The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 32
32 H A D RAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD People of the Book’ who has fallen in love with Islam and wishes to stay under your protection. ” Since ‘Abdull a h bin ‘ A mir had already discovered the true state of affairs, he did not accept this plea and said, “The information I possess about your state of affairs is in contradiction to what you claim, so leave my city. ” Accordingly, he left Basrah and travelled towards Kufah. 31 However, before leaving, he managed to leave behind the seed of disorder and rebellion and aversion towards Islam. In my opinion, this was the very first political error that took place. Instead of exiling him, if the governor of Basrah had imprisoned him and established a charge against him, perhaps this disorder may have remained there suppressed. The very intention behind Ibni Saud a ’ leaving his home was to inflame a fire of disorder and sedition by touring the whole of the Islamic Empire. His leaving Basrah was precisely in accordance with his objective. Upon reaching Kufah, he began to repeat the schemes he had undertaken in Basrah. Ultimately, he was exiled from here as well, but before moving on, he had managed to sow the seed of his mischief here as well, which later grew into very large tree. On this occasion, along with his exile, the political error that took place initially was committed once again. From Kufah he went to Syria, but was unable to find an opportunity to gain a foothold there. Here, Hadrat Mu‘ a wiyah ra was managing the affairs of State with such excellence that neither was Ibni Saud a ’ able to find such people amongst whom he could develop sway, nor could such people be found who could serve as his deputies. 31. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, p. 139, Dhikrul-Khabari ‘ An Tasy ī ri ‘ Uthm a n. . . . . , Published by D a rul-Fikr, Beirut, 2002 edition