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TOPIC 1
THE JIGSAW OF HISTORY

INTRODUCTION

The Prophet had blessed the world with his teachings of justice for all and worship of only God! This blessed message had to be carried out to the world. The Prophet had sent messengers like Diyat Kalbi to many empires of the world to invite their men to study Islam!

But empires like Rome and Persia gathered armies to fight the Prophet. First the Romans tried. The Prophet chose a young son of a slave, called Usama to lead the Companions in to the battle! It was when the army was leaving Medina that news came that the Prophet had passed away! The Companions cried at the news and many rushed to Medina to say their final goodby to the Prophet.

In this chapter you will see what challenges the Muslims faced after the Prophet and how they tried to take the blessed message of the Prophet to the world!

Lesson 1: SAKIFA AND BEYOND

1.1 THE PROPHET'S LAST DAYS

The Prophet Muhammad had chosen a young man called Usamah to lead the Muslim army to fight the Byzantine king. The Prophet commanded his Companions to support Usamah. Some of the companions hesitated and even began to question why a son of a slave was chosen as the commander. But men like Abu Bakr rallied with others and went to support Usamah who was waiting with his army outside Medina. But then came the news that the Prophet had been taken seriously ill. Hearing this Abu Bakr hurried back to Medina. He soon witnessed the sad day when the Prophet passed away.

This day was a Monday and there was much commotion in Medina. When Abu Bakr heard the news he was at the home of his new bride. She witnessed that Abu Bakr was so overcome that he wept like a baby. But he reminded himself that we all have to die and this made him gain console. With this in his mind he hurried towards the mosque where the people had gathered. On the way he met Umar bin Khattab. Umar informed him that some of the Companions had gathered in a placed called Sakifa to choose a new leader. Both of them then went to Sakifa to witness what was happening.

Sakifa was a place outside Medina. Here the Companions were discussing about who should be their leader after the Prophet. Somebody said that a man called Abu Ubaydah should lead because he was called ˜Guardian." Umar stepped forward and said that he did not know of a greater person than Abu Bakr who should lead the Muslims. The Companions discussed this and finally agreed that Hazrat Abu Bakr should lead them. This was the first Shura or consultation choosing of a leader! After they agreed that Hazrat Abu Bakr should be the leader they hurried to the Prophet's mosque.

At the mosque Umar was overcome by the sad atmosphere. He was so overcome that he began to say that Allah cannot kill his Prophet. Abu Bakr shook him and reminded him of the verses of the Qur'an that said that the Prophet was a mortal and death was evitable. Abu Bakr then climbed the roof of the mosque and shouted:

˜Listen, whosoever worshipped Muhammad know that he is dead and whosoever worshipped God know that he is alive and cannot die!"

The people who were all grief stricken surrounded Abu Bakr. Immediately Umar grabbed his hand and announced him as the new leader of the Muslims. Soon the men in the mosque did the same and news was sent to the army of Usamah that Abu Bakr had been chosen and that the army should now proceed without delay to fight the Byzantine King.

1.2 ABU BAKR AS THE FIRST CALIPH

It is interesting to see how different tribes turned against Islam as soon as they learnt that the Prophet had passed away. False prophets rose up all over the place each claiming to have a new message. Some tribes also refused to give Zakat to the new government in Medina. Under Abu Bakr the Muslims defeated all of them and also defeated the Byzantine King.

Abu Bakr had become the first caliph (leader) after the Prophet but he had heard that on the occasion of Zul Ashira the Prophet had said: ˜Ali is my successor and so obey him! He also knew how much the Prophet loved Ali and that Ali was from the Alhul Baith. The Shahee narration of Shahee Bukhari says that Hazrat Abu Bakr came to Ali and asked him if he wanted to be the caliph. Ali declined and never revolted against Hazrat Abu Bakr.

