SERMON 128
About Important happenings in Basrah an
army which has neither dust nor noise, nor rustling of reins, nor neighing
of horses.
O’ Ahnaf! It
is as though I see him advancing with an army which has neither dust nor
noise, nor rustling of reins, nor neighing of horses. They are trampling
the ground with their feet as if they are the feet of ostriches.
as-Sayyid ar-Radi says: Amir
al-mu'minin pointed to the Chief of the Negroes, (Sahibu'z-Zanj) .(1)
Then Amir al -mu'minin said:
Woe to you (the people of Basrah's)
inhabited streets and decorated houses which possess wings like the wings
of vultures and trunks like the trunks of elephants; they are the people
from among whom if one is killed he is not mourned and if one is lost he
is not searched for.
I
turn this world over on its face, value it only according to its (low)
value, and look at it with an eye suitable to it.
A part of the same sermon
Referring to the Turks (Mongols)
I (2) can see a people whose faces
are like shields covered with rough-scraped skins. They dress themselves
in silken and woollen clothes and hold dear excellent horses. Their
killing and bloodshed shall take place freely till the wounded shall walk
over the dead and the number of runners-away shall be less than those
taken prisoner:
One of his companions said to him:
O' Amir al-mu'minin, you have been given knowledge of hidden things.
Whereupon Amir al-mu'minin laughed and said to the man who belonged to the
tribe of Banu Kalb:
O' brother of Kalb! This is not
knowledge of hidden things (`ilmu'l-ghayb),
(3) these matters have been
acquired from him (namely in Prophet) who knew them. As regard knowledge
of hidden things, that means knowledge of the Day of Judgement, and the
things covered by Allah in the verse.
Verily, Allah is He with Whom is
the knowledge of the Hour... (Qur'an, 31:34)
Therefore, Allah alone knows what is
there in the wombs, whether male or female, ugly or handsome, generous or
miserly, mischievous or pious, and who will be the fuel for Hell and who
will be in the company of the Prophets in Paradise.
This
is the knowledge of the hidden things which is not known to anyone save
Allah. All else is that whose knowledge Allah passed on to His Prophet and
he passed it on to me, and prayed for me that my bosom may retain it and
my ribs may hold it.
(1). `Ali ibn Muhammad was born in the village of
Warzanin in the suburbs of Ray and belonged to the Azariqah sect of the
Kharijites. He claimed to be a sayyid (descendant of the Holy Prophet) by
showing himself the son of Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mukhtafi ibn `Isa ibn
Zayd ibn `Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn `Ali ibn Abi Talib, but the experts on
lineality and biographers have not accepted his claim to being a sayyid
and have given his father's name as Muhammad ibn `Abd ar-Rahim instead of
Muhammad ibn Ahmad. The former was from the tribe of `Abd al-Qays and had
been born of a Sindi maid-slave.
`Ali
ibn Muhammad rose as an insurgent in 255 A.H. in the reign of al-Muhtadi
Billah and associated with him the people from the suburbs of Basrah on
promise of money, wealth and freedom.
He
entered Basrah on the 17th Shuwwal, 255 A.H. killing and looting, and in
only two days he put to death thirty thousand individuals, men, women and
children, and displayed extreme oppression, bloodshed, savageness and
ferocity.
He
dismantled houses, burnt mosques, and after continuous killing and
devastation for fourteen years, was killed in the month of Safar, 270 A.H.
in the reign of Muwaffaq Billah. Then people got rid of his devastating
deeds.
Amir
al-mu'minin's prophecy is one of those prophecies which throw light on his
knowledge of the unknown. The details of his army given by Amir
al-mu'minin namely that there would be neither neighing of horses nor
rustling of weapons therein is a historical fact.
The
historian at-Tabari has written that when this man reached near al-Karkh
(a sector of Baghdad) with the intention of insurrection, the people of
that place welcomed him, and a man presented him a horse for which no rein
could be found despite a search. At last he rode it using a rope for the
rein. Similarly there were at that time only three swords in his force -
one with himself, one with `Ali ibn Aban al-Muhallabi, and one with
Muhammad ibn Salm, but later they collected some more weapons by
marauding.
(2). This prophecy of Amir al-mu'minin is about the
attack of the Tartars (Mongols) who were inhabitants of the Mongolian
desert in the north west of Turkistan. These semi-savage tribes lived by
marauding, killing and devastating. They used to fight among themselves
and attack neighbouring areas. Each tribe had a separate chief who was
deemed responsible for their protection.
Chingiz Khan (Temujin) who was one of the ruling chiefs of these tribes
and was very brave and courageous had risen to organise all their divided
tribes into one, and, despite their opposition he succeeded in
overpowering them through his might and sagacity. Collecting a large
number under his banner he rose in 606 A.H. like a torrent and went on
dominating cities and ruining populations till he conquered the area upto
North China.
When
his authority was established he offered his terms of settlement to
`Alau'd-Din Khwarazm Shah, ruler of the neighbouring country of Turkistan,
and through a deputation concluded an agreement with him that the Tartar
traders would be allowed to visit his country for trade and their life and
property would not be subject to any harm.
For
some time they traded freely without fear but on one occasion `Alau'd-Din
accused them of spying, seized their goods and had them killed by the
Chief of Atrar. When Chingiz Khan learnt of the breach of the agreement
and the killing of Tartar merchants his eyes cast forth flames and he
began trembling with rage.
He
sent word to `Alau'd-Din to return the goods of the Tartar merchants and
to hand over to him the ruler of Atrar. `Alau'd-Din, who was mad with
power and authority, did not pay any heed, and acting short-sightedly
killed even the plenipotentiary of Chingiz Khan. Now Chingiz Khan lost all
patience and his eyes filled with blood. He rose with his sword in hand,
and the Tartar warriors leapt towards Bukhara on their speedy stallions.
