Present
condition in middle east makes one worry over what is the future of
Islam. I am giving here some facts from history of Islam as recorded
by the most authentic historians and through this would like to show
how this 1400 year old religion of Arabs will do in coming times.
This reading is in two parts, this is first part.
According to
tradition, the Umayyad family (also known as the Banu Abd-Shams) and
Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn
Qusai
and
they are originally from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from
Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd
Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, whose son was Umayya. The two
families are therefore, considered to be different clans (those of
Mohammad as Hashimid
and
of Umayya as Umayyad, respectively) of the same tribe (that of the
Quraish).
However, Shia historians point out that Umayya
was
an adopted son of Abd Shams probably an Araemean, so he was not a
blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn
Qusai.
Umayya
was
later discarded from the noble family.
While the Umayyads and the Hashimids may have had
bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad; the rivalry turned
into a severe case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The
battle saw three top leaders of the Ummayyad clan (Utba ibn Rabi'ah,
Walid ibn Utba and Shaybah) killed by Hashmids (Ali, Hamza ibn ‘Abd
al-Muttalib and Ubaydah) in a three-on-three fight. This fueled the
opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to
Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents
of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in
Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr. He did this to avenge
the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by
scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred
greater losses than the Meccans. After the battle, Abu Sufyan's wife
Hind, who was also the daughter of Utba ibn Rabi'ah, is reported to
have cut open the corpse of Hamza (companion of Mohammad), taking out
his liver (in other document, is written heart) which she then
attempted to eat raw. Within five years after his defeat in the
Battle of Uhud however, Muhammad took control of Mecca and announced
a general amnesty for all. Scared for their lives and the hatred from
Muslims owing to their aggressive and oppressive nature, Abu Sufyan
and his wife Hind embraced Islam on the eve of the conquest of Mecca,
as did their son (the future caliph Muawiyah I). The Conquest of
Mecca while overwhelming for the Umayyads for the time being, further
fueled their hatred towards the Hashmids; this would later result in
battles between Muawiyah I and Ali and then killing of Husayn ibn Ali
along with his family and a few friends on the orders of Yazid ibn
Muawiyah at the Battle of Karbala.
Most historians consider Caliph Muawiyah (661–80) to
have been the second ruler of the Umayyad dynasty, even though he was
the first to assert the Umayyads' right to rule on a dynastic
principle. It was really the caliphate of Uthman Ibn Affan (644–656),
a member of Umayyad clan himself, that witnessed the revival and then
the ascendancy of the Umayyad clan to the corridors of power. Uthman,
during his reign, placed some of the trusted members of his clan at
prominent and strong positions throughout the state. Most notable was
the appointment of Marwan ibn al-Hakam, Uthman's first cousin, as his
top advisor, which created a stir amongst the Hashmid companions
(family) of Muhammad, as Marwan along with his father Al-Hakam ibn
Abi al-'As had been permanently exiled from Medina by Muhammad during
his life time. Uthman also appointed Walid ibn Uqba, Uthman's
half-brother, as the governor of Kufah, who was accused, by Hashmids,
of leading prayer while under the influence of alcohol. Uthman also
consolidated Muawiyah's Governorship of Syria by granting him control
over a larger area and appointed his foster brother Abdullah ibn Saad
as the Governor of Egypt. However, since Uthman never named an heir,
he cannot be considered the founder of a dynasty. Uthman appointed
the same people to rewrite and compile Quran which is known as Rasm
al Uthman or Uthmanic Quran. Uthman ordered to destroy all existing
copies of Quran (Rasm al Mohammad) and prepared many copies of his
Quran in that place. This is one incidence when Quran was burnt to
ashes by no lesser person than Rashidun. Today we see many advocates
of Islam telling that burning or destroying copies of Quran is
sacrilege but that was done by one of the first Rashiduns!
