The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 105
105 for witnesses this servant was neither presented, nor is there any mention of him in the events that followed. This indicates that it was not in their best interest to present him. Perhaps they feared that he would disclose the true state of affairs before the companions. Therefore, keeping him hidden is a testimony to the fact that it was the rebel party themselves, who was responsible for forging this letter. A very compelling proof of the fact that these people had forged this letter themselves is that this was not the first letter which they had crafted. In fact, they had forged many other letters in addition to this, in order to ignite the flames of the very same disorder. Hence, it was neither difficult for them to craft this letter, nor can this be attributed to anyone else in the presence of this reality. The counterfeit letters which these people had been producing previously were written [falsely on behalf of ] Hadrat ‘Al i ra in order to defame him, and the contents of these letters was along the lines of, ‘Incite rage against Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra. ’ The vehemence of the general public was instigated through these letters and upon seeing the attestation of Hadrat ‘Al i ra [on these letters] they would fall for the words of ‘ Abdull a h bin Sab a. However, it appears that they were ordered to keep the content of the letters very secret, lest Hadrat ‘ Al i ra found out about them and rejected having any connection with them. Furthermore, the masterminds behind this disorder presented a valid reason for their emphasis upon secrecy, i. e. [they claimed that] if these letters were exposed then Hadrat ‘Al i ra would be confronted with difficulty. For this reason, people would not disclose the subject matter of these letters for the sake of Hadrat ‘Al i ra and since the matter was kept secret, the deception of the