Dear All,
This note was written in response to a brother who asked as to why some Muslims consider Mu'awiyyah deserving of Allah's wrath and L'anat.
The purpose of writing this is not to hurt anybody's feelings. It is true that a great majority of Muslims consider Mu'awiyyah as a legitimate Khaleefa. While most Muslims agree that Yazeed was a bad Muslim, a bad person and a bad ruler of the Muslim kingdom, many of the same people ask as to why consider Mu'awiyyah equally bad when actually, Mu'awiyyah was responsible for bringing peace and tranquility in the society after a long civil war.
So, in this short message we would want to answer that one question. That is, why do I think Mu'awiyyah deserves to be cursed.
First of all I am going to cite Qur'anic verses to give the reader a basic premise, then I am going to cite reports from history to show the reasons. I promise that I will not cite a single report from an unauthentic source.
I do not wish to complicate the issue by bringing in the Shi'a-Sunni thing in this discussion. We are discussing things intelligently, with rational arguments and with citations from the holy Qur'an and history.
We are not judging anybody's Eeman, we are concerned only with how people had behaved in the society.
Let us look at the first verse I want to present:
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| مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ | (32) On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. |
Very clearly, the holy Qur'an prohibits the killing of a human being by any person. There is no specification of the religion of either the killer or the victim.
Even though the verse mentions Banu Israel, the ruling in its nature is universal. Every society in the world prohibits extra-judicial killings of its citizens.
Unless an organized system of crime-and-punishment is in effect and a punishment has been decreed, all killing of human beings is prohibited and is ordained to be a major sin – and a grave act of Zulm.
Let us look at the next verse:
| وَمَن يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا | (93) If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him. |
Here the Qur'an is very specific. If the victim happens to be a believer, then the killer's recompense is the Hell Fire, Allah's wrath and L'anat and a dreadful penalty.
The killer's belief does not matter here because he is the perpetrator of the Zulm.
There are over 30 verses in the holy Qur'an in which Allah's L'anat has been promised for various different kinds of people. Some are cursed because of their Kufr (denying Allah and His Prophet), others are about the Liars being cursed and still others are about Zaalimeen being cursed by Allah. I can cite all such verses here but I am sure our readers have access to a copy of the holy Qur'an and they can check all those verses themselves.
O.K., let us now look at the third verse:
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| ۞ وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا ۖ قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ | (124) And remember that Abraham was tried by his Lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: He said: "I will make thee an Imam to the Nations." He pleaded: "And also (Imams) from my offspring!" He answered: "But My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers." |
Qur'an here clarifies (after having promised Hazrat Ibraheem the honour of bestowing the station of Imamat on him) that there is a possibility that in his own progeny, down the line somewhere some time there will be people who would become Zalim in their times. If that happens, that honour of Imamat will not reach such people in spite of being in the progeny of an infallible and honoured prophet of Allah.
The reason I have quoted these three verses is this: In the first verse, killing of a human being without cause was prohibited. That law applies equally in every human society today. No religious preferences are mentioned either way.
In the second verse Allah promised great punishment for a person who kills a believer with Zulm.
In the third verse even people in the progeny of an honoured apostle of Allah are warned that if they should perpetrate Zulm, they too are subject to Allah's punishment.
I hope our readers understand the chain of logic I am building here.
Let us now go to the second stage of this discussion where we will look at historical records and see how Mu'awiyyah had ruled the Muslim kingdom. This is not the full story but it is sufficient to bring our point to the fore.
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A REVIEW OF MU'AWIYYAH'S POLITICAL ACTIVITIES-- A Selection from Authentic Historical Reports
1. Ibn-ul-Wardi writes in his Tareekh: In the month of Safar of 37th year of Hijra the forces of Ali ibn Talib and those of Mu'awiyyah began fighting. Before the action began, Imam Ali collected his companions and gave them instructions: Until your opponents start armed action you should not begin fighting, leave those who would run away, do not loot your (defeated) opponents' property, do not expose their private parts. Ammar ibn Yasir was fighting on Ali's side, during the intense fighting he asked for a drink; a woman brought him a drink made of milk. Ammar said: "Allah and His Apostle are indeed truthful. Today I will meet the Prophet and his Companions; the Prophet had said that my last meal will be milk." And then Ammar welcomed his martyrdom in that battle.
