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LETTER 64

In reply to Mu`awiyah

Now then certainly we and you were on amiable terms as you say but difference arose between us and you the other day when we accepted belief (iman) and you rejected it. Today the position is that we are steadfast (in the belief) but you are creating mischief. Those of you who accepted Islam did so reluctantly and that too when all the chief men had accepted Islam and joined the Messenger of Allah- (may Allah- bless him and his descendants).

You have stated that I killed Talhah and az-Zubayr forced `A'ishah out of her house and adopted residence between the two cities (Kufah and Basrah). (1) These are matters with which you have no concern nor do they involve anything against you. Therefore no explanation about them is due to you.

You also state that you are coming to me with a party of muhajirun and ansar but hijrah came. to an end on the day your brother was taken prisoner. If you are in a hurry then wait a bit as I may come to meet you and that would be more befitting as that would mean that Allah has appointed me to punish you. But if you come to me it would be as the poet of Banu Asad said:

They are advancing against summer winds which are hurling stones on them in the highlands and lowlands.

(Remember) I have still the sword with which I dispatched your grandfather your mother's brother and your brother to one

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[ 64 ] ومن كتاب له عليه السلام

كتبه إلى معاوية، جواباً

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّا كُنَّا نَحْنُ وَأَنْتُمْ عَلَى مَا ذَكَرْتَ مِنَ الْأُلْفَةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ، فَفَرَّقَ بيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَمْسِ أَنَّا آمَنَّا وَكَفَرْتُمْ، وَالْيَوْمَ أَنَّا اسْتَقَمْنَا وَفُتِنْتُمْ، وَمَا أَسْلَمَ مُسْلِمُكُمْ إِلاَّ كَرْهاً (1) ، وَبَعْدَ أَنْ كَانَ أَنْفُ الْإِسْلاَمِ (2) كُلُّهُ لِرَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيَهِ وَآلِهِ، حِزْباً.

وَذَكَرْتَ أَنِّي قَتَلْتُ طَلْحَةَ وَالزُّبَيْرَ، وَشَرَّدْتُ بِعَائِشَةَ (3) ، وَنَزَلْتُ بَيْنَ الْمِصْرَيْنِ (4) ! وَذلِكَ أَمْرٌ غِبْتَ عَنْهُ، فَلاَ عَلَيْكَ، وَلاَ الْعُذْرُ فِيهِ إِلَيْكَ. وَذَكَرْتَ أَنَّكَ زَائِرِي فِي الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ، وَقَدِ انْقَطَعَتِ الْهِجْرَةُ يَوْمَ أُسِرَ أَخُوكَ، فَإِنْ كَانَ فِيكَ عَجَلٌ فَاسْتَرْفِهْ (5) ، فَإِنِّي إِنْ أَزُرْكَ فَذلِكَ جَدِيرٌ أَنْ يَكُونَ اللهُ إِنَّمَا بَعَثَنِي لِلنِّقْمَةِ مِنْكَ! وَإِنْ تَزُرْنِي فَكَمَا قَالَ أَخُو بَنِي أَسَد:

مُسْتَقْبِلِينَ رِيَاحَ الصَّيْفِ تَضْرِبُهُم بِحَاصِبٍ (6) بَيْنَ أَغْوَارٍ (7) وَجُلْمُودْ (8)وَعِنْدِيَ السَّيْفُ الَّذِي أَعْضَضْتُهُ (9) بِجَدِّكَ وَخَالِكَ وَأَخِيكَ فِي

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and the same place. By Allah I know what you are. Your heart is sheathed and your intelligence is weak. It is better to say that you have ascended to where you view a bad scene which is against you not in your favour because you are searching a thing lost by someone else you are tending someone else's cattle and you are hankering after a thing which is not yours nor have you any attachment with it. How remote are your words from your actions and how closely you resemble your paternal and maternal uncles who were led by their wickedness and love for wrong to oppose Muhammad (may Allah bless him and his descendants) and in consequence they were killed as you know. They could not put up a defence against the calamity and could not protect their place of safety from the striking of swords which abound in the battle and which do not show weakness.

You have said a lot about killing of `Uthman. You first join what the people have joined (i.e. allegiance) then seek a verdict about (the accused people) from me and I shall settle the matter between you and them according to the Book of Allah the Sublime. But what you are aiming at is just the fake nipple given to a child in the first days of stopping of nursing. Peace be on those who deserve it.

(1). Mu`awiyah had written a letter to Amir al-mu'minin in which after recalling mutual unity and amicability he laid on him the blame of killing Talhah and az-Zubayr and ousting `A'ishah from her house and objected to his adopting Kufah as his seat of government in place of Medina. In the end he gave a threat of war and said that he was about to come out with a force of muhajirun and ansar to fight. Amir al-mu'minin wrote this letter in reply to him wherein commenting on Mu`awiyah's claim for unity he says that: "There might have been unity between you and us but with the advent of Islam such a gulf has developed between the two that it is not possible to bridge it and such a separation has occurred which cannot be removed. This was because we responded to the call of the Prophet and hastened towards Islam but your position was that you were still in the state of unbelief and ignorance whereby we and you came to adopt separate ways. But when Islam secured stability and the chiefs of Arabs

