The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 61
61 the same rebels held a meeting in Kufah and they began to discuss how disorder may be created in Muslim affairs, everyone unanimously gave the opinion: ِ أس ٌ مَا دَام َ عُثْمَان ُ عَلی َ النَّاس ا و َ اللّٰه ِ لَا یَرْفَع ُ رَ “By God, no one can dare to raise their head, so long as the reign of ‘Uthm a n ra prevails. ” It was the very person of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra himself which prevented rebellion. It was necessary to move him aside in order for these people to freely achieve their goals. 55 Earlier, I explained that ‘ Amm a r bin Y a sir, who had been sent to Egypt, did not return. There was a delay in receiving news from him to such extent that the residents of Madinah thought that he may have been killed. However, the fact of the matter was that due to his simplicity and unfamiliarity with politics, he had fallen into the clutches of the rebels, who were disciples of ‘ Abdull a h bin Sab a. As ‘Abdull a h bin Sab a was present in Egypt himself, he was not oblivious to the fact that if this investigative committee reported a state of peace and security throughout the land, everyone would turn against them. The decision to send this delegation had been made so suddenly that he was unable to make arrangements in other provinces. However, it was easy for him to make arrangements in Egypt. He welcomed ‘ Amm a r bin Y a sir as soon as he arrived in Egypt and began to describe the weaknesses and cruelties of the governor of Egypt. ‘Amm a r bin Y a sir was unable to safeguard himself from the enchantment of 55. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, p. 189, Dhikru Ba ‘ di Siyari ‘ Uthm a nibni ‘ Aff a na, Published by D a rul-Fikr, Beirut, 2002 edition [Publishers]