Muawiya was the
son of Abu Sufian. They both converted to Islam in 8 A.H. at the time of the
Victory of Makkah, which took place 14 years after the Advent (Be ‘sat) of
Islam, when Allah ordered His Prophet to openly invite people towards Islam. They were considered as “Talaqa”; people who were considered slaves and
released by the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) on the eve of theVictory of Makkah. Abu
Sufian was the leading enemy of Islam and the Muslims. Abu Sufian was one of
the polytheists of Makkah who made the life miserable for the newly converted
Muslims. After Hijrat to Madinah, Abu Sufian was in the fore front of all
important Battles like Uhad, Badr, Trench (Khandaq), and Hunain. His mother,
Hinda, had chewed the lever of the King of Martyrs Hazrat Hamza (a.s.) in the
Battlefield of Uhad.
He had married Maysum,
the daughter of the chief of the Kalb tribe Jacoidte Christian Arab for
political reasons and Yazeed was
born out of this wedlock. He was appointed the governor of Syria (Sham) by
the second caliph. After his death, Usman bin Affan became the third caliph,
who was also from the Bani Umayyad clan as Muawiya. The third caliph
consolidated his position by including more adjoining areas into Syria. Hence
he ruled Syria for more than 20 years. Bani Umaiyya’s plan to seize the
caliphate started moving in the right direction after the third caliph was
killed as the people were dissatisfied by the dominance of Bani Umayyad on all
important government posts and their oppression on the Muslims. After the assassination
of the third caliph, the Muslims thronged the streets of Madinah and requested
Imam Ali (a.s.) to accept caliphate, but he refused to their demands. When they
requested him for the sake of Islam and the Ummah, then Imam Ali (a.s.) accepted
the responsibilities. Talha and Zubair wanted to become the governor of
provinces but Imam Ali advised them to stay in Madinah and help him but they
refused and joined the opposition and raised the slogan of revenge for the
murder of the third caliph. Muawiya also joined them in the apparent campaign
of revenge and refused allegiance to Imam Ali (a.s.) as “The Khalifa-e-Rashid”.
Although he did not take part in the Battle of the Camel
(Jamal) but continued to consolidate his position by exhibiting the
blood-stained shirt of the third caliphon the streets of Sham (Syria). One can imagine the effectiveness of his
propaganda that when the news of the martyrdom of Imam Ali (a.s.) during
prayers reached Syria (Sham), people were inquiring if Ali even prayed!
At the start of
the Battle of Siffin, Muawiya’s forces captured the banks of River Euphrates
and denied access to Imam Ali (a.s.)’s forces. He sent emissaries to Muawiya to
open the access of water but he refused. When Imam Ali (a.s.)’s forces captured
the water front, he allowed access to everyone! When the warfare entered the
decisive stage and Muawiya’s forces were about to flee, then on the advice of
Amr ibn al-Aas, the Noble Qur’an was raised on the spears, saying “Let the
Glorious Qur’an decide”. It was a conspiracy to deceive the simple Muslims.
After the martyrdom of Imam Ali (a.s.), Imam Hasan (a.s.)
succeeded him, but because of the Muawiya’s
strategy of deception, bribery and
murder to capture Caliphate, Imam Hasan (a.s.) had to enter into a peace
treaty but on attaining complete control of the situation, he openly declared
from the pulpit that “the treaty is
under my foot”. He openly defied each and every term of the treaty which
included:
(a) He will act according to the Glorious
Qur’an, Sunnah, and character of the pious and virtuous caliphs.
(b) He will not appoint any successor.
(c) Imam Ali (a.s.)’s name will be remembered
with respect and dignity and no abusive language will be used.
(d) He will not use the title of
“Amir-ul-Momineen”.
He did not comply
with any of the covenants of the treaty!
He bribed Imam
Hasan’s wife, Ja’dah to poison the Imam and promised her gold and to marry her
to his son Yazeed.
He was responsible for the murders of Malik al-Ashtar,
Hujr ibn Adi, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr to name a few. Even Abdul Rahman ibn Hassan was buried alive!
There was a famous
Tradition of the Noble Prophet (S.A.W.A.S.) that Ammar ibn Yasir would be
martyred by a rebellious group. Hazrat Ammar ibn Yasir took part in the Battle
of Siffin from Imam Ali (a.s.)’s side!
He directed that
from every mosque in the whole Kingdom, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali
(a.s.) should be cursed! Imam Ali was the “Nafse Rasool”in Mubahela, his purity
was confirmed in the Ayah of Purity, he was the conqueror of Khyber when the
Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) said: “Ali’s zarbat on the day of Khandaq is better
than the prayers of thaqalain”, he was the husband of the Lady of Paradise,
whose sons were the “Princes of the youths of Paradise”, who was the
“Purchaser” of the Consent of Allah on the Night of Migration of the Noble
Prophet from Makkah to Madinah. Hence the Khilafat turned into Kingdom, and
he became the first Umaiyyad King.
Sources used:
Khilafat and Mulookiyat by
Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi
Imam Husain 14. Blogspot.com
Anecdotes of Ahlu-Bayt by
Martyr Murtadha Mutahhari
History of Caliphs by
Rasul Jafarnian
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