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How Did The Sunni Mazhab Begin
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How
Did The Sunni Mazhab Begin
We begin the story from the
time of the third Khaleefa, Uthman bin Affaaan. Uthman’s rule lasted for
twelve years. During the first year of his reign he faithfully adhered to the
rules set by Abu Bakr and Umar. In the second year of his Khilafa, he began
showing his true colors. Slowly and gradually he
removed all the governors in the provinces and replaced them by his kinsmen from
Banu Umayya. He misappropriated the treasury by bestowing lavish gifts on his
uncles, nephews and cousins. He acquired expensive jewelry for his wife. Ali bin
Abi Talib tried to correct him frequently but he was much too confident about
his influence
among the people and refused to listen. Abu Zarr, the famous Companion of the
Prophet, became one of his most vocal critics. Abu Zarr was banished to
Damascus. But on Muawiyya’s complaints he was called back. He was then
banished to a barren country in Rabza where he died alone and destitute. Uthman
had Ammar and Abdullah bin Masood, two other senior Companions
of the Prophet, beaten up by his thugs when they criticized his policies. He
reduced A’isha’s stipend from 12,000 per year to 6,000. A’isha promptly
joined the group of Uthman’s critics and was recorded many times inciting
Muslims of Medinah to revolt against Uthman’s rule.
Uthman appointed Walid bin Uqba
as the governor of Koofa, where he was frequently found dead drunk. He would
come and lead prayers while intoxicated not knowing whether he was doing four-raket
or two-raket prayer. Uthman appointed Abdullah bin Abi Sarah (his foster
brother) as governor of Egypt. This Abdullah had been, at one point, sentenced
to death by the Prophet. He bestowed the duchy of Fadak to Marwan, his cousin
and son-in-law. For six years the trouble remained under covers. Then things
were coming out and the ugliness of nepotism and favoritism of the Khaleefa
became the talk of the town.
In the last year of his reign things came to a boil. A’isha left for
Mekka in anger and frustration. A mob of several thousand people came to Medinah
from Egypt. Similar size mobs arrived in Medina from Iraq. They first complained
to the Khaleefa. Ali came and tried to mediate between the mob and the Khaleefa.
First it appeared that things would be resolved peacefully because Uthman had
agreed to correct his policies. Twice he broke his promise to do that, in the
meantime the crowds remained in Medinah. Finally they put a siege on the house
of the Khaleefa. He was denied water, even though Ali sent his two sons, Hasan
and Husayn, to bring water to the beleaguered Khaleefa. On the 18th of Zul-Hijja
in the 35 year of Hijra some of the mob entered the house of Uthman and killed
him. It is very likely that the killers were in turn themselves killed on the
spot. It was a complete chaos in
Medina for three days. The mob would not allow the burial of the Khaleefa for
three days. He was finally interred in the Jewish graveyard of Medina. (This
narrative is formulated from many books including Tabari’s Tareekh, Ibn Wadhih
Yaqoobi’s Tareekh, Abul Ala Mawdoodi’s Khilafat-o-Mulookiyyat, and mainly
from Taha Husain’s al-Fitnat-ul-Kubra. ) The mob then turned to Ali. They
pleaded with him to take charge of the situation and bring back law and order to
the city of the Prophet. In the beginning he refused. But then he also saw that
if he did not intervene, the situation would just get worse. After the assassination of
Uthman, Ali reluctantly accepted the Khilafa. We can only guess as to what the
situation of the community would have been, if Ali were given charge of it 25
years ago, or even 12 years ago. As soon as he had taken charge and news spread
to Mekka and other provinces, there was different kind of reaction from
different places. Talha bin Ubayd Allah and Zubayr bin Al-Awwam were the first
to swear Allegiance to Ali. But soon they broke their pledge to him and moved
towards Mekka. A’isha, the daughter of Abu Bakr and a widow of the Prophet of
Islam, was returning from Hajj. When she heard the news, she freaked out in
anger and frustration. Soon she had joined hands with Talha (her cousin by
relation) and Zubayr (related to her by marriage) and a conspiracy was afoot to
unsettle Ali. Their apparent motive was a call for revenge for Uthman’s blood.
