Project Rizwan

8/8/2019 Project Rizwan

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Political, Social & Religious condition of Islam:

In addition to idol-worship, which was the order of the day, star-worship had taken as firm a

root in the soil of Arabia. Human destiny was associated with the movements of various stars

and the phenomena of nature affecting the fortunes of man for good or evil were attributed to

their influence. Whereas on the one hand, the worst form of idolatry had its hold on the Arabmind in general, there were also some who had no faith in the existence of God, the immortality

of the human soul and the day of retribution. To them all religion was mockery. They held up to

ridicule the very idols they professed to adore. It is said of the famous poet, Imra' al-Qais,

that on the murder of his father he consulted an oracle in accordance with the traditional

practice among the Arabs, to decide whether or not he should avenge the murder. The process

consisted in marking two arrows, one with the word na'am (yes), the other with la (no), to

indicate respectively whether the undertaking should be entered upon or not. A blank one was

also put in, which if drawn, advised the lot to be drawn afresh. Imra' al-Qais drew the arrows

three times and each time the negative one came out. In a fit of rage he flung the arrow in the

face of the idol, saying: "O Wretch! Had it been the murder of thy own father thou wouldst not

have forbidden me to avenge it."

Such was the state of irreligion and idol worship in Arabia! Social life presented no better a

picture. The Arabs were ignorant of the very rudiments of social virtues. Their manner of life

made the evolution of any social virtue impossible. Tribal feuds engaged their whole attention. A

settled and peaceful mode of life, indispensable to the cultivation of social qualities, was

unknown to them. The prospect of hostilities with another clan that might break out at any time

was ever present before their minds. They led a nomadic life, wandering with their cattle from

place to place. They would set up their tents of camel-skins wherever they found water to drink

and forage for their cattle. Only a small minority of them had settled in villages and still fewer in

towns. How was it possible, under such circumstances, that the blessings of an ordered andsettled society should accrue to them?

There was no central government to enforce law and order in the country, which wasrent into innumerable petty states, each clan forming a separate and independentpolitical unit. They were too weak to enforce justice; to wrench one's rights fromanother, one had to depend upon one's strength of arm. Each tribe had a chief of itsown, its leader in battle, but there was no law whatsoever binding the tribe to the nation.Each was independent, owing no allegiance to any central authority until Islam camewith its unifying force. William Muir says that "The first peculiarity, then, which attractsour attention is the subdivision of the Arabs into innumerable bodies, governed by the

same code of honour and morals, and exhibiting the same manners, speaking for themost part the same language, but each independent of the others; restless and often atwar amongst themselves; and even where united by blood or by interest, ever ready onsome insignificant cause to separate and give way to an implacable hostility. Thus atthe era of Islam, the retrospect of Arabian history exhibits, as in the kaleidoscope, anever-varying state of combination and repulsion, such as had hitherto rendered abortiveany attempt at a general union The problem had yet to be solved, by what force


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these tribes could be subdued, or drawn to one common centre; and it was solved byMuhammad (pbuh)."

The Qur'an sums up succinctly this utter deterioration that embraced every phase of lifein a single sentence: "You were on the brink of a pit of fire" [The Qur'an, 3:103.]

Hostilities once breaking out continued for generations. Trifles, such as a word ofcontempt, or a slight mischief in a horse race, led to the slaughter of thousands and theeternal bondage of the vanquished. It was this fallen humanity whom the HolyProphet (pbuh) raised to the highest level of moral rectitude.He welded thesediscordant elements into a brotherhood, unique in the history of the world. A mightytransformation! A miracle, as a modern writer calls it in his Ins and Outs ofMesopotamia: "A more disunited people it would be hard to find, till, suddenly, themiracle took place. A man arose who, by his personality and by his claim to directDivine guidance, actually brought about the impossible, namely the union of all thesewarring factions.

Drinking was another vice to which the whole of Arabia was hopelessly wedded.Intoxicating liquors were served several times daily. There was not a household but had

a number of wine pitchers in store. No sooner, however, was the Quranic prohibitionproclaimed [The Qur'an, 5 : 90.] than the very pots used for storing liquor were brokento pieces and thrown away; and, it is related, wine flowed like rain-water in the streets ofMadinah. The centuries-old habit of drinking was thus rooted out in no time, and utterabstinence became the order of the day.

Gambling was another curse which had a firm hold on the Arab society. It was indulged

in as a common daily pastime. Those who abstained were looked down upon asmiserly. The Holy Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) spiritual force made short the work

of this as well, and relieved Arabia of another longstanding evil.


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Opposition of Quraish:

After the revelation of: O you enveloped. Arise and warn (74:1-2), the Prophet (sall-Allaahu

alayhi wa sallam) began to call his close family and friends to Islam. The Prophets preaching,and the worship of the Muslims, for the next three years was done secretly. At this stage, the

opposition to those who embraced the faith was mainly on a family and individual level.

However after Allah revealed: And warn your tribe of near kindred (26:214), the Prophetscall became public. He stood on Mount Safa, called the various tribes, and warned them of a

severe torment if they did not accept his message of tawheed. Following this publicproclamation, a number of verses were revealed refuting idol worship, describing the idolaters as

misguided, and threatening them with Hellfire if they did not abstain from idolatry. This openrejection of idolatry deeply offended the Makkans, galvanising them to start a concerted

campaign against the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) and his followers.

There were three main factors behind the Qurayshs opposition to Islam; religious, social and

economic. We will take each factor in turn.

The primary division between the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) and his opponents

was a religious one; or more specifically, the issue of tawheed and shirk. The Makkans believedthat Allah was their Creator, and He was all-Powerful: And if you asked them: Who created

the heavens and the earth, and subjected the sun and the moon, they would surely sayAllah. (29:61). In times of difficulty they would direct all of their worship to Allah alone.

However they would also worship other then Allah. Believing that they were too sinful toapproach Allah directly, they invented intermediaries between themselves and Allah, whom they

would call upon, and ask them to carry their request to Allah. Their goal was to worship Allah,but the way to reach Allah was through these intermediaries. The Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi

wa sallam) declared that every act of worship, including supplication, vows, sacrifice, should bedirected to Allah alone.

The Kaba had hundreds of idols situated inside it the most famous being Hubal al-Uzza, an idol

situated near Makkah, which was visited by pilgrims from all over Arabia. This veneration ofidols, as well as certain trees (Dhat Anwat) and buildings (the tomb of al-Lat) was deeply

engrained in the psyche of the Makkans and they deeply resented anyone challenging thispractice which they had inherited from their forefathers.

The idea of Prophethood being granted to someone who was poor, and an orphan was antithetical

to the Quraysh. Al-Walid in al-Mughirah complained that he was more deserving of Prophethood

due to his high status. And they said: why is not this Quraan sent down to a leading man ineither of the two towns. (43:31) They also contended that Allah should send an angel as aProphet, and not a mere mortal.

Finally, the Makkans rejected the concept of Resurrection believing that it was impossible for

decayed bones to brought back to life. They say, what! When we die and become dust andbones, can we really be raised up again. (52:82)


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Islam was also a threat to the social customs of the Makkans. It meant that century old traditions;fornication, robbery, deception, oppression of the women, slaves and the poor and the burying

alive of female children, would have to come to an end. This is why the Makkans were willing toaccept the personal leadership of the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) if he abandoned

his mission, as this did not mean an end to their traditional way of life. However, the acceptance

of Islam as a religion meant an end to any tradition or belief that conflicted with the Quraan.

