Objection 5: If
Among the most important doubts, which Wahabis propagate to
instigate the feelings of people with an aim to deny attack on the house of
revelation is that if such an attack ever took place, why Amirul Momineen (a)
did not defend his wife? Was he not the victorious lion of Allah and the most
valiant person of his time? Ali, who was the victorious lion of Allah and who
possessed the enemy-routing sword and a hand with which he raised the gate of Fort
Khyber, how even after having so much strength he saw his spouse being beaten
up in his presence, but did not display any reaction? And…
Throughout history, Shia scholars have given various replies to
this objection, which we shall briefly state in few points as follows:
Amirul Momineen (a), in the first stage and when his house took
the shape of confrontation, displayed severe reaction and confronted the
attackers, including Umar. He seized his collar, threw him down and fisted his
neck and face; but since the Imam was commanded patience, he refrained from
continuing the dispute and according to the command of the Messenger of Allah (s),
he observed patience.
Amirul Momineen (a) in fact, wanted Umar and his other companions
to understand that if he had not been ordered to observe patience and if the
order of the Almighty Allah had been to the contrary, no one would have dared
to attack the house of Fatima (s) and give way to their imagination; but the Imam,
like always, was obedient to the command of the Almighty Allah.
Sulaym bin Qays Hilali, a sincere companion of Amirul Momineen (a),
has written regarding this:
Umar asked for fire and ignited it at the door of the house and
the door broke. He opened it and entered. Lady Zahra (s) came to him and
screamed: O father, O Messenger of Allah (s)! Umar raised the sword while it
was in its cover and hit at the side of Fatima .
Fatima called out again: O father! Umar raised
the whip and hit at the side of Fatima . She
called out again: O Messenger of Allah (s)! See how Abu Bakr and Umar are
behaving with your survivors! Ali (a) stood up all of a sudden and seized the
collar of Umar and pulled him down so hard that he fell down. Then he fisted
him at his nose and neck and wanted to eliminate him, but he remembered the
statement of the Prophet and the bequest he had made to him and he stood up and
said: O son of Sahhak, by the one who sent Muhammad as a Prophet, if divine
will and covenant of the Prophet had not been there on my neck, you would have
known that you would not have been able to enter my house.[1]
In the same way, Alusi, the well known Wahabi commentator,
quoting Shia sources has narrated this report:
Umar became infuriated and burnt down the door of the house of
Ali (a) and entered the house. Fatima (s) came
to Umar and screamed: O my father, O Messenger of Allah (s)! Umar raised the
sword while it was in its cover and hit at the side of Fatima .
Then Umar raised the whip and hit at the side of Fatima .
Fatima called out again: O father! Seeing
this, Ali (a) suddenly arose and seized Umar’s collar, jerked it hard and threw
him down and hit at his nose and neck.[2]
Throughout his life, Amirul Momineen (a) was obedient to the
commands of the Almighty Allah and only divine orders made him react; and
prejudice, anger and selfish motives never made him act in response.
His Eminence was commanded by the Almighty Allah and the Holy
Prophet (s) to observe patience and forbearance before great calamities and it
was according to this command that he was not supposed to take up arms.
The Late Raziuddin Musawi in his book, Khasaisul Aaimma has
written:
Imam Kazim (a) says that he asked his father, Imam Sadiq (a): What
happened after the Messenger of Allah (s) swooned? My father replied: Ladies
entered and started wailing. Muhajireen and Ansar gathered and expressed sorrow
and grief. Ali (a) said: Suddenly they called me; I entered and threw myself on
the body of the Messenger of Allah (s). He said: My brother, these people would
abandon me and become engrossed in their worldly activities, but all this should
not prevent you from attending to me. Your simile in my Ummah is like the
simile of Kaaba that the Almighty Allah has made it a sign so that they may
come to it from far off places…when I am no more and when you have concluded
what I have willed you to do and you have placed my body in my grave, sit at
home and compile the Quran as I have ordered, on the basis of obligatory acts,
laws and sequence of revelation. I advise you to observe patience in what
befalls you and Fatima at the hands of these people. Make patience your habit
till you meet me.[3]
Yes, at one time the command of the Almighty Allah was that
enemies should not get sleep due to the fear of his Zulfiqar and at another
time the command was that this same Zulfiqar should remain in its case so that
the foundations of Islam remain safe and the enemies of Islam should despair of
destroying it.
