TWO: THE PROPHET’S PLAN TO AVOID THE IFFERENCE:
1) ASAMA DELEGATION:
The Prophet became sick and the sickness told upon his life. He knew that the nation was at the verge of a precipice. His presence had kept them safe. The moment he dies: a movement they dash; a slip would send them headlong down into the sea where the waves raise and fall in a typhoon of treachery hailing from a man soon of mischief. The Arabs will confound their own good; teeth will be grinded to bite the members of his House and his people. The leaping opportunities will lull those who embrace them to launch revenges. On the other hand, the hypocrites will seek ambush in the midst of Muslims telling them what their hearts do not hold. All this harassing episodes came to his sight in much as the incident of rolling goglets at the tortile passage was also quite recent to him.
Moreover and above all, Aswad al-Anasi and Musailama had set foot in the arena of prophet hood; and enmity with the real Prophet had lent lustre to a simulacrum. All this was much enough to occupy the mind that was now mindful of the talons of death.
The Prophet’s condition got worsening and the mischief extending as the negritude of a night. The clouds shall soon deplete their contents on the town.
Yet, at the threshold of death that great mind charts out the best. He sends his army, thick, to a land remote. The command of the army he vests to a youth of teenage by name Asama Bin Zaid. All the magnates of MUHAJAREEN and ANSAAR (emigrants and helpers) including Abubaker,
Omar Bin Khattab, Abdul Rehman Ibn Ouf, Abu Obaida, Sa’ad Bin Abi Waqqas, Aseed Bin Hazeer and Basheer-Ibn Sa’ad were enjoined to join the army under the command of that young Asama to fight in the land of BALKHA with the people of Obny who had defeated the Muslim army on a previous occasion and killed Zaid, the commander, father of Asama.
The Prophet pushed the army to move and cursed the delinquents. But those who spurned the suzerainty of a teenager as the yoke of his command fell heavy upon their old necks procrastinated. Their procrastination provoked the anger of the Prophet. Therefore he told them: “You are crossing his command as you did the command of his father before while God was in concord with the command and now his son is a perfect match to command.”
This incident raises astonishment in the thoughts; if rumination is solicited the result relaxes the curiosity:
First: A great army of Islam that day and in that delicate Situation emanating from the illness of the Prophet, and more delicate the mission -- to go to the war of the ardent enemies of Islam away from the Islamic capital under the command of a youth whose age did not go beyond twenty springs -- neither experience supported him nor military knowledge aided him; nor such a duty ever called his performance before; as to move either to return back with the pride of victory or remain in that outlandish fields slain and killed.
Second: yet, this boy is commissioned; and the shaikhs of Muslims -- the chiefs of tribes, the Companions of the Prophet and those who were commanders before are ordered to report their duty to this young man.
Third: The Muslims delayed to join while the Prophet hasted. They still delayed and upon them heaped the curses of the Prophet. They prolonged the delay up to fourteen days. The young commander remained camped at JURE away from Madina by three and quarter miles awaiting his army to join him.
Neither shame withheld them nor did the fear of God. They went in their disobedience to the Prophet. They knew they were giving anger to the Prophet and receiving from him his curses; yet, they remained insurgents to him. Curse from a Divine man like the Prophet of God told nothing on their belief because now that man was nearing his death. Why at all they revolted?
Fourth: Their rejection to undergo the command of a youth did not make them to fear the anger of the Prophet. If they were true Muslims, had they believed in the Prophet; they had no right to deny obedience to him as long as the belief says that his action and his utterance is based on God’s revelation to him; and this belief takes away the choice from them.
Fifth: The Prophet knew his end has approached and thereby approached the darkness of the night. But, he was sending army away from the capital and by that sweeping Madina from the presence of the chiefs of Muhajareen and Ansaar and the men who had a say in the disputes.
All this shows that he held a point of a greater importance in his conspectuity. To search into the viewpoint of the Prophet we can make out the following conclusions which the Prophet should have had desired as long as he held the secrets of God known to him by revelation.
First: The measure is the efficiency in governing the things --, and not the fame nor the age. This he wanted to bring home to Muslims. Therefore, he told emphatically about the efficiency of Asama.
If we consider that Ali Bin Abi Taleb was nearing to take over the responsibility of the affairs of the Muslims, and let us suppose there was not text to have had specified him; yet, the case of Asama serves a pilot or a prelude to acquaint the people with the criterion of capability regardless of age for the leadership. That day age of Ali had not gone beyond thirty. We do not see any other interpretation to the riddle of Asama’s expedition.