Abu Bakr was a resolute man. Once the Prophet's daughter Syeda Fatimah Zahra came to him and said that as the land of Fadak belonged to the Prophet they should be given to her as her inheritance. But Hazrat Abu Bakr said that he had heard the Prophet say that the Prophets of God do not leave behind anything in inheritance. This case of Fadak shows how conflicts were dealt with at that time. It is a great lesson for us not to fight each other when we deal with conflicts among us.

Abu Bakr ruled for two years and before he passed away he Willed Umar to be the next leader. When Umar was leader the Muslims captured the holy city of Jerusalem. Umar urged the Muslims to follow the laws of the Prophet when conquering cities. He reminded them that the Prophet never killed nor frighten the citizens of a conquered city. This was a remarkable thing because in those days whenever a city was conquered the army looted it and burnt it. The Prophet had taught Muslims to act differently and when they captured Jerusalem they prayed at the doors of the holy city and provided safety to it's citizens.

Under Umar the Muslims also defeated the mighty army of Persia. When news reached Umar that the Muslims had won he immediately prostrated to Allah.

The famous war against the Persian empire is called Qadisiyya and was fought in Iraq. With the defeat of the Romans in Jerusalem and the Persians at Qadisiyya the whole of the Ancient Empires were now for the Muslims to take. They now had a choice of destroying all the learnings of the past or saving them!

Following the example of the Prophet the Muslims behaved impeccably. Never before had such an army taken over such wealth without plundering or destroying. The Muslims saved the learnings of the Ancient and with it created a new attitude in human behaviour!

TASKS TO DO

A. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS

1.Who was leading the Muslim army against the Byantines? 2. Why did Abu Bakr come back in a hurry to Medina? 3. Where had the elders gathered and why? 4. What did Abu Bakr remind Umar of in the Prophet mosque? 5. What were his words to the sad crowd? 6. What incident did he remember which made him go to Ali? 7. What did he say to those who said that the Muslim army should be led by another general and not the one the Prophet had appointed?

B. Draw a map to show the countries that were conquered by the Muslims in the time of Caliph Umar

C. How was the Muslim conquest different from the conquests of the Ancient Empires that went before it.

D. Some people say that Islam taught that leaders should never be questioned. What is the story of Fatima that shows that this is not true?

E. Find out as much about the life of Abu Bakr. Write down his short biography starting from the time he lived in Makkah, the Hijrat and becoming the First Caliph.

Lesson 2: THE NAVY AND ONWARDS

2.1 THE BUILDING OF THE NAVY

Hazrat Umar chose six men to choose the next leader between themselves. One of the names was that of Usman bin Affan and he was chosen as the third caliph. He was from the mighty Umayad family and they had strong connection in Syria and Egypt. The Umayads decided to build a navy for the Muslims to fight the Christians of Europe. Soon the navy was started in the city of Alexandria in Egypt.

The family of Umayad were known all over the Muslim world. Hazrat Usman had used their talent and strength to rule the conquered lands. This made some Muslim accuse him of favouring his relative and they decided to kill him. While he was in his house in Medina the enemies climbed on to his balcony and entered through the window. As they went to kill him his wife put her hands out to stop them and her hands were cut down. Then they killed him.

The renegades than told the people of Medina to choose a new leader. The people came to Ali and pledged their loyalty to him. This way Ali became the forth and final ˜Righteous Caliph" of the Muslims.

By the end of Hazrat Usman's rule the Muslim army had reached the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Walls of China in the East. On their way they had defeated the two great empires of Rome and Persia. What the Muslims had achieved in the life of the first three caliphs in terms of conquest was indeed remarkable. And one more remarkable thing about the Muslims was that though they defeated great empires they treated the people with mercy and did not kill innocent people. In fact they offered safety to the people of the conquered lands. This made the Muslim conquest popular among the people and they welcomed the Muslim army with open arms. But all the lands the Muslims had conquered had to be organised and brought in to effective rule. The time now was not for conquest but to reconsolidate the rule of the Islamic government. This was the job of Hazrat Ali.

