Mu'awiyah: the Great Heir of Saqifah
Author: Hamed Sarem
Introduction
Some events in Islamic history did not merely cast a shadow over the past; the roots of many present intellectual disturbances and divisions also lie in those earliest events. When Saqifah Bani Sa'idah, through a hasty pledge of allegiance, changed the future course of Islam, it founded a current whose fruit appeared in the age of Mu'awiyah. Mu'awiyah was not merely a political ruler; he was the greatest heir of Saqifah, the one who revived the policies of exclusion, distortion, and division, founded the Umayyad current, and kept it alive in the body of the Islamic community for centuries.
Although this current was sometimes weakened, it was never uprooted. Many of today's doctrinal deviations and disputes are the product of innovations laid down by earlier figures; the very figures who are remembered today with reverence and sanctity, while in reality they strove with all their power to invert truth and push the Ahl al-Bayt to the margins.
If we wish to move beyond the present condition and return to a single community, there is no path except rereading the roots of the dispute. We must recognize the treacherous figures who, by establishing Saqifah, planted falsehood in place of truth and hatred in place of love for the Ahl al-Bayt. Without identifying and exposing them, removing division will remain a distant dream.
Mu'awiyah: the Great Deceiver of Islamic History
If we read Islamic history carefully, we find few figures like Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan who diverted the path of religion to such an extent through cunning, deception, distortion, and hypocrisy. Mu'awiyah was not only a political ruler; he was a ruthless expert in distorting truth and creating innovations, a deceiver who, with a cold smile and a soft tongue, set fire to the fabric of the Islamic community and produced a way of thinking among Muslims whose dark effects continued for centuries.
The first bitter fruit of these deceptions was the heartbreaking martyrdom of the grandson of the Messenger of God, Imam al-Husayn, peace be upon him, in Karbala; he was killed thirsty while his killers prayed, recited the Qur'an, and considered themselves religious. This tragedy was not the result of an individual mistake; it was the result of systematic intellectual engineering, a deception that Mu'awiyah planted in the community so that truth and falsehood would exchange places.
Those who took their religion not from the Qur'an and the Sunnah but from Mu'awiyah, and who followed the Uthmani school, effectively became machines of crime; crimes that made not only human conscience, but the heavens and the angels, weep. This distorted school was the direct result of policies designed for the survival and domination of the Umayyads, not for the guidance of the community.
Through careful and deliberate planning, Mu'awiyah institutionalized innovations in religion that had an Islamic appearance but whose inward reality was polluted by worldliness, hatred of the Ahl al-Bayt, and contempt for the truth of religion. The aim of this dark project was for the name of Islam to remain while its spirit, justice, truthfulness, and Imamate disappeared.
Thus Mu'awiyah is not merely a politician; he is the engineer of deviation in Islamic history, the one who distorted religion for power and replaced Muhammadan Islam with Umayyad Islam.
Mu'awiyah: a Wolf in the Garb of Islam
In reality, Mu'awiyah was a wolf wearing the skin of Islam: a cunning figure who chose religion only as a tool to conceal his sharp teeth and blood-stained claws. Islam was not, for him, a path toward guidance; it was a mask for deceiving people and consolidating power. What he needed was the name of Islam, not its truth.
But Mu'awiyah knew well that in an Islam led by Amir al-Mu'minin Ali, peace be upon him, in an Islam where the measure of truth and falsehood is love and hatred toward Ali, there would be no place for his hypocrisy and deception. In such an Islam, the face of hypocrisy is exposed, and the place of the believer and the hypocrite is clearly separated through the path of Ali's wilayah.
For this reason, the greatest goal of all Mu'awiyah's policies and seditions was nothing other than removing Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and his pure Ahl al-Bayt from the vocabulary of Islam. He sought an Islam in which Ali would not be present, or if present, would appear with a distorted and marginalized image, not as wali Allah, khalifat Allah, and the gate of the knowledge of the Prophet of Allah.
It was on this path that he institutionalized the public cursing of Amir al-Mu'minin, peace be upon him, as a governmental policy of the Umayyads throughout the Islamic lands; an unprecedented outrage in which the one whose existence God made the criterion of faith was called an apostate from official pulpits.
Under the slogan of avenging Uthman's blood, Mu'awiyah launched the Battle of Siffin and kindled a fire of sedition that occupied the Islamic community for centuries. Even after the outward peace treaty with Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba, peace be upon him, he not only failed to keep his covenant, but intensified the organized killing and suppression of the Shi'ah of Ali, peace be upon him, and pursued the policy of 'uprooting wilayah' through hypocrisy, wealth, and force.
Mu'awiyah's Success in Creating the Uthmani Sect
Mu'awiyah's policies became so deeply rooted that a political-religious sect known as 'Uthmani' emerged from his schemes: a group that not only denied the truth of wilayah, but did not even recognize the outward caliphate of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali, peace be upon him. They refused to accept the title 'fourth caliph' for the most oppressed human being in history, because Ali's very existence stood in the way of legitimizing the great lie of the Umayyads.
The first fruit of this deviant thought was the catastrophe that took place in Karbala: the killing of Imam al-Husayn, peace be upon him, and his loyal companions by the followers of the very thought that Mu'awiyah founded. Uthmani-minded people were Mu'awiyah's intellectual products, those who, under the influence of denying wilayah, took up the sword and cast the proof of God to the ground while he was thirsty.
But Mu'awiyah's role did not stop at Karbala. His destructive influence continues to this day. His trace can be seen clearly in non-Shi'i scholarly, juristic, and theological circles, where justifying the caliphate of usurpers, sanctifying deceptive figures, and censoring the status of the Ahl al-Bayt continue as an unconscious Umayyad legacy.
Mu'awiyah was not merely a clever king; he was the founder of a deep intellectual deviation, a deviation that grew under the name of Islam and still continues today in the fabric of Uthmani thought.
Mu'awiyah's Influence in Scholarly Circles
Even today, after centuries, one can clearly see the heavy shadow of Mu'awiyah's policies over many non-Shi'i scholarly circles and authoritative intellectual sources. The most important books of the opponents, and many of the major figures of Sunni schools of thought, were clearly written under the direct influence of the Umayyad line and Mu'awiyah's thought; not only in political positions, but also in definitions, religious concepts, interpretive approaches, and even epistemic structures.
One of Mu'awiyah's most prominent legacies was the construction of a new name and title: 'Ahl al-Sunnah.' This title, which today is used with pride among followers of Sunni Islam, has in its origin a fully Umayyad root. In a period when the Umayyads were trying to give religious color to their political domination, the title 'Ahl al-Sunnah' was coined to distinguish them from the followers of Ali, peace be upon him; a sunnah that was not the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, but a sunnah manufactured by power.
Regrettably, this naming has today become the basis of a widespread fallacy, because many Sunnis assume that the term means the people of the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, and that whoever is outside this circle must necessarily be among the 'people of innovation.' But the historical and analytical truth is that this term was originally formed upon fabricated Umayyad traditions, especially the tradition of hatred and disavowal of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali, peace be upon him.
Without doubt, Mu'awiyah, in his pursuit of domination, strove with all his power not only to remove Ali, peace be upon him, from power, but also to distort his luminous and divine face in public perception. He wanted love of Ali to be erased from hearts and hatred to take the place of the light of wilayah. The tradition he founded was one in which the name of Ali, peace be upon him, had to be forgotten, or if mentioned, accompanied by cursing and abuse.
The effect of this policy continued not only in the political atmosphere of that time, but also in the fields of knowledge, exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence, and theology until today, and it still breathes beneath many layers of non-Shi'i scholarly works.
The People's Objection to a Caliph Who Did Not Curse Ali
As stated earlier, the Umayyads made an extensive effort to introduce the abuse and cursing of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali, peace be upon him, as an official religious tradition; an ominous tradition whispered into people's ears from childhood and remaining with them until old age. This innovation had its roots in Mu'awiyah's policies, but over time it became so mixed with the appearance of religion that distinguishing truth from falsehood became impossible for many.
This accursed practice went so far that years after Mu'awiyah's death, when one of the Umayyad caliphs refrained from cursing Ali, peace be upon him, from the pulpit, the people objected to him. They attacked him with the cry, 'al-sunnah, al-sunnah,' and reproached him for abandoning the 'Sunnah.' This cry was a cry against one who had not dared to open his mouth in abuse of the friend of God, and it is a sign of the depth of the catastrophe Mu'awiyah planted in the community.
But here one must ask: which sunnah were the people concerned about? The Sunnah of the Prophet, or the sunnah of Mu'awiyah? When objection is made to abandoning the cursing of Ali, peace be upon him, it is clear that the cry 'al-sunnah, al-sunnah' was not for the Prophetic Sunnah, but for the Umayyad sunnah. Of course, some of those shouting may have been in compound ignorance and imagined that this cursing was part of the Prophet's Sunnah; but in either case the truth does not change:
- If they knowingly defended Mu'awiyah's sunnah, then they knowingly and deliberately accepted the distortion of religion.
- If they shouted unknowingly, they still, in practice, substituted Mu'awiyah's distorted sunnah for the Sunnah of the Prophet.
This bitter reality shows that the term 'Ahl al-Sunnah' too is, in its origin, influenced by Mu'awiyah's religious policy-making. For this reason, one must note that in certain cases, when 'Ahl al-Sunnah' is mentioned, the intended meaning is the heirs of that same Umayyad line of thought: a line that defined the criterion of truth and falsehood not on the basis of faith in the Ahl al-Bayt, but on hatred and hostility toward them.
A clear example of this line of thought can be seen among the authorities of jarh and ta'dil in the opponents' biographical sources, where love of Ali, peace be upon him, leads to weakening a narrator, while being hostile to him becomes a point of honor and reliability. In such an atmosphere, it is not difficult to understand how Mu'awiyah's policy continued generation after generation in the form of knowledge, hadith, and sunnah, and how the poison of Umayyad hatred still flows in the veins of some ideas.
Only the Uthmanis Are Considered Reliable
According to their authorities of jarh and ta'dil in the science of hadith, no one is considered a strict follower of the Sunnah unless it has been established for them that he is Uthmani in doctrine; that is, he is known for hatred of Ali, peace be upon him, cursing him, disavowing him, and accusing him of killing Uthman (1).
Hostility Toward Ali: the Criterion of Reliability in Umayyad Sunnah-Making
To understand more deeply the extent of Umayyad influence in the scholarly atmosphere of Sunnism, it is enough to look at the words of some of their greatest rijal scholars and hadith transmitters: people who not only did not object to hostility toward Amir al-Mu'minin Ali, peace be upon him, but treated it as a criterion of reliability, stature, and truthfulness in a narrator.
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, when introducing Abdullah ibn Idris al-Azdi, writes that he was a man of 'Sunnah and Jama'ah,' one of the strict followers of the Sunnah, and explicitly Uthmani in doctrine.
Regarding Abdullah ibn 'Awf al-Basri, he presents him as 'reliable' and adds: 'Worship, firmness in the Sunnah, and opposition to innovation are established for him... he was Uthmani.'
Regarding al-Juzjani as well, he writes that he followed the doctrine of Hariz ibn Uthman al-Dimashqi, a person famous for nasibi tendencies and open hostility toward the Ahl al-Bayt, especially Ali, peace be upon him.
Likewise, Ibn Hibban praises Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub, who followed the Uthmani doctrine and was among the Nawasib, because of his 'firmness in the Sunnah.'
