Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

ف F

Fa'izeen or Fa'izùn فائزين أو فائزون

winners, those who earn the Pleasure of the Almighty and His rewards

Fajr فجر

Daybreak, obligatory pre-sunrise sala t, prayer rite

Faqih فقيه

jurist, one who is knowledgeable in Islamic jurisprudence (law), theShari`a

Farasikh فراسخ

plural offarsakh فرسخ , parasang (a loan Persian word), a measure of distance. According toLisan al-`Arab lexicon, it may be three to six miles. "It is called so," the author of the famous lexicon goes on, "because one who walks onefarsakh will have to sit to rest," suggesting that the original meaning of the word is to halt, to come to a standstill, to rest.

Fard فرض

something which is obligatory on a Muslim. It is sometimes used in reference to the obligatory part of salat .

Fasiq فاسق

one of corrupt moral character who engages in various sins without feeling any sense of shame or regret

Fatawa فتاوى

plural offatwa , a religious edict or decision

Fatiha (al-) الفاثحه

The Prophet (ص) has quoted the Almighty as saying, "The prayers have been divided between Me and My servant: one half for Me, and one for him;" so when one recites it and says, "Alhamdulillahi Rabbil-'Alameen ," the Almighty says, "My servant has praised Me." And when he says, ''Arrahmanir Raheem ," the Almighty says, "My servant has praised Me." And when he says, "Maaliki YawmidDeen ," Allah says, "My servant has exalted Me." And when he says, "Iyyaaka Na'budu wa iyyaaka nasta'een ," Allah will say, 'This is a covenant between Me and My servant, and My servant shall be granted the fulfillment of his pleas." Then if he finishes reciting the Fatiha to the end, Allah will again confirm His promise by saying, 'This is for [the benefit of] My servant, and My servant will be granted the answer to his wishes. The Messenger of Allah (ص) is quoted byAbu Ali al-Fadl ibn al-Hassan ibn al-Fadl al-Tibrisi الطبرسي, may Allah have mercy on his soul, saying that one who recites al-Fatiha will be regarded by the Almighty as though he recited two-thirds of the Holy Qur'an and as though he gave by way of charity to each and every believing man and woman. "By the One in Whose hand my soul is," the Prophet (ص) continues, "Allah Almighty did not reveal in the Torah, the Gospel, or the Psalms any chapter like it; it is the Mother of the Book andal- Sab' al-Mathani (the oft-repeated seven verses), and it is divided between Allah and His servant, and His servant shall get whatever he asks; it is the best Sura in the Book of the most Exalted One, and it is a healing from every ailment except poison, which is death." He (ص) is also quoted byal-Kaf'ami الكفعمي as saying, "He (Allah) bestowed it upon me as His blessing, making it equivalent to the Holy Qur'an, saying, 'And We have granted youal-Sab' al-Mathani and the Great Qur'an (Surat al-Hijr , verse 87).' lt is the most precious among the treasures of the 'Arsh ." Indeed, Allah, the most Sublime, has chosen Muhammed (ص) alone to be honored by it without doing so to any other Prophet or Messenger of His with the exception of Sulayman (Solomon) نبي سليمان, peace be upon him, who was granted the Basmala البسمله (see Qur'an, 27:30, i.e. verse 30 of Surat al-Naml, Chapter of the Ant). One who recites it, being fully convinced of his following in the footsteps of Muhammed (ص) and his Progeny (ع), adhering to its injunctions, believing in its outward and inward meanings, will be granted by Allah for each of its letters a blessing better than what all there is in the world of wealth and good things, and whoever listens to someone reciting it will receive one third of the rewards due to the one who recites it.

من بعض أسرار سورة الحمد (الفاتحة)

كتب قيصر الروم كتابا إلى خلفاء بني العباس وجاء فيه (( جاء في كتاب الإنجيل أنه من قرأ سورة خالية من سبعة أحرف ، حرم الله جسده من نار جهنم ، وهذه الأحرف عبارة عن :(ﻉ) ث ، ج ، خ ، ز ، ش ، ظ ، ف (ﻉ) وفحصنا كثيرا فلم نعثر على هكذا سورة في كتب التوراة والزبور والإنجيل ، فهل يوجد في كتابكم السماوي تلك السورة؟

فجمع الخليفة العباسي جميع العلماء وعرض عليهم السؤال فعجزوا عن الجواب وأخيرا طرحوا هذا السؤال على الإمام علي الهادي (ع) فأجاب عليه السلام قائلا : هذه السورة هي سورة الحمد التي تكون خالية من الأحرف السبعة

فسألوا الإمام ما فلسفة خلو هذه السورة من الأحرف السبعة ؟ فأجاب الإمام عليه السلام :

إن حرف ( ث) إشارة إلى الثبور ، وحرف ( ج ) إشارة إلى الجحيم ، وحرف ( خ ) إشارة إلى الخبث ، وحرف ( ز ) إشارة إلى الزقوم ، وحرف ( ش ) إشارة إلى الشقاوة، وحرف ( ظ ) إشارة إلى الظلمة ، وحرف ( ف ) إشارة إلى الآفة .