2.2 GOVERNING THE CONQUERED LANDS

Ali started his rule by selecting new governors to rule the lands. These people were those who were trusted by the people in the conquered lands. Some of the governors he chose were non-Arabs and this angered some of the rich Arab lord. This resentment was exploited by Hazrat Ali's rival called Muawiya who had become governor of Syria during Hazrat Uthman's reign. Trouble was therefore brewing for Hazrat Ali.

Ali also realised that if things were not changed in farming then there would be hunger in the lands. He therefore reduced the taxes on the farmers and freed them from joining the army. This way Ali started an agriculture movement that kept the lands supplied with food.

The slaves in the lands also received new rights. Ali gave them rights to pension and he said that the government workers should receive their payment monthly instead of annually. He increased the wages of judges and teachers so that they would do their jobs better. He even gave pension rights to poor Christians and Jews from the Islamic treasury.

Ali also wrote several books which gave Muslims of the future the platform on which to do research. He was famous for writing the Tafshir of the Qur'an, Ahadith, Saheffa E Ali and several great prayers which give personal guidance to Muslims. He also commissioned the translation of the Qur'an in to the Persian Language. Today one of his books called the Nahjul Balagha is regarded as one of the greatest works of literature in the Muslim nation.

Ali also wrote on war and reforms and gave a fighting role to women in the army. He then changed his capital from Medina to Kufa so that Medina could be protected from the kind of upheaval that led to Hazrat Usman's murder. All these things that Ali had done made the Muslims lands a modern state where people's rights and human dignity were paramount. He did all this in order to bring about a new vision to the Muslims nation after the Age of Conquest during the first three Caliphs.

But Ali was viewed with suspicion by many influential people. Some of his reforms and ideas brought much hatred against him. Many turned against him.

But the matter of Hazrat Usman's murder was still not settled. Two people namely Hazrat Aiesha, who was one of the wives of the Prophet, and Muawiya, who was a governor of Syria, gathered armies against him. They both wanted Ali to arrest the murderers of Hazrat Usman. But Ali challenged them to name the murderers. This argument led to two battles called Jung E Jamal and Jung E Siffin. These battles were bad for the Muslims because they set a precedence that Muslims could fight a Righteous Caliph. These two battles led to so much confusion and hate that a third group gathered to kill all the warring parties including Caliph Ali and Muawiya. They managed to kill Ali while he was praying in the mosque in Kufa. Muawiya escaped and is said to have wept when he heard that Ali was killed.

With the murder of Ali the Age of the ˜Four Righteous Caliphs" ended. The first part of the rule of the Righteous Caliphs was the Age of Conquest and the second part was the Age of Social Reform. Throughout Muslim history the story of Conquest and Social Reform has been repeated. It is said that Muslims today no longer need conquest but they need to show the world about social justice and progress. The work of Ali will therefore become more and more important for today's Muslims!

TASKS TO DO

1. Write down the names of countries ruled by Usman

2. How did Usman become a caliph?

3. Which family did he belong to?

4. Why was he killed?

5. Hazrat Ali did not conquere. Instead what did he do?

6. List the things that Ali did that are useful for today

7. What challenge did Ali make of his enemies?

Lesson 3: AVOIDING POLITICAL TURMOIL

A fter the murder of Hazrat Ali the Muslims were set for another battle. Ali's elder son, Imam Hassan Mujtaba, led and army to fight Muwaiya. But before the two armies met there was talk of avoiding more political turmoil and making peace between the Muslims. Imam Hassan sent his conditions of peace to Muawiya and they were:

On signing of the peace treaty Muawiya became the unopposed leader of the Muslims. But he was not given the title of Caliph. Instead he was called the Amir. One of the reasons for this was that he had fought the fourth caliph of Islam Hazrat Ali who was one of the Ahlal Baith and the fourth righteous caliph.

