Abdullah bin Saba

‘Abdullah bin Saba`, known as Ibn Sauda' was a Jew from San'aa (Yemen). He announced his acceptance of Islam during the Caliphate of 'Uthman bin 'Affan with the intention of taking advantage of the progress and prosperity of the Muslims. He settled in Al-Madeenah to go deep into the internal affairs and weaknesses of the Muslims to take advantage thereof. He set out from Al-Madeenah, reached Basrah and stayed with Hakim bin Jabalah, a man from Basrah who used to commit highway robbery with a band of criminals. There he established close and cordial relations with Hakim bin Jabalah and his friends. Afterwards, he set himself to creating doubts and mischievous thoughts in the minds of the people around him, after cleverly presenting himself as a well-wisher of Muslims and the family of the Prophet, . After gaining the confidence of many Muslims, he began to carry out his nefarious plan. He first raised the question that if ‘Eesa (Jesus) could come back to this world, why not Muhammad, ?

In order to fortify his plea, he began to misinterpret the meaning of the verse (which means): "Verily, He Who imposed upon you the Quran will take you back to a place of return.” [Quran 28:85]

He proposed thereby that the last Prophet, must come back to this world. Following this, he began to bring the people round to another point that every Prophet had a Caliph (successor) and executor, and that of Muhammad, , was 'Ali . Encouraged by the favorable response from gullible Muslims, he came out to openly propagate his evil intentions of removing the Caliph and replacing him by 'Ali .

Events of 34 AH

'Uthman bin 'Affan, the Caliph of Islam issued orders to all the governors to meet him in Al-Madeenah after Hajj for important consultations. In addition to these governors, the Caliph invited some men of sound judgement from Al-Madeenah. The Caliph put before them the issue of the prevailing anger and dissatisfaction against him and sought their advice. ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr put forward his suggestion that the unruly elements should be engaged in Jihaad to fill their idle hours and charged them with disruptive activities and uprisings. Sa'eed bin Al-'Aas submitted the suggestion that the leaders of the troublemakers be dealt with a heavy hand, so that their punishments would scare away their followers. Even though the Caliph showed his agreement with this suggestion, he thought that this was a difficult task. Mu'awiyah came with the suggestion that governors of each province should uphold their responsibilities and clear the province off the existence of those troublemakers. ‘Abdullah bin Sa’d suggested the point that they were all greedy and could, therefore, be subdued by the power of the purse.

When the real causes leading to the riots and disruptions were inquired into, it came to light that they were all far-fetched and unfounded. Some of them raised the point that each one of the mischief-mongers and rioters should be put to death without showing any restraint. 'Uthman bin 'Affan disagreed and said that he could only punish people according to the limits set by the Quran. Thus, the session came to an end without anything concrete being decided.

The people attached to ‘Abdullah bin Saba and those harboring hostile feelings against 'Uthman bin 'Affan set about complaining against the governors and officers appointed by the Caliph. They began to write letters to the influential people of Al-Madeenah to create suspicion in their minds about 'Uthman bin 'Affan . In response to the complaints, the people of Al-Madeenah became angry with the governors and officials and pressed the Caliph for their dismissal. However, when they would come out faultless after inquiries, the Caliph refrained from taking any action against them. They grew suspicious of the fair dealings of the Caliph. Men like Abu 'Usayd Sa'eedi, Ka'b bin Malik and Hassaan bin Thabit rose to stop the disgruntled section from speaking against the Caliph, but to no avail.

When letters of complaint came pouring into Al-Madeenah from almost every province and city under the Muslim rule, some distinguished persons of Al-Madeenah called on the Caliph and drew his attention to the prevailing anger and dissatisfaction against the governors appointed by him. 'Uthman bin 'Affan then selected some reliable persons and sent them to each province to look into the situation and come back with a complete report. Thus, Muhammad bin Maslamah was sent to Koofah and Usamah bin Zayd and ‘Abdullah bin 'Umar were sent to Basrah and Syria respectively. In this way, each large or small province and territory was given one official to report the state of affairs to the Caliph.

All the investigators returned with reports that none of the governors were found guilty of any evil act or excesses, and all of them were carrying out their duties within the bounds of Sharee’ah. Besides, no man of understanding and wisdom was found against any governor or the Caliph. The people of Al-Madeenah received the reports with satisfaction. However, very soon the situation took a disturbing turn. The Hajj season was at hand and taking advantage of the opportunity, the Caliph proclaimed among the citizens of every city and town: "Reports are pouring into Al-Madeenah highlighting the excesses of the governors of various provinces. So, I have sent orders to all the governors to be present at Hajj. Anybody bearing complaints against anyone's governance should come and lodge it in my presence and get his rights either from me or from the governor after the verification of the facts."

To be continued

The caliphate of 'Uthman -I

The caliphate of 'Uthman -II