فأرسل الخليفة هذا الجواب لقيصر الروم ، وشعر القيصر بالفرح بعد حصوله على الجواب واعتنق الإسلام وخرج من الدنيا مسلما. فأكثروا من قراءة سورة الحمد.  لا تقرأ سورة الحمد (الفاتحة) بسرعة انظر لماذا؟

كثير من الناس يقرؤون سورة الفاتحة في الصلاة بسرعة وكأن الذئاب تلاحقهم ولا يعلمون ما فيها. روي عن رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وآله وَسَلَّمَ أنه قالُ: قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: قَسَمْتُ الصَّلاةَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي نِصْفَيْنِ وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَلَ فَإِذَا قَالَ الْعَبْدُ: {الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ} قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: حَمِدَنِي عَبْدِي وَإِذَا قَالَ: {الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ} قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: أَثْنَى عَلَيَّ عَبْدِي وَإِذَا قَالَ: {مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ} قَالَ: مَجَّدَنِي عَبْدِي وَقَالَ مَرَّةً: فَوَّضَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي فَإِذَا قَالَ: {إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ} قَالَ: هَذَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَلَ فَإِذَا قَالَ: {اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ} قَالَ: هَذَا لِعَبْدِي وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَل،،،،

Some mysteries about Surat al-Fatiha:

One of Rome's Caesars wrote a letter to an Abbasid "caliph" - to use the word loosely since none of the Umayyads or Abbasid rulers deserved to be called a caliph but a despotic ruler with the exception of only Caliph Omer ibn Abdul-Aziz, but we will use it here since it is quite commonly referred to those corrupt folks - saying, "It is written in the Bible that if anyone recites a chapter which does not contain seven letters, God will prohibit the Fire of Hell from consuming his body. These letters are: We have carefully examined in the Torah, Psalms and Bible but could not find such a chapter; so, is there in your divinely revealed Book such a Chapter?"

The Abbasid caliph gathered all scholars and presented the question to them, but they could not provide an answer. Finally, they submitted this question to Imam Ali al-Hadi (ﻉ) who answered saying that such a chapter is Surat al-Hamd, the Fatiha, which does not contain these alphabetical letters. The Imam (ﻉ) explained the philosophy behind the exclusion of these alphabetical letters in the Fatiha Chapter as stated below, so the "caliph" sent this answer to Rome's Caesar who was very happy for having obtained it and immediately embraced Islam, departing from this world as a Muslim.

You, therefore, should recite Surat al-Hamd (Fatiha) quite often, but do not do so. Why? Many people recite the Fatiha in their prayers quickly as if the wolves are chasing them, not knowing what it really contains:

It has been narrated about the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be with him and his Progeny, has said, "Allah Almighty has said: 'I have divided the prayer (supplication) between Myself and My servant into two halves: Whenever the servant saysالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds , I say that My servant has praised Me. When he saysالرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful , I say that My servant has lauded me. When he saysمَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ Master of the Day of Judgment , I say that My servant has exulted me. In another narration of this tradition, the Almighty says, 'My servant has entrusted his (Hereafter) affairs to me'. When he saysإِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ You do we worship, and Your aid do we seek , I say: 'This is between Myself and My servant, and My servant shall have what he pleads for'. And when he saysاهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ، صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ Guide us the Straight way, the way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who do not stray , I say: 'This (too) is for My servant, and My servant shall be granted what he pleads for'."

Imam Ali al-Hadi (ﻉ) was asked about the philosophy behind the Fatiha containing none of these seven alphabetical letters, so the Imam (ﻉ) said: "The letter( ث) refers toثبور destruction." The Almighty refers to it in the Holy Qur'an in places such as these: 25:13 and 14, 84:11 and to one who is really ruined, Pharaoh, in 17:102. "The letter (ج )," the Imam (ﻉ) went on, "refers toجحيم , hell." Numerous Qur'anic verses refer to hell, warning those who heed the call about its torment. Some such verses are: 2:119, 5:10, 5:86, 9:113, 22:51, 26:91, 37:23, 37:55, 37:64, 37:68, 37:97, 37:163, 40:7, 44:47, 44:56, 52:18, 57:19, 69:31, 79:36, 81:12, 82:14, 83:16, 102:6, 73:12, to name few. The Imam (ﻉ) added saying, "The letter( خ ) refers toخبث " which is any bad thing, deed, person, thought, etc. to which references in the Holy Qur'an exist in verses such as these: 7:58, 2:267, 3:179, 4:2, 5:100, 8:37, 24:26, 14:26, 7:157 and 21:74. The Imam (ﻉ) went on to say, "The letter( ز ) refers toزقوم Zaqqoom )" which is a tree in hell of which the sinners eat and to which references in the Holy Qur'an exist in verses such as these: 37:62, 44:43 and 56:52. "The letter( ش ) ," went on the Imam (ﻉ), "refers toشقاوة ", pain or suffering, a reference to the suffering of people, good or bad: The good people suffer in this life because of others unfairly and unjustifiably harming, hurting, oppressing belying them. They also suffer as they see things taking place and people behaving in an ungodly way and feel sorry for them. Some ordinary persons may suffer also during the period of thebarzakh برزخ so the Almighty may punish them in the grave and forgive them later, while bad persons may suffer in this life and in the hereafter as well for their bad deeds. Its derivations exist in many verses such as these: 20:2, 20:117, 20:123, 11:105, 19:4, 19:32. 19:48, 87:11, 92:15, 91:12 and 23:106. The Imam (ﻉ) went on in stating why these letters do not exist in the Fatiha and said, "The letter( ظ ) refers toظلمة ", darkness, either physical, material, tangible, as is the darkness in the grave or in hell, or non-physical, immaterial, such as darkness of one's outlooks, attitudes, etc. Notice that the wordظلم which means oppression or injustice is associated with this same wordظلمة because people do not oppress others unless their mentality is dark. Hundreds of references in the Book of Islam, the Holy Qur'an, refer to both types of such darkness and to people who oppress others or wrong them: These references are only few for you to check if you wish: 4:153, 13:6, 16:61, 4:75, 18:35, 25:27, 35:32, 37:113. This is just a drop in the bucket. Explaining the last letter, the Imam (ﻉ) said, "The letterف ) ) refers toآفة lesion, something which consumes, devours, spreads quickly like cancer cells, fire or a rash of bad deed in which many people are involved: This word fits many descriptions and applications, and it needs no further explanation.

