Approaching the West — Page 43
A pproaching the West—43 creating discontent and disunity among the Muslims. Unfortunately, they succeeded in creating a military rebellion against the third Khal ī fah, Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Uthm ā n. A group of soldiers came to Medina (in AD 656) from Fus ṭ a ṭ , Egypt, and murdered him in his house while he was reciting the Holy Qur’ ā n. Demands to punish ‘Uthm ā n’s murderers were put to Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Al ī who was elected as the fourth Khal ī fah, and this situation subsequently led to civil wars. A close relative of Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Uthm ā n, Mu‘ ā wiyah, who was at that time the governor of Syria, confronted Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Al ī. After failed attempts at negotiations and arbitration, Mu‘ ā wiyah forcefully tried to depose Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Al ī , declaring himself to be the caliph. Some extremists, known as Kharij ī s (Kharijites, seceders outsiders), rebelled against Mu‘ ā wiyah and Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Al ī both. Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Al ī dealt with them harshly and crushed their armed rebellion. Later, one of the Kharij ī s killed Ḥ a ḍ rat ‘Al ī in 661, thus ending the era of the rightly guided khulaf ā ’. By then, Medina the capital of the Prophet was no more the power center. Mu‘ ā wiyah, who had taken power by force, was the first military and political leader to initiate Caliphate in the sense of hereditary monarchy. Damascus was the capital of his kingdom. According to Professor Hitti, Mu‘ ā wiyah was not only the first, but also one of the best of the Arab kings. He was shrewd, diplomatic, cool and calculating. In his lifetime, not only he nominated his own son, Yaz ī d, to be the next ruler, but also made the subject take “Bai‘at” (an oath of allegiance) to Yaz ī d in various parts of the empire. He himself went to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for this purpose. The only persons who refused to make Bai‘at were