Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Ruler of the West
Mu’awiya (Rad.A) was loyal to Umar (Rad.A) and Usman (Rad.A) but proved disloyal to Ali (Rad.A) when he ordered the dismissal of Mu’awiya (Rad.A) and other governors going against the advice of al-Mughirah and Ibn al-Abbas. Mu’awiya (Rad.A) was

356 Political ami Cultural History of Islam

then at war with the By/antines and had won a clear victory on the seas although his land force could not push beyond Caesarea. Pressing need at home compelled him to pay an annual tribute of

1,000 nomismata, and daily a horse and a sla\e and to conclude a treaty with Constans I in 659. He \\as then free to concentrate all his troops against Ali (Rad.A).

After the assassination of Usman (Rad.A), his relatives moved to Makkah and his blood-stained shirt along with the severed fingers of his \\ife, Naila, v\as sent to Mu’awiya (Rad.A). who displayed them in the Mosque of Damascus. He refused to take the oath of allegiance at the hand of Ali (Rad.A) or to abdicate his office in favour of All’s nominee Ibn al-Abbas. until Ali (Rad.A) had brought the miscreants to task. Instead of using the angry Syrian mob against the regicides and the Arab Bedouin rebels, Ali (Rad.A) delayed the taking of necessary steps against the assassins of Usman (Rad.A) as he preferred not to stir up a hotbee’s nest. This delay gave an opportunity to the miscreants to mingle with the soldiery and the followers of Ali (Rad.A) and offered a strong reason to the Syrians for suspecting Ali (Rad.A) to be in collusion with the assassins. This led to the battle of Siffm in 36/657 and the consequent break-up of the empire into two portions, controlled by Mu’awiya (Rad.A) and Ali (Rad.A) respectively. The latter had to submit to the circumstances and reluctantly agreed to be contented with the mastery over the eastern provinces alone, and to conclude a treaty with the former in 40 A.H/660 A.D. Mu’awiya (Rad.A) ascended the throne and was proclaimed Khalifah at Ilya (Jerusalem) in Safar

40/July 660 A.D. Khalifah of the Muslim Empire

His de facto authority as Khalifah in the West was, however, not ultimately recognized by Ali (Rad.A) who raised an army of

40.000 for a Syrian campaign but before he could launch it, he was assassinated by one, Ibn Muljam, at Kufah and was succeeded by his eldest son. al-Hasan. Hasan sent Qays at the head of 12.000 men in advance to check the Syrian troops which had. meanwhile, set out through Mesopotamia towards ’Iraq before the assassination of Ali (Rad.A). while Hasan himself waited with the main army at al-Madain.

There arose a rumour that Qays was killed in a battle fought against Mu’awiya (Rad.A) in Syria. Hasan was, therefore, surrounded by his disloyal troops. They conspired to hand him over to Mu’awiya (Rad.A). The Caliph took refuge in the Palace of the
Ameer Mu’nwn/a (Rad. A)
357
Chosroes and was forced to send a letter of abdication to Mu’awiya (Rad.A) in his favour. Hasan then retired to Medina and was allowed to retain the treasury of Kufah containing five million dirhams and the revenues of a Persian district, for his subsidy. Mu’awiya (Rad.A) further agreed not to revile Ali (Rad.A) in Khutbahs from the pulpit of a mosque within Hasan’s reach in Rabial Awwal 41/July 661.
He was poisoned by his wife after about eight years in 669 (A.D.) at the age of forty-five. Qays. who was still alive, having obtained terms for the safety of his soldiers, laid down his arms and submitted to Mu’awiya (Rad.A), who in his turn rushed to Kufah to receive homage from the people of’Iraq and other eastern provinces. Thus the de facto ruler of Syria and Egypt became the Caliph of the whole of the Islamic World only about five months after Ali’s assassination. The year 41 A.H. became known as jama’a (the year of Union) and thenceforth Damascus became the capital of the Muslim Empire. This was the third capital of the Muslims, the first being at Medina and the second one at Kufah.