Second: He wanted to make the ground clear for Ali by dispatching all those who had grinded their teeth for the caliphate. He seemed to be sure of the setback in the way as it is evident by his remark: “My household members shall be the victims after my death.” Hence, we see he enjoined to go in Asama’s army every that one who had lengthened his neck to hart a look of greed at the fast approaching vacancy. Exemption of Ali from this army supports us in our inference. Likewise all those who were the party (Shia) of Ali were exempted.
Besides, we reach the same conclusion if we were to interpret the reason of those who delayed in reporting their presence to the Commander, Asama; and their spreading the rumor of the Prophet’s death. What is evident is their own guilt -- which kept them from disclosing their real errand. They just took refuge in an excuse that the commander was an inexperienced youth. Beyond this we detectanother guilt
. They did purport that they understood better than the Prophet whose wisdom was catered on Divine Revelation. There is no excuse but a fact -- established bythemselves
-- that they openly disobeyed the Prophet and to him they remained stubborn.
The Prophet realized that his statements which he gave concerning the one to succeed him were not enough to put into practice as they refrained from joining the army under Asama’s command; or, the greed would have returned them back had they proceeded.
Third: The argument that a youth of teenage is not fit for the responsibility of a battle, then how could it fit even a greater responsibility of governing the affairs of all the Muslims; is only a lame endeavor to obfuscate the fact for the people.
The gist that can be deduced from this planned expedition of Asama is to clear the way for Ali in accordance with the circumstances surrounding them because the Prophet did know as per the signs he had noticed that they would concoct a plot. So, he exerted his efforts to send them away while exempted Ali and his associates from the obligation. They disobeyed him. He was nearing his death. The situation for the Muslims was serious. He cursed them. And a curse of the Prophet is a curse, today and tomorrow too, as it was yesterday. As the time is cycling, its echo is heard.
As long as the time exists, this too exists that being a young or being an old is not the canon; it is the obligation charted by the Prophet and laid down on the obedience; some turned stubborn-but they only purchased the Prophet’s curse and the obligation was not obliterated. Obedience to it runs as the time does.
Insufficient years in the age of the commander were sufficient enough to cause the uneasiness among them; is in itself a good excuse, but it coasts neither conviction nor cogency as much as it serves to hang a curtain over a subterraneous trait which the Prophet had already discovered. If the reason was this, then why did they implement the Asama’s expedition under the same command of a teenager as soon as the issue of caliphate was settled in the favor of Abu Baker? Omar himself addressed this very teenager as ‘AMEER’ (chief)
throughout
his life because of his superiority in that expedition which was a success too.
Another strange excuse that we hear is not less astonishing. It was not a disobedience that they delayed. It was sympathy for the prophet because of his oiling condition. Had they obeyed the prophet it would have had been a greater and a befitting sympathy to a dying man rather than to disappoint him and make him angry which was so painful to him that he cursed.
A good in its exuberance and abundance would have hailed had they been good enough to obey their Prophet. The course of history would have changed.
“If the people of the towns had but believed and feared (God),We
should indeed have opened out to them blessings from the sky and earth; but they lied, and we punished them for what they were attaining.” (7:94)
The events that followed, the difference that flooded sweeping the unity of Muslims, the blood that flowed in the erine and ferly wars, the power that became feeble, and the fatal blows on the religious sanctity; all this is because of that -- the open disobedience to the Prophet!
What a great havoc and a great calamity the Prophet tried to protect the nation from; but to a dying man there is no command, and to whom no command -- no obedience too.
B-- A Paper and a Pen:
The Prophet witnessed their disobedience. To go to the pulpit, his sickness failed him. This was the first time in his life at Madina that his orders were denied to his face. He saw his own inability to execute his orders, which he was so insistent upon. Therefore, he should resort to some other means to implement the need. He was not yet dead and disobedience had made its phase. So, how could they be expected to obey afterwards? To write down was the best alternative; and he resorted to. That would be a fixed text nothing to be doubted nor forgotten. They will not be misguided, as there will be no deviation from the right path because thereexists
writing. This he wanted to do.
It was Thursday. His condition got worse. In the house men were present among them Omar Bin Khattab. “Provide me so that to write a treatise for you. You will never go astray later on.” The Prophet told the men.
What a great opportunity! An eternal security from getting astray!How advantageous an offer it was; not only to those who were present but to the posterity.
A bounty it was. Curiosity suggests that they should have hasted to give him a paper and a pen so as to make eternal what he wishes to write. But, alas, it was not so!
Oman Bin Khattab impeded the compliance. He said:” the pain has overpowered the Prophet of God.” According to some narration he said: “This man is talking nonsense. You have Quran. The Book of God is enough to us.” A debate took place among the men. Somesided
the suggestion of Omar that the man was talking nonsense….