Imam Hassan had made a clever move by making peace with Muawiya because it freed the Muslims from fighting each other and allowed them to concentrate their efforts on fighting the armies of Europe. This peace treaty showed that the spirit of Islam is existed in the political world of Islam. Imam Hassan also cleverly used this time of peace to create a university in Medina where scholars gathered from all over the Muslim lands. This work of Imam Hassan is seen as a foresighted move as it led to the Age of Enlightenment for the Muslims.

But Imam Hassan's life was in danger because he posed a political threat to many groups. Firstly, according to the peace treaty Muawiya was obliged not to choose a successor. This tied Muwaiya's hands and many of Muwiaya’s relatives did not like it. Secondly, some Muslims believed that Imam Hassan had made a terrible mistake by allowing Muawiya to rule. They said that Muawiya was bound to choose his son as the next leader regardless of the peace treaty. Hence they said Imam Hassan was wrong to sign the peace. Lastly Imam Hassan had became popular among women as he allowed them to study at his university and showed sympathy to them about their situation. Many women expressed their interest to marry him and this brought suspicion in some of his jealous wives who thought that he might disown them in favour of other wives.

In some of the books of history we read that Imam Hassan was poisoned two years after the peace treaty but there are some who say that Imam Hassan died of an illness only one year after the treaty. Whatever the case may be, the demise of Imam Hassan led to new speculations as to who would be the leader after Muawiya.

3.2 THE WORK OF MUAWIYA

Historians agree that Muawiya had to balance three powerful forces:

1. The Companions of the Prophet who wanted Muawiya to defend the Muslims lands from Byzantine invaders

2. His family and relatives of Muawiya who wanted favours from him

3. Arab nationalists who wanted the rule of the Arabs to get strong

Muawiya cleverly balanced all these three forces and he was therefore a successful leader. He also improved his image among the ordinary Muslims by building new mosques and giving large feast of charity to ordinary people. His best success was in fighting the Byzantine armies which had threatened to invade the Muslim lands. He continued the work of Usman and rebuilt the navy. He even sent an army to attack the great city of Constantinople and almost conquered it from the hands of the Byzantine.

Before his death he declared his son Yazid as the new Amir. This was against the peace treaty with Imam Hassan but Muawiya had argued that the peace treaty was his personal treaty whose conditions were only valid only while Imam Hassan was alive. By choosing his son as the new Amr, Muawiya was turning the Muslim nation in to a family empire of the Umayads.

Some of the tribal and regional leaders accepted what Muawiya had done. There was promise of large rewards if they supported Yazid. But there was a group that called for open war against Yazid. They argued that Imam Hassan had made the treaty in order to give Muslims the chance to choose their own leader. They argued that Muwaiya was bent on making a family empire out of the Muslim nation. This group was that of the Shias and they wanted Imam Hussain to become the new Caliph. Imam Hussain was the brother of Imam Hassan and the grandson of the Prophet. The Shias said that it was no point in signing new peace treaties! They said Yazid should abdicate or face rebellion!

TASKS TO DO

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

What were the three conditions of the truce between Imam Hassan and Muawiya? 2. Why was Muawiya not called a Caliph? 3. What were the main reasons why Imam Hassan made the truce? 4. What kind of people opposed Imam Hassan? 5. What three forces did Muwaiya have to balance when he came to power? 6. What did Muawiya do that was against the truce? 7. Why did Imam Hussain not sign a new treaty?

Lessons to Learn

1. Imam Hassan made peace for the greater good of the Muslims. What good things came from the treaty?

1b. In your life would you ever make a truce with your enemies? Explain why?

2. ˜Muwaiya became an Amir but he was never a Caliph" What kind of qualities do you think a caliph should have which Muawiya did not?

3. Imam Hussain was not going to sign a treaty. Do you think that Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain were of different minds or did they operate under different circumstances?