The inquisitive reader may wonder who this Imam Ali al-Hadi (ﻉ) is; after all, not many are familiar with the immediate family of the Prophet of Islam (ﺹ); therefore, we have included his biography in this Glossary under "Hadi, al-" to which you may refer.

Festivities

Other than the two major Islamic feasts or `Īds, there are few festivities which Muslims enjoy. These are related to different activities or special occasions. Some of these special occasions are:

Aqiqa : It is a dinner reception held after a child is born. Relatives, friends, and neighbors are invited for such an occasion.

Walima: It is a dinner reception during or after marriage is consummated. It is offered by the parents and/or the married couple. Friends, relatives, and neighbors are also invited.

Fiqh فقه

knowledge of the science of Islamic jurisprudence, theShari`a شريعة . The literal meaning of the wordfiqh is: understanding, comprehension, knowledge and familiarity with Islam's jurisprudence. A jurist is calledfaqih , one who is an expert in Islamic legal matters. Afaqih فقيه issues verdicts within the rules of the Islamic Law, theShari`a الشريعه. Any action or step in Islam falls within the following five categories offiqh :

Fardh فرض (must, obligatory, mandatory): This category is a must for the Muslim to undertake such as the performance of the five daily prayers. Performing thefardh counts as a good deed, and not doing it is considered as a bad deed, a sin. It is also calledwajib .

Mandub مندوب (recommended, commendable): This category is recommended for the Muslim to do such as additional prayers after the performance of the daily prayers. Doing what ismandub counts as a good deed, while not doing it does not count as a bad deed or a sin.

Mubah مباح (allowed, permissible): This category is optional and is left for the individual to decide such as partaking of food, etc. Doing or not doing themubah does not count as a good or bad deed. One's intention can changemubah into afardh ,mandub ,makruh orharam . Other things can also change the status of themubah . For example, anymubah becomesharam if it is proven to be harmful, whether physically or spiritually, and any necessary thing to fulfill afardh is afardh , too.

Makruh مكروه (hated, not commendable): This category includes acts that are detested, hated, things which one must stay away from such as letting his fingernails grow or sleeping on the stomach, etc. Not doing what ismakruh counts as a good deed while doing it does not count as a bad deed.

Haram حرام (prohibited, banned): This category includes things a Muslim is prohibited from doing such as stealing and lying. Doing what isharam counts as a sin, a bad deed, while not doing it counts as a good deed. Views of Islamic scholars about all the above vary.

Firdaws فردوس

Paradise, heaven, abode of the blessed, place of eternal peace and happiness, the garden of bliss. Some linguists think this word is Persian, whether others think it is Babylonian in origin, that is, a loan word.

Fitna or Fitnah فتنه

sedition, something which creates division, discord, disagreement, dispute, etc. among people. Numerous references exist in the Holy Qur'an aboutfitna , warning the believers about falling into its traps. One such verse is this:الفتنة أشد من القتل Sedition is harder than killing (Qur'an, 2:191), a warning which apparently was not heeded even when Islam was still in its infancy: Some "Muslims" went as far as plotting to assassinate the Prophet of Islam (ﺹ) as he was returning from his last pilgrimage known as Hijjat al-Wadaa', Farewell Pilgrimage, as he himself points out in his Ghadir sermon narrated for you in this Glossary. During the lifetime of the Prophet (ﺹ), Muslims divided themselves into two communities: one following Ali (ﻉ) whom they saw as the embodiment of everything Islam stands for, and one followed a handful of very affluent and influential companions of the Prophet (ﺹ) in order to benefit from their money and prestige. As soon as the Prophet (ﺹ) passed away, this division became much more evident: The first camp preferred to keep their pledge, which was made to the Prophet on Thul-Hijja 18, 10 A.H./March 19, 632 A.D., to obey Ali (ﻉ) as the Commander of the Faithfulأمير المؤمنين as granted this title by the Prophet of Islam (ﺹ) who appointed him on that day at Ghadir Khumm as his successor as ordered by the Almighty. Details of this subject are recorded in this Glossary under the "Ghadir" item below. That was one of the earliestfitnas that divided the Muslims of the world and its effects can still be seen in our time and will continue to be so till the end of time.

Thefitna of the succession to the Prophet (ﺹ) almost led to Muslims killing each other, but Ali (ﻉ) preferred to submit his will to the Almighty rather than go out to demand the implementation of the Ghadir wasiyya (will) of the Prophet (ﺹ). Abu Bakr, Omer ibn al-Khattab then Othman succeeded each other in ruling the Muslims, and during their governments many innovations found their way to Islam. The deliberate reluctance to follow the Prophet's will delivered in his Ghadir sermon below, in which he appointed Imam Ali (ﻉ) as his successor in response to a command which he had received from the Almighty, was later regretted as we know from the following text:

On pp. 428-9, Vol. 1/8 of the latest edition ofBihar al-Anwar , we read the following:

قال أبو الصلاح قدس الله روحه في تقريب المعارف: لما طعن عمر جمع بني عبد المطلب و قال: يا بني عبد المطلب، أراضون أنتم عني؟ فقال رجل من أصحابه: و من ذا الذي يسخط عليك؟ فأعاد اكلام ثلاث مرات، فأجابه رجل بمثل جوابه، فانتهره عمر و قال: نحن أعلم بما أشعرنا قلوبنا، انا و الله أشعرنا قلوبنا ما نسأل الله أن يكفينا شره، و ان بيعة أبي بكركانت فلتة نسأل الله أن يكفينا شرها.

