In the Footsteps of al-Husayn (peace be upon him)
\nDr. Ahmad Rasm al-Nafis
\nOn the pulpit, letters were written to the garrisons; people rallied to him and wept for a year while he stood upon the pulpit, with the fingers hanging from it (the fingers of N\u0101\u2019ila, the wife of \u02bfUthm\u0101n). The men of Syria swore not to approach women nor sleep on beds until they had killed the murderers of \u02bfUthm\u0101n\u2014or until they themselves perished. They remained around the shirt for a year; each day it was placed upon the pulpit, and at times he would drape himself in it, with N\u0101\u2019ila\u2019s fingers attached to its sleeves. Then Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah went on spreading among the people the claim that \u02bfAl\u012b (peace be upon him) had killed \u02bfUthm\u0101n (1).
\nThis was the declared slogan\u2014but did it represent the truth? Let us first read in the history of \u02bfAmr ibn al-\u02bf\u0100\u1e63.
\nA \u2013 The Declared Slogan and Its Reality: Seizing Power
\nAl-\u1e6cabar\u012b also narrates:
\n\u201cWhen news of \u02bfUthm\u0101n\u2019s killing reached \u02bfAmr\u2014may Allah be pleased with him\u2014he said: \u2018I am Ab\u016b \u02bfAbd All\u0101h; I killed him (meaning \u02bfUthm\u0101n), while I was in W\u0101d\u012b al-Sib\u0101\u02bf. Who will assume authority after him? If \u1e6cal\u1e25ah takes it, he is the generous youth of the Arabs; but if Ibn Ab\u012b \u1e6c\u0101lib takes it, I see him as one who will compel the truth to speak, and he is the one I most dislike to see take charge.\u2019\u201d
\nIt then reached him that allegiance had been pledged to \u02bfAl\u012b, and this distressed him. He waited a few days to see what the people would do. Then he learned of the march of \u1e6cal\u1e25ah, al-Zubayr, and \u02bf\u0100\u2019ishah. He said, \u201cI will wait and see what they do.\u201d Soon news came that \u1e6cal\u1e25ah and al-Zubayr had been killed, and the matter became confused for him. Someone said to him: \u201cMu\u02bf\u0101wiyah in Syria does not wish to pledge allegiance to \u02bfAl\u012b. If you were to approach Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah\u2026\u201d Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah was more beloved to him than \u02bfAl\u012b ibn Ab\u012b \u1e6c\u0101lib.
\nHe was told: \u201cMu\u02bf\u0101wiyah is magnifying the matter of \u02bfUthm\u0101n ibn \u02bfAff\u0101n\u2019s killing and inciting people to demand vengeance for his blood.\u201d \u02bfAmr said: \u201cSummon for me Mu\u1e25ammad and \u02bfAbd All\u0101h.\u201d When they came, he said: \u201cYou know what has occurred\u2014\u02bfUthm\u0101n has been killed, the people have pledged allegiance to \u02bfAl\u012b, and Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah is preparing to oppose \u02bfAl\u012b. What do you think?\u201d
\n\u201cAs for \u02bfAl\u012b,\u201d he said, \u201cthere is nothing good for us with him. He is a man who prides himself on his precedence (in Islam), and I share nothing with him in his affair.\u201d
\n\u02bfAbd All\u0101h ibn \u02bfAmr said:
\n\u201cI advise you to withhold your hand and remain in your home until the people unite under an imam; then give him your allegiance.\u201d
\nMu\u1e25ammad ibn \u02bfAmr said:
\n\u201cYou are one of the sharp fangs of the Arabs; I do not think this matter should be decided without your voice or mention.\u201d
\n\u02bfAmr replied:
\n\u201cAs for you, \u02bfAbd All\u0101h, you advised me with what is better for my Hereafter and safer for my religion. But you, Mu\u1e25ammad, advised me with what is more beneficial for my worldly life and worse for my Hereafter.\u201d
\nThen \u02bfAmr ibn al-\u02bf\u0100\u1e63 set out with his two sons and went to Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah. He found the people of Syria urging Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah to demand vengeance for \u02bfUthm\u0101n\u2019s blood.
\n\u02bfAmr ibn al-\u02bf\u0100\u1e63 said:
\n\u201cYou are upon the truth; seek vengeance for the blood of the wronged caliph.\u201d
\nBut Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah paid no attention to his words.
\n\u02bfAmr\u2019s two sons said to him:
\n\u201cDo you not see that Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah does not heed your words? Turn to someone else.\u201d
\nSo \u02bfAmr entered upon Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah and said:
\n\u201cBy Allah, it is astonishing that I support you as I do while you turn away from me. By Allah, if we fight alongside you to seek vengeance for the caliph\u2019s blood, there is something within us about that\u2014since we would be fighting one whose precedence, virtue, and kinship you know well. But in truth, we only seek this worldly life.\u201d
\nThereupon Mu\u02bf\u0101wiyah made peace with him and drew him close (1).
\nThis was the condition of the chief minister: he himself had been among those who incited against \u02bfUthm\u0101n, and yet\u2026
\n(1) History of Nations and Kings by al-\u1e6cabar\u012b, 3\/561, al-A\u02bflam\u012b Foundation, Beirut, n.d.
\nAlso: al-\u1e6cabar\u012b, 3\/559\u2013560.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the Footsteps of al-Husayn (peace be upon him) Dr. Ahmad Rasm al-Nafis On the pulpit, letters were written to the garrisons; people rallied to him and wept for a year while he stood upon the pulpit, with the fingers hanging from it (the fingers of N\u0101\u2019ila, the wife of \u02bfUthm\u0101n). The men of Syria …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1486],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-islam-and-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29087,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29086\/revisions\/29087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}