2. Abul Fida has reported from Saheeh Hadeeth that it is agreed among historians that the Prophet had said: Ammar will be killed by a rebellious group.
3. In a report in Saheeh Bukhari Abu Sa'eed Khudri narrates: The Prophet had said – Alas, Ammar will be killed by a group of rebellious (fighters); Ammar would be calling them to Jannat but that group would be calling Ammar to the Hell Fire.
4. The 10th century scholar named Noorud-din Ali ibn Ahmad al-Samhudi writes in his book named Khulasat-al-Wafa: As soon as Ammar was killed, Amr ibn al-Aas stopped fighting; many others followed him. Mu'awiyyah asked him the reason for that; al-Aas said that we had heard from the Prophet that Ammar would be killed by a rebellious group; that makes us the rebel group. Mu'awiyya turned to al-Aas and said: O! Shut up. We are not the killers of Ammar. Actually, it is Ali himself because he brought Ammar with him to fight us. When Imam Ali heard this, he responded – if that was true then we will have to contend that the Prophet of Islam was the actual killer of Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib because it was the Prophet who had sent Hamza to fight the Kuffaar in the battle of Uhud. This report is also found in Tareekh al-Khumays by the 10th century Maliki scholar named Qazi Husain ibn Diyar Bakari.
5. Raghib Isfahani writes in his book Muhazarat-al-Adaba; Mu'awiyyah had achieved the upper hand over Imam Ali only because Mu'awiyyah would use every trick (in battle and politics), whether that trick was (Islamically) Halal or Haram, because Mu'awiyyah neither cared about the religion neither did he fear Allah, and Imam Ali would never use any method that would be un-Islamic.
6. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was the governor of Egypt appointed by Imam Ali. Abul Fida writes in his Tareekh that at the beginning of the 38th year of Hijra, Mu'awiyyah dispatched Amr ibn al-Aas with an army to attack Egypt. In that struggle Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr's forces were defeated and he was killed. When Hazrat Ayesha heard of that, she would curse Mu'awiyyah and Amr ibn al-Aas in every Salat. In the 40th year of Hijra, Mu'awiyyah dispatched Busr ibn Abi Artah with an army towards Hijaz. Busr first ravaged Madinah then he proceeded to Yemen where he killed several thousand people (just to terrorize the people).
7. Ibn Atheer writes in his Tareekh Kamil: Ubayd Allah ibn Abbas was the governor in Yemen, he left his two young sons in the care of a a Kin'ani tribal leader and escaped when Busr and his army attacked Yemen. When Busr found those boys he wanted to slaughter them but the tribal leader intervened and said-"If you want to kill these two young boys, you will have to kill me first." Busr promptly killed the Kin'ani first and then killed the two boys by slitting their throats.
8. The Andalusian scholar named Ibn `Abd Rabbih (246-328 H./860-940 C.E.),writes in his book titled: "Al-`Iqd al-Farid" ("The Necklace made of unique Pearls"):- After the murder of Imam Hasan in the 49th year of Hijra, Mu'awiyyah performed Hajj. When he entered the city of Madinah he went up to the Prophet's mosque and wanted to mount the pulpit and to throw abuse at Imam Ali (who had been martyred in the 40th year of Hijra). People around him suggested that he should first ask Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas before doing that. Sa'ad opposed the whole thing and said that if Mu'awiyyah did that he will leave Madinah for ever. Mu'awiyyah waited as long as Sa'ad was alive, as soon as Sa'ad passed away, he then went up to the Prophet's pulpit and said curse words for Imam Ali and also sent messengers to his governors all over the Muslim kingdom to spread that same practice.
