Fear and Inefficiency
Another accusation labelled against him was fear and weak leadership. Fear was
something unknown to the Imam who at every crucial turn, since the beginning of
the Prophet's mission, had shown his courage and leadership prowess. It was
these qualities which made him not to start any battle or a bout of single
combat against any adversary till the argument was complete. In order to avert
bloodshed and to keep the door of guidance open he would listen to what the
opposing side had to say. These were the qualities of a wise and astute leader.
Yet these ignorant elements whose hands were always on the hilt of their swords
were accusing him of fear," because he preferred to engage in dialogue
before taking any action. These reluctant converts from idolatry were claiming
that his leadership was weak and that he was afraid of death. Imam 'Ali (A.S.)
replied to them in the following words:
"Well, as for your idea whether this (delay) is due to my unwillingness
for death, then by Allah I do not care whether I proceed towards death or death
advances towards me.59
In reply to those who alleged that his behaviour was suspicious against the
Syrians, he said:
As for your impression that it may be due to my misgivings about the people of
Syria, well, by Allah, I did not put off war even for a day except in the hope
that some group may find guidance through me and see my light with their weak
eyes. This is dearer to me than to kill them in the state of their misguidance
although they would be bearing their own sins."60
On other occasions the enemies - some of whom were in the midst of his own
forces - said that although he was brave he was a weak commander and does not
know the technique of war. Imam 'Ali has given them a fitting reply by exposing
their own cowardice and fickleness and recounting his prowess in leading armies
into the battlefield:
Jihad is one of the doors of paradise, which Allah has opened for His chosen
servants. It is the dress of piety and the protective armour of Allah and His
trustworthy shield. Whoever abandons it Allah covers him with the dress of
disgrace and the clothes of distress...Beware! I called you to fight these
people night and day, secretly and openly, and exhorted you to attack them
before they attacked you, because by Allah, no people have been attacked in the
hearths of their homes but they suffered disgrace; but you put it off to others
and forsook it till destruction befell you and your cities were occupied...You
have become the target at which arrows are shot...You are being attacked but
you do not attack. Allah is being disobeyed and you remain agreeable to it.
When I ask you to move against them in summer you say 'it is hot weather spare
us till the heat subsides'. When I order you to march in winter you say 'it is
severely cold gives us some time till cold clears from us'. These are just
excuses...You shattered my counsel by disobeying me and leaving me so much so
that the Quraysh started saying that 'Ali ibn Abi Talib is brave but does not
know (the tactics) of war. Allah blesses them. Is anyone of them braver in war
and older in it than I am. I rose for it (battle) although yet within twenties,
and here I am, having crossed sixty, but one who is not obeyed can have no
opinion.61
Murder of 'Uthman
'Uthman who took over as the third caliph because of the choice of his kinsmen
in the shura, proved a total failure. His inefficient advisors brought about
the insurrection against him that ended in his killing. They could have helped
him avert the crisis but they did not - as is the case of Mu'awiyah.62 It was
Imam 'Ali (A.S.) who tried to mediate between 'Uthman and the insurrectionaries
for the sake of protecting the Muslim dignity in the hope of resolving the
crisis by pacifying the angry people and soothing the wounds of those who had
suffered gross injustice at the hands of the caliph and his advisors. 63 And
when the furious people were about to sweep away 'Uthman and his house it was
the Imam who risked his life in refraining them. 64
But when 'Uthman finally paid for his policies with his life and when the
people pressed the Imam to become the caliph, opportunists on the pretext of
avenging the third caliph's blood, tried to blame Imam 'Ali (A.S.) for the
assassination in spite of the fact they were well aware of the identity of the
killers and the motives behind 'Uthman's death."65 This wild and
mischievous allegation against the Imam, misled many unsuspecting people and
created a crisis.
Greed for Power
As part of their mudslinging campaign another baseless accusation buried
against Imam 'Ali (A.S.) by his enemies was the greed for power despite the
obvious fact that he never fits the description of a person thirsty for power.
Power-mongers – whether in history or in our own times - are so obsessed with
authority and the means to acquire it that they try to justify whatever methods
that are used to reach their goals.
