One
more Mischief of the Saba Sect
After sending Âishah from Basrah,
Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) distributed cash
from the treasury of Basrah among those who had fought under his banner. Each
of them received five hundred dirhams. Following this, he told his men that in
case of their attack and victory over Syria, their fixed amount of stipend
would be increased but they would be entitled to get the same amount from the
booty.
The followers of Abdullah bin Saba
started criticizing and reproaching Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) openly following the end of the battle. They had grown hostile
simply because Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
had strongly forbidden plunder of the goods and property. Ali's soft attitude,
counseling and all peaceful efforts to make them see reason, fell on deaf ears
until one day they disappeared from Basrah.
Anticipating their mischief, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) chased them at the
head of an army but they were not found. It is to be noted here that Abdullah
bin Saba had been the greatest supporter of Ali. However, the conquest of
Basrah had taken away from him the opportunity to inflict anymore loss and harm
to Islam by supporting Ali, so he turned against Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to continue his work against the cause of Islam. It was, in
truth, the same group consisting of the Muslim-like Jews and anti-Islamic
elements which later rose in the guise of the Khawârij.
Soon after the martyrdom of Umar
Fâruq, conspiracies, secret societies and bodies of forces antagonistic to
Islam sprang into being and they still continue. No period in the history of
Islam passed without them. They sometimes appeared in the guise of Abu Lulu'
and his inciters and at times in the shape of Abdullah bin Saba and his
followers and the Khawârij. The same agency worked against Banu Umayyah through
the Abbasids and Alawis and then against the Abbasids through the Umaiyads.
Sometimes they appeared as Fidâi Ismâili group. The same secret societies
appeared in the guise of Freemasons, Nihilists and Anarchists and sometimes it
put on the garb of diplomacy in the foreign officers.
Even the early period of the
Prophetic era was not free from these secret conspiracies. Not more than twenty
or twenty-five years was there free from these activities and the period
spanned the later part of Prophethood and the Caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar.
Thus the conspiracies hatched against the Islamic forces were neither strange
nor surprising.
The people of the Saba sect who had
disappeared from Basrah after openly criticizing Ali, spread in a large area of
Arab and Iraq, and collected around them ruffians and riffraff who had their
own axes to grind. They proceeded first to Sajastan to set against Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) all the Persian
provinces one by one so that he would not be able to manage the affairs of the
State peacefully, and not find an opportunity to invade Syria. Being informed
of their antagonistic activities, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) sent Abdur-Rahmân bin Jurw Tai with a detachment but he was
martyred in the encounter. Hearing this Rib'i bin Kâs marched with a detachment
of four thousand and defeated the miscreants. In the meantime, preparations for
the battle of Siffin took a start. Now, the opportunist Saba clandestinely
became a part of Ali's army to take advantage of the situation.
Kufah
becomes the Capital
The most important task before Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) following the battle
of Jamal was to subdue Syria and force Mu’âwiyah (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to take Bai'ah. So, he considered it necessary to make Kufah
his capital. The Kufis happened to be the main strength of Ali's army. There
was another reason behind making Kufah the capital and military center of Islam
because Kufah was nearer to Damascus than Al-Madinah. Kufah spread its shadow
of influence up to the Persian provinces. Umar Fâruq had consolidated
Al-Madinah as the power center of Islam, which was necessary at that time. But
events suffered drastic changes during the days of Ali.
Before Ali, the Caliphs of Islam
ruled from Al-Madinah, the center of power. They had no role to play as a
commander of the Islamic forces. But Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) under the pressure of circumstances, had to lead his army to
battle and assumed the role of the commander. And this was one factor that cast
injurious effects on his administration.
Something worthy of notice here is
that a section of the rioters and murderers of Uthmân had joined Abdullah bin
Saba as a result of his great efforts, and therefore, came to be called the
party of Abdullah bin Saba. A large number of Muslims had become his followers
out of their gullibility but the number of real followers of Abdullah bin Saba
was very small. These few persons were clever enough to mislead large numbers
of people into trusting the sincerity of their scheme. Thus, they would often
change their tools according to their needs and circumstances. That was the
reason why this party led the rioters to do away with Uthmân and his caliphate
and a greater number of them took part in the battle of Jamal.
But when they turned against Ali,
many among the rioters severed their relations with the party. They rather
sided with Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
and played a prominent role in strengthening his hand and thus gaining power
and influence in his court. When Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) settled in Kufah, they became closer and more influential,
which in turn made Mu’âwiyah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
's position stronger. It was because of this that those in favor of taking
Qisâs (retaliation) for Uthmân's blood, sided with Mu’âwiyah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) in spite of the superiority of Ali, which
they all knew.
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