Ali
appointed Muhammad b. Abi Bakr, the killer of ‘Uthman as the governor of
Egypt, replacing the former governor appointed by ‘Uthman. This appointment
infuriated Muawiyah and ‘Amr. They plotted to assassinate Muhammad b. Abi Bakr
and to replace him by ‘Amr b. al-‘As. On the instruction of Muawiyah b. Abi
Sufyan, ‘Amr b. al-‘As raised a battalion of 6,000 men and arrived at Egypt,
ready to fight Muhammad b. Abi Bakr. One of the commanders of this 6,000 strong
army was Muwayiah b. Hudhayj (no relation of Muawiyah b. Abi Sufyan) who lived
in Egypt. After surrounding Muhammad b. Abi Bakr’s forces, ‘Amr sent him the
letter written by Muawiyah b. Abi Sufyan (the governor of Syria).
It may
be worthwhile to quote the content of this letter, as it exposes the hypocrisy
and the vile nature of Islamic piety. ‘Amr b. al-‘As wrote:
p. 153 (Tabari,
vol.xvii)
The
outcome of injustice and evil is great harm. Whoever sheds prohibited blood does
not escape retribution in this world or evil consequences in the next. We do not
know of anyone who was more persistent in injustice against ‘Uthman, more
shamefully wicked against him, or more fervent in opposing him than you. You
were among those who rushed against him in assault, and you were among those who
shed his blood. Then you thought that I would overlook or forget you to the
extent that you made yourself ruler (amir)
over the land in which you are a neighbor of mine, and majority of the people of
which are my supporters who share my views, heed what I say and call on me for
help against you. I have sent against you a band of men that is enraged against
you, seeks your blood to drink, and attempts to draw near to God by jihad
against you. They have given God an undertaking that they will make an exemplary
punishment of you, and if it were not that they intend for your something more
than merely killing you, I would not have warned you nor given you notice. I
would have liked them to kill you for your evil, your breaking the bonds of
relationship, and your enmity against ‘Uthman on the day when he was pierced
by your arrow heads between the bone that protrudes behind the ear and his
jugular vein. But it is abhorrent to me that I should make an exemplary
punishment of a Quraish, though God will never deliver you from retaliation
wherever you are. Salutations.
Muhammad
b. Abi Bakr replied to Muawiyah b. Abi Sufyan thus:
p.155
(ibid)
I
have received your letter in which you remind me of the matter of ‘Uthman, and
I make no apology to you regarding that. You tell me to withdraw from you, as if
you were a sincere advisor, and you try to frighten me with reference to an
exemplary punishment (al-Muthlah) as if you were sympathetic to me. I hope that fortune
will raise me up again over you and that I will sweep you away in battle, but if
you are given the victory and authority (al-amr)
in this world is yours, then, by my life, how many a Believer you will have
killed and mutilated (mathlatum). But
both you and they must appear before God, for all things return to Him, and
“He is the most merciful of the merciful and God’s help is to be implored
against what you describe.” Salutations.
Muhammad
b. Abi Bakr lost the battle, his army fled, and forlornly, he took shelter
inside an abandoned house. He was, completely exhausted, severely hungry,
thirsty, and hopelessly resigned to his fate. Soon, he was caught by Muawiyah b.
Hudhayj’s soldiers and was brought to Muawiyah b. Hudhayj’s presence. The
following conversation between Muhammad b. Abi Bakr and Muwawiyah b. Hudhayj
will demonstrate how savage those Islamist terrorists were:
Here is
the text of the conversation as written on pp.157-158 (ibid):
Muhammad
said to them, “Give me some water to drink,” but Muawiyah b. Hudhayj
answered him, “May God not give him anything to drink if he ever gives you a
drop. You prevented ‘Uthman from drinking water until you killed him, while he
was fasting and in a state of ritual purity (ihram),
and God received him with choice sealed wine. By God I will kill you, ibn Abu
Bakr, and God will give you drink, boiling water and pus.”
And
finally,
Muawiyah
became angry, had him brought forward, and killed him. Then he cast him into the
corpse of a donkey and set fire to it.
The
chain of this Islamic cannibalism will remain unfinished until we learn the
fates of Ali, Muawiyah b. Abi Sufyan and ‘Amr b. al-‘As.
As
mentioned earlier, a few kharijites
sneaked into Kufa and Egypt. Among them were the Islamist terrorists, ibn Muljam,
al-Burak b. Abdallah and ‘Amr b. Bakr. They took the following vows:
Ibn
Muljam: to kill Ali (in Kufa)
Al-Burak
b. Abdallah: to kill Muawiyah b. Abi Sufyan (in Syria)
‘Amr
b. Bakr: to kill ‘Amr b. al-‘As (in Egypt)
True to
his promise, ibn Muljam bought a menacing sword, sharpened and poisoned it a
little over a month and got ready to murder Ali. On the 17th day of
Ramadan (the holiest month in the Islamic calendar), very early Friday morning,
he, accompanied with another accomplice lay in darkness in the door of the
mosque for the arrival of Ali to lead the morning-prayer. When Ali approached
the door of the mosque, both the perpetrators stroke Ali with their swords. Ibn
Mujlam’s accomplice’s sword missed Ali; he fled in panic. But ibn Muljam’s
sword hit Ali right in his head. He was gravely injured, taken to his residence
and on the Saturday night he died of acute poisoning of the wound.