On a number of occasions, Amirul Momineen (a) has considered lack
of sufficient power as one of the reasons for his not having staged an
uprising. The Imam has clarified in the third sermon of Nahjul Balagha:
Then I began to think whether I should assault or endure calmly
the blinding darkness of tribulations wherein the grown up are made feeble and
the young grow old and the true believer acts under strain till he meets Allah
(on his death). I found that endurance
thereon was wiser. So I adopted patience, although there was pricking in
the eye and suffocation (of mortification) in the throat. I watched the
plundering of my inheritance…[4]
Imam (a) says in sermon 217:
I looked around, but found no one to shield me, protect me or
help me, except the members of my family. I refrained from flinging them into
death and therefore, closed my eyes despite the dust, kept swallowing saliva
despite (the suffocation of) grief and endured pangs of anger, although it was
more bitter than colocynth and more grievous than the bite of knives.[5]
On another occasion the Imam pointed to thirty sheep that were
grazing and said:
By Allah, if I had as many supporters, I would have definitely
staged an uprising.[6]
Or another occasion, it is mentioned that when 360 persons
pledged allegiance to the Imam, he said: Meet me tomorrow at such and such
place with your heads shaved, but except for five: Abu Zar, Huzaifah, Miqdad,
Ammar and Salman, no one appeared.[7]
Perhaps some might judge this wrongly and say: Amirul Momineen (a),
who was the conqueror of the Battle of Badr, Uhad, Khyber, Hunain and Khandaq
etc. Why he did not stage an uprising all alone? Why did he not display his
feats again?
We reply: There is no basis to say that Amirul Momineen (a)
should act in contravention of practice of the Holy Prophet (s) and the divine
prophets. It is mentioned in a report that Amirul Momineen (a) said:
The Prophet advised me that if I don’t get supporters, I should restrain
myself and secure my blood and that of my family members and followers.[8]
Among the reasonings based on statements and explanations of the
Imam (a) it was to avoid division in the ranks of Muslims and destruction of
Islam. In some reports of Amirul Momineen (a), it is mentioned that:
By Allah, if I had not feared divisions in the ranks of Muslims,
their reverting to infidelity and destruction of religion, I would have
definitely confronted my opponent in a way they had never seen.[9]
The same point is mentioned by Ibne Abde Barr, a prominent Ahle
Sunnat scholar in his book of Istiab under the biography of Rufaa bin
Rafe, quoting from Amirul Momineen (a).[10]
Security of women and children are among the natural and common
matters in all human beings; but it is clear that if one comes to know that the
aim of the enemy in confronting his ladies is only to instigate him to react so
that his most important aim is fulfilled, he would keep himself under control
and never do anything, which will allow the enemy to achieve his aim.
The aim of the attackers on the house of revelation was that
Amirul Momineen (a) should be provoked to react and through this they may prove
that a person like him is prepared to use the sword to remove a large number of
people for getting worldly rulership.
And also if Amirul Momineen (a) had reacted and had been defeated
by them, it was possible that Lady Fatima Zahra (s) and the sons would have
been killed in this confrontation and the progeny of Imamate would have been
cut off. Then enemies would have publicized that Ali (a) sacrificed his wife
and children in pursuit of worldly rule and it was in fact the reason of their
killing; as they said regarding Ammar Yasir, the loyal companion of Amirul
Momineen (a).
Circumstances dictated that Amirul Momineen (a) should either defend
the foundation of Islam and give up his right or that a small group should
attack him and he should repel them by sword and in exchange the enemies of
Islam and hypocrites may take advantage of the opportunity to destroy the
foundation of Islam, but through this sacrifice, Imam Ali (a) secured the
religion of Islam forever and rendered the enemies of Islam hopeless.
Imam Ali (a) has said in the third sermon of Nahjul Balagha:
Then I began to think whether I should assault or endure calmly
the blinding darkness of tribulations wherein the grown up are made feeble and
the young grow old and the true believer acts under strain till he meets Allah
(on his death). I found that endurance
thereon was wiser. So I adopted patience, although there was pricking in
the eye and suffocation (of mortification) in the throat. I watched the
plundering of my inheritance…[11]
CONTINUED IN PART 2......
