ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Hidden Truth about Karbala Chapter 13: The Muslim Empire Mu’awiya’s extremely cunning nature was augmented by the advice and support of Marwan and Amr bin al-Aas. Besides his cruel nature, Mu’awiya was extremely cunning.

When his attempts to search for defects in Imam Ali (a.s.) failed, he commenced the practice of praising the Banu Umayya the inveterate enemies of Imam Ali (a.s.), by inventing and propagating false traditions attributed to the Prophet (S). Mu’awiya bribed his henchmen and arranged for the propagation of daily calumnies and falsehoods against Imam Ali (a.s.) from on the pulpits after every prayer in every mosque of Syria, Egypt, and Iraq.

Any leader of the congregational prayers, who was not amenable to his bribes or threats, was ruthlessly removed or killed, and in the vacancy, Mu’awiya’s cronies were appointed.

The propaganda was so fierce and systematic that soon people started comparing Mu’awiya with Imam Ali (a.s.).[^1] The propaganda was so vicious that when the news of Imam Ali’s martyrdom during offering the prayer in the mosque of Kufa reached the people of Syria, they wondered how Ali could have been killed in the mosque when he never attended any prayer.

Mu’awiya retained the control of Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, which he got in the early days of the Caliphate and appointed his kin and sycophants as his trusted advisors and representatives in various provinces. Except for an opportunistic and hypocritical conversion, neither Mu’awiya nor his father Abu Sufyan or his son Yazid had any regard or affinity for Islam. Abu Sufyan was from the Kuffar (disbelievers) of Mecca and he remained so.

The Qur’an reveals that the Kuffar of Mecca asserted that there would be no other life than the one in this world; that there would be no life hereafter, and none would be resurrected or held accountable for his deeds.[^2] This philosophy was imbibed in the Banu Umayya in general and Abu Sufyan, Mu’awiya, and Yazid in particular, and was the cause of their cruel nature. They always held the view that there would be no life hereafter and no accounting for one’s deeds.

They proclaimed that the Prophet (S) had invented these as myths in order to gain worldly power. It is their greed that converted Islam into a Muslim Empire by expanding territories and accumulating huge amount of illicit wealth, and in the process abandoning the spirit of Islam.