By: Syed Mohsin Naquvi
The Prophet of Islam (pbh) passed away in the 11th year of Hijra. Imam Husayn was only seven years old at that time. Abu Bakr became the first Khaleefa after Muhammad amid some confusion, disagreements and political manoeuvering. The ruling party at this point in time felt politically insecure in view of the way they had taken power. It was, therefore, necessary to control all those areas where trouble was expected. One of those areas was the family of Banu Hashim, the Prophet's own people. The central figure there was the surviving daughter, Fatima Zahra. While the politicians were busy securing their hold on the community, the family of Banu Hashim were busy performing the funeral rites of the Prophet.
NOTE: According to Islamic law, if a Muslim dies in the community, it is a wajib kifa'ee (collective duty of the community) to complete the funeral rites. If no one does it, the entire community commits a sin. However, if any one or a few persons take care of it, the entire community is absolved of the responsibility.
On Umar bin Khattab's advise, Abu Bakr collected an armed party and surrounded the house of Fatima Zahra where most of the men of Banu Hashim were gathered. According to the report in Ibn Qutayba Daynoori's al-Imama was-Siyasa, it could have been just a few days after the Saqeefa event.
When Ali heard the disturbance, he came outside and a dialogue ensued between him and the gathering outside.
Ali asked as to why they had gathered. They said (mainly the dialogue was held by Umar) that he (Ali) should do Abu Bakr's ba'yat like everybody else.
Ali asked:'And if I did not?'
Umar said:"You will be beheaded, if you didn't"
Ali said: "Will you kill someone who is ABDULLAH (a worshipper of Allah) and AKHU-RASOOL ALLAH (brother of the prophet of Allah)?
Umar said: "Yes, you are abadullah, that we accept, but we don't accept you as a brother of the Prophet.
The situation grew uglier. However, Fatima Zahra came to the door and protested. Umar threatened to burn the house down. Soon people came to their senses and on extreme protest from Fatima Zahra, the armed party left.
Abu Bakr remained full of remorse for the rest of his life for violating Fatima Zahra's home. He lived for only 3 years as Khaleefa. He is reported to have nominated Umar as his successor on his death-bed. Husayn was now ten years old.
Umar appointed the elder son of Abu Sufyan, Yazeed, as the governor of Syria. Yazeed did not live very long and soon after his death the Khaleefa appointed his younger brother Mu'awiyah to that same post. Mu'awiyah turned out to be a shrewd politician who would use any means to get what he wanted. He used terror to subdue those who were foolhardy enough to raise a voice of dissention and money to buy those off who were greedy.
Husayn attained manhood during Umar's reign. Umar remained as Khaleefa for ten years. During this period Mu'awiyah had really become a monarch. When Umar visited Damascus, he saw all this. But he also saw that Mu'awiyah had become so strong militarily as well politically that if he was checked now, he would revolt.
After Umar's assassination, Uthman, a prominent member of the clan Banu Umayya, became Khaleefa. This removed all obstacles from Mu'awiyah's path. Uthman himself had no scruples when it came to favours for his relatives. He misused the treasury. He had two prominent Companions of the Prophet beaten up when they questioned him. This was sufficient evidence for Mu'awiyah to persue his own ambitious plans, which he did.(Read, Taha Husaain's Al-Fitnatul Kubra, for details. Also see:Madelung, Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press)
While Mu'awiyah was busy paving the way for his own son Yazeed's succession to the throne of Damascus, the excesses by Uthman reached to such an extent that people from the provinces gathered in Madinah first, as delegations with genuine complaints, and then they turned into a lynching mob which eventually killed Uthman and then forced Ali to accept the position of Khaleefa. Husayn was now thirty-two years old. Iran was conquered by the Muslim armies during Umar's reign. At that time the family of the defeated king, Yazdigard, went into hiding. During Ali's reign they reappeared and were sent to cAli by his governor in the Eastern provinces. The daughters of the Iranian king, Yazdigard, were brought to Koofa and presented to Ali ibn Abi Talib. One of them known as Shahr Banoo, was later married to Husayn and bore him his eldest son Ali Zaynul Abideen. He was 24 years old at Karbala.
Ali ibn Abi Talib was a man of a different temperament and principles. He was the closest to the Prophet and his teachings. He immediately put radical reforms in action; he removed all those governors in the provinces who were appointed by Uthman and were reported to have oppressed the people unjustly and
plundering the treasury. This, obviously, hurt the Banu Umayya in general because, Uthman had distributed these lucrative positions to his clansmen.
Mu'awiyah refused to give up his post and accept Ali as Khaleefa. There was a battle at the banks of the river Euphrates in Iraq, which ended in utter confusion and without result, mainly because of the lack of wit among the people who were representing Ali during negotiations.