So, now what the Prophet should do? Sickness him; and in his presence such an opinion about him was expressed to his very face. But the belief says this: “He never speaks of his own unless it is a Revelation.” Then, what blame this is upon the Prophet that he was talking which carried no sense?
God forbid from such a conjecture. The division of opinion took its root and the root took deeper and deeper to this day of ours. He did not see any other alternative but to hint attheir own
error. He said: “Go away. You should not quarrel in the presence of the Prophet.” This he said so as to register his displeasure upon their behavior -- an evidence of their disobedience, throughout the ages.
In fact, it is a calamity -- one among the greatest, because of the rejection to guidance. Ibn Abbas, the ink of the nation, used to say: “It is a calamity that he (Omar) hindered him from writing the treatise he wanted to write.”
Let one ruminate what was the point in Omar’s objection? Had he written what harm it could have done to Omar? The Prophet wanted to leave a written instruction for the nation’s guidance. So, he rejects that guidance not only to himself but for the whole nation. Another question arises. Did Omar really believe that the Prophet of God was talking without a meaning or a sense? To carry such a belief one should be ignorant of the Prophet’s status as well as Quran too. If we proceed a little further and come to Abu Baker, this very same Omar did not say that he (Abu baker) was talking nonsense when he wanted to make the will about the caliphate although occasionally he was going into coma while dictating the will which later Othman completed by inserting Omar’s name fearing his death before the completion of letter. The status of Abu Baker is not that of the Prophet. But he, although in coma, spoke the sense? What a tyranny to Mohammed?
It is quite obvious that Omar did know what the Prophet wanted to commit to the paper. It was the appointment of Ali to succeed him because on previous occasion, at GHADEER, the Prophet had declared: “Two heavy things, Book of God and his progeny” and had classified “Both will not separate from each other till they come to him at the fountain”
, and had added “You will never go astray if you adhere to them both.” So, when the Prophet said while asking for pen and paper “After that you will never go astray”
, it served a good hint for Omar to know the Prophet’s mind. Omar said: “Book of God is enough for us” which purports that among the two, one is enough -- no need for the other. Why he chose one and rejected the other at a time the Prophet was talking nonsense (according to his own declaration). When Omar understood the message and was mindful what to accept and what to reject; then the Prophet had not uttered any nonsense. It was far from politeness to accuse the Prophet of such a thing and that too to his face.
Indeed, it is neither easy nor simple; it is a matter of courage, and courage against whom? Against the Prophet of God the Almighty!!! There was only one to show it, to do it, departing from every canon upon which relations, those of human or those of social are based and formed. And that one was only Omar Bin Khattab. He stymied the letter from being written. He ceased the opportunity at an opportune time and went a great deal to install Abu Baker as caliph of the Prophet who spoke ‘nonsense.’ We shall see that this man (Omar)
denies
the death of the Prophet. His stand at the SAQIFA and his struggle for Abu Baker, all that we shall see would show his intentions. Had not there been Omar, no ground would have been gained for Abu Baker.
Sword of Zubair he broke; a blow at the chest of MIQDAD he hit; Sa’ad Bin Ebada he kicked and it was to him he said: “Kill him, he is mischievous”; the nose of AL-HABAB BIN ALMUNDHIR he broke; whoever took refuge in the house of Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet, he threatened; and finally he came out of SAQIFA with a cane of palm tree
in his hand roaming about calling the people to yield to the sovereignty of Abubaker. So, what else and what more he could have done? He did all what all could have not done.
No one can deny the disinclination of Omar Bin Khattab towards Ali Bin Abi Taleb and Omar’s being watchful against Ali with regards succeeding the Prophet. Likewise his party that was composed of Abu Baker, Abi Obaida, Salem Moula Hazifa, Ma’az Bin Jabal and their associates.Same to Ali who clearly indicated his disagreement with them in all stations and situations.
He did not yield to Abubaker as long as Fatima was alive. After her death he lost his backbone and remained with no alternative but to accept. Throughout the period which stretched from Abu Baker and ended by the end of Othman, he never took any part in any of the battles while he was the pivot like one that is to a hand mill. Ali had told this to Omar that he (Omar) supported Abubaker only because to rotate the succession to himself. He once told Omar: “Milk it for you while keeping tied the other half to him today in order that he could return it to you tomorrow.”
So it happened. Abubaker nominated Omar to succeed him.
The meanders of their minds finally became manifested in open expression. How they disdained Ali could be judged from a conversation between Omar and Ibn Abbas which we insert here as it is narrated by Ibn Abbas:
Omar to Ibn Abbas: “Do you know what kept your people from you after Mohammed?”