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مَقَام وَاحِدٍ، وَإِنَّكَ وَاللهِ مَا عَلِمْتُ الْأَغْلَفُ الْقَلْبِ (10) ، الْمُقارِبُ الْعَقْلِ (11) ، وَالْأَوْلَى أَنْ يُقَالَ لَكَ: إِنَّكَ رَقِيتَ سُلَّماً أَطْلَعَكَ مَطْلَعَ سُوءٍ عَلَيْكَ لاَ لَكَ، لِأَنَّكَ نَشَدْتَ غَيْرَ ضَالَّتِكَ (12) ، وَرَعَيْتَ غَيْرَ سَائِمَتِكَ (13) ، وَطَلَبْتَ أَمْراً لَسْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَلاَ فِي مَعْدِنِهِ، فَمَا أَبْعَدَ قَوْلَكَ مِنْ فِعْلِكَ!! وَقَرِيبٌ مَا أَشْبَهْتَ مِنْ أَعْمَامٍِ وَأَخْوَالٍ! حَمَلَتْهُمُ الشَّقَاوَةُ، وَتَمَنِّي الْبَاطِلِ، عَلَى الْجُحُودِ بِمُحَمَّدٍ_صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وسَلَّمَ_َ فَصُرِعُوا مَصَارِعَهُمْ (14) حَيْثُ عَلِمْتَ، لَمْ يَدْفَعُوا عَظِيماً، وَلَمْ يَمْنَعُوا حَرِيماً، بِوَقْعِ سُيُوفٍِ مَا خَلاَ مِنْهَا الْوَغَى (15) ، وَلَمْ تُمَاشِهَا الْهُوَيْنَى (16)

. وَقَدْ أَكْثَرْتَ فِي قَتَلَةِ عُثْمانَ، فَادْخُلْ فِيَما دَخَلَ فِيهِ النَّاسُ، ثُمَّ حَاكِمِ الْقُوْمَ إِلَيَّ، أَحْمِلْكَ وَإِيَّاهُمْ عَلَى كِتَابِ اللهِ تَعَالَ ي، وَأَمَّا تِلْكَ الَّتِي تُرِيدُ فَإِنَّهَا خُدْعَةُ (17) الصَّبِيِّ عَنِ اللَّبَنِ فِي أَوَّلِ الْفِصَالِ (18) ، وَالسَّلاَمُ لِأَهْلِهِ.

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entered its fold you too were obliged to and secured protection of your lives by putting the covering of Islam on your faces but continued secretly to fan the mischief intended to shatter its foundations. Since we had accepted Islam of our own free will and pleasure we adhered to the right path and at no stage did any faltering occur in our steadfastness. Therefore your acceptance of Islam too could not make us agree with your views."

As regards Nlu`awiyah's accusation that Amir al-mu'minin engineered the killing of Talhah and az-Zubayr; then even if this blame is admitted as true is it not a fact that they had openly revolted against Amir al-mu'minin and had risen for war after breaking the allegiance. Therefore if they were killed in connection with the revolt their blood would be wasted and no blame would lie on the killer because the penalty for him who revolts against the rightful Imam is death and fighting against him is permissible without doubt. The fact however is that this accusation has no reality because Talhah was killed by a man of his own party. Thus the historians write:

Marwan ibn al-Hakam shot Talhah with an arrow and turning to Aban ibn `Uthman said: "We have killed a killer of your father and relieved you of revenge." (Ibn Sa`d vol.3 part 1 p.159; Ibn al-Athir vol.3 p.244; al-Isti`ab vol.2 pp.766-769; Usd aI-ghabah vol.3 pp.60 61; al-Isabah vol.2 p.230; Tahdhib at-tahdhib vol.5 p.21).

As for az-Zubayr he was killed by `Amr ibn Jurmuz on his way back from Basrah and there was no prompting by Amir al-mu'minin in it. Similarly `A'ishah herself came out of her house as the head of this rebellious group while Amir al-mu'minin counselled her several times to realize her position and not to step out of her bounds but these things had no effect on her.

Of the same type was his criticism that Amir al-mu'minin left Medina and adopted Kufah as the seat of his government because Medina turns out bad people from itself and throws away dirt. The reply to it is only this that Mu`awiyah himself too always retained Syria as his capital keeping away from Medina.

In this way what right can he have to object to Amir al-mu'minin changing his seat. Amir al-mu'minin left Medina because of those rebel-

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lions which had cropped up from all sides. To suppress them only the selection of such a place as capital from where military assistance could be mobilized at any time could be useful. Thus Amir al-mu'minin had seen on the occasion of the battle of Jamal that a great majority of the people of Kufah had supported him and that therefore by making it a base for the army defence against the enemy could be easily managed while Medina was not appropriate for military mobilization or for supplies.

Lastly as for Mu'awiyah's threat that he would march with muhajirun and ansar Amir al-mu'minin gave a reply to this point in a very subtle way namely that How would you bring muhajirun now since the door for hijrah was closed the day when your brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan was taken prisoner. This man was taken prisoner on the day of the fall of Mecca and there is no question of hijrah after the fall of Mecca so as to enable any one to be called a muhajirun because of the Prophet's saying: "There is no hijrah after the victory over Mecca."