Tribal differences also played a part in the opposition particularly from Banu Ummayah and

Banu Makhzum. Acceptance of Islam meant that the powerful tribal leaders would have tosubmit to a previously un-influential man from a rival tribe. There were further consequences.

Tribes from all over Arabia made their annual pilgrimage to the Kaba to worship their idols inand around Makka. An important spin off from this was that Makka become an important

commercial centre. Abandoning idol worship would have three main consequences; the Qurayshwould lose their position of priestly class, this in turn would threaten their financial gains from

the pilgrimage, and finally they feared that a coalition of tribes might oust them as guardians ofthe Kaba. And they say, if we followed the guidance with you, we would be ousted from

our land. (28:57)

Finally the memory of Abrahahs fateful attempt to destroy the Kaba was still fresh in the mindsof the Makkans. The latter saw some similarity between the Prophets message and Christianity,

and hence rejected it.

There were three main results of the Qurayshs opposition to Islam.

A number of converts were excommunicated from their tribes rendering them extremelyvulnerable to persecution and even death. Sixteen Muslims emigrated to Abyssinia to seek refuge

with a Christian king who was known for his justice. A second migration to Abyssinia, involving98 Muslims, also took place. The effect of this migration showed that the intense persecution by

the Makkans had not met its desired objective. Islam was introduced to a new continent, anupshot of this was that a delegation of 20 Christians came to the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa

sallam) and embraced Islam. The Negus also embraced Islam.

Secondly Umars determined resolve to kill the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) ledhim on journey that culminated with his acceptance of Islam. Likewise, Hamza, the Prophets

uncle, out of tribal loyalty, was outraged that Abu Jahl assaulted his nephew. After, retaliating onbehalf of the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa sallam), Hamza declared his conversion to Islam.

Thirdly, the intense persecution meant that the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) had to

look elsewhere (outside Makka) to deliver the message and ask for support. Most of the tribesrefused him, but a number of prominent Medinians from the Aws and Khazraj tribes, on a visit

for pilgrimage, accepted his message, and pledged allegiance to the Prophet (sall-Allaahu alayhiwa sallam) in what was known as the first and second pledges of Aqabah. Islam spread in

Medina, opening the way for the Muslims to migrate to Medina, to practice Islam openly withoutfear of persecution, and establish a city state that was to convey Islam far beyond its borders.


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BADR: Causes & Results

The Quraysh first threatened the Madinans, in a letter addressed to Adbullah ibn Ubayy ibnSalul, to kill their males and enslave their females unless they expelled Gods Messenger from

Madina. The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, put a timely end to the mischief which

Ibn Ubayy inclined to cause. Besides, when Sad ibn Muadh went to Makka to perform minorpilgrimage (Umrah), he was stopped at the entrance of the Kaba and prevented from performingcircumambulation. Also, the Makkans quite regularly sent invading parties to Madina. In such

circumstances, the Muslims were left no choice but to gain and consolidate control over thattrade route in order to force the Quraysh and other tribes unfriendly to the Muslims to reconsider

their hostile policy.

It was, at last, at the beginning of 624, two years after the Hijra that a large caravan of theQuraysh, escorted by no more than 40 security guards en route to Makka from Syria, arrived at a

place within reach of the Muslims. Fearing that the Muslims would stop their caravan and restoretheir usurped goods, Abu Sufyan, the leader of the caravan, rushed a messenger to Makka and

sought help and reinforcements.

This caused an uproar through Makka. The leading chiefs of the Quraysh decided to wage waron the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and about 1000 fighters moved out of Makka

with much pomp and show. They had decided to deal a crushing blow to the rising power of theMuslims.

Gods Messenger, who always kept himself abreast of developments which had any bearing onhis mission, realized that if an effective step was not taken right then, the preaching of Islam

might suffer a blow from which it might be very difficult for it to recover. Had the Qurayshtaken the initiative and launched an attack on Madina, it might have put an end to the existence

of the small Muslim community in that town.

Having decided to use the resources available to him, the Prophet, upon him be peace andblessings, left Madina. Although he may have been intent upon a decisive battle with the

Quraysh, some of the Muslims desired to stop the caravan. In order to inform his Companions ofthe situation, the Prophet gathered them and told them that the trading caravan of the Quraysh

was in the north whereas the invading Quraysh army was in the south and moving towardsMadina. He also informed them that God had promised the Muslims that they would be able to

seize any of the two parties they wished (al-Anfal, 8.7) Now it was for them to make the choicewhether they wished to stop the trading caravan or attack the approaching army. Aware of the

Prophets intention, Miqdad ibn Amr, one of the Emigrants, replied as follows:

O Messenger of God! Proceed as God has commanded you to. We are with you wherever yougo, even as far as Bark al-Ghimad. We shall not say as the Children of Israel said to Moses: Goforth, you and your Lord, and fight, We shall remain here sitting! We rather say: Go forth, you

and your Lord, and fight, and we shall fight on your side as long as the eyelid of any one of uskeeps moving.18


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fight for the most sublime of causes, to establish Gods religion based on belief, good morals andjustice. They were deeply convinced of the truth of this cause and accordingly ready to sacrifice

their lives. They had reached the battlefield earlier than their opponents and been positionedaround the wells. Apart from that, the heavy downpour which had come the previous night, was

to the advantage of the Muslims. It had provided them with an abundant water supply which they

quickly stored in large reservoirs. Rain had also compacted the loose sand in the upper part of thevalley where they had pitched their tents. This helped the Muslims plant their feet firmly andfacilitated their movement. But in the lower part of the valley, where the Quraysh army was

stationed, the ground had turned marshy. In addition to all those Divine blessings, God broughton them drowsiness and gave them a feeling of peace and security (al-Anfal, 8.11).

Gods Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, positioned his army in the upper part of the

valley overlooking the whole of the battlefield, and divided them into three parts, one centre andtwo flanks. The central force consisted of the leading figures among the Emigrants and Helpers,

who were foremost in devotion to Gods Messenger. Musab ibn Umayr was carrying thestandard of Gods Messenger. Musab belonged to one of the richest families of Makka. He had

accepted Islam as an adolescent. He was very handsome, and when he used to go out, before hisconversion, in silken clothes, the Makkan girls used to stare at him from the windows of their

houses. However, after he embraced Islam, he became a whole-hearted follower of GodsMessenger. He sacrificed whatever he had in the way of God and finally died a martyr at the

Battle of Uhud, during which he was again the standard-bearer of the Prophet, upon him bepeace and blessings. When he lost his right arm, he took the standard in his left hand, and when a

blow of an enemy sword took it away too, he was left with a head to protect Gods Messenger,before whom he was finally martyred.22

The flanks were commanded by Ali and Sad ibn Muadh. Ali was famous for his courage and

deep devotion to Gods Messenger. He was only nine or ten years old when he answered GodsMessenger, I will help you, when the Messenger gathered his kinsmen to call them to Islam at

the outset of his mission and asked them: Who among you will help me in this affair?23 Again,on the night of the Prophets Emigration, he slept on the Prophets bed in order that Gods

Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, might be able to leave Makka in safety.24 Thosewho surrounded the house of the Prophet had thought that it was Gods Messenger who was

sleeping in the bed and waited until daybreak. By the time they rushed into the house only to findAli in the Prophets bed, Gods Messenger had already reached the Cave of Thawr outside

Makka. Ali was a man wholly dedicated to the cause of God.

