Abdullah
bin Saba
Abdullah bin Saba, known as Ibn
Sauda' was a Jew from San'â. He accepted Islam during the caliphate of Uthmân
bin Affân with the intention of taking advantage of the progress and prosperity
of the Muslims. He settled in Al-Madinah to go deep into the internal affairs
and weaknesses of the Muslims to take advantage thereof. About the same time
Hakim bin Jabalah, a man from Basrah made it a point to enlist with the Muslim
troops and he plundered the Dhimmi whenever he had an opportunity. He would
sometimes commit highway robbery with a band of criminals. When his evil
activities went out of all proportions, the matter was reported to the Caliph.
He wrote to the governor of Basrah
to put Hakim bin Jabalah in detention and his order was duly implemented. When
Abdullah bin Saba heard about Hakim bin Jabalah, he set out from Al-Madinah,
reached Basrah and stayed with Hakim bin Jabalah. There he established a very
close and cordial relation with Hakim bin Jabalah and his friends. Afterwards,
he set himself to creating doubts and mischievous thoughts in the minds of the
people around him, after very cleverly presenting himself as one who is a
well-wisher of the Muslims and the family of the Prophet. After gaining the
confidence of many Muslims, he began to carry out his nefarious plan. He first
raised the question that if Isa (Jesus) could come back to this world, why not
Muhammad? In order to fortify his plea, he began to misinterpret the meaning of
the Verse:
"Verily, He Who has given you
the Qur'ân, will surely bring you back to place of return." (28:85)
He proposed thereby that the last
Prophet must come back to this world. Following this, he began to bring the
people round to another point that every Prophet had a caliph (successor) and
executor and that of Muhammad was Ali, and he was the last executor as Muhammad
was the last Prophet. Encouraged by the favorable response from the gullible
Muslims, he came out to openly propagate his evil intentions of doing away with
the Caliph and replacing him by Ali.
When his mischievous propaganda was
brought to the notice of the governor, Abdullah bin Âmir, he called Abdullah
bin Saba and inquired of him as to who he was, where did he come from and what
was he here for. Abdullah bin Saba explained that he was interested in Islam
and he turned to Islam because of some weaknesses in Judaism and had a desire
to settle here as his subject. Abdullah bin Âmir told him that, on inquiry, he
arrived at the conclusion that he was bent upon creating mischief and
dissension in the ranks of the Muslims. Since the governor had brought his
secret plan to light, Abdullah bin Saba left Basrah and came to another
military base at Kufah after issuing secret instructions to his followers. In
Kufah he found a section already working against the office of the caliphate
and its governor. Thus Abdullah bin Saba found this land more fertile and the
atmosphere more favorable and encouraging for his evil plans.
Abdullah bin Saba was antagonistic
to Islam on one hand and was hostile to Uthmân bin Affân on the other. He was,
therefore, restless to take his revenge on the Caliph. In Kufah, he first
established himself as a pious and God-fearing man and was very soon held in
high esteem. When Abdullah's mischievous activities came to the notice of the
governor, Saeed bin Al-Âs (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ),
he called him and took him to task. Abdullah bin Saba became suspect even in
the eyes of the sober and noble persons. Finding the atmosphere unfavorable, he
left Kufah and went to Syria.
Like Basrah he left behind a strong
lobby in Kufah who were ready to carry on his dirty business. Mâlik Ashtar and
his friends and relatives were the main figures to lend support to his plan. At
Damascus, in Syria, his nefarious plans could not make any headway and he had
to leave the city after being there only a short time. His next target was
Egypt where he moved very cautiously in the light of his past experiences. He
made love for the Prophet's family and support of Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) the main plank of his propaganda. In
order to expedite his plan in an organized way he set up a secret society. He
easily gained ground in Egypt because the Egyptians and the Arabs living there
already had complaints against Abdullah bin Saad, the governor of Egypt.
Abdullah bin Saad was also too preoccupied with the problems created by the
African Berbers and the Caesar of Constantinople to pay attention to these
internal affairs.
Abdullah bin Saba communicated with
his friends in Basrah and Kufah by letter, his group instituted a letter
writing campaign with the result that letters containing complaints were
constantly being sent against the governors to the people of Al-Madinah from
Egypt, Kufah and Basrah with charges of atrocities and malpractice brought
against them. Similar letters were dispatched from Basrah and Kufah to Egypt
and from Basrah, Egypt and Damascus to Kufah. Since no one was made the subject
of atrocities, in each city they thought that this news was referring to other
provinces which might be having victims of these malpractices. All these
accusing letters were directed against Uthmân bin Affân, the Caliph who was
charged with favoring despotic governors and refusing their dismissal. In view
of the complaint letters coming in torrents, Uthmân bin Affân sent Ammâr bin
Yâsir and Muhammad bin Maslamah to Egypt and Kufah respectively to make
inquiries into the affairs and inform the office of the caliphate with the
facts.
When Ammâr bin Yâsir reached Egypt,
both the sections growing angry with the governor and the followers of Abdullah
bin Saba brought Ammâr to their own way of thinking. They held him back from
going back to Al-Madinah saying that supporting the atrocious ways of Uthmân
bin Affân was to be avoided. Muhammad bin Maslamah wrote to the Caliph from
Kufah that both the common people and the noblemen were openly speaking against
the Caliphate and showing signs of discontent. About the same time Ash'ath bin
Qais, Saeed bin Qais, Sâ'ib bin Aqra', Mâlik bin Habib, Hakim bin Salâmat,
Jarir bin Abdullah, and Salmân bin Rabi'ah who were wealthy, influential and
courageous supporters of the Islamic caliphate left Kufah for other places. In
view of the public protest and tumult prevailing over a vast area, Saeed bin Al-Âs
(رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) appointed Qa'qâ' bin
Amr his deputy and left for Al-Madinah to personally meet the Caliph and give
an account of the new developments in Kufah. With his departure, the people of
Kufah wrote to Mâlik Ashtar who was then staying in Hims that there was a
complete vacuum in Kufah and they should come back without delay. In the
absence of a strict governor, the antagonistic elements came out in open
criticism and challenged the authority of the Caliph. Gradually they mustered
enough courage to send a party of the disgruntled elements under the leadership
of Yazid bin Qais to reach Al-Madinah to dislodge Uthmân bin Affân from power
by force. However, Qa'qâ' bin Amr stood in the way and arrested Yazid.
Yazid implored Qa'qâ' to forgive him
because he had nothing more than some complaints against Saeed bin Al-Âs (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and his mission was
simply to seek the deposition of the governor. Qa'qâ' set Yazid free. However,
shortly after that Mâlik Ashtar reached Kufah with his party from Hims. His
arrival generated a new zeal into those causing disruptions and he declared his
support to Yazid Qais and his decision to join the forces of Yazid. Qa'qâ'
could not stop the joint forces of Yazid and Mâlik. They marched out of Kufah and
arrived at Jara'ah near Qâdisiyah.
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