9. Abul Fida writes in his Tareekh that Mu'awiyayh declared Ziyad son of Sumaiyya his brother. Sumaiyya was a maid servant of Harith ibn Klida Tahqafi. Although he had married Sumaiyya to one of his slaves named Ubaid, she was being used as a prostitute. During the period of Jahiliyya, once Abu Sufyan went to Taif. He stayed at a wine seller named Abu Maryam. He said to Abu Maryam that he was absolutely overwhelmed with the desire for a woman. Abu Maryam suggested Sumaiyya, Abu Sufyan replied: Eventhough her breasts are elongated and she is ugly, she would do for tonight." Abu Maryam called Sumaiyya, and Abu Sufyan slept with her. Thus Sumaiyya became pregnant and eventually Ziyad was born to her. When Mu'awiyyah decided to declare Ziyad his brother, he called Abu Maryam to give evidence. Abu Maryam reported that that night he himself saw Abu Sufyan's semen dripping out from Sumaiyya's virgina. Thus Ziyad was declared Mu'awiyya's brother. This was the very first time that a basic rule of Islamic law was so blatantly flouted and that too so publicly.
10. Abul Fida continues in his Tareekh: Mu'awiyyah and his officers used to say glorious things about Uthman in the Friday prayers but they would throw abuse at Imam Ali. When that would happen the well known companion of the Prophet named Hujr ibn Udaiyy would stand up in the mosque with his friends and they would all try to rebuff Ziyad and his officers. Until Mugheera was the governor of Kufa he never intervened against Hujr. When Ziyad was made governor of Kufa, he continued doing the same thing, throw abuse at Imam Ali. Hujr and his group stood up and began praising Imam Ali again. Ziyad was outraged and he ordered Hujr and his companions arrested. He then sent Hujr and 13 of his companions to Mu'awiyya. Eventhough Hujr was a pious man, Mu'awiyyah sent him and his companion to a place called Azra where they were all slaughtered by Mu'awiyyah's orders. Imam Shafe'ii has ruled that Mu'awiyyah, Amr ibn al-Aas, Mugheera and Ziyad's witness is Islamically not acceptable . This report can also be found in Rawzat-al-Manazir of Muhib-ud-din Abul-Walid Ibn Shehna al-Halabi al-Hanafi (d. 817 H.) and in Al-Istee'ab of Ibn Abdul-Barr (d. 463 H.).
11. Sheikh Ali Muttaqi (d. 975 H.) writes in his Kanz-ul-Ummal that Hazrat Ayesha narrates that the Prophet had said: Soon some people will be killed in Azra, Allah and the inhabitants of the heaven will curse their killers and Allah's wrath will befall the killers.
REFERENCES:
1. عمر ابن مظفر ابن الوردي(۷۴۹ ھجری) – کتاب المختصر فی اخبار البشر
2. ھجری ۷۳۲ ) تاریخ ۔ ابو الفداء اسمٰعیل
3. (256 ھجری )الجامع الصحیح ْ۔ محمد ابن اسمٰعیل بخاری
4. ( ھجرہ ۹۱۱) خلاصۃالوفاء۔ نورالدین علی ابن احمد سمہودی الشافعی
5. ) ھجری 502 ) محاضراۃ الادباء ۔ ابوالقاسم راغب الاصفہانی
6. (ھجری ۳۲۸ ) عقد الفرید ۔ ابو عمر احمد ابن محمد ابن عبد ربہ
7. ھجری۶۳۰ ) ) ابن الاثیر الجزری .. الکامل فی التاریخ
8. ھجری۹۷۵ ) ) القادری قاضی خان المتقی.. کنز العمال
CONCLUSIONS:
All you have to do now is look at what Mu'awiyyah had done in his life and look at the Qur'anic verses that I have quoted above. You will find a number of historical events where Mu'awiyyah is committing such acts which Qur'an has explicitly prohibited. Not only that, there are many acts which make the perpetrator deserving of Allah's wrath and His La'nat.
Moreover, Mu'awiyyah rose in armed rebellion against two legitimate Khaleefas. Even if we contend that Mu'awiyyah never did Imam Ali's Bayat, he had no reason to cause so much bloodshed by raising an army against Imam Ali. Muslim kings have fought each other in history and we know that none of them were fighting for Islam. Each one of them was looking to conquer land and preserve their kingdom. Mu'awiyyah's actions have been seen by some as being in defense of Islam. That has caused such a rift in the community of Muslims which is likely to last till the end of the world.
Many Muslims who love and admire Mu'awiyyah are very likely to take all his actions as legitimate and Islamic in nature.
We will leave it to the discretion of the reader to decide whether or not the notion stated in the last paragraph above is correct.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Syed-Mohsin Naquvi
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