Their battle cry was that the legitimate Khaleefa of Muslims was brutally
murdered with zulm, the killers had to be found and punished before they (the
threesome) would accept the rule of the new Khaleefa. In fact, the perpetrators
of this conspiracy neither had any Right nor authority to start the movement. We
shall see that, that was all a façade for some other purpose. The threesome sped up to
Basra where Talha had some land. They incited the people of Iraq against Ali and
began plundering the city. Ali arrived post
haste with a well armed force of 700 men. He stopped at a distance from Basra
and sent an emissary to Abu Moosa Ashari, his governor in Koofa, for raising
support from that city. We will see later how Abu Moosa worked against Ali’s
and the community’s interests and destroyed peace and any hope for justice in
the community for all time to come.
Abu Moosa hid Ali’s letter, threatened Ali’s emissary with prison and
death, and refused to do anything
to help. When Ali received this news,
he deposed Abu Moosa and appointed a new governor for Koofa. By this time,Ali
had received the news about the rebels plundering the city of Basra. Malik
al-Ashtar, a
general in Ali’s army and himself a Koofan, arrived in Koofa and took over the
governor’s palace while Abu Moosa was still preaching in the mosque to the
people of Koofa to stay out of trouble. Three days later a battle
took place between the troops of Ali and those of A’isha, Talha and Zubayr on
the other side. This battle is known to us as The Battle of The Camel. The
threesome were defeated thoroughly. Thousands were killed.
Talha was killed by Marwan who was actually fighting on the same
side.Zubayr deserted the battlefield after Ali was able to persuade him but, was
finally killed by a Bedouin. A’isha was sent back to Madinah with respect,
Although after a verbal reprimand --- lucky for her! No sooner than Ali had
quelled the Makkan rebellion,the governor of Syria, Mu’awiyyah, raised the
banner of revolt against the legitimate Khaleefa at Madinah. Ali wrote letters and tried
to persuade him to desist from his sedition. But, Mu’awiyyah felt strong
enough to stand up to the legitimate authority of Madinah. Ali had to move to
Iraq to stop this rebellious movement from Syria. A Battle took place between a
Syrian army led by Mu’awiyyah and a Koofan-cum-Madinan army of Ali. Both sides
took great losses. Finally the tide of the
battle began turning in favor of Ali, until the night came which is known as the
LAYL AT-AL HAREER (the night of the rumble). Ali’s troops were pressing hard.
Ali had been fighting all night. His men were able to gain a lot of advantage
for themselves. All indications were that the Syrians have had it. Some reports
record that it was at this point that Muawiyya had run away and saved his life. Mu’awiyya saw
the end coming. He was desperate.
He had a meeting with Amr bin al-Aas and said that unless they came up
with something that was the end. Amr advised him to tell his people to raise
copies of Qur’an on their lances suggesting an arbitration between the warring
parties. That would cause confusion and dissensions among Ali’s troops and
that would at least give them sufficient time to regroup and re-arm, if nothing
else happens. The trick worked. Ashath bin Qays of Kinda who
commanded 12,000 men,came to Ali and said that they should accept the truce. Ali
said that they were just about to win the battle and it was not the time for
that kind of discussion. Ashath was adamant. He said that Malik al-Ashtar, who
was fighting with his troops in the front lines, should immediately be called
back otherwise he would not only separate himself from Ali but actually would
turn against him and fight him. Ali had no choice, the last thing he wanted was
infighting within his own troops. He sent a message to al-Ashtar. He refused to come leaving
his men in the heat of the battle un-commanded. Ali had to send a second message
emphasizing the gravity of the situation. Al-Ashtar had to stop fighting and
return. He was full of remorse and frustration. Muawiyya had his wish come true.
