|
that all the bloodshed's
and plunders carried out in the name of avenging 'Uthman's
blood were in fact for the sake of his ambition and
desire to rule, and for his material greed, and the
story of claiming 'Uthman's blood was nothing but a
lie and a plot.
This went on, and as it was gradually proved, those
people who ran away from the justice and equality of
the Alawite government and took refuge in ash-Sham,
now heartily desired justice and every day in some corner
or other they rose against the Umayyads under the leadership
of a descendant of 'Ali (191)
In fact Mu'awiyah and his successors had during their
rule committed so many crimes and evil deeds that even
slothful and right-repelling people, too, began to feel
that the Alawite government with all its justice and
equality had been the only government, which could bring
them true happiness.(192)
2-Another important reason for the truce was the weakness
of the people of Kufah and their mental and practical
dispersion. As we saw, this spirit was so dominant among
the men of the said army that a chaos reigned over an
army of several thousands at the smallest incident and
destroyed all order and discipline. Even the killing
of the son of the Prophet and Imam and leader of the
people, was received as a very simple matter, and if
it had not been checked and had been carried out, all
the plots of the guardians of paganism would have been
accomplished.
In view of the above point, it is quite clear that Mu'awiyah
could, by buying off some of the army commanders, as
we saw in the incident of arrow shooting, arrest of
the Imam with the complicity of his own soldiers and
after gaining complete victory claim that as a great
favour he would grant pardon to the Imam and set him
free. Thus this disgrace would have always remained
for the Imams of the Prophet's household and for the
leaders of human and Islamic societies, to be considered
as the freed captives of the symbols of infidelity and
hypocrisy, and to be indebted for their lives to the
Umayyads who were the descendants of their captive grandfathers
who were freed by the Prophet on the capture of Mecca."(193)
3-In the battle of Siffin as we shall see, a large number
of the Prophet's companions accompanied Imam 'Ali whose
|