و قال لابنه عبد الله و هو مسنده الى صدره: ويحك ضع رأسي بالأرض. فأخذته الغشية، قال: فوجدت من ذلك. فقال:  ويحك ضع رأسي بالأرض. فأخذته الغشية، قال: فوجدت من ذلك. فقال:  ويحك ضع رأسي بالأرض. فوضعت رأسه بالأرض فعفر التراب، ثم قال: ويل لعمر و ويل لأمه ان لم يغفر الله له.

و قال أيضا حين حضره الموت: أتوب الى الله من ثلاث: من اغتصابي هذا الأمر أنا و أبو بكر من دون الناس، و من استخلافي عليهم و من تفضيلي المسلمين بعضهم على بعض.

و قال أيضا: أتوب الى الله من ثلاث: من ردي رقيق اليمن، و من رجوعي عن جيش أسامة بعد أن أمره رسول الله (ص) علينا، و من تعاقدنا على أهل البيت ان قبض رسول الله أن لا نولي منهم أحدا.

Abul-Salah (man of righteousness), may Allah sanctify his soul, has said inTaqreeb al-Ma'arif the following: "When Omer [ibn al-Khattab] was stabbed, he gathered the descendants of Abdul-Muttalib and said, 'O sons of Abdul-Muttalib! Are you pleased with me?' A man from among his fellows said, 'Who would be angry with you?' He (Omer) repeated his statement three times, getting the same response from the same man whom Omer rebuked and to whom he said, 'We know best how we made our hearts feel. We, by Allah, made our hearts feel… what we plead to Allah to spare us its evil. Allegiance to Abu Bakr was a slip [from the Right Path] the evil of which we plead to Allah to spare us.'

"He (Omer) said to his son Abdullah, who was helping his father recline on his chest, 'Woe on you! Put my head on the ground.' He was overtaken by a swoon. He (Abdullah ibn Omer) said, 'I felt quite worried about it.' He (Omer) said, 'Woe on you! Put my head on the ground.' He was again overtaken by a swoon. He (Abdullah ibn Omer) said, 'I felt quite worried about it.' He (Omer) said [for the third time], 'Woe on you! Put my head on the ground.' He (Abdullah ibn Omer) said, 'I put his head on the ground. Then he (Omer) said, 'Woe unto Omer, and woe unto his mother if Allah does not forgive him.'

"He (Omer) also said at the time of his death: 'I repent to Allah three things: my sending the slaves of Yemen back, my abandonment of Usamah's army after the Messenger of Allah (ﺹ) had placed him in charge over us, and our agreement against Ahl al-Bayt (ﻉ) that if the Messenger of Allah died, we would not let any of them take charge.'"

Yet the most serious innovations, actually deviations from the right path of Islam, were practices by the government during Othman's time, so much so that Othman gradually lost all respect he had among the local Muslims and throughout the Islamic world. Among those who resented him was Mother of the Believers Aisha daughter of Abu Bakr and wife of the Prophet (ﺹ).

On p. 794, Vol. 1/8 of the latest edition of Bihar al-Anwar, we read the following:

علي بن محمد الكاتب، عن الزعفراني، عن الثقفي، عن الحسن بن الحسين الأنصاري، عن سفيان، عن فضيل بن الزبير، عن فروة بن مجاشع، عن أبي جعفر (ع) قال: جاءت عائشة الى عثمان فقالت له: اعطني ما كان يعطيني أبي و عمر بن الخطاب. فقال: لم أجد لك موضعا في الكتاب و لا في السنة، و انما كان أبوك و عمر بن الخطاب يعطيانك بطيبة من أنفسهما، و أنا لا أفعل. قالت: فاعطني ميراثي من رسول الله (ص). فقال لها: أو لم تحسبي أنت و مالك بن أوس النضري فشهدتما أن رسول الله (ص) لا يورث حتى منعتما فاطمه (بنت النبي) ميراثها؟ أبطلتما حقها، فكيف تطلبين اليوم ميراثا من النبي (ص)؟ فتركته و انصرفت، و كان عثمان اذا خرج الى الصلاة أخذت قميص رسول الله (ص) على قصبة فرفعته عليها، ثم قالت ان عثمان قد خالف صاحب هذا القميص و ترك سنته.

Ali ibn Muhammed the scribe quotes al-Zaafarani quoting al-Thaqafi quoting al-Hassan ibn al-Hussain al-Ansari quoting Sufyan quoting Fudayl ibn al-Zubair quoting Farwah ibn Mujashi` from Imam [al-Baqir] Abu Ja'fer (ﻉ) saying: "Aisha went to Othman and said to him: 'Give me what my father [Abu Bakr] and Omer ibn al-Khattab used to give me.' Othman said: 'I found no place for you in the Book of Allah (Qur'an) or in the Sunna [that you should get paid frombaytul-mal ]. Rather, your father and Omer ibn al-Khattab used to give you out of the goodness of their hearts, and I do not do that.' She said: 'Then give me my inheritance from the Messenger of Allah (ﺹ).' Othman said to her: 'Did you not think about it when you and Malik ibn Aws al-Nadari testified saying that the Messenger of Allah (ﺹ) does not leave any inheritance, so much so that you prevented [through your testimony] Fatima (daughter of the Prophet (ﺹ)) from getting her inheritance? You voided what was her legitimate right; so, how can you now demand any inheritance from the Prophet (ﺹ)?' So she left him. Whenever Othman went out to pray, Aisha used to hand the shirt of the Messenger of Allah (ﺹ) on a reed and raise it high, then she would say: 'Othman has violated the owner of this shirt and has abandoned his Sunna'."