There was confusion in Ali’s troops. The battle was halted. Raising of Qur’an meant
that the parties would sit down and try to come to a peaceful resolution in view
of the Book of Allah. It was decided that two representatives would be chosen,
one from each side and their decision after due consideration would be binding
on the parties. Ali suggested the name of Abdullah bin Abbas as his
representative, that was rejected by his own men. He then suggested the name of
al-Ashtar, that too was rejected. One only has to note that in this internal
wrangling Ashath bin Qays was in the forefront. Ali finally had to agree on Abu
Moosa Al-Ashari. We have already seen how unsympathetic Abu Moosa had been to
Ali’s thinking from the very beginning. Muawiyyah, of course,chose Amr bin
al-Aas as his representative. The
troops retired to Syria and Iraq respectively.Several months later a meeting was
held at a place called Adhrooh. Amr suggested to Abu Moosa that they should both
remove their respective candidates from Khilafa and let the community choose a
new person.That would bring lasting peace to the society. Abu Moosa was very
accommodating to this idea, even though it went dead against the initial premise
of this meeting, that the
representatives would search the Book of Allah for peaceful solution of the
conflict. Finally in an open assembly
they both came together.Abu Moosa first spoke and said that he had removed his
candidate Ali bin Abi Talib from the office of Khilafa. Amr stood up and said
that he had confirmed his candidate Mu'awiyya bin Abi Sufyan in that office. Abu
Moosa was throwing abuse at Amr for deceiving him. The meeting ended in utter
confusion. The Syrians took it as a political victory for themselves. Ali’s
support among his own people dwindled over time after this event. Mu’awiyyah’s
Intrigues There are reports that
Muawiyya had offered bribes to Abu Moosa even before the battle of Siffeen. Abu
Moosa, who was not sympathetic to Ali’s cause in the first place, actually
thought that an elite group of aristocrats of Hijaz should rule the community
and he had his eyes on Abdullah bin Umar for the position of Khaleefa. The
fighting at Siffeen was stopped for one reason and one purpose: that both
parties would try to find a solution through the Book of Allah. At the meeting
at Adhrooh he must have realized that the Book of Allah was not near anywhere on
the agenda. He should have stopped then.
Even if we do not go deep into the situation, the facts tell us that either Abu
Moosa was a dumb idiot or he was a dirty double crosser. By his actions at the
arbitration of Adhrooh he had destroyed any hope for peace and stability in the
Muslim community for a long time to come. Mu'awiyya was emboldened by
his success at the arbitration fiasco. Things had gone in his favor beyond his
wildest dreams and far deeper than he could ever hope and expect. He put his
machinery in full gear to attack Ali’s institutions, which were basically the
institutions of Islam. He sent armed parties to raid the border towns in Iraq.
Supporters of Ali were not safe on the highways. At the same time he began a
propaganda war. The official pulpits were used in Syria to abuse Ali. The
practice continued for nearly ninety years. Children were raised on the hatred
of Ali. A new generation of Ali-haters were ready to fight twenty years later.
It was basically these people who would butcher the family of the Prophet at
Karbala in the 61st year of Hijra. The following year, Mu'awiyya
sent a strong contingent to attack Egypt where Muhammad bin Abi Bakr was in
charge as Ali’s governor. The Egyptians were defeated and Muhammad bin Abi
Bakr was brutally killed. Ali was greatly aggrieved. So was A’isha when she
got the news of her brother’s brutal killing. In the beginning of the 40th
year of Hijra, Mu'awiyya organized a raiding force under the command of Busr bin
Artat and sent him off towards Arabia Proper.Busr razed Mekka and Medina killing
men, women and Children and looting the two cities. Moving down to the south he
continued with the rampage in Najran and continued to the Yemen. Ubayd Allah bin
Abbas had left his two young sons with a tribal leader in the desert. Busr
attacked the camp where they lived and wanted to kill them. The tribal leader
came out in the open and refused to hand over the children. He was killed and
then the children were killed by slitting their throats. The Bedouin women came
out weeping and lamenting for this and said that even in the period of
Janhiliyya the Arabs did not use to kill little children.
