The Shi‘ah during the Period of the Umayyad Caliphate The...

The Shi‘ah during the Period of the Umayyad Caliphate The period of the Umayyad caliphate was the most difficult time for the Shi‘ah, starting from 40 AH up to 132 AH. All the Umayyad caliphs with the exception of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz were sworn enemies of the Shi‘ah. Of course, after caliph Hisham the Umayyads were preoccupied with the campaign against internal revolts and the ‘Abbasid movement and the past harsh treatments of Shi‘ah were lessened.

The Umayyad caliphs were living in Sham, the capital of the Umayyad rule, and in most cases, the rulers adopted the policy of bloodshed with respect to the Shi‘ah-populated territories, exerted pressure on the Shi‘ah. Among all the enemies, it was the Umayyad rulers who focused most on the Shi‘ah relentlessly annoying and disturbing them, with ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad and Hajjaj ibn Yusuf being most notorious among them.

Ibn Abi’l-Hadid, the well-known scholar in the Sunni world, thus writes: The Shi‘ah were being killed wherever they were. The Umayyads used to mutilate the hands and feet of individuals for being suspected as Shi‘ah. Anyone who was noted for his love and attachment to the family of the Prophet would either be imprisoned, his possessions be plundered, or his house be demolished.

The pressure and restrictions imposed upon the Shi‘ah reached a point where the charge of friendship with ‘Ali ( ‘a ) was considered as worse than the accusation of disbelief { kufr } and infidelity, entailing severer punishments. In adopting this violent policy, living conditions for the people of Kufah was the worst because Kufah was the Shi‘ah capital of the time. Mu‘awiyah designated…