that they
did not acknowledge anyone as their ruler except Muawiya. They also added that if he went
any further, he would be killed. Thereupon, Sahl did not enter Syria, and returned to
Medina.

Sahl was the brother of Uthman bin Hunaif. He too
was a companion of the Prophet, and had fought in all his battles, distinguishing himself
in them by his gallantry.

5. Obaidullah ibn Abbas, the governor of Yemen.

Obaidullah was the first cousin of Muhammad and Ali.
He entered Yemen without opposition and took charge of the government. Yayla bin Umayya
who was Uthman's governor in Yemen, had left before his arrival, and had taken the state
treasury with him.

Qathm ibn Abbas, the governor - designate of Makkah.

Qathm was the younger brother of Obaidullah. He is
said to have borne a striking resemblance to the Prophet. He was still in Medina when
Makkah became a center of opposition to Ali. He, therefore, had to wait until conditions
returned to normal in Makkah. After the death of Ali, he left Arabia, went to Samarkand in
Central Asia, and died there.

A few months after his accession to the throne, Ali
had to leave Medina for Basra to take up the challenge of the rebels, and he appointed
Sahl bin Hunaif Ansari as governor of the capital in his own absence.

After the battle of Basra, Ali appointed Abdullah
ibn Abbas as the new governor of that city. Abdullah was an "understudy" of his
master, Ali, and won great fame for his knowledge. He was one of the earliest authorities
on the science of the exegesis of Qur’an. He died in Ta'if at the age of 70.