And on the same page we also read the following:

روى في كشف الغمة أن عائشة قالت لعثمان: يا نعثل يا عدو الله، انما سماك رسول الله (ص) باسم نعثل اليهودي الذي باليمن، فلاعنته و لاعنها، و حلفت أن لا تساكنه بمصر أبدا، خرجت الى مكة.

ثم قال: قد نقل ابن أعثم صاحب الفتوح أنها (عائشة) قالت: اقتلوا نعثلا، قتل الله نعثلا، فلقد أبلى سنة رسول الله (ص): هذه ثيابه لم تبل، و خرجت الى مكة.

It has been narrated inKashf al-Ghumma that Aisha said to Othman, "O Na'thal! O enemy of Allah! The Messenger of Allah called you 'Na'thal' after the Jew in Yemen.' She cursed him and he cursed her, and she swore never to stay in the same city where he was staying at all; she went out [of Medina] to Mecca."

The narrator went on to say: "Ibn A'tham, author ofAl-Fitooh [conquests], has transmitted saying that she (Aisha) said, 'Kill Na'thal, may Allah kill Na'thal, for he has worn out the Sunna of the Messenger of Allah (ﺹ): Here are his clothes yet to wear out.' She went out for Mecca."

In the 1426 A.H./2005 A.D. edition ofتأريخ الأمم و الملوك  (History of nations and kings) by imam Abu Ja'far Muhammed ibn Jarir al-Tabari, which is more famous as Tabari'sTarikh , Vol. 3, p. 135:

قال محمد بن عمر: و حدثني محمد بن صالح، عن عبيد الله بن رافع بن نقاخة، عن عثمان بن الشريد، قال: مر عثمان على جبلة بن عمرو الساعدي و هو بفناء داره و معه جامعة فقال: يا نعثل، و الله لأقتلنك، و لأحملنك على قلوص جرباء، و لأخرجنك الى حرة النار، ثم جاءه مرة أخرى و عثمان على المنبر فأنزله عنه.

حدثني محمد قال: حدثني أبو بكر بن اسماعيل عن أبيه عن عامر بن سعد قال: كان أول من اجترأ على عثمان بالمنطق السيء جبلة بن عمرو الساعدي، مر به عثمان و هو جالس في ندي قومه و في يد جبلة بن عمرو جامعة، فلما مر عثمان سلم، فرد القوم، فقال جبلة: لم تردون على رجل فعل كذا و كذا؟! قال: ثم أقبل على عثمان فقال: و الله لأطرحن هذه الجامعة في عنقك أو لتتركن بطانتك هذه. قال عثمان: أي بطانة؟! فو الله اني لأتخير الناس. فقال جبلة: مروان تخيرته! و معاوية تخيرته! و عبد الله بن سعد تخيرته! منهم من نزل القرآن بدمه، و أباح رسول الله دمه.

قال: فانصرف عثمان، فما زال الناس مجترئين عليه (يعني على عثمان) الى هذا اليوم.

Muhammed ibn Omer has said: "Muhammed ibn Salih has narrated to me citing Ubaydullah ibn Raafi` ibn Naqakhah from Othman ibn al-Sharid who said: "Othman passed by Jiblah ibn Amr al-Saa'idi as he was in the courtyard of his home, and he had chains, so he said, 'O Na'thal! By Allah I shall kill you, and I shall carry you on a scabby she-camel (not yet trained to carry anyone or anything), and I shall get you out to the heat of the Fire.' Jiblah ibn Amr al-Saa'idi also went once and saw Othman on the pulpit (preaching), so he pulled him down it.

I [the author, al-Tabari, goes on to add] have been told by Muhammed who said: I have been told by Abu Bakr ibn Isma'eel who quotes his father citing Aamir ibn Sa'd saying: "The first person to verbally abuse Othman was Jiblah ibn Amr al-Saa'idi: Othman passed by him once as he was sitting in his folk's meeting place. Jiblah ibn Amr al-Saa'idi had a chain in his hand. When Othman passed by, he greeted [those present at the meeting place]. The folks responded [to the greeting], whereupon Jiblah said: 'Why do you respond to a man who has done such and such?!' Then he went to Othman and said: 'By Allah, I shall place this chain round your neck unless you abandon your train.' Othman said, 'What train?! By Allah, I choose from among people [for my close companions].' Jiblah said: 'You chose Marwan [ibn al-Hakam, Othman's young cousin and bearer of his seal]! And you chose Mu'awiyah! And you chose Abdullah ibn Sa'd! Some of these have been condemned to death by the Qur'an, and some of them were condemned to die by the Messenger of Allah (ﺹ)!' He went on to say: 'Othman left, and people kept verbally abusing Othman till this day."

Why did the third caliph cause matters to deteriorate so badly? There is no room here to provide you with the detailed answer to this question, but we can refer you to a book written by one of Egypt's best intellectuals and scholars of the century, namely Dr. Taha Hussein, who worteالفتنة الكبرى The Greater Sedition. In it, you will find out that one of Othman's serious mistakes was giving his seal to his young and wreckless cousin Marwan ibn al-Hakam, as you will read under the item "Hadi, al-" below, who greatly abused the power that seal gave him. Taha Hussein details how the public funds deposited at the State Treasury known then as baytul-malبيت المال were plundered and distributed among Othman's family, relatives and supporters, so much so that Othman had three mansions built for him each of each cost more than three million dinars. Arabs do not have the word "million" in their language; instead, they use the term "a thousand thousands" to describe the gold dinars and the silver dirhams spent on building mansions for Othman and for his wife, Naila daughter of al-Qarafisa, who had so much jewelry, her jingle could be heard from a distance.

