The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 57
57 hardships were befalling the Muslims. Hence, the deception of ‘ Abdull a h bin Sab a proved to be very effective and by this means he managed to gain thousands of sympathetic people who would have been difficult to find without such a scheme. When this disturbance exceeded all bounds and even the noble companions began to receive letters of complaint against governors, together, they approached Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra and submitted, “Are you not aware of what is taking place outside Madinah?” Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n ra replied, “The reports that I receive indicate nothing but peace and tranquility. ” The companions responded that they were receiving letters of such and such subject matter, and this should be investigated. At this, Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra sought their counsel as to how the investigation should be carried out. According to their proposal Us a mah bin Zaid ra was sent to Basrah, Muhammad bin Maslamah to Kufah, ‘ Abdull a h bin ‘ Umar to Syria and ‘ Amm a r bin Y a sir to Egypt, in order to investigate the state of affairs and report whether the governors were actually treating the citizens unjustly, oppressing them and usurping the rights of people. In addition to these four, he also dispatched some others to various lands so that they could provide a report of the conditions there. 53 These people went and returned after having performed their investigation and all of them reported that it was peaceful everywhere and that Muslims were living their lives in complete freedom; no one was infringing upon their rights and the governors were acting with equity and justice. However, 53. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, pp. 147-148, Dhikru Mas i ri Mann S a ra Il a Dh i Khashabin Min Ahli Mi s ra. . . . . , Published by D a rul-Fikr, Beirut, 2002 edition