Gods Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, had not neglected to take all the necessary

precautions and perfect all the preparations for the war. He had mobilized all the resourcesavailable to him and chosen his best and most qualified men as commanders. He had stationed

his army at the upper part of the valley and pitched his tent at a place from where he would beable to see the whole of the battlefield and have all his commands conveyed to his soldiers

instantaneously. And, as the final prerequisite, for the desired result, he outstretched his arms andprayed with great earnestness and humility:


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O God! Here are the Quraysh who in their vainglory seek to deny and cry lies against YourMessenger. O God! Support us with the help You promised me. O God! Were this small group

of Muslims to perish, none in the whole earth would remain to worship You.25

After the prayer, he threw a handful of dust at the enemy saying: May their faces be scorched!26

The Battle of Badr was a severe test for all the Muslims. They would either gain the victory or bemartyred. They were not to flee the battlefield. Although they were not forbidden to retreat in

orderly fashion under strong pressure from the enemy provided the retreat was resorted to as astratagem of war for example, seeking reinforcements or regrouping with another party in the

rear (al-Anfal, 8.15) any disorderly flight because of cowardice and defeatism was strictlyforbidden. That kind of retreat takes place because the deserter holds his life dearer than his

cause, and such cowardice has been characterized as one of the major deadly sins.

The battle began. In the first frontline of the Quraysh were Utba ibn Rabia and his brother,

Shayba, and his son, Walid. They challenged the Muslims to single combat. Three young men of

the Helpers went forward against them. We will not fight with the farmers and spherherds ofMadina, Utba shouted out of an arrogance which would cause their perishing. This was, in fact,what Gods Messenger expected. He ordered Ali, Hamza and Ubayda ibn Harith to go forth for

single combat. Hamza, may God be pleased with him, advanced against Utba and killed him.Ali killed Walid with two blows. Ubayda, who was old, marched against Shayba. They

exchanged blows, and the sharp edge of Shaybas sword struck Ubaydas knee and cut it.However Hamza and Ali rescued him from Shayba. They killed Shayba and carried Ubayda

away.27

The Quraysh were shocked at the beginning of the war. The belief and sincerity of the Muslimswon them Gods help. The Quraysh, who had exulted in their power, suffered a decisive defeat at

the hands of the ill-equipped Muslims. Seventy of the Quraysh were killed. The two youngbrothers, Awf and Muawwidh, from the Helpers, together with Adbullah ibn Masud, killed

Abu Jahl, who had been described by Gods Messenger as the Pharaoh of the Muslim Ummah.28Almost all the leaders of the Quraysh, including Abu Jahl, Walid ibn Mughira, Utba ibn

Rabiah, As ibn Said, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid were killed. Prior to thebattle, Gods Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, had indicated the spots where they

were killed, saying: Utba will be killed here; Abu Jahl here, Umayyah ibn Khalaf here, and soon.29

Another seventy of the Quraysh were taken as war prisoners. God granted the Muslims

permission to accept ransom for them. Gods Messenger released some of them in return forransom, and the others who knew how to read and write, on the condition that they should teach

the unlettered Muslims how to read and write.

Such treatment of the captives proved very beneficial for the Muslims. For those people who had

expected execution welcomed the chance to pay ransom and paid it. Second, the rate of literacyin Madina was very low, and, in order to propagate Islam, the Muslims had to know how to read

and write. Besides, the Muslims had to be culturally superior to the polytheists. Third, those whowere kept in Madina to teach the Muslims how to read and write would be able to learn Islam


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better than before and find the opportunity to be in close contact with the Muslims. This wascertain to soften their hearts toward Islam and accelerate their conversion, together with that of

their families. Fourth, the families and relatives of those captives had despaired of their lives.But, when they saw them before them unexpectedly, their enmity to Islam was considerably

lessened or broken.

The decisive victory gained at Badr made Islam a force to reckon with across all of Arabia, andmany hardened hearts were inclined to accept the message of Islam.

Causes & Results of : Hijrat e Madina

Hijra of Muhammad

In September 622, warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly slipped out ofMecca

with Abu Bakr.[3] By degrees, Muhammad and his followers emigrated to the city of Yathrib,

320 kilometres (200 mi) north of Mecca. Yathrib was soon renamed Madinat un-Nabi, literally"the City of the Prophet", but un-Nabi was soon dropped, so its name in English is Medina,meaning "the city".

[4]The Muslim year during which the Hijra occurred was designated the first

year of the Islamic calendarby Umarin 638 or 17 AH (anno hegirae = "in the year of thehijra").

[4]In the following chronology

[4]the city will be referred to as Medina, and the region

surrounding it as Yathrib.

Day Date Notes

Day 1Thursday

26 Safar AH 1(9 September 622)

Left home in Mecca. Stayed three days in the Cave of ThurnearMecca.

Day 5Monday

1 Rabi' I AH 1

(13 September622)

Left the environs of Mecca. Traveled to the region of Yathrib.

Day 12

Monday

8 Rabi' I AH 1

(20 September622)

Arrived at Quba' near Medina.

Day 16

Friday

12 Rabi' I AH 1

(24 September622)

First visit to Medina for Friday prayers.

Day 26

Monday

22 Rabi' I AH 1

(4 October 622)Moved from Quba' to Medina.

The Muslim dates are in the Islamic calendar extended back in time. The Western dates are in the

Julian calendar. The lunar year is about 300/309 solar year. The Hijra is celebrated annually on8 Rabi' I, about 66 days after 1 Muharram, the first day of the Muslim year. Many writers

confuse the first day of the year of the Hijra with the Hijra itself, erroneously stating that theHijra occurred on 1 Muharram AH 1 or 16 July 622.

[4]


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All dates given above may have occurred about 89 days (three lunar months) earlier. The Muslimdates may be those recorded in the original Arabic calendar and their month names may not have

been changed to account for the (probably three) intercalary months inserted during the next nineyears until intercalary months were prohibited during the year of Muhammad's last Hajj (AH

10).[5]

A delegation from Medina, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans ofMedina, invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to serve as the chief arbitrator for the entire

community.[1][2]

There was fighting in Yathrib (Medina) mainly involving its Arab and Jewishinhabitants for around a hundred years before 620.[1] The recurring slaughters and disagreements

over the resulting claims, especially after thebattle of Bu'ath in which all the clans wereinvolved, made it obvious to them that the tribal conceptions of blood-feud and an eye for an eye

were no longer workable unless there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputedcases.

[1]The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept

Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves.[3]

Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all of his followers hadleft Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans

plotted to assassinate him. With the help ofAli, however, he fooled the Meccans who werewatching him, and secretly slipped away from the town.

[4]By 622, Muhammad had emigrated to

Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis.[3]

Following the emigration, theMeccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca.

[5]

Among the things Muhammad did in order to settle the longstanding grievances among the tribesof Medina was drafting a document known as the Constitution of Medina (date debated),

"establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslimemigrants from Mecca, which specified the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship

of the different communities in Medina (including that of the Muslim community to othercommunities specifically the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book").[1][2]

The community defined

in the Constitution of Medina, umma, had a religious outlook but was also shaped by thepractical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes.

