The Great Fitnah

After the martyrdom of Uthman, Ali was proclaimed as the Caliph in June 656 C.E. and the oath of allegiance to him was taken in the Prophet's mosque at Madeenah. Hadrat Ali was fifty six years old at the time, and he was in every way best suited for the office. By this time one generation had passed since the death of the Holy Prophet During this period while the Muslim dominions had expanded, the polity had come laity of Ali. to be riddled with unfortunate tensions which had culminated in the assassination of Uthmaan.

The situation in Madeenah at the time was very grave and confused. The uprising against Uthmaan had dislocated the normal life in the city of Madeenah and the machinery of law and order had virtually broken down. Those who were responsible for the assassination of Uthmaan had their hold on power, and they were in the forefront in the election of Hadrat Ali as the Caliph. They declared that they had risen against Hadrat Uthmaan because his policies were opposed to Muslim interests, and that after his assassination they had elected the most suitable person as the Caliph. Hadrat Ali came to power in a crisis loaded atmosphere. On the whole the people were shocked and distressed at the assassination of Hadrat Uthmaan, and held that the assassination of the Caliph by the Muslims was a sacrilege. The Umayyads, the tribesman of Uthmaan demanded that the murderers of Uthman should be called to account immediately. Some other persons also joined with the Umayyads in supporting the call for the revenge of the murder of the Hadhrat Uthman.

Hadhrat Ali's assessment of the situation was that it was not a of murder simply by an individual, it was a collective uprising which was of the nature of a coup d'etat. Ali felt that when those had led the uprising were in command of the situation, and their had succeeded, it was idle to talk of avenging the murder of Hadhrat Uthman. He held out that after things had settled down, passions cooled and normal conditions had been restored, he would take suitable action to avenge the murder of his predecessor for whom he had great regard.

Hadhrat Ali's approach to the matter was realistic, but those who were opposed to him for one reason or the other put a different complexion on the case, and alleged that Hadhrat Ali was shielding murderers of Hadhrat Uthman. That created an unfortunate situation which was exploited by the interested quarters to the detriment of the solidarity of the Muslim community.

Taken from "History of Islam" by Prof. Masudul-Hasan, vol. I, pp. 127-8. Adam Publishers, Delhi, '95. 

Regarding the excellences of `Ali
Doubtless, his excellences are many and distinguished.  Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, as well as other books of hadeeth (which, it may be noted, were compiled largely during the Umayyad dynasty) are replete with such narrations.  Someone who hates `Ali or curses him is a sinner and an innovator, and it is feared that he may even be a disbeliever.

Regarding the narrations which supposedly prove that Mu'aawiyyah cursed `Ali
Regarding the incident mentioned involving cursing, Mu'aawiyyah and `Ali : the narration can be found in Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari. I will refer to Sahih Muslim.  The reports in question are Ahaadeeth # 2404, 2409 (I am using the new edition of Sahih Muslim with Nawawi's commentary, from Dar al-Fikr).  #2404 says that Mu'aawiyyah asked a man, "What prevented you from cursing Abu't-Turab (i.e. `Ali)?"  It should be noted that there is no explicit statement here which says that Mu'aawiyyah asked him to curse `Ali, and we should always assume the best of a Muslim.  It is possible that the man was perhaps in the company of a group of people who were cursing `Ali, and that he alone refrained.  Hence, it is not inconceivable that Mu'aawiyyah should ask him the reason, perhaps in order to make known the virtues of `Ali.  Also, <sabb> need not necessarily mean 'curse' - it can also mean 'disprove'. We know that `Ali and Mu'aawiyyah had a conflict based on Ijtihaad .  Hence, Mu'aawiyyah may have been wondering why the man did not support Mu'âwiyah's view and argue against `Ali's.

#2408 in Muslim is not talking about Mu'aawiyyah.  It is talking about someone else in connection with cursing `Ali.  We cannot take Mu'aawiyyah to task for the deeds of someone else.  It is often the case that two scholars will have a disagreement, and write very harsh books and articles criticising each other on their points of disagreement. Students or followers of the shaykhs will read these attacks and start hating the other party intensely, not realizing, sometimes, that the two shaykhs, in spite of their intense disagreements, really respect one another, and indeed, may actually sit and chat over coffee after their debate!  In other words, it is not at all inconceivable that the conflict between `Ali and Mu'aawiyyah might have led to some followers of Mu'aawiyyah having unjustified hatred to `Ali, and some followers of `Ali having unjustified hatred for Mu'aawiyyah.