The Mystery of the Letter
The authorship of this letter has remained a mystery. Either it was forged by the seditionists themselves, to give them an excuse for re-entering Medina, or was the outcome of the villainy of the Caliph’s Secretary, Merwan, who wrote it and put the Caliph’s seal on it. Certainly the Messenger had been sent without the Caliph’s knowledge and sent, moreover, by a route where he was most likely to fall into the hands of the Egyptian rebels.
The Shi’ite chroniclers assert, most emphatically, that the letter was the work of Merwan, who hated Ali and who had recourse to this trickery in order to re- inflame the differences that Ali had so admirably and tactfully composed. The Sunnis, on the other hand, point out how easy it would have been for the rebels to make a counterfeit of the Caliph’s seal and that they had carefully planned the whole affair as part of a stratagem to get back into Medina. It seems that Ali himself. unlike his partisans, also suspected the rebels of a premeditated and concerted plan of action.
Whatever the origin of the letter may have been, not only the Egyptians, but three bands of rebels turned back towards Medina, pitching their tents before the city.
The Caliph Answers the Allegations
Ali interviewed the rebels and asked them how it was that they had all returned simultaneously, especially as their destinations had lain in three different directions and could only have been reached by three different roads. Dissatisfied with their story, he then took them to the venerable old Caliph who solemnly declared, on oath, that he had no personal knowledge of the letter and that it must have been forged by his enemies. Angry altercations followed and the behaviour of the rebels was extremely insolent. The Caliph then asked the rebel leaders to prove the charge of authorship of the letter, but they could not substantiate it with any evidence. Highly enraged and incensed, the rebels said,” whether the letter has been written by you or not, in both cases, you are unfit to hold the office of Caliph. You must abdicate.”.. To this Uthman with a dignity and grandeur of which he had not been thought capable replied, “Abdicate I will not. How can I put off that inantle wherewith the Lord has girded me? Tell me what evils you complain of, and I am ready to rectify them.” White-hot with passion, the rebels burst forth, “It is too late to mend. Either abdicate, or our swords will fall heavily on you to force you to do so.” To this Uthman’s laconic rejoinder was” As to death, I should prefer it, and as to fighting, I loathe it, and I will see that my people refrain from it. Had I wished to fight, I could have called legions to my side who would have battled for me today. But I am unwilling to be the cause of shedding a single drop of blood.” 4 i
The Caliph Appeals to the Good Sense of the Rebels.
By this time the rebels had re-entered Medina and had begun, once again, to undermine the loyalty of the Medinites. They caused lampoons about the Caliph to be read in the streets, ridiculing him in every way.
Summary of Uthman’s Reign
They mingled with the Medinites in the Mosque and threw dust on the Caliph when he came to lead the prayers. One Friday, after he had ascended the pulpit, the Caliph addressed them thus: “Ye know full well that the holy people of Medina consider you accursed because you have rebelled against the Holy Prophet’s vice-regent. The Holy Prophet’s prophecy that the damned would gather at the places which you occupy today is coming literally true. Now it is high time for you to atone for your evil deeds by repentence and good actions.”
Scarcely had this oration finished when the rebels turned the men of Medina out of the Mosque, showering stones on them as they fled. One of the stones struck the Caliph, who fell unconscious to the ground, and had to be carried to the safety of an adjoining house.
The Caliph’s House is Besieged
Daily the tension between the rebels and the Caliph increased. The ever-growing insolence of the rebels compelled the Caliph to shut himself up in his house, which was besieged and in a state of virtual blockade. Ali now made good his vow to defend Uthman, deputing his sons to act as bodyguards for the old Caliph. Ali’s friends Talha and Zubair, who had so often fought beside him in the wars of the Holy Prophet also sent their sons to defend the venerable Uthman. These youngmen, the flower of Medinite youth, performed sentinel duty at the door of the Caliph’s house. Meanwhile, as there were no reserve troops in Medina, Uthman was compelled to send urgent calls for help and re-inforcement to Syria and Basra.
When the insurgent leaders learned that the Caliph had summoned troops to his aid they immediately sent one of their number to officiate at the Mosque and to lead the congregational prayers in place of Uthman. This act, symbolic of the negation of Uthman’s sovereign rights, was intended to convey to the multitude that
Uthman was no longer Caliph in their eyes. At this turn of events Uthman called Talha, Zubair and Ali into conference and, in the hearing of the rebels said:
“Fellow brothers, I have prayed for you to God Almighty, that after I am taken away, He may set the affairs of the Caliphate in right order. For ever after the Lord has chosen me as his viceregent, I see that people have risen up to slay the Lord’s elect. Have a care, ye men. The taking of life (in Islam) is lawful only for three things, apostasy, murder and adultery. To take my life without any of these causes, is tantamount to the suspending of a sword over your own necks. You. yourselves will never be rid of sedition and bloodshed.”
The insurgents paid no heed to the Caliph’s overtures. On the contrary, they enforced the blockade with double rigour. They cut off the Caliph’s supply of water and rations, so that he suffered from extreme hunger and thirst. Ali, at this juncture, intervened and addressing the rebels said, “You are treating the venerable old Caliph more cruelly than any one would treat the prisoners on the battlefield. Even honourable infidels do not cut off the supply of water to a thirsty enemy. But Ali’s sermon fell on deaf ears. Umm Habiba (daughter of Abu Sufyan and the widow of the Holy Prophet) who was a cousin of Uthman, tried to carry water on her mule into the Caliph’s house with Ali’s help, but she was roughly handled by the insurgents. They cut her bridle with the sword and forced her to retreat. In great agony the Caliph waited for his end
The Domination of the Meccan Quraish
The martyrdom of Uthman was to result ultimately in a victory for the Meccan Quraish over the Orthodox Medinites and, in particular, for the Umayyad party in Mecca over the Hashimites who had hitherto dominated Medina. With the martyrdom of Uthman the sanctity of the Caliphate had gone and, with it, the special place of Medina as the capital of the Caliphate. Until now the Caliphate of Muhammad’s successors had rested on the strength and zeal of the masses but now the Islamic fraternity was to become pitifully divided amongst itself. Under the pretext of maintaining law and order the Umayyads went ceaselessly to work to set the Medinites against their Hashimite leaders and while paying lip service to Islam, to cast the very principlesof the Islamic Commonwealth to the winds. In place of the old Islamic society based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, there was now to arise a powerful monarchy, a dominating class of nobles and a society riddled with immorality. The old orthodoxy which had rested on the foundations of piety, equality, and the selfless personality of the Caliph was to give way to lax morals, favouritism, and luxurious court. Thus, while apparently remaining in the fold, these victors were to betray the cause for which they pretended to fight. Every blow they were to strike to achieve power would turn out to be a blow at Islam.
Meanwhile, immediately after the murder of Uth- man, terror and chaos reigned. Who would be chosen as his successor? Who, indeed, would be brave enough to assume that role? The whole of Islam was torn by bitterness and dissension. No Caliph would ever again be able to rely on the unanimous support of the Believers in Faith. One man alone had popular acclaim, he alone might be deemed great enough to hold Islam together at this tragic time. That man was Ali, a Hashimite and a man of Medina. The Umayyads could afford to bide their time. Meanwhile Ali reluctantly allowed himself to be appointed Uthman’s successor; thus becoming the Fourth and last-of the Orthodox Caliphs.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 