[3]

Muhammad also adopted some features of the Jewish worship and customs such as fasting on theYom Kippurday. According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three daily prayer

rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction of the Islamic midday prayer (previouslyMuhammad was keeping the morning and evening prayers). Welch thinks that Muhammad's

adoption of facing north towards Jerusalem when performing the daily prayers (qibla) howeverneed not to necessarily be a borrowing from the Jews as the reports about the direction of prayer

before migration to Medina are contradictory and further this direction of prayer was alsopracticed among other groups in Arabia.

The first group ofpagan converts to Islam in Medina were the clans who had not produced great

leaders for themselves but had suffered from warlike leaders from other clans. This was followedby the general acceptance of Islam by thepagan population of Medina, apart from some

exceptions. This was, according to Ibn Ishaq, influenced by the conversion to Islam ofSa'd ibnMua'dh, one of the prominent leaders in Medina.


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ABUBAKAR:

Abu Bakr (Abdullah ibn Abi Qahafa) (Arabic: ; Transliteration: 'Abdullh bin Ab Quhfah, c. 573 CE 23 August 634/13 AH) was a

senior companion (Sahabah) and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophetMuhammad. He ruledover the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph

following Muhammad's death.[1]

As Caliph, Abu Bakr succeeded to the political andadministrative functions previously exercised by the Prophet, since the religious function and

authority of prophethood ended with Muhammad's death according to Islam. He was called Al-Siddiq (the truthful)

[2]by the Prophet and was known by that title among later generations of

Muslims.

As a young man, Abu Bakr became a cloth merchant and he traveled extensively in Arabia and

neighboring lands in the Middle East, through which he gained both wealth and experience. Heeventually came to be recognized as the chief of his clan.

[3]On his return from a business trip to

Yemen, he was informed that in his absence Muhammad had openly declared his prophethood.Not long after, Abu Bakr accepted Islam and was the first person outside the family of

Muhammad to openly become a Muslim. He was instrumental in the conversion of many peopleto the Islamic faith[4] and early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was married to Muhammad,

strengthening the ties between the two men.[2]

Abu Bakr served as a trusted advisor and close friend to the Prophet. During the lifetime ofMuhammad, he was involved in several campaigns such as the Battle of Uhud, the Battle of the

Trench, the Battle of Banu Qurayza, Battle of Khaybar, the Conquest of Mecca, the Battle ofHunayn, the Siege of Ta'if, and the Battle of Tabukwhere he was reported to have given all of

his wealth for the preparation of this expedition.[5]

He also participated in the Treaty ofHudaybiyyah and was made one of the witnesses over the pact.

[5]

In 631, the Prophet became fatally ill, and after his death Abu Bakr became the first Muslim or

Caliph. During his rule, he defeated the rebellion of several Arab tribes in a successful campaign,unifying the entire Arabian peninsula and giving it stability.[6] This enabled him to launchsuccessful campaigns against the Sassanid Empire (Persian Empire) and the East Roman Empire

(Byzantine Empire) who were threatening Arabia's borders. Prior to dispatching his army toSyria against the Romans he gave them the following commands which established the conduct

of war for later Muslim generations:

Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance in the battlefield. Do not committreachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child,

nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especiallythose which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food. You are likely to

pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone.[7][8]

Abu Bakr's Caliphate lasted for a little over two years (or 27 months), ending with his death after

an illness. Though the period of his caliphate was not long it included successful invasions of the

two most powerful empires of the time, a remarkable achievement in its own right. He set in


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motion a historical trajectory that in few decades would lead to one of the largest empires inhistory.

After Muhammad's death, previously dormant tensions between the Meccan immigrants, the

Muhajirun, and the Medinan converts, the Ansar, threatened to break out and split the Ummah.

Other arabic tribes also wished to revert to local leadership and split from Medina's control. Insome places, people claiming prophethood started to establish leaderships to oppose Medina, e.g.Al-Aswad Al-Ansi and Musaylimah. All of which are events that lead to splitting the muslim

community.[72]

The Ansar, the leaders of the tribes of Medina, met in a hall or house calledsaqifah, to discuss whom they would support as their new leader. When Abu Bakr was informed

of the meeting, he, Umar, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and a few others rushed to prevent theAnsar from making a premature decision. Accounts of this meeting vary greatly. All agree that

during the meeting Umar declared that Abu Bakr should be the new leader, and declared hisallegiance to Abu Bakr, followed by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, and thus Abu Bakr became the

first Muslim caliph, who was given the title, Khalifa-tul-Rasool(Successor ofmessenger ofAllah), a title only accepted by Sunni Muslims. Shias criticise Abu Bakr for forsaking the funeral

of Muhammad to attend the political gathering, and believe that Muhammad had alreadyappointed Ali in his lifetime as his successor. This view portrays Abu Bakr and Umar as plotters

in a political coup against the Alids. The Ismaili Shia Institute researcher Wilfred Madelung[73]

portrays Abu Bakr as a political opportunist whose character as the founder of Sunni Islam has

been extensively embellished by subsequent kings and emperors (caliphs) making it difficult toopenly criticise him

[74]

Reign as a Caliph

After assuming the office ofCaliphate Abu Bakr's first address was as follow:

I have been given the authority over you, and I am not the best of you. If I do well, help me; andif I do wrong, set me right. Sincere regard for truth is loyalty and disregard for truth is treachery.The weak amongst you shall be strong with me until I have secured his rights, if God wills; and

the strong amongst you shall be weak with me until I have wrested from him the rights of others,if God wills. Obey me so long as I obey God and His Messenger. But if I disobey God and His

Messenger, ye owe me no obedience. Arise for your prayer, God have mercy upon you.

Abu Bakr's Caliphate lasted for 27 months, during which he crushed the rebellion of the Arabtribes throughout Arabia in the successful campaign against Apostasy. In the last months of his

rule, he launched campaigns against the Sassanid Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine Empire) and thus set in motion a historical trajectory[72] (continued later on by Umar

and Uthman) that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history.He had little time to pay attention to the administration of state, though state affairs remained

stable during his Caliphate. On the advice of Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah he agreed tohave a salary from state treasury and abolish his cloth trade.


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Ridda-Wars

Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, threatening the unity and stability of the

new community and state. Several Arabic tribes revolted against Abu Bakr. In four of the sixcentres of the insurrection, the rebells rallied around people who claimed to be prophets, the

most prominent among these was Musaylimah. The tribes claimed that they had submitted toMuhammad only, and that with Muhammad's death, their allegiance had ended. This was

common practice in pre-islamic Arabia. After the death of a tribal leader the alliance with thetribe of that leader was regarded as having ended.

[6]Thus several tribes acted in accordance to

this pre-islamic practice and refused to pay Zakat. Abu Bakr, however, insisted that they had notjust submitted to a simple human leader but joined the Muslim religious community, of which he

was the new head. So, in contrast to pre-islamic times, their allegiance was not seen as havingended at all.

This was the start of theRidda wars (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). The apostasy of centralArabia was led by self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah of in al-Yamama, while the other centers

were to the south and east in Bahrain, Oman, Mahra region and Yemen.

[72]

Abu Bakr planned hisstrategy accordingly and formed the Muslim army into 11 corps. The strongest corps, and this

was the main punch of the Muslim army, was that ofKhalid ibn al-Walid and was used to fightthe most powerful of the rebel forces. Other corps were given areas of secondary importance in

which to bring the less dangerous apostate tribes. Abu Bakr's plan was first to clear the area ofwest and central Arabia (the area nearest Medina), then tackle Malik ibn Nuwayrah, and finally

concentrate against the most dangerous enemy Musaylimah. After series of successfulcampaigns, Khalid ibn al-Walid finally defeated Musaylimah and his tribe, the Banu Hanifa, in

the Battle of Yamama.[75]

The Campaign of the Apostasy was fought and completed during theeleventh year afterHijra. The year 12 Hijri dawned, on 18 March 633, with Arabia united under

the central authority of the Caliph at Medina.