The full story of Busr’s gory adventures in Arabia will be found in
Madelung. On the other hand Ali had to
confront the misguided Khawarij who had seceded from
him, and were now out to fight him. Ali, with his selected supporters, fought
these fanatic zealots with the single purpose of upholding the Islamic law and
successfully eradicated the Arab lands of their presence. Their survivors ran
off into far off areas of the deserts and continued as lone guerilla fighters. On the 19th of Ramadhan in
the same year, Ali was wounded in the mosque of Koofa at the hands of Ibn Muljim
al- Muradi, a Kharijite, while doing a pre-morning prayer. He was alone in the
mosque at the time. News spread in Koofa as people began to arrive in the mosque
for morning prayers. Ibn Muljim was rounded up quickly. Three days later Ali
succumbed to his wound. After the passing away of
Imam Ali, a meeting was held in the mosque in which Imam Hasan, his eldest son,
spoke and so did Abdullah bin Abbas. Hasan bin Ali was unanimously elected as
the Khaleefa of Muslims. This was the first universal election in the Muslim
community in peaceful circumstances in which all classes had participated. On the other hand,
Mu'awiyya’s intrigues were in full swing, now that Ali bin Abi Talib was no
more. Hasan Ahl-al-Sunna
wal-Jama'a The following year Mu'awiyya
went to Hajj. On the way back he stopped in Medinah and people pledged their
allegiance to him in the mosque. At this point Mua’wiyyah addressed the people
and said: “I have not taken over power to make you perform salat and fasting
and Hajj and make you pay zakat. You do all that already. I have taken the rule
because I wanted power over people. Now everything is under my feet. I will do
as I please.” This speech and its contents
have had long term effects on the Muslim psyche. It showed that the Khaleefa was
not interested in upholding the law of Shari’a. He was only interested in
holding power over people he ruled. This was the first indication in the
thinking of the community about the separation of State from religion in the
Muslim community. Imam Ali had fought relentlessly all his four years of rule to
hold the community together. Mua’wiyya’s one action undid all that. Mu'awiyyah termed that year Aamul Jama'a (the year of the community). It was from this that the term Ahl-as Sunnat wal-Jama'at was coined for the general Mulsim community, later on. This is the point in time when we can identify the existence of the large majority of Muslims under the government of the time, who later became the larger community of the Sunni Muslims. Let us complete the rest of
the story of Mu'awiyyah’s period in power. Mu'awiyyah had realized that
although he had taken the power away from the family of the Prophet in a
bloodless coup, that was the treaty with Imam Hasan, and he had won the game of
politics, his legitimacy as the Khaleefa of Muslims was still suspect. He was
made aware of this so much more by the fact that there were a number of the Shia
who openly disagreed with him and they continued to protest publicly about his
oppressive policies, particularly his orders for Imam Ali’s cursing from the
official pulpits in the Muslim kingdom. While he needed the title of Khaleefa
for himself to hold the kingdom, he wanted absolute Power over the people so
that he could pave the way for the succession of his own son Yazeed to the
throne. That was rather impossible as long as any charismatic member from the
family of the Prophet was around. Hasan bin Ali was one such
person. Even though,Hasan bin Ali had been living a quiet life in Medinah, his
mere presence was a thorn in Mu’awiyyah’s side. Mu'awiyya finally found a way
out of that situation. He conspired with one of the wives of Imam Hasan and she
poisoned him to death in the 49th year of Hijra. The anti-Ali tirades were being
broadcast openly From now on, from each and every pulpit in the Muslim kingdom.
The population of the Shi'a had to take a low profile. The family of the Prophet
were bound by the treaty Imam Hasan had signed with Mu'awiyya, even though he
himself was not respecting any of the conditions in the contract. But there were
some who could not take all that. Among them were Hujr bin Adi and his
supporters in Koofa. When the governor of Koofa, Ziyad, who had been
declared by Mu'awiyya to be his father’s (Abu Sufyan) bastard son, would go on
to the pulpit and would begin abusing Imam Ali, Hujr and his companions would
stand up and try to shout him down. Ziyad complained to Mu'awiyya
about it. Mu'awiyya ordered him to
arrest Hujr and his companions and send them to Damascus with a charge sheet.
Ziyad complied. Hujr and his companions were tortured and then killed on
Mu'awiyya’s orders at a place called Azra. Hujr and his companions had
no political ambitions.They were not aspiring to any public office. Nor did they
have anyone else in mind whom they wanted installed in high office. We will have
to conclude that Hujr and his people’s open and public protests were fired by
a zeal that was motivated by something other than hope and expectation for any
kind of worldly gain. He also knew that by doing what he was doing he had
endangered his own life and property. Finally, he and his companions were tortured and brutally killed on Mu'awiyyah’s orders.Hujr’s and his people’s stance was totally religious. It cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be termed as political in nature. This is the true Shi'a way of thinking. We will see how this thinking manifests itself ten years later at Karbala and leaves an indelible mark in the pages of human history. Having said all that, Amir