Lesson 4: KARBALA

4.1 THE CITY OF KUFA

The city of Kufa is in Iraq and it was the first place to denounce Yazid. The people had waited for a chance to select their own leader after the death of Muawiya but their chance had been denied to them. So when Yazid took over after the death of Muawiya the leaders of Kufa wrote letters to Imam Hussain in Medina asking him for support. The tribal leaders wrote in their letters that they needed his support in order to restore good leadership for Muslims and to expose the evil that were being carried out. They complained about rape, torture and murder that was being carried out in the governor's palace. Imam Hussain responded by sending his cousin brother by the name of Muslim bin Akil to see for himself what the situation was in Kufa.

While Muslim bin Akil went to Kufa another letter came from Yazid. It ordered Imam Hussain to immediately swear total allegiance to him or die. Imam Hussain outright refused! However, Imam Hussain did not run away and continued to live in Medina in open defiance of Yazid. Yazid knew that he could not kill Imam Hussain in Medina as Imam Hussain was too popular with the people and that his murder would expose Yazid for what he was.

But when the time of Hajj approached Imam Hussain made his second move. He journeyed to Makkah and spoke to the people at Hajj about Yazid. They agreed with Imam Hussain and advised him to gather an army after the Hajj was over. But to gather an army would have taken months while the situation in Kufa was getting desperate. News was coming from Kufa that the system of torture and murder had increased and that Yazid had dispatched his top hoodlums to oppress the people of Kufa. Imam Hussain also heard that the life of Muslim bin Akil was under threat. Now that the people at Hajj were informed of how bad Yazid was Imam Hussain decided to travel to Kufa as a matter of urgency.

4.2 THE PEOPLE RISE UP

Meanwhile in Kufa the people had gathered as they heard that Yazid's most merciless Generals were coming. They decided to storm the governor's palace in Kufa and take it over. Their plan was to protect Kufa from the inside and stop the Generals from getting in. This was the first direct confrontation against Yazid anywhere in the Muslim nation.

However, Yazid sent a vast army to surround Kufa and suffocated it. The leaders of Kufa like Mukhtar and Hani were arrested and thrown in to dungeons. Generals like Ibn Ziad took over and threw people from high towers. People were openly slaughtered and women were abducted from the market. The people of Kufa got frightened as they saw many of their leaders and their families being mutilated and murdered. They gave up and hid in their homes. Their opposition was short lived. Muslim bin Akil was also tracked down by Yazid's Generals and murdered. He was called a rebel and a traitor. His body was mutilated and left hanging in the market in Kufa for his supporters to see.

But Imam Hussain had already started on his way to Kufa. When he heard what had happened he still decided to continue to Kufa. He knew he was walking in to an impossible situation but decided to expose Yazid once and for all. He knew that his presence in Kufa would draw everybody's attention to Kufa. He also knew that the people who were at Hajj would travel back to their homelands and take the news with them of the evils of Yazid.

Yazid and his Generals acted fast! They knew that their game was over as Imam Hussain had already made the Muslims aware of what was happening in Kufa. So they desperately tried to stop Imam Hussain from getting in to Kufa or travelling back to Medina. Finally Imam Hussain was surrounded and diverted away from Kufa. One of Yazid's Generals was called Hurr. He was a good man. He decided to ascot Imam Hussain straight to Damascus where Imam Hussain would be able to directly confront Yazid and tell the people of Damascus of the evils that were being committed. However, other Generals like Ibn Ziad and Ibn Sad disagreed and talked of slaughtering Imam Hussain in the desert and then blaming it on others. Ibn Zaid had a direct command from Yazid to get rid of Imam Hussain while keeping the people confused about what happened to him.

YAZID'S COMMANDS

Stop Imam Hussain entering any City

Kill Imam Hussain

Confuse the Muslims about who killed Imam Hussain

HURR'S PLAN

Escot Imam Hussain to Damascus and let the people listen to him

In Damascus Imam Hussain would be safe from murder as Yazid could not afford to kill him in Damascus as it would expose him for what he was

4.3 HURR AND THE HISTORIANS

General Hurr disagreed with other Generals about getting rid of Imam Hussain. He argued hard and finally changed sides and fought his own colleagues. Hurr's turn around shows to historians how deep the people respected Imam Hussain and how even in Yazid's army there was support for the Imam. Hurr's turn around shows that some of Yazid's own Generals were ready to lay down their own lives in support of Imam Hussain!

So the hoodlums among Yazid's Generals killed Hurr first before turning on to Imam Hussain. Then they gave Imam Hussain the ultimatum: ˜Swear allegiance to Yazid or die!" Imam Hussain replied to them: ˜If I can save Islam by my blood then O swords come and tear me to pieces!" Imam Hussain knew that if they murdered him then this would expose Yazid once and for all and give the docile Muslims of the world the courage never to make excuses to accept corrupt leaders!

Yazid's army was caught out! They knew that they could not allow Imam Hussain in to Kufa or any other city because the people would begin giving their allegiance to him and rebel against Yazid. And they knew that if they murdered the Imam then this would expose how bad they were. So they waited for three days in order to force Imam Hussain to swear allegiance to Yazid.

4.4 THE SLAUGHTER STARTS

They also began killing Imam Hussain's family, one by one, in order to force Imam Hussain to swear the oath of allegiance ! They killed all the male members of his family in order to destroy the chance of a male heir to the Prophet from every challenging the Umayad family. The sons of Imam Hussain and Imam Hassan were murdered one by one. Their nephews were murdered and their nieces taken as prisoners. A little baby son of Imam Hussain was murdered and snatched out of his graves. Here in Karbala the family of the Prophet called the Ahlul Baith was slaughtered like animals. Finally Imam Hussain came to them riding on a white horse carrying the sword of Hazrat Ali and wearing the green cloak of the Prophet. He faced hundred of archers and stone throwers. He resisted hard and kept telling them that never will Islam be safe for corrupt leaders. But he did not resist the vast army for long and under the shower of arrows fell off his horse.

Even when Imam Hussain fell on the ground Yazid's hoodlums did not give up. They dragged him around his horse telling him to swear allegiance. But he refused! Now that they had done everything to him they decided to kill him very slowly. So they started cutting his head with a blunt knife. Such was the wildness of the murder of Imam Hussain that it reminded people of what Hind had done to Hazrat Hamza in the battle of Uhad. Hind was the grand mother of Yazid and she had decorated herself with the blood of Hamza. Now Yazid's hoodlums were celebrating the cutting up of Imam Hussain! Little did they think that they were killing the final grandson of the Prophet Muhamamd!

Much of Yazid's army was appalled to see what was happening and watched in shock while Imam Hussain was being mutilated by the hoodlums. Ibn Sad saw that there was a grave risk of his own army turning against him. Until this point Yazid's Generals had yielded to the command to hide the murder of Imam Hussain but the vast army of Yazid had witnessed what had happened and was about to rebel. News of the killing of the Imam was impossible to hide. The Generals now changed tack and decided to rule the people by absolute fear. So they decided to make the murder of Imam Hussain an example to all. So after killing Imam Hussain they ordered that the body of Imam Hussain be trampled on and that his head be carried to each city as an example to those who try to rebel against Yazid.

In order to induce total fear in the people the hoodlum Generals stripped the women of the Prophet's house and took them as slaves. These women had come with Imam Hussain to Karabala. They were imprisoned, chained, lashed and scalded with burning rods. These women were paraded in the cities and attempts were made to sell some of them in to the slave trade. One of the women who was unveiled and lashed was the grand daughter of the Prophet. Her role at this crucial time was very important to awaken the Muslims.

TASKS TO DO

Get in to groups of two and do the following tasks:

1. List down the reasons why the people of Kufa rebelled?

2. How does Hurr's story help us today to understand how much Imam Hussain was respected?

3. What is in the story that tells us how wrong Yazid was?

4. Here are questions and answers about Imam Hussain! Learn all of them and then ask these questions in your own words to the person in the group and see if he or she can answer them!

Q1. Why did Imam Hussain not go straight to Kufa when he first received the letters from there?

A1. If he had done this than it would have been a hasty decision and no body in Hajj would have known where he had gone and why! The Muslims across the world would have been confused about what had happened to him!

Q2. Why did he send Muslim bin Akil?

A1. To find out the exact situation and to assure the people that Imam Hussain had not forgotten them!

Q3. Why did he not wait to gather an army?

A1. Because Yazid was already moving his armies to Kufa to slaughter the people. If Imam Hussain had waited to gather an army then the passage to Kufa would have been blocked and Makkah and Medina would have been attacked to fight Imam Hussain's army! This actually happened when Muslims did gather an army after Imam Hussain was killed!

Q4. Imam Hussain did not swear allegiance! Was this not suicide?

A1. If he had swore allegiance than it would have been cowardice and Muslims would have never learnt the lesson that they should never become slaves of tyrants!

5. Research and draw the map of Imam Hussain's journey from Medina to Makkah to Karbala. Also write down the names of children murdered in Karbala!

6. Write and find out from Ahadith what the Prophet said about Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain!

Lesson 5: THE UPRISING

5.1 THE UPHEAVEL START

Until the killing of Imam Hussain and his family the Muslim had not got organised and preferred not to act. They made excuses all the time and they kept changing their minds to act against tyranny. But on hearing the news that the family of Imam Hussain had been murdered and the grand-daughter of the Prophet was molested the people knew exactly whom to fight. Now they did not have an excuse as young and old Muslims poured out in to the streets to protest. A massive rebellion started as news went out that Imam Hussain had tried to travel to Kufa without an army and yet Yazid killed him. In desperation Yazid sent armies after armies to different cities to quail the unrest. His tyranny increased on a daily basis. But the more he tyrannised the people the more worst it got for him. Once again the people of Kufa were the fist to rise. One of the Shia leader called Mukhtar escaped from the dungeon in the governor's palace and started a rebellion that ended up with the revenge on all the hoodlums who had killed Imam Hussain. Mukhtar hunted down each and every hoodlum killed them one by one. He then planned to attack Yazid's palace in Damascus but was killed in the city of Mosul in Iraq.

Meanwhile another group of Muslims also rose up in Makkah to fight Yazid. This was led by a man called Ibn Zubair. He wanted to be the new Caliph and his followers hid in the grand mosque in Makkah. Yazid send his army under a man called Hujajj bin Yusuf to kill Ibn Zubair. Hujajj entered Makkah and ended up pelting the grand mosque with stones and burning oil. So fierce was the attack that the Kaaba caught fire. At the end Ibn Zubair was murdered in the most horrific manner. With the death of Ibn Zubair his dispirited followers gave up the idea the Ibn Zubair should be called a caliph.

But immediately after the killing of Ibn Zubair the news came that Yazid was dead and gone! A sign of relief ran through the entire Muslim world. Hujjaj left Makkah and hurried to Damascus to take part in the new power struggle that followed. He too wanted to be caliph. It was like an open season for any murderous General to try to become caliph of the Muslims. It was later discovered that Yazid had not been murdered as people had thought. He was killed when riding a horse and playing with his special breed of monkeys. His men said that he fell of his horse and hit his head on a rock. But legends say that his monkeys turned on him and killed him after he ordered an attack on the Prophet's mosque in Medina! Legends say this was just like the doves who defeated Abraha's army in the year the Prophet was born.