This phenomenon was later regarded as primarily a religious movement by Arabic historians.However, the early sources indicate that in reality it was mainly political.

[76][77]After all, the

revolting Arabs only refused to pay Zakat (Charity), but they did not refuse to perform thesalah.[77] This however is disputed and explained by Muslim scholars in that the dictation of

Zakat was one of the Five pillars of Islam and its denial or withholding is an act of denial of acornerstone of faith, and is therefore an act of apostasy. Bernard Lewis states that the fact that

Islamic Historians have regarded this as a primarily religious movement was due to a laterinterpretation of events in terms of a theological world-view.

[6]The opponents of the Muslim

armies were not only apostates, but also - if not most of them - tribes which were largely or evencompletely independent from the Muslim community.[77] However, these revolts also had a

religious aspect: Medina had become the centre of a social and political system, of whichreligion was an integral part; consequently it was inevitable that any reaction against this system

should have a religious aspect.[78]

TheQur'an preservation

According to Sunni Islam, Abu Bakr was instrumental in preserving the Qur'an in written form.

It is said that after the hard-won victory over Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama fought in


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632, Umar (the laterCaliph Umar), saw that many of the Muslims who had memorized theQur'an had died in battle. Fearing that the Qur'an may be lost or corrupted, Umar requested the

Caliph Abu Bakr to authorize the compilation and preservation of the Book in written format.After initial hesitation, Abu Bakr made a committee headed by Zayd ibn Thabit which included

the memorizers of the Qur'an and Umar and to collect all verses of the Book. After collecting all

Qur'anic verses from texts in the possession of various sahaba, Zayd ibn Thabit and members ofhis committee verified the reading by comparing with those who had memorized the Qur'an.After they were satisfied that they had not missed out any verse or made any mistakes in reading

or writing it down, the text was written down as one single manuscript and presented in a bookform to the Caliph Abu Bakr. It is believed that this process happened within one year of the

death of Muhammad when most of his sahaba (companions) were still alive.

Prior to his death, Abu Bakr gave this authorized copy of the Qur'an to Umar - his successor. Itremained with him throughout his tenure as Caliph (10 years). Prior to his death, Umar gave this

Book to his daughterHafsa bint Umar, who was one of the wives of Muhammad. Umar did notnominate his successor on his deathbed, and thus preferred to leave this copy with Hafsa so as

not to indicate his personal preference of who would be the next caliph. Later on, it became thebasis ofUthman Ibn Affan's definitive text of the Qur'an which was published far and wide

merely 18 years after the death of Muhammad. Later historians give Uthman Ibn Affan theprincipal credit for re-verification and publishing the Qur'an. Shi'as reject the idea that Abu Bakr

or Umar were instrumental in the collection or preservation of the Qur'an.[79]

Military expansion

Once the rebellions had been put down, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest. Whether or not he

intended a full-out imperial conquest is hard to say; he did, however, set in motion a historical

trajectory that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. Abu

Bakr began with Iraq, the richest province of Persian Empire. He sent his most brilliant generalKhalid ibn al-Walid to invade the Sassanid Empire.

[edit] Invasion of Sassanid Persian Empire

After the Ridda Wars, a tribal chief of north eastern Arabia, Muthanna ibn Haris, raided the

Persian towns in Iraq. With the success of the raids, a considerable amount of booty was

collected. Muthanna ibn Haris went to Medina to inform Caliph Abu Bakr about his success andwas appointed commander of his people, after which he began to raid deeper into Iraq. Using the

mobility of his light cavalry he could easy raid any town near the desert and within momentscould disappear again in to the desert, into which the Sassanid army was unable to chase them.

Muthannas acts made Abu Bakr think about the expansion of the Rashidun Empire.

[80]

Abu Bakr started with the invasion of Iraq. The problems faced by Abu Bakr were that the Arabs

feared the Persians with a deep, unreasoning fear which ran in the tribal consciousness as a racialcomplex and was the result of centuries of Persian power and glory. In return the Persian

regarded the Arab with contempt. It was important not to suffer a defeat, for that would confirmand strengthen this instinctive fear. To make certain of victory, Abu Bakr decided on two

measures; that the invading army would consist entirely of volunteers; and he put in command of


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the army his best general Khalid ibn al-Walid. After defeating the self-proclaimed prophetMusaylimah in the Battle of Yamama, Khalid was still at Al-Yamama when Abu Bakr sent him

orders to invade the Sassanid Empire. Making Al-Hirah the objective of Khalid, Abu Bakr sentreinforcements and ordered the tribal chiefs of north eastern Arabia, Muthanna ibn Haris,

Mazhur bin Adi, Harmala and Sulma to operate under the command of Khalid along with their

men. In about third week of March 633 (first week ofMuharram 12th Hijrah) Khalid set outfrom Al-Yamama with an army of 10,000.[80] The tribal chiefs, with 2,000 warriors each, joinedKhalid; Thus Khalid entered the Persian Empire with 18,000 troops. After entering Iraq with his

army of 18,000, Khalid won decisive victories in four consecutive battles: Battle of Chains,fought in April 633; Battle of River, fought in the 3rd week of April 633; Battle of Walaja,

fought in May 633 (where he successfully used a double envelopment manoeuvre), and Battle ofUllais, fought in the mid of May 633. By now the Persian court already disturbed by the internal

problems, was down and out. In the last week of May 633, Hira capital city of Iraq fell to theMuslims after resistance in the Siege of Hira. After resting his armies, in June 633 Khalid laid

siege ofAl Anbar, which resisted and was eventually surrendered after a siege of a few weeks inJuly 633 after the Siege of Al-Anbar. Khalid then moved towards the south, and conquered the

city of Ein ul Tamr after the Battle of Ein ut Tamrin the last week of July 633. By now, almostthe whole of Iraq (Euphrates region) was under Islamic control. Khalid got a call of help from

northern Arabia at Daumat-ul-Jandal, where another Muslim Arab general, Ayaz bin Ghanam,was trapped among the rebel tribes. Khalid went to Daumat-ul-jandal and defeated the rebels in

the Battle of Daumat-ul-jandal in the last week of August 633. Returning from Arabia, he gotnews of the assembling of a large Persian army. He decided to defeat them all separately to avoid

the risk of defeat to a large unified Persian army. Four divisions of Persian and Christian Arabauxiliaries were present at Hanafiz, Zumiel, Sanni and Muzieh. Khalid devised a brilliant plan to

destroy the Persian forces. He divided his army in three units, and attacked the Persian forces inbrilliantly coordinated attacks from three different sides at night, starting from the Battle of

Muzieh, then the Battle of Sanni, and finally the Battle of Zumail during November 633. Thesedevastating defeats ended Persian control over Iraq, and left the Persian capital Ctesiphon

unguarded and vulnerable for Muslims attack, before attacking the Persian Capital Khaliddecided to eliminate all Persian forces from south and west, he accordingly marched against the

border city of Firaz, where he defeated the combined forces of the Sassanid Persians, ByzantineRomans and Christian Arabs in the Battle of Firaz in December 633. This was the last battle in

his conquest of Iraq. While Khalid was on his way to attack Qadissiyah, a key fort in the way toPersian Capital Ctesiphon, he received the letter of Caliph Abu Bakr and was sent to Roman

front in Syria to assume the command of Muslim armies to conquer Roman Syria.[81]

