THE RISE OF BANI UMAYYAD

The most unfortunate event for Islam was the resurgence of Umayyads and their return to a position of power. They were the sworn enemies of Islam, fought many wars against Islam during the lifetime of the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) under the leadership of Abu Sufyan. Ultimately, their power was destroyed in 8 Hijra when the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.), conquered Makkah without any bloodshed. They changed the tactics and donned the garb of Islam, though Islam never entered their hearts, the blood of infidelity continued to flow in their veins. At six occasions, they were referred as the “Accursed Tree” in the Glorious Qur’an.

After the sad demise of the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.), they started showing their muscles; After Saqifa, Abu Sufyan approached Imam Ali (a.s.) and offered to help regain his right but he (a.s.) refused to have any cooperation from the well-known foe of Islam. But he went to the first caliph and on the advice of the second caliph, Abu Sufyan was offered the big province of Syria. As he had reached the old age, his son Yazid was appointed the governor of Syria.

The teachings of Islam were quickly forgotten, and the Muslim society became the slaves of the world. Before the rise of Umayyad, the way wealth of the Ummah was distributed could be gauged by the following:

Talha bin Ubaidullah when died left behind 2,200,000 Dirham and 2,000,000 Dinars in cash. Apart from this he had unspecified property worth millions. Zubair bin Awwam left behind 50,000 Dinars, 1,000 horses and hundreds of bonded servants. (Al-Istiab Ibne Abde Barr, Politics in Islam by Khuda Bakhsh Khan, Muruj az-Zahab, Massoudi)

When Usman became the third caliph, Abu Sufyan told him, “O sons of Umayyad! Now that you have obtained the kingdom, now pass it among your family from to another. As for the Paradise and Hell, we don’t know whether it exist or not.” The Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) had banished Hakam bin Aas, and his son Marwan from Madinah. He was the uncle of the third caliph and Marwan was his son-in-law and appointed him as his vizier. Marwan was entrusted with the Khums from Africa (amounted to millions) and gifted him Fadak. Abdullah bin Abi Sarh was a relative of the third caliph. On the day of Conquest of Makkah, the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) ordered that he must be put to death even if he was found inside the Kaaba. The third caliph sheltered him in his house and later appointed him as governor of Egypt. Walid bin Aqaba was a cousin of the caliph, who was referred as transgressor in the Glorious Qur’an, was a drunkard and bad character, but was appointed as the governor of Kufa. One day he came to lead the morning prayer intoxicated and instead of reciting two units he recited four units and told the Muslims that if the like he could recite more! Everyone connected to Bani Umayyad obtained influential positions. They distorted Islamic ethics to dishonor the principles and laws of Islam and destroy each and everything related to Islam. Muslims instead of being the slaves of Almighty became the servants of gold and silver (riches and wealth).

Source: Understanding Karbala by Allama Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi