Covertly...

Covertly, he was trying to escalate the rioting, so that it may result in the killing of ‘Uthman, thus enabling him to use this murder to his own advantage. This is another problem which I cannot discuss any further.

‘Ali’s opponents differed from the Prophet’s opponents in that the Prophet’s opponents were mainly groups of non-believers and idol-worshippers who rejected Allah’s existence openly, and who fought the Prophet under the motto, “Long Live Hubal”11 The Prophet ( s ) also had an explicit motto, “Allah is the greatest of all.” However, ‘Ali was facing an intelligent, non-religious group, who, although pretending to follow Islam, were not true Muslims.

Their slogans were Islamic but their aims were against Islam. Mu‘awiyah’s father, Abu Sufyan , had fought the Prophet ( s ) under the slogan of “Long Live Hubal”, therefore making the Prophet’s task of fighting him much easier.

His son, however, Mu‘awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, who has the same soul and shares the same goals as his forefathers, fought against ‘Ali using the following verse from the Qur’an as his slogan, “And whosoever is killed unjustly (wrongfully), we have indeed given his next of kin [his heir] an authority.” 12 The slogan is a good one. However, is there anyone who can ask Mu‘awiyah who ‘Uthman’s legal guardian is, who can ask for ‘Uthman’s blood?

Of what business is it to you to ask for ‘Uthman’s blood when you are a very distant relative? ‘Uthman has a son and other closer relatives and what’s more, what did ‘Uthman’s death do with ‘Ali? Nevertheless, a man as manipulative as Mu‘awiyah does not care about these questions; he only wants to use this to his advantage. Mu‘awiyah had ordered his spies beforehand to send ‘Uthman’s blood-spattered shirt to him in Syria as soon as ‘Uthman was killed.

Therefore, as soon as ‘Uthman was assassinated, without even waiting for the blood to dry, they sent the blood-spattered shirt, together with ‘Uthman’s wife’s13 fingers, to Mu‘awiyah. He got very excited then and ordered for ‘Uthman’s wife’s fingers to be hung from his podium. Then, he said “O people!! The world is surrounded by oppression, Islam is lost!

These are the fingers of the Caliph’s wife!” Then, he ordered for ‘Uthman’s shirt to be hung on a stick and taken to a mosque or somewhere else. He went there himself and started crying for the innocent Caliph. For a while he read sermons about ‘Uthman and prepared the people to avenge ‘Uthman’s blood; whom do we seek vengeance from?