Anotherfitna was the falsification ofahadith أحاديث , traditions, which make up one of the main sources of the Sunna which every Muslim must follow, the other being the Holy Qur'an. Abu Bakr prohibited the writing ofhadith and most traditions were collected and burnt, so very few survived. Later, the Umayyad dynasty that ruled the Islamic world from 655 to 1031 A.D. was characterized by the flourishing of manufactures for making custom-designed traditions tailored to please various Umayyad rulers the first of whom was Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. On pp. 332-3 of the 1426 A.H./2005 A.D. edition ofتأريخ الأمم و الملوك (History of nations and kings) by imam Abu Ja'far Muhammed ibn Jarir al-Tabari, which is more famous as Tabari'sTarikh , we read the following:

و كانوا يعدون دهاة الناس حين ثارت الفتنة خمسة رهط، فقالوا: ذوو رأي العرب و مكيدتهم: معاوية بن أبي سفيان، و عمرو بن العاص، و المغيرة بن شعبة، و قيس بن سعد، و من المهاجرين عبد الله بن بديل الخزاعي.

Five men used to be regarded as the most cunning of all people when sedition erupted. People said that they were people of opinions and of scheming, and these are: Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, Amr ibn al-Aas, al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah and Qais ibn Sa'd, all from the Ansar, in addition to Abdullah ibn Budayl al-Khuza'i from the Muhajirun.

Who is this man, Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan ibn Harb?

On the 10th of Hijra/630 A.D., the date of the Conquest of Mecca, Abu Sufyan, father of this Mu'awiyah, had to choose either to accept Islam or be beheaded, so he pretended to accept Islam while all his actions and those of his family members proved that they never really did. Abu Sufyan was a wealthy and influential man who belonged to the Banu Umayyah clan of the once pagan tribe of Quraish of Mecca, Hijaz, that fought the spread of Islam relentlessly during the time of the Prophet of Islam (ﻉ). He was contemporary to the Prophet of Islam (ﻉ) whom he fought vigorously. His date of birth is unknown, but he died in 31 A.H./652 A.D. “Abu Sufyan” is his kunya, surname; his name is Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayyah. He is father of Mu`awiyah and grandfather of Yazid.

Abu Sufyan led pagan Quraish in its many wars against Prophet Muhammed (ﺹ) and his small band of supporters, making alliances with other pagan tribes and with the Jews of Medina against the new rising power of Islam. He kept leading one battle after another till the fall of Mecca to the Muslims in 630 A.D. It was then that he had to either accept the Islamic faith or face a sure death for all the mischief he had committed against the Muslims, so he preferred to live in hypocrisy as a "Muslim," though only in name, rather than accept death. He was the most cunning man in all of Arabia and one of its aristocrats and men of might and means. He saw Islam as the harbinger of the waning of his own personal power and prestige and those of his tribe, Quraish, not to mention the decline of his faith, paganism, and the pre-Islamic way of life to which he and his likes were very much accustomed, the life of promiscuity, lewdness and debauchery, with all the wine, women and wealth aristocrats like him very much enjoyed. His likes are present throughout the Islamic lands in our time and in every time and clime... This has always been so, and it shall unfortunately remain so...

Mu`awiyah son of Abu Sufyan was born out of wedlock in 602 A.D. during thejahiliyya , the time of ignorance, the period that preceded Islam. His mother, Maysun, was one of his father’s slave-girls. Maysun had a sexual intercourse with one of Mu`awiyah’s slaves and conceived Yazid by him. Mu`awiyah, in total disregard for Islamic or traditional Arab traditions, claimed Yazid as his son. A testimony to this fact is the well-documented tradition of the Prophet (ﻉ) wherein he said, “The murderer of my [grand]son al-Husain is a bastard.” This tradition is quoted on p. 156, Vol. 1, ofKanz al-`Ummal of al-Muttaqi al-Hindi. The stigma of being a bastard applies actually not only to Yazid but also to both Shimr ibn Thul-Jawshan and `Ubaydullah ibn Sa`d, the accomplices about whom the reader can read a great deal in my book titledKerbala and Beyond .

One glaring proof about the fact that Mu'awiyah never really accepted Islam is the following famous verse of poetry which Mu'awiyah composed:

لعبت هاشم بالملك فلا

          خبر جاء و لا وحي نزل

Hashim (clan) played with power:

Neither news came nor revelation descended.

Mu`awiyah played a major role in distorting the Islamic creed by paying writers to tailor design "traditions" to serve his interests and support his deviated views. He installed himself as ruler of Syria in 40 A.H./661 A.D. and ruled for twenty long years till his death at the age of seventy-eight. Shortly before his death, which took place in the month of Rajab of 60 A.H./May of 680 A.D., he managed to secure the oath of allegiance to his corrupt and immoral son Yazid as his successor. He did so by intimidation once and once by buying loyalty and favours, spending in the process huge sums of money that belonged to the Muslims. The weak-minded majority of the Muslims of his time swore allegiance to him. This proves that the majority does not necessarily have to be right. Imam al-Husain (ﻉ), together with a small band of devotees to the cause of truth, refused to bow their heads to the oppressive forces, hence this tale of heroism.