[1] Kitab
Sulaym bin Qays Hilali, Pg. 568, Sulaym bin Qays Hilali (d. 80 A.H.),
Intisharat Hadi - Qom ,
First edition, 1405 A.H.
[2] Ruhul
Maani fee Tafsirul Quranil Azeem wa Saba Mathani, Vol. 3, Pg. 124, Allamah
Abul Fadhl Shahabuddin Sayyid Mahmud Alusi Baghdadi (d. 1270 A.H.), Darul Ahya
Turath Arabi, Beirut .
[3] Khasaisul
Aaimma (a), Pg. 73, Abul Hasan Muhammad bin Husain bin Musa Musawi
Baghdadi, Sharif Razi (d. 406 A.H.), Edited and compiled by Dr. Muhammad Hadi
Amini, Majmaul Bahuth Islamiya Astana Rizvia Muqaddisa, Mashad – Iran, 1406
A.H.
Biharul Anwar, Vol.
22, Pg. 484, Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (d. 1111 A.H.), Edited: Muhammad Baqir
Bahbudi, Mausasul Wafa – Beirut – Lebanon, Second corrected edition, 1403 –
1983 A.D.
[4] Nahjul
Balagha, Sermons of Imam Ali (a), Sermon 3, Vol. 1, Pg. 31
[5] Nahjul
Balagha, Sermons of Imam Ali (a), Sermon 217, Vol. 1, Pg. 31
[6]
The narrator says: The Imam came out of the Masjid and came to a walled
compound in which there were thirty sheep. He said: By Allah, if I had as many
supporters, who had been well wishers for Allah and His Messenger, I would have
indeed removed the son of the fly snapper from his throne.
Al-Kafi, Shaykh
Kulaini, Vol. 8, Pg. 32
[7] At
dusk 360 persons pledged allegiance of death to Amirul Momineen (a) (that they
would support him till the end of their lives) Imam (a) said to them: Come
besides Ahjaar Zayt (a place on the outskirts of Medina ) tomorrow morning (and mentioned
shaving of the heads as a sign of loyalty). Amirul Momineen (a) himself got
himself tonsured, but the following day, except for Abu Zar, Miqdad, Huzaifah
bin Yaman, Ammar bin Yasir and Salman, no one appeared. Ali (a) raised his
hands to the sky and said: O Allah, these people have humiliated me as Bani
Israel insulted Harun…
Al-Kafi, Shaykh
Kulaini, Vol. 8, Pg. 33
[8] Mustadrakul
Wasail, Mirza Noori, Vol. 11, Pg. 75 – Misbahul Balagha (Mustadrak
Nahjul Balagha), Mir Jahani, Vol. 3, Pg. 6 – Kitab Sulaym bin Qays,
Edited: Muhammad Baqir Ansari, Pg, 304 – Al-Mohtazar, Hasan bin Sulaiman
Hilli, Pg. 111- Hilyatul Abrar, Sayyid Hashim Bahraini, Vol. 2, Pg. 64 –
Jami Ahadithus Shia, Sayyid Burujardi, Vol. 13, Pg. 41 – Al-Ghaibat,
Shaykh Tusi, Pg. 193 – Al-Ihtijaj, Shaykh Tabarsi, Vol. 1, Pg. 280.
[9] Sharh
Nahjul Balagha, Vol. 1, Pg. 184, Abu Hamid Izuddin bin Hibatullah bin
Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Abil Hadid Madaini (d. 655 A.H.), Darul Kutubul
Ilmiya, Beirut / Lebanon 1418 A.H. – 1998 A.D. First edition, Edited: Muhammad
Abdul Karim Namri.
[10] Al-Istiab
fee Marifatul Ashab, Vol. 2, Pg. 497, Yusuf bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin
Abde Barr (d. 463), Darul Jeel, Beirut ,
1412, First edition, Edited: Ali Muhammad Bajawi.
[11] Nahjul
Balagha, Sermons of Imam Ali (a), Sermon 3, Vol. 1, Pg. 31