The history of Islam following the death of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), is shrouded in a fog of partisan reporting. However, in order to begin the process of reconciliation among Muslims, we must attempt to understand how we arrived at our current state.
We begin our journey into understanding the sources of fitnah in our religion of Islam with the first appearance of division within our Ummah. Following the death of the Prophet (SAW), the people were busy preparing for his janazah. In the midst of this atmosphere of sorrow, the people of Medina, the Ansar, who had welcomed in the refugees from Makkah at a time when Islam and Muslims was subject to extreme persecution, met in their Sadifah to choose a leader.
That the Ansar would desire to choose a leader is both natural and reasonable. We should all remember how the Prophet (SAW) came to be in that enlightened town. Yathrib, as it was called before the Prophet (SAW) came, was the home of two major tribes, the Aws and Khazraj, and many minor tribes, clients to these two super powers. The Aws and Khazraj, however, were not at peace. A war of attrition between the two was devastating the community. Both tribes realized the situation was unconscionable and they realized they needed a single leader to bring the community together. They considered appointing Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul to be their king, but they finally agreed to go to Makkah and ask the Prophet (SAW) to come to Medina and be their leader, both spiritually and politically.
When the beloved Prophet (SAW) died, the people of Medina quite naturally felt they still needed a single leader. So they met in the Saqifah Bani Saa' ida to choose a new civic leader. However, they also realized if they chose a single person, their choice would favor either one or the other of the two super power tribes. They were reluctant to open old wounds and rekindle the flames of intertribal warefare. We do not really know if they intend this leader to be for all Muslims or only for their city, but they met and they chose Sa'd ibn Ubadah, a member of the Aws tribe.
Hearing the news that the Ansar were meeting to choose a leader, Umar ibn al-Khattab met with his friend Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. Umar was a practical man, well versed in tribal society and its mores. He consulted with Abu Bakr and told him that the Quraish tribe, of which Abu Bakr was also a member, would never accept a person of another tribe as their leader. The Quraish were too arrogant and proud of their lineage to accept anyone other than a Quraish member as their leader. Both Umar and Abu Bakr were Muhajirun, those that had emigrated from Makkah in order to escape persecution in Makkah. They knew their own tribe all too well. They were now caught in the middle. They still had love for their own tribe, but they also had great feelings of loyalty and brotherhood with the Ansar, who had given many of them half of their property and had taken them into their homes in a manner beyond the bounds of hospitality. The Ansar had really treated the Muhajirun as members of their own family. And Islam had created a bond between these people that was stronger than the blood of heredity because it was based on the blood of shared sacrifice.
The Quraish were long the preeminent tribe of Arabia. They believed themselves to be more noble than any other tribe in Arabia. This truth is born out by their treatment of the Prophet (SAW) and his family. For three years, the Quraish tribe had boycotted the Prophet's family, the Bani Abdulmuttalib. This incident shows Quraishi opinion of "outsiders."
How were the Prophet (SAW) and his family "outsiders?" The most powerful subclan of the Quraish at the time of the Prophet (SAW) was the Bani Umayyah. The family of Umayyah includes Abu l'as, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, Uthman ibn Affan, and Muawiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan. Their chief rivals within the Quraish were the sons of Hashim. One of sons of Hashim was Shayba ibn Hashim. Shayba was born in the town of Yathrib to Salma bin Amr, a daughter of the Bani Najjar. When he came of age, his father decided to have him brought down to Makkah. He sent his brother, Muttalib up to Yathrib to get him. Shayba came to Makkah riding behind his uncle. When the people saw him, they assumed he was a new slave of Muttalib, so they called him "Abd al-Muttalib," "the slave of Muttalib." The nickname stuck.
But, Shayba's kunya reveals something else. He was not quite really Quraish. He was never completely accepted. And his status passed on to his son, Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet (SAW) and father of Ali ibn Abi Talib. This facet of Shayba ibn Hashim's position within the Quraish tribe plays a huge role in the development of the Shia.
For now, however, we note this as proof that Umar was correct; the Quraish would not accept a non-Quraishi leader. Umar, being realistic, realized that the community would need a Quraishi leader that would be acceptable to everyone. He told his friend, Abu Bakr, that he should be the leader. Abu Bakr was not a man who craved power or who had ambition, but he understood what Umar was saying, and so the two of them went quickly to the Saqifah, and appealed to the people to choose Abu Bakr as their leader.
The people quickly agreed to choose Abu Bakr as their leader. Why were they so eager - well, the Ansar did not want their fued to resume. If either an Aws or a Khazraj was the leader, the two tribes might start killing each other again. And everyone loved Abu Bakr. This was the "second amongst the two," who has fled with the Prophet (SAW) from Makkah. Lifelong friends, the Prophet (SAW) said that if he had chosen a khalil then it would have been Abu Bakr. And everyone of the Quraish also admired Abu Bakr. He was not of a powerful subclan, but he was still fully Quraish. How could anyone refuse to have Abu Bakr as their leader? He was the best choice given the situation.
However, there were some who did not agree. Ali ibn Abi Talib, Talha and al-Zubair separated themselves. Why? Inshallah, this we hope to explore in the next post, if Allah (SWT) gives us life.
No comments:
Post a Comment