But Imam 'Ali (A.S.) offers the finest example of a person who did not pursue
power even when he knew it to be his right (and was offered support to make a
bid for it after the event of Saqifah Bani Sa'dah) 66. He had taken up the
reins of caliphate because of the acute necessity of the times and his own
responsibility in this regard in view of his primordial position in Islam. If
circumstances had not warranted it, he would never have agreed to become the
caliph. This sense of responsibility of the Imam was misinterpreted by persons
who were greedy for power themselves, as power mongering. In his own words it
is clear how he viewed his commitment to the commandments of God and what he
felt about merely clinging to power and leadership:
By Allah, I shall not be like the badger, which feigns sleep on continuous
(sound of) stone-throwing till he who is in search of it finds it or he who is
on the lockout for it overpowers it. Rather I shall ever strike the deviators
from truth with the help of those who advance towards it, and the sinners and
doubters with the help of those who listen to me and obey, till my day (of
death) comes. By Allah I have been continually deprived of my right from the
day the Prophet (S.A.W.) passed away till today."67
Unlike any politician he spelt out his policies in clear terms no matter what
the outcome. As a matter of fact the real power- mongers were those companions
of the Prophet who had prospered during 'Uthman's rule and who thought that
Imam 'Ali (A.S.) might continue the same policy of showing favours to them at
the expense of the masses. But when they realised that he was committed to the
letter and spirit of justice and truth, and on no account would yield to their
demands, they turned into his enemies and labelled the wild accusation that he
was thirsty for power. The Imam says about these persons:
They are hankering after this world out of jealousy against him on whom Allah
has bestowed it (authority). So they intend reverting the matters on their
back, while on us it is obligatory, for your sake, to abide by the Qur'an and
the conduct of the Prophet of Allah (S.A.W.), to stand by his rights and
revival of his Sunnah."68
Elsewhere he says:
"By Allah I had no liking for the caliphate nor any interest in
government, but you yourself invited me to it and prepared me for it. When the
caliphate came to me I kept the Book of Allah in my view and all that Allah had
put therein for us, and all that according to which He has commanded us to take
decisions; and I followed it, and also acted on whatever the Prophet (S.A.W.)
had laid down as Sunnah.69
Wars and Battles
The most conspicuous enmity towards Imam 'Ali (A.S.) were the wars and battles
imposed on him during his caliphate. We will briefly mention the three-armed
uprisings against his rule.
Battle of Jamal
His caliphate had not yet taken roots when the fraudulent and the malicious in
their greed for worldly power gauged up together to break the pledge of
allegiance they had sworn to him. They incited a group of Muslims to fight him
in the armed encounter known as the Battle of Jamal (Arabic for 'camel' since
'Ayishah, one of the wives of the Prophet, mounted a red-haired camel and led
the conspirators). Imam 'Ali (A.S.) was not surprised at the behaviour of the
two chief conspirators Talhah and Zubayr, and addressed them as follows:
"I always apprehended from you consequences of treachery and I had seen
you through in the garb of the deceitful. The curtain of religion had kept me
hidden from you but the truth of my intention disclosed you to me."70
The flames of war, although they devoured the conspirators who had ignited
them, were not something pleasant for the Imam who had tried his best to
dissuade them from such an action. The Imam's army won the battle, but Jamal
like all other civil strife, caused cracks to appear in the system of caliphate
and emboldened Mu'awiyah to show his insolence towards Imam 'Ali (A.S.) in a
more elaborate manner.
War of Siffin
Mu'awiyah, who had put roots in Syria because of his long rule over that
province since his appointment as governor by 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and the
subsequent confirmation in that position during the 12-year rule of his kinsman
'Uthman ibn 'Affan, was not pleased with anything short of caliphate. The
killing of 'Uthman and the sedition of 'Ayishah, Talhah and Zubayr, gave him
the desired pretext, and by raising the deceptive slogan of 'vengeance for the
blood of 'Uthman', he dared to confront Imam 'Ali (A.S.) in battle - after
refusing to comply by the new caliph's order of his dismissal from the post of
governor. The War of Siffin with all its ; ups and downs dragged on for several
months before ending with a deceptive act by Mu'awiyah's forces who raised
copies of the holy Qur'an on spear points to avoid certain defeat. The forced
arbitration which took place as a result did not end favourably for Imam 'Ali
(A.S.) -because of the duplicity of some of his followers'. The consequences of
Siffin made a group of nitwits – who had at first fell to Mu'awiyah's ruse of
arbitration - to desert the rightful Imam and accuse him of deviation from
faith. Imagine, to what extent enmity with the First Muslim had blinded those
who had no clear idea of Islam but still called themselves Muslims!