Ibn Abbas: “If I don’t know, you would inform me.”
Omar: “They hated to see the prophet hood and the caliphate combined at you. So they (Quraish) took to boast upon you by choosing the caliphate. They succeeded and hit the target.”
Ibn Abbas: “If you permit me and don’t get angry I’ll speak.” Omar: “Answer!” “Speak”
Ibn Abbas: “As for your saying-Quraish succeeded and hit the target, had they chosen for themselves as God had chosen for them, it would have had been good to them that could not be rejected nor felt jealousy upon. As for your saying that they hated to see the prophethood and caliphate combined with us, God has described the people who hate: “That they hated what God sent down; and He spoiled their deeds.”
Omar: “Oh, by God, words about you had been reaching me, but I hated to make you run away because of your position which I don’t want to lower down.”
Ibn Abbas: “What’s that? If that was true, why should my position come down? If it was a lie, it discloses the self.”
Omar: “I am informed that you say: ‘We have taken it by tyranny and jealousy.”
Ibn Abbas: “As for tyranny, it is evident even to an ignorant and to him who has endured it. As for jealousy, Satan felt it towards Adam and we are the children of him who was the butt of jealousy.”
Omar: “Ali, your hearts, O son of Hashim, are full with neither jealousy neither enmity goes nor the veil.”
Ibn Abbas: “Wait; don’t say so. Our hearts are those which God has purified and removed error there from-either that of jealousy or that of deceit. The Prophet’s heart was from Bani Hashim.” Omar: “Go away.”
We narrated the conversation in detail because it discloses to us.
1- The effusion of malice rankled on both the sides and the sparks that ignite the flames.
2- The deliberation on their part to hinder the thing from the household members of the Prophet based on the sentiments of rancor and their fear that the caliphate in addition to the prophet hood if stored in the Prophet’s house it would be the factor for their ostentation and arrogance. According to Ibn Abbas such a fear was due to their jealousy and this was the tyranny.
3- The ‘Imamate’ is God’s choice, which He appropriated in the members of His Prophet’s House. It can not have bearing upon the pleasure or displeasure of Quraish.
4- Their tyranny in depriving the Prophet’ Household members of their right, this is a fact all know.
In the answers of Iban Abbas we see these two things are stressed upon in spite of his reservation to eschew Omar’s wrath from which ultimately he could not remain safe. The answer of Omar “Go away”, at which ends the conversation, shows the inability on the part of Omar to answer.
History can not deny nor could conceal the motive that pushed Omar to say that the Prophet was talking nonsense and to declare that only the Book of God would suffice the people. All this was to keep the thing from Ali.
Indeed, there are lame excuses. Some put forward such as that the very issue itself was not an obligatory one; and, therefore, it did not tantamount to disobedience. Of course, such an excuse is good enough for rejection alone because there is nothing more obligatory than the guidance of people. The prophet said: “After that you shall never go astray.” Opinion was not solicited. Omar gave his opinion and imposed it, which made the Prophet angry to the extent that he ordered them to go away. Still, it was not disobedience; then what else it was? “Pain has overcome him,” “Nonsense”; these words could hardly be said to an ordinary man particularly in his illness. To behave far from politeness towards the Prophet could never have become possible unless disobedience to him should have had been a deliberate determination. The words of Omar are quite clear: “The Book of God is enough to us” which mean acceptance of one and rejection of the other. To poke nose into the orders of the Prophet so as to adjust our own pleasure can not be classified in any word other than that of disobedience.
Anyway, the circumstances that surround the whole episode, the expedition of Asama and the insurgency to proceed in that expedition, the Prophet’s orders to give him a pen and paper so that “to not go astray”, and the insistence of Omar upon the Book of God alone; we can deduce from all these that the Prophet wanted to classify or specify or make it known who was to succeed him and that ‘who’ was Ali son of Abi Taleb. But the Prophet was not obeyed. The caliphate became the spot of difference among the Muslims and misguidance as well. Had the Prophet been obeyed and had he written; then there was no room for doubt or for difference except to depart from Islam it.
Here one possibility seems quite likely to have had occurred in the Prophet’s mind and which should have had kept him from giving an indication by spoken words and that is his fear of an open insurgency out of their stubbornness and turning against Islam altogether. So, he avoided a greater calamity. Therefore, we see Ali too remained silent as his motive too was the same. These words of Ali in his speech of ‘SHQ SHAQIA’ give us a clue: “I got up to discern between the two things, to capture with a broken hand or to remain quiet in a pit’s darkness; Ii found the patience more prudent than the two…” His stand with the caliphate shall in the fourth chapter.
0%
Author: Allamah Mohammad Reza Al-Mudhaffar