Mu`awiyah declared himself "caliph" in Syria when he was 59 years old and assumed authority by sheer force. He was not elected, nor was he requested to take charge. He did not hide this fact; rather, he bragged about it once when he addressed the Kafians saying, "O people of Kufa! Do you think that I fought you in order that you may establish prayers or givezakat or perform the pilgrimage?! I know that you do pray, pay zakat and perform the pilgrimage. Indeed, I fought you in order to take command over you with contempt, and Allah has given me that against your wishes. Rest assured that whoever killed any of us will himself be killed. And the treaty between us of amnesty is under my feet."

Mu`awiyah’s rule was terror in the whole Muslim land. Such terrorism was spread by many convoys sent to various regions. Historians have narrated that Mu`awiyh summoned Sufyan ibn Awf al-Ghamidi, one of the commanders of his army, and said to him, "This army is under your command. Proceed along the Euphrates River till you reach Heet. Any resistance you meet on your way should be crushed, and then you should proceed to invade Anbar. After that, penetrate deeply into Mada’in. O Sufyan! These invasions will frighten the Iraqis and please those who like us. Such campaigns will attract frightened people to our side. Kill whoever holds different views from ours; loot their villages and demolish their homes. Indeed, fighting them against their livelihood and taking their wealth away is similar to killing them but is more painful to their hearts."

Another of his commanders, namely Bishr ibn Arta’ah, was summoned and ordered to proceed to Hijaz and Yemen with these instructions issued by Mu`awiyah: "Proceed to Medina and expel its people. Meanwhile, people in your way, who are not from our camp, should be terrorized. When you enter Medina, let it appear as if you are going to kill them. Make it appear that your aim is to exterminate them. Then pardon them. Terrorize the people around Mecca and Medina and scatter them around."

During Mu`awiyah’s reign, basic human rights were denied, not simply violated. No one was free to express his views. Government spies were paid to terrorize the public, assisting the army and the police in sparing no opportunity to crush the people and to silence their dissent. There are some documents which reveal Mu`awiyah’s instructions to his governors to do just that. For instance, the following letter was addressed to all judges: "Do not accept the testimony of Ali’s followers (Shiites) or of his descendants in (your) courts." Another letter stated: "If you have evidence that someone likes `Ali and his family, omit his name from the recipients of rations stipulated from thezakat funds." Another letter said, "Punish whoever is suspected of following `Ali and demolish his house." Such was the situation during the government of Mu`awiyah, Yazid’s infamous father. Historians who were recording these waves of terror described them as unprecedented in history. People were so frightened, they did not mind being called atheists, thieves, etc., but not followers of Imam `Ali ibn Abu Talib (ﻉ), Prophet Muhammed ((ﺹ's right hand, confidant and son-in-law.

Another aspect of the government of Mu`awiyah was the racist discrimination between Arabs and non-Arabs. Although they were supposed to have embraced Islam which tolerates no racism in its teachings, non-Arabs were forced to pay khiraj and jizya taxes that are levied from non-Muslims living under the protection of Muslims and enjoying certain privileges, including the exemption from the military service. A non-Arab soldier fighting in the state’s army used to receive bare subsistence from the rations. Once, a dispute flared up between an Arab and a non-Arab and both were brought to court. The judge, namely Abdullah ibn `amir, heard the non-Arab saying to his Arab opponent, "May Allah not permit people of your kind (i.e. Arabs) to multiply." The Arab answered him by saying, "O Allah! I invoke You to multiply their (non-Arabs’) population among us!" People present there and then were bewildered to hear such a plea, so they asked him, "How do you pray for this man’s people to multiply while he prays for yours to be diminished?!" The Arab opponent said, "Yes, indeed, I do so! They clean our streets and make shoes for our animals, and they weave our clothes!"

Imam al-Husain’s older brother, Imam al-Hasan (ﻉ), was elected in Medina on the 21st of the month of Ramadan, 40 A.H./January 28, 661 A.D. as the caliph, but his caliphate did not last long due to the terrorism promoted by Mu`awiyah who either intimidated, killed, or bribed the most distinguished men upon whom Imam al-Hasan (ﻉ) depended to run the affairs of the government. Finally, Mu`awiyah pushed Imam al-Hasan (ﻉ) out of power after signing a treaty with him the terms of which were, indeed, honourable and fair, had they only been implemented. Finding his men too weak or too reluctant to fight Mu`awiyah, Imam al-Hasan (ﻉ) had no alternative except to sign the said treaty with a man whom he knew very well to be the most hypocritical of all and the most untrustworthy.

This is the father. The mother is Maysun, Hind Having seen how his father, Abu Sufyan, became a "Muslim" - but never a Mu'min - , Mu'awiyah fled away to Bahrain where he sent his father a very nasty letter reprimanding him for accepting Islam.

Mu'awiyah son of Abu Sufyan was born out of wedlock in 602 A.D. during thejahiliyya , the time of ignorance, the period that preceded Islam. His mother, Maysun, was one of his father’s slave-girls. Maysun had a sexual intercourse with one of Mu`awiyah’s slaves and conceived Yazid by him. Mu`awiyah, in total disregard for Islamic or traditional Arab traditions, claimed Yazid as his son. A testimony to this fact is the well-documented tradition of the Prophet (a) wherein he said, “The murderer of my [grand]son al-Husain is a bastard.” This tradition is quoted on p. 156, Vol. 1, ofKanz al-`Ummal of al-Muttaqi al-Hindi. The stigma of being a bastard applies actually not only to Yazid but also to both Shimr ibn Thul-Jawshan and `Ubaydullah ibn Sa`d, the accomplices about whom the reader will read later; all of these men were born out of wedlock.