[edit] Invasion of Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

With a successful invasion of Sassanid Persian province of Iraq, Abu Bakrs confidence grew

and he concentrated large army at Zhu Qissah and sent them to Roman Syria, the army was

divided in four corps. Each, under its own commander and target. While these armies where ontheir march towards their target they received intelligence of concentration of large Byzantine

armies at Ajnadayn. The armies stopped their advance and wrote to Abu Bakr for help. Positionin Iraq was stable by now, Caliph accordingly wrote to Khalid to take half of his forces of Iraq to

Syria and assume the command of Muslim armies in Syria. The Byzantine province of Syria inthose days consisted of modern day Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and


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southern Turkey. There were two routes towards Syria from Iraq, one was via Daumat-ul-Jandaland the other was through Mesopotamia passing though Ar Raqqah. Muslim armies in Syria

were in need of urgent reinforcement, Khalid avoided the conventional route to Syria via Daumatul Jandal because it was a long route and would take weeks to reach Syria, he avoided

Mesopotamias route because of presence of Roman garrisons in Northern Syria and

Mesopotamia and engaging with them at the time when Muslim armies were being outflanked inSyria, was not a wise idea. Khalid selected a rather short route to Syria, an unconventional routepassing though Syrian Desert. He boldly marched his armies though desert were it is recorded

that his soldiers marched for two days without a single drop of water, before reaching a pre-decided water source in oasis. Khalid thus entered Northern Syria and caught Byzantine at there

right flank and according to modern historians, it was this ingenious strategic maneuver ofKhalid, his perilous march though desert and appearing at the north-eastern front of Byzantines

while they were occupied in tackling Muslim armies in southern Syria, that unhinged theByzantine defenses in Syria. Khalid entered Syria in June 634 and quickly captured the border

forts of

Sawa, Arak, Tadmur, Sukhnah. Qaryatayn and Hawarin after the battles ofQaryatayn andHawarin. After dealing with all these cities, Khalid moved towards Damascus, passing though a

mountain pass which is now known as Sanita-al-Uqab (Uqab pass) after the name of Khalid'sarmy standard. From here he moved away from Damascus, towards Basra, the capital of

Ghassanid Arab kingdom, a vassal of Eastern Roman empire. He had ordered other Muslimcommaders to concentrate their armies at Busra, which were still near the Syrian-Arabia border.

At Maraj-al-Rahab, Khalid defeated a Ghassanid army of Christian Arabs in a quickBattle ofMarj-al-Rahit. Meanwhile Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah, the supreme commander of Muslim armies

in Syria had ordered Shurhabil ibn Hasana to attack Basra.The later laid siege of Basra with hissmall army of 4000 men. Roman and Ghassanid Arab garrison, noticing that this might be the

advance guard of the larger Muslim army to come, decided to attack and destroy Shurhabilsarmy. They came out of the fortified city and attacked Shurhabil, surrounding him from all sides;

Khalid reached the arena with his advance guard cavalry and saved the day for Shurhabil. Thecombine forces of Khalid, Shurhabil and Abu Ubaidah then laid the siege of Basra, which

surrendered some time in mid July 634. thus effectively ending the Ghassanid Dynasty.

Here Khalid took over the command of Muslim armies in Syria from Abu Ubaidah, as per theinstructions of Caliph. The massive Byzantine armies were concentrating at Ajnadayn to push

the invading armies back to desert. Early Muslim sources have mentioned its size to be 90,000,while most of the modern historians doubt the figures, but consider this battle to be the key to

breaking the Byzantine power in Syria. According to the instructions of Khalid all Muslim corpsconcentrated at Ajnadayn, where they fought a decisive battle against Byzantine on 30 July 634.Defeat at the Battle of Ajnadayn, left Syria vulnerable to the Muslim invaders. Khalid decided to

capture Damascus, the Byzantine stronghold. At Damascus Thomas, son in law of EmperorHeraculis, was in charge. Receiving the intelligence of Khalid's march towards Damascus he

prepared for the defences of Damascus. He wrote to Emperor Heraculis for reinforcement, whowas at Emesa that time. Moreover Thomas, in order to get more time for preparation of a siege,

sent the armies to delay or if possible halt Khalid's march to Damascus, one such army wasdefeated at Battle of Yaqusa in mid-August 634 nearLake Tiberias 90 miles from Damascus,

another army that halted the Muslim advance to Damascus was defeated in Battle of Maraj as


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Safferon 19 August 634. These engagements delayed Khalids advance and gave Thomasenough time to prepare for siege. Meanwhile Heraculis's reinforcement had reached the city,

which he had dispatched after the bad news of Ajnadyn. Before Heraculis's another regimentcould reach Damascus, Khalid had finally reached Damascus. Khalid reached Damascus on 20

August and besieged the city. To isolate the city from rest of the region, Khalid placed the

detachments south on the road to Palestine and in north at Damascus-Emesa route, and severalother smaller detachments on routes towards Damascus. Heraculis's reinforcement wasintercepted and routed at the Battle of Sanita-al-Uqab, 20 miles from Damascus. Khalid's forces

withstood three Roman sallies that tried to break the siege. Khalid finally attacked and conqueredDamascus on 18 September 634 after a 30-day siege. According to some sources the siege lasted

for four or six months. Heraculis, having received the news of the fall of Damascus, left forAntioch from Emesa. The citizens were given peace on the terms of annual tribute; the Byzantine

army was given a three-day peace to go as far as they could. After the three-day deadline wasover, the Muslim cavalry under Khalid's command attacked the Roman army, catching up to

them using an unknown shortcut, at the Battle of Maraj-al-Debaj, 190 miles north of Damascus.Abu Bakr died during the siege of Damascus and Umar became the new Caliph. He dismissed

his cousin Khalid ibn al-Walid from the command and appointed Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah thenew commander in chief of Islamic army in Syria. Abu Ubaidah got the letter of his appointment

and Khalid's disposal during the siege, but he delayed the announcement until the city wasconquered.

USMAN:

According to Muslim sources, unlike his predecessor, Umar, who maintained discipline with astern hand, Uthman was less rigorous upon his people; he focused more on economic prosperity.

Under Uthman, the people became economically more prosperous and on thepolitical plane theycame to enjoy a larger degree of freedom. No institutions were devised to channel political

activity, and, in the absence of such institutions, thepre-Islamic tribal jealousies and rivalries,which had been suppressed under earlier caliphs, erupted once again. In view of the democratic

and liberal policies adopted by Uthman, the people took advantage of such liberties, whichbecame a headache for the state, and it culminated in the assassination of Uthman.

[14]

Moreover, the foreign powers became nervous at the success of the Muslims under the

leadership of Uthman, and now their only hope lay in aiding and abetting subversive movementswithin the territories of Uthman's caliphate. According to some viewpoints, under such

circumstances, leaders like Abdullah Ibn Saba, felt that it was a good opportunity to accomplishtheir 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.