After
the assassination of Uthman in 656, Ali,
a member of the Hashimid clan and a cousin and son-in-law of
Muhammad, was elected as the caliph. He soon met with resistance from
several factions, owing to his relative political softness. Fearing a
danger to his life, Ali moved his capital from Medina to Kufah. The
resulting conflict, which lasted from 656 until 661, is known as the
First Fitna ("civil war").
This rivalry in
the two factions of Quaresh tribe was working from the beginning of
Mohammad’s life time. However, they had realized the usefulness of
Mohammad’s strategy of propounding a separate religion of Arabs to
get discrete recognition (identity) away from the Jews and the
Christians. During those times Arabs were more tortured by the
Sassanid Empire of Persia than of Byzantine Empire of Eastern
Orthodox Christians. Sassanid Persians always told Arabs that the
deities they worship are of Persian origin and so by that excuse kept
them in control. That made, Mohammad recline towards the semantic
religions than the Persian religion. This also made Mohammad destroy
all those deities in Kaab. He did not destroy Hubal because it was
the only god from Arab origin. And subsequently Quran was designed on
the line of Syrian Christianity with some Jewish touch. As Islam
became popular Jews began to demand their position in that religion
and wanted to declare Islam as subordinate to Judaism (a sub sect of
Judaism). It means that this new religion proposed by Mohammad is a
branch of Judaism! That added to their line of argument and they
pointed to the fact that Mohammad directs his prayers towards
Jerusalem. To counter this propaganda of Jews Mohammad changed the
direction (Qibla)
and made it towards Mecca. There the animosity began between Muslims
and Jews that is as yet continuing. Umayyad’s acceptance of this
strategy was for the benefit of gaining power and they did not have
any interest in the genuine Islam which Mohammad had proposed and
propagated. All those from the Umayyad who accepted Islam were only
pretending to be loyal to the prophet during his life but as he died;
they have troubled them (Hashmids), as per recorded Islamic history.
Corrupting Quran to introduce Arabic savagery was done due to hatred
Umayyads had for the Hashmids in general and Mohammad in particular.
No institutions
were devised to channel political activity, and, in the absence of
such institutions, on death of Mohammad the pre-Islamic tribal
jealousies and rivalries, which had been suppressed under earlier
caliphs, erupted once again.
According to some
viewpoints, under such circumstances, leaders like Abdullah Ibn Saba,
felt that it was a good opportunity to accomplish their aims of
rebellion by starting arguments over religion. However, the figure
Abdullah Ibn Saba is believed by many Shia Muslims to be an imaginary
one created by certain Sunni historians to stir up anti-Shia
sentiment.
This
contributed to unrest in the empire and finally Uthman had to
investigate the matter in an attempt to ascertain the authenticity of
the rumors. The movement however exploited differences between the
Hashemite
(Ali's
clan) and Umayyad (Uthman's clan) clans of Quraysh.
Uthman
had the active support of the Umayyads, and a few other people in
Medina, but the rest of the people of Medina chose to be neutral and
help neither side. They wanted to fight Hashemite
(Ali's
clan) to establish their superiority.
At
this the supporters of Uthman took up cudgels on his behalf. Tempers
flared up on both sides, hot words were exchanged between the
parties, and that led to the pelting of stones at one another. One of
the stones hit Uthman; he fell unconscious and he was carried to his
house, while he was still unconscious. They, Hashemite
(Ali's
clan), changed their strategy, and tightened the siege of the house
of Uthman, thus confining Uthman to his home. Uthman was denied the
freedom to move about and was not allowed to go to the mosque.
As the days
passed, the Hashemite
(Ali's
clan) intensified their pressure against Uthman. Uthman's people
proved less powerful in the conflict. They forbade the entry of any
food or provisions, and later water as well, into his house, even
turning down a few widows of Muhammad. Ramlah
bint Abi-Sufyan, a widow of Muhammad, came to see Uthman and brought
some water and provisions for him but she was not allowed to enter.
Another widow of Muhammad, and the daughter of the late Caliph Abu
Bakr, Aisha, made a similar attempt, and she was also prevailed upon
by the Hashemite (Ali's clan) to go back.
