The Murder of 'Uthmh ibn 'Afftln + 503 6- If 'Uthmh (&) decided to dismiss Mu'awiyah some day, he was confident that it would all work out well in the end, and he would take no offence at that, because he was a governor who was under the authority of the caliph of the ~uslims.'~] The end of this meeting was regrettable and sad, because he wanted to warn them against the wrath and punishment of All& and against the temptation of the shaytaan and the slippery slope to which it would lead, and against division and disobeying the ruler, and against giving in to their whims and desires and being arrogant. And what was their response? They pounced on him and grabbed him by the head and beard, and at some point he rebuked them and said harsh words that carried an implied threat. He realized that these people would never follow the right path, so he had to tell the caliph 'Uthmgn (6)about them and the real danger that they posed, so that he could decide about them.['] Mu'Swiyahls letter bropblemakers in Kufa Mu'iwiyah wrote to 'Uthmin (A)saying: In the name of AJlih, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. To the slave of Allih 'Uthmh, the Ameer al-Mu'mineen, from Mu'gwiyah ibn Abi Sufyin. 0 Ameer al-Mu'mineen, you sent to me some people who speak with the tongues of devils and say what these devils wants them to say. They come to the people and support their arguments with the Qur'h, as they claim, and they confuse the people. Not everyone realizes what they are up to. All they want is to create division andfitnah. They are fed up with Islam and the shaytaan has hll control of their hearts. They have corrupted many people among whom they lived in Kufah, and I am worried that if they stay among the people of Syria they may mislead them ['I Mu'cizuiyah ibn Abi Sufiin, ShbiKabeer wa Malik Mujaahid, p. 114117 Mu'tiwiyuh ibn Abi Sufiin by Ghadbaan, p. 117,118 504 'Uhin Ibn 'Affsn & Dhun-Noorayn with their influence and immorality. It is better to send them back to their own region and let them live in the place where their hypocrisy started.['' E. Rebrn of the troublemakers to wed by their expulsion to al-Jazeerah 'Uthmh wrote to Sa'eed ibn al-Aas and sent them back to him, but they only became more active in evildoing when they returned. Sa'eed wrote to 'Uthmsn complaining about them, and 'Uthmtin wrote to Sa'eed telling him to send them to 'Abd al- Rahmaan ibn Khaalid ibn al-Waleed - who was the governor of Horns. When they reached 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Khaalid ibn al- Waleed he summoned them and spoke sternly to them, saying to them, among other things: 0 tools of the shaytaan, you are not welcome here. The shaytaan went back defeated and lost, but you are still active in falsehood. May 'Abd al-Rahmaan be doomed if he does not discipline and humiliate you. 0 people who I do not know whether you are Arabs or Persians, you will never be able to speak to me as you spoke to Sa'eed or Mu'swiyah. I am the son of Khaalid ibn al-Waleed, I am the son of one who was toughened by his experiences, I am the son of the one who defeated apostasy, and by AllCh I shall humiliate you. 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Khaalid let them stay with him for a whole month, during which he treated them with the utmost strictness and harshness, and was not soft with them as Sa'eed and Mu'swiyah had been. If he walked, they walked with him; if he rode, they rode with him; if he went out on a military campaign, they went out with him. He did not miss any opportunity to humiliate them. Every time he met their leader, Sa'sa'ah ibn Sawhaan, he said to him: 0 son of sin, do you know that if a person cannot be disciplined by good means, he will be disciplined by bad means, and if he cannot be disciplined by a soft approach he will be disciplined by a hard approach? And he told them: Why are you not answering back as you used to answer back to Sa'eed in Kufah and Mu'Swiyah in 'I1 Tareekh at-Tabari, 5/331 The Murder of 'Uthmh ibn 'Affh 505 Syria? Why do you not address me as you used to address them? The method of 'Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Khaalid worked with them. His harshness silenced them and they showed repentance and regret. They said to him: We repent to AUsh and ask His forgiveness. Forgive us and pardon us, may Allsh forgive you and pardon you. The people stayed in al-Jazeerah with 'Abd ar- Rahmaan ibn Khaalid, and 'Abd al-Rahmaan sent one of their leaders - al-Ashtar al-Nakha'i - to 'Uthmh, to tell him of their repentance and reform, and that they had ceased their troublemaking. 