Deposition of Provincial Governors

Proposal to depose the provincial governors

On assuming the caliphate, Ali decided to depose the provincial governors appointed by Othman, and appoint new Governors in their stead. Some of the Governors like Muawiyah in Syria had been in office for more or less twenty years and had grown too powerful. Such concentration of power in a single person was fraught with danger to the body politics, and Ali felt that in the interests of the State it was necessary that there should be a change in the provincial governors. As a matter of fact one of the main allegations against Othman which had triggered off the revolt was nepotism in the appointment of Governors. Ali felt that even if Othman had any justification for the appointment of his favorites as Governors, such justification was no longer there after his death. As such a change was necessary in general interest. Because of the unfortunate revolt against Othman, the administration stood shattered in some parts of the country. For the proper rehabilitation of administration a change in personnel was essential. Ali had noticed that for some time past the Muslims had departed from the austere way of the life of Islam, and had taken to the luxurious way of living borrowed from the non-Muslims. Ali had a program for the restoration of Islam to its pristine purity. For the implementation of such program likely to have political, religious and social repercussions it was necessary that Ali should have, as the provincial heads, persons in whom he had confidence and who could be depended upon to carry out his policies into action. Ali did not wish to give the impression that he intended to victimize any particular individual; his proposal accordingly envisaged the deposition of all the existing Governors and their replacement by new men of established integrity.

Mughira b Shuaba

Mughira b Shuaba was considered to be a wise man among the Arabs. He advised Ali that he should not take the hasty step of deposing all the Governors at the outset of his caliphate. He suggested that Ali should bide his time, and he should transfer or depose the Governors after he had consolidated his own position. Ali advanced his arguments in justification of the proposal to depose the Governors. The discussion lasted for a few hours, but it proved to be indecisive. Ali did not agree with the view of Mughira. The meeting on the first day came to close with the observation that they would meet the following day and reconsider the matter. When Mughira came to see Ali the following day, he said that he had reconsidered the matter and he had come to the conclusion that provincial governors should be deposed forthwith.

Abdullah b Abbas

Abdullah b Abbas, a cousin of Ali came to see him from Makkah. Ibn Abbas was very emphatic in his counsel that Ali should not take the hasty steps of deposing the Governors. He said that with the assassination of Othman the prestige of the central government had fallen low, and it was necessary that its prestige should be re-established before any attempt was made to remove the Governors. Ibn Abbas observed that in principle Ali was right that he should have Governors who enjoyed his confidence, but in view of the unsettled conditions when the people in the provinces, particularly Syria, had yet to take the oath of allegiance to him. The proper course was that the orders for the deposition of the Governors should be held up till the people in all the provinces had taken the oath of allegiance to him. He said that Muawiyah was strongly entrenched in power in Syria, and it any orders for his deposition were passed he would defy them. Ali said that he wanted him Ibn Abbas to be appointed as the Governor of Syria. Ibn Abbas said that he could not accept the appointment, for Muawiyah would not allow him to take charge. The difficulty in this respect, was that, while Muawiyah had a force at his disposal, the central government had no force at its disposal at that stage to take the field if any provincial governor chose to defy the orders of the Caliph. Ali observed that Mughira had originally offered advice against the deposition of the Governors but on reconsideration he had favored the proposal for the deposition of the governors. Ibn Abbas said that the advice that he had offered in the first instance was based on sincerity, and he withdrew his advice because of some ulterior motives.

Orders for the deposition of Governors

In spite of what Ibn Abbas advised, Ali issued orders for the deposition of the Governors. Ali appointed Suhail b Hanif as the Governor of Syria; Saad b Ubaidah as the Governor of Egypt; Ummara b Shahab as the Governor of Kufa; Othman b Hanif as the Governor of Basra; and Abdullah b Abbas as the Governor of Yemen. When the nominee of Ali went to Basra, he was able to assume the charge, and no resistance was offered to him. Similarly there was no resistance to the new Governor in Egypt, and he assumed charge without any difficulty. Abdullah b Abbas succeeded in assuming the charge in Yemen, but the previous Governor escaped to Makkah and carried away the entire treasure with him. When the nominee of Ali for the governor of Syria reached Tabuk on the border of Syria, he was met by the Syrian force, who advised him to go back as they did not acknowledge Ali as the Caliph. Similarly the nominee of Ali to the governor ship of Kufa had to return to Madina after having failed to assume the charge of his office.

Defection of Syria and Kufa

Thus at the outset of his rule as Caliph Ali had to face a crisis. The failure of the nominees of Ali to assume charge implied a political schism in the body politics of Islam. The situation that emerged on the ground was that the Governors appointed by Ali assumed office in Egypt, Basra and Yemen, and the people in these provinces took the oath of allegiance to Ali. The people of Kufa took the oath of allegiance to Ali, but did not want any change in their Governor, and they made the nominee of Ali go back. Syria refused to acknowledge the authority of Ali. In Makkah the position was confused. In Makkah some persons offered allegiance to Ali, but the majority of the Quraish withheld their allegiance to Ali. It appears that at that stage, Ali did not appoint a Governor for Makkah, and the Governor appointed by Othman continued in office. He did not offer allegiance to Ali. Syria was definitely hostile to Ali. Kufa was not hostile, but as the people of Kufa had played a leading role in the assassination of Othman and the election of Ali, they wanted that Ali should be subservient to them. Makkah did not want to defy Ali, but it did not want to support him either. At the outset of his caliphate Ali had to force an administrative crisis in the country. Among the historians there is some controversy on the point whether in the deposition of Governors' Ali acted rashly or otherwise. Some of the writers have taken the view that as advised by Ibn Abbas be should have bided his time and deferred the deposition of Governors. If we study the question in the light of what happened subsequently we arrive at the conclusion that there was nothing wrong in what Ali did. Muwayiah had no intention of owing allegiance to Ali and if had been allowed to carry on as a Governor of Ali, he would have been a source of greater trouble for Ali. By such deposition, Ali we able to establish his authority in a greater part of the country. If Ali had succeeded in consolidating his rule in those provinces where his nominees held the office, he could have overpowered Syria without much difficulty. Unfortunately other complications took place, and Ali had to face trouble oven in provinces where his Governors held office.