The
people caught ibn Muljam on the spot. He was calm, composed and expressed no
remorse for what he had done—everything was done Islamically. He did not break
any Islamic rule—he claimed. After Ali died, al-Hasan, Ali’s eldest son,
beheaded him. Then the people took ibn Muljam’s corpse, wrapped him in straw
mats and burned him.
On the
same day Ali was struck down, al-Burak b. Abdallah also attacked Muawiyah b. Abi
Sufyan when he went to the mosque to offer the morning-prayer. But his sword
only cut the buttock of Muwayiah. The sword was poisoned, so the doctor treated
him with a potion, the effect of which made Muawiyah infertile for life.
Al-Burak
b. Abdallah was caught and Muawiyah ordered him to be beheaded.
As for
‘Amr b. al-‘As, he survived, as he had stomach problem and could not lead
the morning prayer. His assailant, ‘Amr b. Bakr killed the acting imam,
thinking him to be ‘Amr b. al-‘As.
The
killer ‘Amr b. Bakr was caught, brought to ‘Amr b. al-‘As and was
beheaded.
Please
note that all those killing missions were carried out almost simultaneously
(those terrorists agreed to conduct their mission in that manner—Tabari
writes), at the same time This is indeed strange, when we observe their uncanny
resemblance of today’s Islamist terrorists attack on infidels. They also
conduct their murder operations almost in chorus. Isn’t this the resurrection
of the Kharijits?
Every
time we switch on television and watch those gory, despicable, horrific,
gruesome and frightening scenes in Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Darfur
perpetrated by the Islamist jihadists,
we are actually witnessing the playback of the past of Islamic cannibalism.
Every time we see those horrible scenes we are, in fact watching re-enactment of
the incidence of Uthaman’s murder and its aftermath. Grasping this truth will
enhance our perception of Islamic terrorism, its depth, width and extent of
savagery and why this barbarism is not going to go away so soon. Do remember,
the victims of these mayhems are not infidels. They are truly Muslims, being
cannibalized by truer Muslims. One day we shall surely watch how these truer
Muslims would be cannibalized by the truest Muslims. It is just a matter of time
before this cycle repeats itself, if we were to learn any lessons from the
episodes of Islamic cannibalisms I illustrated from the earliest Islamic period.
Conclusion:
Islamic
cannibalism is a non-stop musical chair which continues forever, or at least
until Islam is extinguished completely in the manner postulated by none other
than Muhammad (see above for the ahadith)
himself. The concept of a single Islamic Ummah
is simply a myth. When the killing of infidels becomes difficult, Islam kills
itself. Isn’t this a little piece of good news for humanity?
Bibliography
- The
Holy Qur’an.
The internet version of three English translations can be read at: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/reference.html
- Ali,
Abdullah, Yusuf, The Holy Qur’an: Translation and Commentary. Amana
Corp., Brentwood, Maryland, 1983.
- Abu
Dawud, Sulayman b. al-Ash’ath. Al-Sunaan, a collection of Hadith
Translated in English by Prof. Ahmad Hasan.
Internet version: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/abudawud/
- Abu
Dawud, Sulayman b. al-Ash’ath. Al-Sunaan, a collection of
Hadith,vol.iii. Translated in
English by Prof. Ahmad Hasan. Kitab Bhavan, 1784 Kalan Mahal, Daraya Ganj,
New Delhi-110002 (India), 2001
- al-Bukhari,
Muhammad b. Ismail. Sahi Bukhari. Ttranslated in English by Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
Internet version: [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/
]
6.
Muslim, Abu al-Hussain
b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushairi. Sahi Muslim. Translated
in English by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui. Internet version: [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/
]
- al-Tabari,
Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Jarir, The Last Years of
the Prophet, vol. ix. Translated by Ismail K. Poonwala, State
University of New York Press, Albany, 1990. ISBN 0-88706-692-5
- al-Tabari,
Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Jarir, The Crisis of the Early Caliphate,
vol. xv. Translated and annotated by R. Stephen Humphreys, State University
of New York Press, Albany, 1990. ISBN 0-7914-0155-3
- al-Tabari, Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Jarir, The First Civil War,
vol. xvii. Translated and annotated by G. R. Hawting, State University of
New York Press, Albany, 1996. ISBN 0-7914-2394—8
Abul
Kasem writes from Sydney, Australia. His e-mail address is: [email protected]
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