Khilafat-e-Rashidah — Page 193
KHILAFAT-E-R A SHIDAH 193 known historical event, but I am not sure why Muslim historians have not highlighted it. They should have repeated it frequently because it is another clear proof of the atrocities of Yazid. It is recorded that after the death of Yazid, his son, who was also named Muawiyah ra after his grandfather, acceded to throne and went home after taking the Bai‘at of the people. He did not come out for forty days. When he came out, he rose to the pulpit and addressed the people that he had accepted the Bai‘at from them, not because he was more entitled to it, but because he did not want dissention among them. He had been continuously meditating in his home to find a person more entitled to take the Bai‘at of the people so that he might get himself relieved of chiefdom by handing it over to him. But in spite of his great efforts he did not find any such person. Therefore, he said, “O people listen to it carefully that I am not fit for this post. I also want to tell you that my father and grandfather were also not entitled to this post. My father was inferior to Husain ra , and his father from the father of Hasan ra and Husain ra. Hadrat Ali ra at his time was more entitled for Khilafat than my grandfather, and after this Hasan ra and Husain ra were more entitled than my father. Therefore, I retire from this chiefdom, and you can take the Bai‘at of the person of your choice. ” At that time his mother heard the speech behind the veil, and she burst out: “O wretched, you have dishonoured your family and