These are only a few limited examples showing that in Sunni rijal culture, hatred of Ali, peace be upon him, was not only not considered a defect or cause of blame, but was treated as a cause for praise, trust, and reliability. Hostility toward Amir al-Mu'minin, peace be upon him, became a criterion of adherence to the Sunnah, reliability, and scholarly rank; this is the clearest manifestation of the dark effects of Mu'awiyah's thought and the Umayyad line on Islamic religion and knowledge.
Today one must say plainly that in Umayyad sunnah-making, hostility toward Ali, peace be upon him, is not merely not blameworthy; it raises a person's rank in the chain of hadith and knowledge. This influence is so deep that the continuation of the policy of abuse and cursing flows secretly and mysteriously in their hadith sources. The catastrophe is that these very people are introduced as 'imams of hadith,' meaning the main authorities for transmitting religion and the Sunnah of the Prophet.
Perhaps the explicit statement of Ibn al-Madini helps us understand the depth of this deviation. He says:
"Lam yazal man adraknahu min ashabina yuwaththiqunahu, kana yal'anu Amir al-Mu'minin wa yantaqisuhu wa yanal minhu."
"Everyone from our companions whom I encountered continued to declare him reliable, while that person cursed Ali, peace be upon him, disparaged him, and insulted him."
"Everyone from our companions whom I encountered continued to declare him reliable, while that person cursed Ali, peace be upon him, disparaged him, and insulted him."
This sentence is a shocking report of the standards of jarh and ta'dil in the Umayyad sunnah: if a narrator curses Amir al-Mu'minin, he is declared reliable; if he has love for Ali in his heart, he is rejected.
Is this the Prophetic Sunnah? Or must one again admit that we are facing a sunnah inherited not from the Messenger of God, but from the great deceiver of Islamic history, Mu'awiyah?
Mu'awiyah: the Great Heir of Saqifah
Shaykh al-Saduq says: 'It is narrated from Ali ibn Hashram that he was in the gathering of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ali, peace be upon him, was mentioned. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: La yakunu al-rajulu sunniyyan hatta yubghida Aliyyan qalilan; a man is not Sunni unless he has a little hatred for Ali' (2). Therefore, it is not far-fetched for such a person to say: 'Whoever claims that Muhammad and Ali are the best of mankind is a disbeliever' (3).
Mu'awiyah, the great heir of Saqifah, launched the Umayyad current in continuation of Saqifah's policies. This current weakened but was never cut off. As mentioned, the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn, peace be upon him, in Karbala was the result of Mu'awiyah's policies, which produced an Islam that deemed the blood of God's caliph, God's chosen one, and the last person of the Five Pure Ones lawful.
The Survival of the Umayyad Current in the Uthmani Trinitarian School
The Umayyad current continued its life in the form of the Uthmani trinitarian school (4), and then this Umayyad current appropriated the name of Sunnah for itself. The examples above were effective proofs and indications for establishing this claim. Of course, because this writing is brief, only a few examples were mentioned; otherwise, what was cited was a practice among the hadith scholars opposed to the Shi'ah. In these quotations, Mu'awiyah's line of thought and hollow Umayyad Islam are clearly visible.
Notes
1. Tashih al-Qira'ah, Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi, pp. 231-235.
2. Shaykh al-Saduq, 'Ilal al-Shara'i', pp. 467-468, hadith 25.
3. Ali ibn Yunus al-'Amili, al-Sirat al-Mustaqim ila Mustahiqqi al-Taqdim, vol. 3, p. 224.
4. Trinitarianism here is an allusion to belief in the first three caliphs; those who believed in four caliphs were called followers of tarbi'.
2. Shaykh al-Saduq, 'Ilal al-Shara'i', pp. 467-468, hadith 25.
3. Ali ibn Yunus al-'Amili, al-Sirat al-Mustaqim ila Mustahiqqi al-Taqdim, vol. 3, p. 224.
4. Trinitarianism here is an allusion to belief in the first three caliphs; those who believed in four caliphs were called followers of tarbi'.
Author: Hamed Sarem
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