However, Wilferd Madelung discredits the alleged role of Abdullah b. Saba in the rebellionagainst Uthman, Madelung observes that few if any modern historians would accept Sayf's

legend of Ibn Saba[15]

It is believed that the movement had its links with foreign countries. Due to the lack of anyparticular political department to deal with the growing political agitation in the Islamic state, the


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political leaders in various towns campaigned against Uthman. Initially, they started witharguments over Uthman's kinsmen, who were governors of Egypt, Bosra and Kufa and they were

joined by the companions who supported Ali. The most prominent of these were Muhammad ibnAbi Bakr, who despite being an Umayyad like Uthman, was raised in Ali's house, and Ammar

ibn Yasir, who supported the right of Ali to become caliph because of his close relationship with

Muhammad. The campaign was also supported by some companions who had a personalgrievance with Uthman, like Amr ibn al-As, also an Ummayad, who was stripped of thegovernorship of Egypt by Uthman, and Uthman's adopted son, Muhammad bin Abi Hudhaifa,

who Uthman had refused to appoint as a governor of any province.

The actual reason for the anti-Uthman movement is disputed among the Shia and SunniMuslims.

[16]Many anonymous letters were written to the leading companions of Muhammad,

complaining about the alleged tyranny of Uthman's appointed governors. Moreover, letters weresent to the leaders of public opinion in different provinces concerning the reported mishandling

of power by Uthman's family. This contributed to unrest in the empire and finally Uthman had toinvestigate the matter in an attempt to ascertain the authenticity of the rumours.

[17]The

movement however exploited differences between the Hashemite (Ali's clan) and Umayyad(Uthman's clan) clans of Quraysh.

Sunni Muslims consider these claims about the governors of Uthman, who achieved much

success during their reign, to be untrue, while Sunni Muslims believe this to be a tactic used byseditionists to overthrow the realm of Uthman, by making him lose control over the main

provinces of Egypt, Syria, Kufa and Bosra, where Uthman had appointed his own kinsmen forloyalty's sake. On the other hand Shia Muslims suggest that these claims were correct, and

Uthman's kinsmen, although they achieved success as governors, failed to lead the peopleaccording to the principles of Islam, giving references to various early narrations present in

primary sources of Islamic history. Sunni Muslims reject these narrations, on the basis that theirauthenticity is disputed.

Uthman's emissaries tothe provinces

The situation was becoming tense and so the Uthman administration had to investigate theorigins and extent of anti-government propaganda and its aims. Some time around 654, Uthman

called all the governors of his 12 provinces to Medina to discuss the problem. In this Council ofGovernors, Uthman directed the governors that they should adopt all the expedients they had

suggested, according to local circumstances. Later, in the Majlis al Shurah (council of ministry),it was suggested to Uthman that reliable agents should be sent to various provinces to investigate

the matter and report about the sources of such rumours. Uthman accordingly sent his agents to

the main provinces, Muhammad ibn Maslamah was sent to Kufa; Usama ibn Zayd was sent toBasra; Ammar ibn Yasir was sent to Egypt, while `Abd Allah ibn `Umar was sent to Syria. Theemissaries who had been sent to Kufa, Basra, and Syria submitted their reports to Uthman, that

all was well in Kufa, Basra and Syria. The people were satisfied with the administration, andthey had no legitimate grievance against it. Some individuals in various locations had some

personal grievances of minor character, with which the people at large were not concerned.Ammar ibn Yasir, the emissary to Egypt, however, did not return to Medina. The rebels had

carried on with their propaganda in favour of the Caliphate of Ali. Ammar ibn Yasir had been


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affiliated with Ali; he left Uthman, and instead joined the opposition in Egypt. Abdullah ibnSaad, the governor of Egypt, reported about the activities of the opposition in Egypt. He wanted

to take action against Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (foster son ofAli), Muhammad bin Abi Hudhaifa(adopted son of Uthman) and Ammar ibn Yasir.

[10] However, Uthman did not want Abdullah ibn

Saad to be harsh against them because he held them in high regard. After the Egyptian emissary's

failure, Uthman looked for further developments in Egypt.

[edit]Furthermeasures

In 655, Uthman directed the people who had any grievance against the administration to

assemble at Mecca for the Hajj. He promised them that all their legitimate grievances would beredressed. He directed the governors and the "Amils" throughout the empire to come to Mecca

on the occasion of the Hajj. In response to the call of Uthman, the opposition came in largedelegations from various cities to present their grievances before the gathering.

[14]

Uthman addressed the people and gave a long explanation of the criticism about himself and his

administration and then said: "I have had my say. Now I am prepared to listen to you. If any oneof you has any legitimate grievance against me or my Government you are free to give

expression to such grievance, and I assure you that, I will do my best to redress such grievance."

The rebels realized that the people in Mecca supported the defence offered by Uthman and werenot in the mood to listen to them.

[4]That was a great psychological victory for Uthman. It is said,

according to Sunni Muslim accounts, that before returning back to Syria, the governorMuawiyah, Uthmans cousin, suggested Uthman should come with him to Syria as the

atmosphere there was peaceful. Uthman rejected his offer, saying that he didn't want to leave thecity of Muhammad (referring to Medina). Muawiyah then suggested that he be allowed to send a

strong force from Syria to Medina to guard Uthman against any possible attempt by rebels to

harm him. Uthman rejected it too, saying that the Syrian forces in Medina would be anincitement to civil war, and he could not be party to such a move.[10]

[edit]Agitation in Medina

After the Hajj of 655 things remained quiet for some time. With the dawn of the year 656,

Medina, the capital city of Uthman, became a hotbed of intrigue and unrest. Muhammad ibn AbiBakr returned to Medina from Egypt, and assisted in leading a campaign against the Caliphate of

Uthman.

When the crisis deepened in Medina, Uthman addressed the congregation in the Masjid-e-

Nabawi and gave an explanation and rebuttal of all the claims against him. The general publicwas again satisfied with Uthman. He had hoped that after his speech in which he had explainedhis position, and offered full defence for his actions, the allegedly false propaganda against him

would cease.

[edit] Armed revolt against Uthman


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The politics of Egypt played the major role in the propaganda war against the caliphate, soUthman summoned Abdullah ibn Saad, the governor of Egypt, to Medina to consult with him as

to the course of action that should be adopted. Abdullah ibn Saad came to Medina, leaving theaffairs of Egypt to his deputy, and in his absence, Muhammad bin Abi Hudhaifa staged a coup

d'tat and took power. On hearing of the revolt in Egypt, Abdullah hastened back but Uthman

was not in a position to offer him any military assistance and, accordingly, Abdullah ibn Saadfailed to recapture his power.[18]

In middle of 656, Uthmans governor of Kufa, Abu-Musa al-Asha'ari, was unable to control theprovince. In Basra the governor, Abdullah ibn Aamir, left for Hajj, and in his absence the affairs

of the province fell into a state of confusion. The three main provinces of Egypt (which wasalready the center of the dissident movement), Kufa, and Basra became essentially independent

from the Caliphate of Uthman, and became the center of revolt.

[edit] Rebels inMedina

From Egypt a contingent of about 1,000 people were sent to Medina, with instructions toassassinate Uthman and overthrow the government. Similar contingents marched from Kufa and

Basra to Medina.[19]

They sent their representatives to Medina to contact the leaders of publicopinion. The representatives of the contingent from Egypt waited on Ali, and offered him the

Caliphate in succession to Uthman, which Ali turned down. The representatives of the contingentfrom Kufa waited on Al-Zubayr, while the representatives of the contingent from Basra waited

on Talhah, and offered them their allegiance as the next Caliph, which were both turned down. Inproposing alternatives to Uthman as Caliph, the rebels neutralized the bulk of public opinion in

Medina and Uthman's faction could no longer offer a united front. Uthman had the active supportof the Umayyads, and a few other people in Medina,

[16]but the rest of the people of Medina

chose to be neutral and help neither side.