Mu`awiyah played a major role in distorting the Islamic creed. He installed himself as ruler of Syria in 40 A.H./661 A.D. and ruled for twenty long years till his death at the age of seventy-eight. Shortly before his death, which took place in the month of Rajab of 60 A.H./May of 680 A.D., he managed to secure the oath of allegiance to his corrupt and immoral son Yazid as his successor. He did so by intimidation once and once by buying loyalty and favours, spending in the process huge sums of money that belonged to the Muslims. The weak-minded majority of the Muslims of his time swore allegiance to him. This proves that the majority does not necessarily have to be right. Imam al-Husain (a), together with a small band of devotees to the cause of truth, refused to bow their heads to the oppressive forces, hence this tale of heroism.

The greatest damage Mu'awiyah caused to the Islamic creed is through falsification, fabrication and manufacturing of hadith. He found in Abu Hurayra al-Dawsi his best tool to achieve this goal. Who is this Abu Hurayra, and why did he manufacture as many as three thousand traditions during the three year period when he was in the Suffa, a shelter for indigent Muslims, close to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina?

In the year 7 A.H./629 A.D., a young and very poor man from the Daws tribe of southern Arabia (Yemen), met the Prophet immediately after the battle of Khaybar and embraced Islam. He is well known in history as “Abu Hurayra,” the fellow of the kitten, after a kitten to which he was very much attached. His name shone neither during the lifetime of the Prophet nor of the four “righteous caliphs” but during the un-Islamic reign of terror of the Umayyads which lasted from 655, when Mu'awiyah seized power in Damascus, 750 A.D., when Marwan II, the last Umayyad ruler in Damascus, died. It was during that period that the Islamic world witnessed an astronomical number of “traditions” which were attributed, through this same Abu Hurayra, to the Prophet of Islam (ﺹ). Since these traditions, known collectively ashadith , constitute one of the two sources of the Islamic legislative system, the Shari`a, it is very important to shed a light on the life and character of this man even if some readers may consider this chapter as a digression from the main topic.

It is of utmost importance to expose the facts relevant to Abu Hurayra so that Muslims may be cautious whenever they come across a tradition narrated by him or attributed to him which, all in all, reached the astronomical figure of 5,374 “traditions,” although he spent no more than three years in the company of the Prophet, a fact supported by the renown compiler al-Bukhari, whenever such company did not involve any danger to his life, and despite the fact that Abu Hurayra did not know how to read and write... The reader can easily conclude that this figure is unrealistic when he comes to know that Abu Bakr, friend of the Prophet and one of the earliest converts to Islam, narrated no more than 142 traditions. Omer ibn al-Khattab, the story of whose conversion to Islam is narrated earlier in this book, narrated no more than 537 traditions. Othman ibn Affan narrated no more than 146 traditions. And Ali, the man who was raised by the Prophet and who was always with him, following him like his shadow, and whose memory and integrity nobody at all can question, narrated no more than 586 traditions. All these men, especially Ali and Abu Bakr, spent many years of their lives in the company of the Prophet and did not hide when their lives were in jeopardy, as is the case with Abu Hurayrah, yet they did not narrate except a tiny fraction of the number of “traditions,” many of which cannot be accepted by logic and commonsense, narrated by or attributed to Abu Hurayra. This is why it is so important to discuss this man and expose the factories of falsification ofhadith established by his benefactors, the Umayyads, descendants and supporters of Abu Sufyan, then his son Mu`awiyah, then his son Yazid, all of whom were outright hypocrites and had absolutely nothing to do with Islam.

Abu Hurayra's name is said to be `Omayr ibn Aamir ibn `Abd Thish-Shari ibn Tareef, of the Yemenite tribe of Daws ibn `Adnan1 . His mother's name is Umaima daughter of Safeeh ibn al-Harith ibn Shabi ibn Abu Sa`b, also of the Daws tribe. His date of birth is unknown, but he is said to have died in 57, 58, or 59 A.H., and that he had lived to be 78. This would put the date of his birth at 677, 678 or 679 A.D.

When he came to the Prophet (ﺹ), he was young and healthy and, hence, capable of enlisting in the Prophet's army. But he preferred to be lodged together with destitute Muslims at the Suffa referred to above. Most of the time which Abu Hurayra spent with the Prophet was during the lunches or dinners the Prophet hosted for those destitute. Abu Hurayra himself admitted more than once that he remained close to the Prophet so that he could get a meal to eat. Another person who used to shower the destitute of the Suffa with his generosity was Ja`fer ibn Abu Talib (588 - 629 A.D.), the Prophet's cousin and a brother of Ali ibn Abu Talib. He was, for this reason, called “Abul Masakeen,” father of the destitute. This is why, Abu Hurayra used to regard Ja`fer as the most generous person next only to the Prophet. When the Prophet mandated military service for all able men in the Mu'ta expedition, Ja`fer ibn Abu Talib did not hesitate from responding to the Prophet's call, but Abu Hurayra, who considered Ja`fer as his patron, preferred not to participate, thus violating the order of the Prophet. History records the names of those who did likewise.

In 21 A.H./642 A.D., during the caliphate of Omer ibn al-Khattab, Abu Hurayra was made governor of Bahrain. After two years, he was deposed because of a scandal. The details of that scandal are recorded in the books of Ibn `Abd Rabbih, the Mu`tazilite writer, and in Ibn al-Atheer's famous classic bookAl-Iqd al-Fareed . A summary of that incident runs as follows: