Bits of History

Allahs Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) did not assign any significant government position to anyone from Bani Hashim, with the exception of Ali ibn Abi Talib (radi Allahu anhu). After the Prophet, Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) refused, as a matter of principle, to have anyone from his family, extended family or any relative of his gain a position in the Islamic state. After him, Umar (radi Allahu anhu) refused to have anyone from his family, relatives or from his extended family assume responsibilities or office in the Islamic state. This was a pattern until… Uthman (radi Allahu anhu), at that time, the ruler in Al-Kufa, was Saad ibn Abi Waqqas (radi Allahu anhu)- a figure of stature in the 1st generation of Committed Muslims around Allahs Prophet. Uthman relieved Saad ibn Abi Waqqas of his governorship of Al-Kufa and he placed in his stead Al-Waleed ibn Uqbah ibn Abi Mueet. This is Uthmans half brother. Then, there is Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari who is the governor of Al-Basrah at that time. Uthman appoints Abdullah ibn Aamir. Abdullah ibn Aamir is Uthmans uncles maternal son. Then, he turns to the ruler in Egypt, who was Amr ibn Al-Aas, and places instead of him Abdullah ibn Saad ibn Abi Surah, who is also his half brother or a brother who shared his mother at the time when they were breast fed. During the time of Umar, Muawiya was just a governor over Damascus. The area of Shaam, which is Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon during the time of Umar had four administrators or governors. During the time of Uthman, all of these four administrative areas were combined and given to Muawiya. So now, Muawiya was in charge not only of Damascus, but of Hims, the area all the way north to the Byzantine borders, and then, in the south it was Jordan and Palestine and Lebanon. Then, to add what may have been considered the most abrasive act of all, ibn Al-Hakm, who is the cousin of Uthman, was given by Uthman a position which is similar to a secretary-general in todays political administrations. Marwan ibn Al-Hakm becomes the secretary general of the Islamic state. Number one- these are all the relatives or family of Uthman and number two, all of these were Tulaqa'. These were the people of Makkah who opposed and fought against Allahs Prophet and Al-Muhajirin and Al-Ansaar until the last year and the Prophet amnestied them.
Al-Waleed ibn Uqbah ibn Abi Mueet became a Muslim in the last year of the Prophets life, then, before the Prophet passes on, he gives him a simple responsibility. This should have been a lesson for anyone who came thereafter. He told Al-Waleed to "go and obtain the zakaah of Bani Al-Mustaliq". Al-Waleed leaves Al-Medinah, he goes for a few days and then he comes back and he tells Allahs Prophet that "the people you sent me to collect zakaah from were going to kill me so I had to run away". At this point, the Muslims and the Islamic state went on alert, expecting hostilities from Bani Al-Mustaliq. Then, the news that came to the people of Banu Al-Mustaliq indicated that Al-Medinah, the Prophet and the Islamic state is potentially beginning offensive military actions against Bani Al-Mustaliq. So, they sent emissaries to the Prophet who explained to the Prophet that "we were expecting you to send anyone at anytime to us and collect the zakaah, but no-one came". So, Al-Waleed had fabricated an incident that could have potentially ended in a war between Al-Medinah and Bani Al-Mustaliq. When he became the governor of Al-Kufa, he led the prayers of Al-Fajr and he prayed four rak'aat. Any simple Muslim knows that Al-Fajr is two rak'aat- he prays four rak'aat and after he finishes, he turns around to the Muslims that he is leading and he says "do you want me to add more to it?!" Then, he was caught in the act of imbibing intoxicants Finally, when Uthman was convinced that this person was in violation of his personal Islamic standards of conduct and in violation of the political code of Islamic conduct, Uthman tells Ali "to execute the punishment on Al-Waleed" which in the Islamic legal code is 40 lashes. Because of the sensitivity of the issue that goes back to when Uthman was selected in preference to Ali, Ali gave that responsibility to another person. As a reminder, it was in Al-Waleed who fabricated the incident of Bani Mustaliq that the ayah O you who are divinely secure in your commitment to Allah, if a Faasiq, a degenerate comes to you with some information, verify it, lest you slander other people and that becomes a cause for regret for you (Surah Al-Hujurat verse 6) was revealed.
Marwan ibn Al-Hakm is the son of Al-Hakm ibn Abi Al-Aas. He came to Al-Medinah along with the family moved from Makkah to Al-Medinah. In Al-Medinah, Al-Hakm began to relate inside information- the Prophet would discuss some of the sensitive issues of Islamic society and state among his confidants and somehow word would get out to Al-Hakm who would divulge what is considered to be something like state secrets to the Mushriks of Arabia. Besides, he had a personal flaw in him. He would imitate or make fun of the Prophets character, but it wasn't for the latter that the Prophet told him "you have to leave Al-Medinah", it was because of the former- because of him passing on sensitive information to the enemies of Allah and His Prophet, so he told him "you go to At-Taif and you stay in At-Taif." He went. No-one can disobey the Prophet, so he and his family went to At-Taif. At that time, his son, Marwan, was probably about eight years old or so. The Prophet passes on and then Abu Bakr is in charge of Islamic affairs and Al-Hakm approaches Aba Bakr by people that he knows and he seeks an amnesty. He wants to return to Al-Medinah and doesn't want to stay in At-Taif. Abu Bakr says "I refuse. The Prophet placed you there, you stay there." Then, Abu Bakr passes on and Umar is in charge and again he is approached by Al-Hakm or those who represent him and they say "Al-Hakm and his family want to move out of At-Taif and they want to come back to Al-Medinah." Umar says "No! If that’s where the Prophet puts him, that's where he belongs." But now, when Umar passes away and Uthman becomes the leader of the Muslims, he says to Al-Hakm, remember, this is his cousin- "you may come to Al-Medinah." - and he comes. When the Muslims go to Uthman, knowing this history, and ask him "What are you doing? The Prophet placed him there and Abu Bakr and Umar kept him there, why are you bringing him back?" Uthman said "I had approached Allahs Prophet concerning Al-Hakm during the Prophets life-time and he had promised me that eventually he would come from At-Taif to Al-Medinah, so I took that to mean that I have the permission to bring him from At-Taif to Al-Medinah." So he comes- and he doesn't come just as an average citizen, (so to speak), he comes and he is placed in the highest office of the Muslims, to such a degree that many Muslims were under the impression that the true ruler of the Muslims is not Uthman but it is Marwan ibn Al-Hakm.
When the Prophet of Allah returned to Makkah, he said "there are a few individuals, who even if they were to hide behind the curtains of the Ka'ba, their blood is Halaal." One of them was the person who Uthman appointed as the governor of Egypt- and it was Uthman himself who intervened with Allahs Prophet to spare Abdullah ibn Saad ibn Abi Surahs life. When opportunists came to Ali after Al-Jamal, Marwan ibn Al-Hakm is the one who killed Talha (radi Allahu anhu)One of them brought the sword of Az-Zubair to Ali and said to him something to the effect of "This is the sword of your enemy and a sword that may belong to you more than him." He refused to take it and said "Do you know how many lives this sword of Az-Zubair had killed to defend Allahs Prophet?" He wasn't caught up in this petty, superficial, emotionalism that some of us are in.

milestones

purification