5.2 SYEDA ZAINAB

The grand daughter of the Prophet was the sister of Imam Hussain. She was with Imam Hussain in Karbala and she knew exactly what had happened. Years later when Yazid's historians tried to twist things her account challenged them and gave the true account of what exactly had happened. She was called Syeda Zainab. Her role was essential to expose Yazid's true colours. Her story is a witness to how the women in the Prophet's family were able to resist tyranny, tell the truth in the face of evil and how their role was crucial to save the Muslim nation. Today, her grave in Damascus is visited by millions of Muslims. Damascus is the city which was ruled by Yazid and yet today it is the city where Yazid is cursed and Syeda Zainab revered. The way Allah destroy's tyranny and allows the truth to win is one of the proofs of Allah and Syeda Zainab is one woman who is a proof that Allah's justice will always be there provided you try your best to stand for truth like she did!

5.3 A NEW AGE COMES

When news came that Yazid was dead the Shias saw their chance and rose armies to take over and make the son of Imam Hussain called Imam Zainul Abidin the new Caliph. But Imam Zain refused to become caliph even though he demanded that justice be done. The Umayads chose a new leader and kept hold of power. In these days thousands of Shia were rounded up and murdered. The son of Imam Zain called Zaid also raised an army and fought against the Umayads. But he was killed in a battle. These were terrible times as there was oppression and rebellion everywhere. But then like a miracle things began to change. A man called Umar Abdul Aziz became the Amir. He was an Umayad but he agreed with Imam Zain and sought justice for all. He openly condemned his family members for going against Islam and he began to change things.

Umar Abdul Aziz had two great tasks in front of him on order to bring peace and justice to the Muslims. Firstly he had to bring the different groups together and make peace with them. He did this and tried his best to compensate those who had been wronged by his forefathers. Secondly he had to educate the new generation of Muslims who had grown up in the atmosphere of war and suspicions. He therefore promised safety and freedom to the scholars of Islam. The scholars had sought this in order to bring the back the Age of Enlightenment to the Muslims. He greatly respected Imam Zainul Abidin and the other Imams for their knowledge and gave them the freedom to spread the teachings of Islam to the Muslims.

He also revived the idea of fairly distributing Zakat to the poor. He stopped using the treasury for building palaces for him and his friends. He stopped people from bowing to him. His character and work was such that Muslims historians praise him and many regard him as the fifth Caliph of Islam.

5.4 THE BLACK FLAGS

Sadly Umar Abdul Aziz did not live for long. On his death the Muslims once again began to struggle for power. The Umayads fought between themselves while a new army carrying black flags rose up in Iran. This army was that of the Abbasides. The leaders of this army were the descendants of Uncle Abbas who was one of the uncles of the Prophet Muhammad. The Abbasides believed that as they were related to the Prophet's uncle they should be the new leaders and not the Umayads.

The Shias joined forces with the Abbasides in the hope that their Imams would be guaranteed safety by the Abbasides. But once the Abbasides took over and chased off the Umayads in to North Africa they began to persecute the Shias. Once again the Shias fell under the swords of the leaders and thousands died. In one story it is related that Shia women were gathered naked in dungeons such that they were even forced to pray naked.

But the Shias were unrelenting. One of the Shia leaders by the name of Ismail came forward and began a movement that led to a creation of a new empire in Egypt. This empire was called the Fatimid empire and was named after the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. With their coming the Muslim world now had three empires: The Umayads who had run away and conquered North Africa and Spain, Abbasides in Arabia and Iran and the Shia Fatimids in Egypt and Palestine.

TASK TO DO

1. Write down the names of all the people in the above passage and write what they did

2. What did Imam Zain want and what did he not want?

3. Who were the Abbasides and why did the Shias join them?

4. Draw a time chart of 5 events that take place from the time Imam Hussain is murdered till the time the Abbasides came.

5. Draw a map of the Muslim nation at that time and show which areas were ruled by which empires

6. The Hajj to Makkah would have brought Muslims from different empires together. How do you think this was helpful to the Imams who were trying to guide the Muslims to achieve justice and not division.