`Alau'd-Din came out with four hundred thousand combatants to face him but
could not resist the incessant assaults of the Tartars, and having been
vanquished only after a few attacks ran away to Nishabur across the river
Jaxartes (Sihun).
The
Tartars smashed Bukhara and razed it to the ground. They pulled down
schools and mosques, burning to ashes the houses and killing men and women
without distinction. Next year they assaulted Samarqand and devastated it
completely. After the flight of `Alau'd-Din, his son Jalalu'd-Din Khwarazm
Shah had assumed the reins of government The Tartars chased him also, and
for ten years he fled from one place to the other but did not fall in
their hands. At last he crossed over the river out of the boundaries of
his realm.
During this time the Tartars did their utmost to ruin populated lands and
to annihilate humanity. No city escaped their ruining and no populace
could avoid their trampling. Wherever they went they upset the kingdom,
overthrew governments, and in a short time established their authority
over the northern portion of Asia.
When
Chingiz Khan died in 622 A.H. his own son Ogedei Khan succeeded him. He
searched out Jalalu'd-Din in 628 A.H. and killed him. After him Mongka
Khan, the son of the other son of Chingiz Khan, occupied the throne. After
Mongka Khan, Qubilai Khan succeeded to a part of the country and the
control of Asia fell to the share of his brother Hulagu Khan.
On
the division of the whole realm among the grandsons of Chingiz Khan,
Hulagu Khan was thinking of conquering Muslims areas when the Hanafite of
Khurasan in enmity with the Shafi`ite invited him to attack Khurasan. He
therefore led an assault on Khurasan, and the Hanafite, thinking
themselves to be safe from the Tartars, opened the city gates for them.
But the Tartars did not make any distinction between Hanafite and
Shafi`ite and killed whoever fell to their hands. After killing most of
its population they took it in occupation. These very differences between
the Hanafite and the Shafi`ite opened for him the door of conquest upto
Iraq. Consequently, after conquering Khurasan his courage increased and in
656 A.H. he marched on Baghdad with two hundred thousand Tartars.
al-Musta`sim Billah's army and the people of Baghdad jointly faced them,
but it was not in their power to stop this torrent of calamity. The result
was that the Tartars entered Baghdad on the day of `Ashura' carrying with
them bloodshed and ruin. They remained busy in killing for forty days.
Rivers of blood flowed in the streets and all the alleys were filled with
dead bodies. Hundred of thousands of people were put to the sword while
al-Musta`sim Billah was trampled to death under foot.
Only
those people who hid themselves in wells or underground places and hid
from their sight could survive. This was the devastation of Baghdad which
shook the `Abbasid Kingdom to its foundation, so that its flag could never
fly thereafter.
Some
historians have laid the blame of this ruin on Ibn al-`Alqami (Abu Talib,
Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Baghdadi), the minister of al-Musta`sim Billah, by
holding that, moved by the general masses of the Shi`ahs and the ruin of
al-Karkh sector (of Baghdad), he invited Hulagu Khan through the latter's
minister, the great scholar Nasiru'd-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad at-Tusi, to
march on Baghdad. Even if it be so, it is not possible to ignore the
historical fact that before this the `Abbasid Caliph an-Nasir Lidini'llah
had initiated the move for the attack on the Muslim areas.
When
the Khwarazm Shahs declined to acknowledge the authority of the Caliphate
he had sent word to Chingiz Khan to march on Khwarazm, from which the
Tartars had understood that there was no unity and co-operation among the
Muslims.
Thereafter the Hanafite had sent for Hulagu Khan to crush the Shafi`ite as
a consequence of which the Tartars secured control over Khurasan, and
prepared the way to march towards Baghdad. In these circumstances to hold
only Ibn al-`Alqami responsible for the ruination of Baghdad and to ignore
the move of an-Nasir Lidini'llah and the dispute between the Hanafite and
the Shafi`ite would be covering up the facts, when in fact the cause for
the ruin of Baghdad was this very conquest of Khurasan, whose real movers
were the Hanafite inhabitants of the place.
It
was by this conquest that Hulagu Khan had the courage to march on the
centre of Islam; otherwise it cannot have been the result of a single
individual's message that he assaulted an old capital like Baghdad, the
awe of whose power and grandeur was seated in the hearts of a large part
of the world.
(3). To know hidden things on a personal level is
one thing, while to be gifted by Allah with knowledge of any matter and to
convey it to others is different. The knowledge of the future which the
prophets and vicegerents possess is gained by them through Allah's
teaching and informing. Allah alone has knowledge of events which are to
happen in the future. Of course, He passes this knowledge on to whoever He
wills. Thus He says:
(He
alone is) the "Knower of the unseen, neither doth He reveal His secrets
unto any (one else) save unto that one of the Messengers whom He
chooseth..." (Qur'an, 72:26-27)
In
this way Amir al-mu'minin also received knowledge of the future through
the instructions of the Prophet or inspiration from Allah, for which these
words of Amir al-mu'minin stand evidence. Of course, sometimes it is not
proper or expedient to disclose certain matters and they are allowed to
remain under a veil. Then no one can be acquainted with them as Allah
says:
Verily, Allah is He with Whom is the knowledge of the Hour and He
sendeth down the rain, and knoweth He what is in the wombs; and knoweth
not any soul what he shall earn the morrow, and knoweth not any soul in
what lands he shall die: Verily Allah is All-knowing, All- aware.
(Qur'an, 31:34)
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