'Uthmin said to al-Ashtar: Go and live wherever you want, you and those who are with you, for I have forgiven you. Al-Ashtar said: We want to stay with 'Abd ar- Rahmaan ibn Khaalid ibn al-Waleed, and he told him about the vlrtue and resolve of 'Abd ar-Rahmaan. So they stayed with 'Abd al-Rahmaan in al-Jazeerah for a while, appearing outwardly to have repented and to have mended their ways.['' The troublemakers in Kufah were quiet for a while. This lasted for a few months in 33 AH, after the leaders of turmoil had been banished to Mu'swiyah in Syria, then to 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Khaalid. The troublemakers in Kufah decided that it was in their best interests to keep quiet for a while.[21 The troublemakers in Basra fabricate lies against Ashajj 'Abd al-Qays The troublemakers in Basra, under the leadership of Hakeem ibn Jablah, were against the people of virtue in the city. They conspired against them and told lies about them. One of the best and most pious of the people of Basra was Ashajj 'Abd alQays, whose real name was 'Aamir ibn 'Abd al-Qays. He was a leader of his people who had come to the Messenger of All31 (@) and learned from him, and the Messenger of AlEh (@) had praised him when he said: 506 'Uthmsn Ibn 'Affgn & Dhun-Noorayn "You have two characteristics that Allth loves :forbearance and deliberation .''['I 'Aamir ibn 'Abd al-Qays was one of the leaders of jihad in al- Qaadisiyyah and elsewhere. He lived in Basra and he was a man of great righteousness and piety. The rebels told lies about him and made false accusations against him, so 'Uthm2n told him to go to Mu'swiyah in Syria. When Mu'awiyah spoke to him, he realized that he was innocent and sincere, and that the rebels were fabricating lies against him. The architect of these lies against 'Aamir ibn 'Abd al-Qays was Hamraan ibn Abaan, who was a sinful man with no religious commitment. He had married a woman during her 'iddnh, and when 'Uthmsn found out about that, he separated them and beat him as discipline for having sinned, and banished him to Basra, where he met the leader of the Saba'is in that city, the thief Hakeem ibn ~ablah.[~] Ibn Saba' designated the year 34 AH for action In 34 AH - the eleventh year of 'Uthm2n's caliphate - 'Abd- All21 ibn Saba' finalized his plans and made arrangements with his followers to begin the rebellion against the caliph and his governors. From his den of conspiracy in Egypt, Ibn Saba' got in touch with his devilish followers in Basra, Kufah and Madinah, and agreed with them on the details of the rebellion, and they corresponded with one another concerning that. Among his correspondents were the Saba'is in Kufah. There were more than ten men, some of whom had been exiled to Syria, then to al- Jazeerah where they stayed with 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Khaalid ibn al-Waleed. After the exile of these rebels, the hateful Saba'i leader in Kufah was Yazeed ibn In 34 AH, Kufah was devoid of prominent figures because they were all out on ['I Saheeh as-Seerah an-Nabmui~yah,p. 635, At-Tirmidhi (2011) "I Tareekh at-Tabari, 5/333,334 L31 al-Khulafa' aI-Raashideen by al-Khaalidi, p. 135 The Murder of 'UWibn 'Affk 4 507 I campaign, fighting in jihad for the sake of All$h, and there was no one left in the city but the hooligans and thugs who were influenced by the deviant Saba'is, who filled their minds with their evil ideas and incited them against 'Uthmas governor in Kufah, Sa'eed ibn al-'~as.['l The situation in Kufah when the troublemakers made their move al-Tabari said of the situation in Kufah in 34 AH. Sa'eed ibn al-'Aas went to 'Uthmh in the eleventh year of 'Uthmsn's rule, and before he left, he sent al-Ash'ath ibn Qays to Azerbaijan, Sa'eed ibn Qays to al-Rayy, al-Nusayr alL'Ajali to Hamadhaan, al- Saa'ib ibn al-Aqra' to Asbahaan, Maalik ibn Habeeb to Maah, Hakeem ibn Salaamah to Mosul, Jareer ibn 'Abd-Allsh to Qarqeesa, Salmaan ibn Rabee'ah to al-Baab, and 'Utaybah ibn al-Nahhaas to Hdwaan. He appointed al-Qa'qaa' ibn 'Am al- Tameemi as commander-inchief, and he appointed 'Amr ibn Hurayth as his deputy after he left.