[edit] Siege of Uthman

Main article: Siege ofUthman

The situation in Medina was a big gain for the rebels. When they felt satisfied that the people ofMedina would not offer them any resistance, they entered the city of Medina and laid siege to the

house of Uthman, essentially taking it over but not confining the Caliph. The rebels declared thatno harm from them would come to any person who choose not to resist them. Uthman strongly

instructed his supporters to refrain from violence but his various servants (about 40 of them)appealed for permission to fight against the rebels, along with a thousand other citizens of

Medina. Uthman, who was a wealthy man even from the days before Islam, freed all 40 of his

slaves and ordered them to stay away from the civil war between the Muslims.

The early stage of the siege of Uthmans house was not severe,[20] the rebels merely hovered

around the house and did not place any restrictions on him. Uthman went to the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi as usual, and led the prayers. The rebels offered prayers under the leadership of Uthman.

While Uthman addressed the people in the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi he was criticized by opponents.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


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another. One of the stones hit Uthman, he fell unconscious and was carried to his house, stillunconscious.

The proceedings in the mosque showed that most of the people of Medina (or at least those in the

mosque) preferred not to fight, but to watch developments. When the rebels felt that the people

of Medina were not likely to offer active support to Uthman, they changed their strategy, andtightened the siege of the house of Uthman, thus confining Uthman to his home. Uthman wasdenied the freedom to move about and was not allowed to go to the mosque.

As the days passed, the rebels intensified their pressure against Uthman.[20]

They forbade the

entry of any food or provisions, and later water as well, into his house, even turning down a fewwidows 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 widowof Muhammad, and the daughter of the late Caliph Abu Bakr, Aisha, made a similar attempt, and

she was also prevailed upon by the rebels to go back.

With the departure of the pilgrims from Medina to Mecca, the hands of the rebels were furtherstrengthened, and as a consequence the crisis deepened further. The rebels understood that afterthe Hajj, the Muslims gathered at Mecca from all parts of the Muslim world might march to

Medina to relieve Uthman. They therefore decided to take action against Uthman before thepilgrimage was over. During the siege, Uthman was asked by his supporters, who outnumbered

the rebels, to let them fight against the rebels and rout them. Uthman prevented them in an effortto avoid the bloodshed of Muslim by Muslim. Unfortunately for Uthman, violence occurred

anyhow. The gates of the house of Uthman were shut and guarded by the renowned warrior,Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr.[20] The sons of Ali, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, were also

among the guards[citation needed]

; while amongst those inciting the people to fight included Aisha,[21]

one of the wives ofMuhammad. A skirmish erupted between the opponents and the supporters of

Uthman at the gate, some anti-Uthman partisans were killed, and the rebels were finally pushedback. Among the supporters of Uthman, Hasan ibn Ali, Marwan and some other people were

wounded.[citation needed]

When Uthman came to know of this action he said: No, I do not want to spill the blood ofMuslims, to save my own neck.

Assassination

Finding the gate of Uthman's house strongly guarded by his supporters, the rebels climbed theback wall and snuck inside, leaving the guards on the gate unaware of what was going on inside.

The rebels entered his room and struck blows at his head.[22]Naila, the wife of Uthman, threwherself on his body to protect him.

Raising her hand to protect him she had her fingers chopped off and was pushed aside, andfurther 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 slavesof Uthman, with casualties on both sides, after which the rebels looted the house.

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The rioters wanted to mutilate his body and were keen that he be denied burial. When some ofthe rioters 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 thehouse and the supporters of Uthman at gate hearing it, entered, but it was too late.[24]

Thereafter the rioters maintained a presence round the house in order to prevent the dead bodyfrom being carried to the graveyard.

Financial & Military : Hazrat Umer

The government of Umar was more or less a unitary government, where the sovereign politicalauthority was the Caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomousterritories like in some regions Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the

Caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors orWali. The selectionof which was made personally by Umar, who was very fastidious in it. Provinces were further

divided into districts, there were about 100 districts in the empire. Each district or main city wasunder the charge of a junior governor or Wali, usually appointed by Umar himself, but

occasionally they were also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provinciallevel were:

1. Katib, the Chief Secretary.2. Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.3. Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.4. Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.5. Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.6. Qadi, the Chief Judge.

In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Governor (Wali) was in most

cases the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province. Every appointment wasmade in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view

to regulating the conduct of Governors. On assuming office, the Governor was required toassemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.

[46]

Umar's general instructions to his officers were:

"Remember, I have not appointed you as commanders and tyrants over the people. I have sentyou as leaders instead, so that the people may follow your example. Give the Muslims their

rights and do not beat them lest they become abused. Do not praise them unduly, lest they fallinto the error of conceit. Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more powerful of

them eat up the weaker ones. And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that istyranny over them."

Various other strict code of conducts were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The

principal officers were required to come to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during whichpeople were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of

corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governor received as


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much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if theywere also the commander in chief of the army of their sector). Under Umar the empire was

divided into the following provinces.

1. Arabia was divided into two provinces, Mecca and Medina;

2. Iraq was divided into two provinces, Basra and Kufa;3. In the upper reaches of the Tigris and the Euphrates, Jazira was a province;4. Syria was a province;5. Umar divided Palestine in two provinces Aylya and Ramlah;6. Egypt was divided into two provinces, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt;7. Persia was divided into three provinces, Khorasan; Azarbaijan and Fars.

Umar was first to established a special department for the investigation of complaints against theofficers of the State. This department acted as Administrative court, where the legal proceedings

were personally led by Umar.[47]

The Department was under the charge ofMuhammad ibnMaslamah, one of Umar's most trusted man. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was

deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes anInquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasions the officers against

whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar'sadministrative court. One of Umar's most powerful department was his intelligence department

of secret services[dubious discuss]

. Umar's iron fist rule on his empire, is often credited to thisinstitution . His agents were everywhere, in the army, in the bureaucracy and in the enemy land.

For the officials of Umar it was said to be the most fearsome department[dubious discuss]

.

Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:

1. Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials

and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system that had the messages he sent toGovernors and heads of states.

2. He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.3. He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.[48]

[edit] Reforms

Umar is regarded as one of the greatest political geniuses in history.[5]

While under hisleadership, the empire was expanding at a unprecedented rate, he also began to build the political

structure that would hold together the vast empire that was being built. He undertook manyadministrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced

administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries andbureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison

cities (amsar) ofBasra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovatedthe Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the

Prophet) in Medina.[49]

Umar also ordered the expulsion of the Christian and Jewish communitiesofNajran and Khaybarallowing them to reside in Syria or Iraq. He issued orders that these

Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent land in their newsettlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days.

[50]


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starvation. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Madinah, whichaccording to one estimate had attendance of more than hundred thousand people.

[53]By early 639

conditions begun to improve. Arabia received precipitation and as soon as the famine ended,Umar personally supervised the rehabilitation of the displaced people. They were given adequate

amounts of rations and were exempted from payment ofzakat for that year and the next year.

Project Rizwan

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Transcript of Project Rizwan