Finding the gate
of Uthman's house strongly guarded by his supporters, the Hashemite
(Ali's clan) climbed the back wall and jumped inside, leaving the
guards on the gate unaware of what was going on inside. The Hashemite
(Ali's clan) entered his room and struck blows at his head. Naila,
the wife of Uthman, threw herself on his body to protect him.
Raising her
hand to protect him she had her fingers chopped off and was pushed
aside and further, blows were struck until he was dead. The slaves of
Uthman then counterattacked the assassins and, in turn, killed them.
There was further fighting between the rebels and the slaves of
Uthman, with casualties on both sides, after which the Hashemite
(Ali's
clan) looted the house. They
wanted to mutilate his body and were keen that he be denied burial.
When some of the Hashemite (Ali's clan) came forward to mutilate the
body of Uthman, his two widows, Nailah and Ramlah bint Sheibah,
covered him, and raised loud cries which deterred the rioters. The
rebels left the house and the supporters of Uthman at gate hearing
it, entered, but it was too late. Thereafter,
they maintained a presence round the house in order to prevent the
dead body from being carried to the graveyard. After the body of
Uthman had been in the house for three days, Naila, Uthman's wife,
approached some of his supporters to help in his burial, but only
about a dozen people responded. These included Marwan, Zayd
ibn Thabit,
'Huwatib bin Alfarah, Jabir bin Muta'am, Abu Jahm bin Hudaifa, Hakim
bin Hazam and Niyar bin Mukarram. The body was lifted at dusk, when
guards were snoozing and because of the blockade, no coffin could be
procured. The
body was not washed, as Islamic teaching states that martyrs' bodies
are not washed before burial. Thus Uthman was carried to the
graveyard in the clothes that he was wearing at the time of his
assassination.
Naila followed the funeral with a lamp but, in order to
maintain secrecy, the lamp had to be extinguished. Naila was
accompanied by some women including Ayesha wife of Mohammad and
Uthman's daughter.
The
body was carried to Jannat al-Baqi, the Muslim graveyard.
It appears that
some people gathered there, and they resisted the burial of Uthman in
the graveyard of the Muslims. The supporters of Uthman insisted that
the body should be buried in Jannat al-Baqi. But it was not
permitted. They later buried him in the Jewish graveyard behind
Jannat al-Baqi. Some decades later, the Omayyad rulers destroyed the
wall of the Jewish cemetery and widened the Muslim graveyard to make
his tomb inside. Interesting part is that all this happened while
Uthman was still khalifah of all Muslims!
The
funeral prayers were led by Jabir bin Muta'am, and the dead body was
lowered into the grave without much of a ceremony. After burial,
Naila the widow of Uthman and Aisha the daughter of Uthman wanted to
speak, but they were advised to remain quiet due to possible danger
from the rioters.
Uthman
had done a grave crime of displacing Mohammad and his Quran so he
deserved the fate he got; some Islamic scholars remark. So was the
general opinion in Medina also.
He ordered burning of Quran, which is nothing short of blasphemy. In
those days many faithful knew of original Quran and so they were
agitated to see the concocted version being imposed perforce by
Uthman, all these things caused them to declare that Uthman is not
Muslim and so he was denied decent burial in to Jannat
al-Baqi,
the Muslim graveyard, finally burial was done in Jew cemetery.
This was the condition of the Rashidun! After that over
the period Umayyad came in power and reestablished Uthman's Quran
(Rasm al Uthman) and original Quran was permanently destroyed. Today
we really do not know what was real Quran.
This episode I give here for my readers so they can
understand what is the legacy of Islam. We see people in Arabia being
killed like dogs by ISIS and before that by Salafi and Wahabbi and
AlQaeda. Killing people on no reason is the legacy of this Arab
religion. From many observations it becomes very clear that Islam has
been a tool of power politics of Arabs from the day one and has
really no spiritual value at all. We shall in the next part see how
Islam will be destroyed by its own people. The Hadith that mentions
the end of Islam and other important things.
My
email ID
ashokkothare@gmail.com
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