Ali, a respected scholar of Islamic history, has asserted that the establishment
of the Sunni Church in Islam owes to the rules of the Abbasid dynasty. WE will
bring the details of that in a separate post, insha Allah, soon. Jimmy Jumshade <jimmybug@rocketmail.com>
wrote: Naquvi Sahib: You are a gentleman of the
highest order. Thankyou for your courteous & informative response. We shall
continue this discussion......it is very enlightening. Best wishes to you &
yours.....JJ syed-mohsin naquvi <mnaquvi@yahoo.com>
wrote: Jumshade sahib, I only reverted your own
words on your logic. If the Shi'a are rude by holding
their hands down the side in prayer then by your own logic and your own
statement, Imam Malik, a Sunni Imam, must also be taken to be rude since he
ruled that hands should be held down on the sides (or, you did not know
this?),exactly like the Shi'a do. We will take this issue of when the Sunni sect
was started and how did the Shi'a come into being in the next couple of posts. You are mistaken in believing
that the Shi'a do not call themselves Muslims - they do. The hateful Sunnis
would want to ex-communicate them by labeling them as Kafir. Who told you that the Shi'a
worship Hazrat Ali ? And I am surprised that an intelligent person like you
would glibly believe all that rubbish. I have a very good Sunni friend - he lives in Indiana and he writes about this stuff frequently. His name is Dr. Shahid Atrhar. In one of his messages he told how he was raised as a Sunni believing that the Shi'a have a different Qur'an. When he grew up and came to America and made some Shi'a friends and started visiting them at their homes, the first thing he would do at the Shi'a homes was to look for the copy of the Qur'an and quickly check it out. After several years of doing that (secret) research he is now convinced that there is no separate Shi'a-Qur'an but he still has problems convincing other Sunnis of his findings. May be you too should take up that kind of (secret or open) research to convince yourself of this fallacy of ALI-WORSHIP or against it. There is no point in making this kind of comment from a distance. And in the same breath you claim that some also believe in Hazrat Ali being a separate Rasool come on, Jumshade Sahib - where are you getting all this? Yes, I will find some
material in history and bring it to your attention in the next few days. Thank you for engaging in
this discussion. I wish you and your family a very happy Ramadhan and Eid-ul-Fitr. Sincerely, Syed-Mohsin Naquvi Jimmy Jumshade <jimmybug@rocketmail.com>
wrote: Hi Naquvi Sahib: Thank you for your response. Rude?? I was not rude in this post.....just stating facts. Now, if Sunnis were created first following real Islam & word of God & guidance of Muhammad, the Rasool by God's desire, pleasure & will & not creating a separate faction, dividing Islam & zabardasti following Hazrat Ali as a separate Rasool.....then the Shias are merely a sect, dividers & distorters of an original message just to get their own way. Even Hazrat ali is quite upset about this "Hazrat ali" worshipping craze by the Shias. & How come you do not call yourselves Muslims but Shias??!!! Let us clear this fact first. Regards......... mohsin naquvi <mnaquvi@yahoo.com>
wrote: Frankly, there should be no
dispute in prayers. If True, Islamic.........prayers were established the
Sunni way before the artificial creation of 'Shiaism' (Please enlighten, was
Sunnism or Shiaism created first??!! Those created later are the deviators &
deformers)then that form of prayers should be followed. The Shias just to be
different to Sunnis out of spite, follow the Soldiers stance of hands by the
side. which is quite rude. A more respectful stance is folded hands, while
praying to the creator.Hands by the side are defiance. That's my opinion. Thank
you. You are entitled to your
opinion. According you Imam Malik
(Founder of one of the Sunni FIQH) was also a RUDE GUY - your words not mine. If
you really are looking for the historical truth in the matter of whether Shi'a
began first or the Sunni labels - we can take it on another line. Thank you. Sincerely, Syed-Mohsin Naquvi Jimmy Jumshade wrote: Frankly, there should be no
dispute in prayers. If True, Islamic.........prayers were established the Sunni
way before the artificial creation of
'Shiaism' (Please enlighten, was Sunnism or Shiaism created first??!!
Those created later are the deviators & deformers)then that form of prayers
should be followed.
The Shias just to be different to Sunnis
out of spite, follow the Soldiers stance of hands by
the side. which is quite rude. A more respectful
stance is folded hands, while praying to the creator.Hands by the side are
defiance. That's my opinion. Thank you. syed-mohsin naquvi wrote: This message claims: I have given you SOLID proofs
that the Salat of the Shias who claim to be people of the Prophet's
household, is WAYYYYYYYYYY different than the one
Sunnis offer. The only outward difference
between the salat of the Shi'a and that of the Sunnis is as follows: (1) All Shi'a stand up during
recital (QIR'AT) with their hands down, while three sects among the Sunnis have
their hands folded before them – the
Hanafee, the Shafi'ee and the Hnabalai; the fourth, the Malikis keep
their hands down like the Shi'a. (2) At the end of the Salat
during the final SALAM, the Sunnis look to the right and then to the left.The
Shi'a do not do that.There are no major differences between the Salat of the two
sects. Thank you. Sincerely, Syed-Mohsin Naquvi |