The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 109
109 mentioned earlier, took hold of Muhammad bin Maslamah ra , an intimate Companion of the Holy Prophet sa who had stood up in support of Khilafat ; not to create any kind of disorder, and forcibly sat him down. Then, Zaid bin Th a bit ra , who had been endowed the magnificent duty of gathering the Holy Quran, stood up in order to testify, but he too was made to sit down by another rebel. 87 THE REBELS BREAK THE STAFF OF THE HOLY PROPHET SA After this, a member of this party, which professed love for Islam, snatched from Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra the staff with which the Holy Prophet sa use to take support while delivering the sermon and after him Hadrat Ab ū Bakr ra and Hadrat ‘ Umar ra had done the same. He did not stop at this, in fact, he placed this memorabilia of the Holy Prophet sa , which was a source of thousands of blessings for the Muslim nation, on his knees and broke it. They may have held enmity towards Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra , they may have harboured hatred for Khilafat but as for the Holy Prophet sa , they professed love for him! How then did they have the courage to break this memorabilia of the Holy Prophet sa with such contempt? Today, Europe has reached the furthest extremity of atheism, but even they still possess a sense that the memorable items left by their elders are to be valued. However, these people, despite claiming to be the followers of Islam, broke 87. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, p. 155, 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 [Publishers]