The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 42
42 H A D RAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD house opened into the mosque) and Wal i d only came to know of them when they were standing right before him. Upon seeing them, he became perplexed and quickly hid something away under the bed. They thought that they had caught the thief red handed and the secret had now been revealed. Without uttering a single word someone promptly slipped his hand under the bed and pulled out the object. When they caught sight of it, they noticed that it was a tray with the food of the governor of Kufah and a bunch of grapes placed on it, which the Governor had hidden only in the embarrassment that such a small quantity of food had been presented before the Governor of such a wealthy province. At this, all of these people were left confounded and they turned on their heels in utter shame. They began to reproach one another for committing such a grave crime and for having discarded the commandments of the shariah due to being deceived by a few mischievous people. In his embarrassment, Walid buried the matter and did not inform Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n ra of this incident. However, ultimately, this mercy of his, which he expressed to undeserving people, proved to be seriously detrimental for him and also for his deputy after him. Instead of being moved by his mercy, the rebels felt even more humiliated and began to connive for the destruction of Wal i d with even greater fervour than before. They went to Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra as a delegation for the dismissal of Wal i d. However, Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n ra refused to dismiss the governor without crime. When these people returned they began to gather all such people who had been sentenced and collectively deliberated as to how, by hook or by crook, Wal i d could be disgraced. Two people named Ab u Zainab and Abu Muwarri‘, took it upon themselves to