Muawiyah

Muawiyah's early life

Muawiyiah belonged to the Umayyad section of the Quraish of Makkah. Muawiyah and the Holy Prophet had Abd Manaf as their common ancestor. The Holy Prophet was the son of Abdullah who was the son of Abdul Muttalib, who was the son of Hashim who was the son of Abd Manaf. Muawiyah was the son of Abu Sufiyan, who was the son of Harb, who was the son of Umayyah, who was the son of Abd Shams, who was the son Abd Manaf. Hashim and Abd Shams were the two sons of Abd Manaf. The Holy Prophet was a descendant of Hashim while Muawiyah was a descendant of Abd Shams. Umayyah the son of Abd Shams was an important man of the line, and his descendants came to be known after him as the Umayyads.

Abu Sufiyan the father of Muawiyah was a Quraish magnate. When the Holy Prophet declared his mission, Abu Sufiyan was conspicuous for his hostility to the Holy Prophet and Islam. He led the Quraish army against the Muslims in the battles of Uhud and the Trench. Muawiyah's mother was the atrocious woman who made necklaces and bracelets of the ears and noses of the Muslims slain at Uhud. She ripped the dead body of Hamza, an uncle of the Holy Prophet, martyred at Uhud, took out the liver and put her teeth in it.

It was only after the conquest of Makkah by the Muslims that Abu Sufiyan and his family including Muawiyah submitted to Islam. After conversion to Islam, Muawiyah acted for some time as a Secretary to the Holy Prophet. During the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar, Muawiyah and his elder brother Abu Yazid fought against the Byzantines in Syria.

Umar appointed Abu Ubaida b Jarrah as the Governor of Syria. On the death of Abu Ubaida, Abu Yazid the brother of Muawiyah was appointed as the Governor of Syria. On the death of Abu Yazid, Umar appointed Muawiyah as the Governor of Syria. When Othman who was a cousin of Muawiyah became the Caliph, he confirmed Muawiyah in his appointment as the Governor of Syria, and added some other territories to his jurisdiction.

Character of Muawiyah

Muawiyah was a typical Arab, and he had all the virtues and vices which characterized the Arabs before their conversion to Islam. As the Governor of Syria he won the hearts of the people by gifts and concessions. He was a man, tall, fair, handsome and of dignified bearing. Umar often said about Muawiyiah that he was the Caesar of the Arabs. His great personal charm, his affability, his attractive and pleasant disposition, his good manners, and his eloquence endeared him to the people. He was known to his people as "the silver tongued Amir". His intelligence, his sagacity, his pursuit of poetry, his shrewdness, and his sense of humor made him the "beau ideal" of the people. He was proverbial for his forbearance. He was a diplomat and a politician par excellence. In wining battles he relied more on the effective use of the tongue than on the sword. He was a past master in propaganda. He was of the view that it was the end and not the mess that mattered, and in the achievement of the end, any means fair or foul could be adopted. Islam had enjoined austerity in living, but Muawiyah preferring the Byzantine way followed a luxurious way of life. He was fond of pomp, ceremony and lavish ostentation. He built costly palaces for himself. For the people of Syria used to the Byzantine way of life, there was nothing objectionable in such display of power and pelf. To the orthodox Muslims such wayward luxuriance was frivolous and profane.

Conflict between Ali and Muawiyah

After his election as the Caliph, Ali deposed Muawiyah from the governorship of Syria. Muawiyah did not accept the orders of Ali and refused to vacate office. While in all other provinces, oath of allegiance was taken to Ali, under the influence of Muawiyah no one in Syria took the oath of allegiance of his authority amounted to rebellion pure and simple. At the outset of his rule, Ali planned an action against Syria to suppress the revolt.

Things however got complicated, and instead of being resolved got tangled with the lapse of time. Muawiyah enjoyed the support of the people of Syria. Ali was thus not able to take disciplinary action against Muawiyah as the Head of a State could ordinarily take against a defiant subordinate. If Muawiyah had to be deposed, military action was necessary against the people of Syria. That obviously meant the Muslims fighting against the Muslims. This was something repugnant to Islam, and as such when Ali gave the call to arms for a military action against Syria, the response from the people of Madina was very poor. Expedition against Syria had therefore to be deferred for some reason or the other. The delay worked to the advantage of Muawiyah, as thereby he consolidated his power.

Difficulties were created for Ali, when Talha and Zubair who had taken the oath of allegiance to him defected and were joined by Ayesha. Ayesha, Talha and Zubair occupied Basra and Ali had to lead a force against Basra instead of against Syria. Ali won the victory over the confederates but this was achieved at a heavy cost. Over ten thousand persons died in this battle and their death was deeply mourned by the Muslim world. That also proved to be a drain at the limited resources at the disposal of Ali. When after the Basra campaign Ali turned to Syria, Muawiyah had become stronger, and things for Ali became all the more difficult.

Strategy of Muawiyah

The conflict between Ali and Muawiyah had its roots in history. The Hashimites and the Umayyads were cousins and there was usual rivalry and enmity between them. During the time of Abdul Muttalib the leadership of the Quraish vested in the Hashimites. After the death of Abdul Muttalib the leadership passed on to the Umayyads. When the Holy Prophet declared his mission, the Umayyads were in the forefront in opposition to the Holy Prophet. Apart from religious scruples, one of the grounds for such opposition was the apprehension of the Umayyads that if Islam gained strength, the leadership would pass on to the Hashimites. When the Muslims conquered Makkah, the Umayyads had to accept the leadership of the Hashimites. After the death of the Holy Prophet, the Caliphate was held by Abu Bakr and Umar who were neither Hashimites nor Umayyads. The third Caliph Othman was an Umayyad, and during his Caliphate the Umayyads came to be strongly entrenched in power. Indeed one of the main allegations of the rebels against Othman was that he had unduly favored the Umayyads. When after the assassination of Othman, Ali was elected as the Caliph, the Umayyads became uneasy to the transfer of power to the Hashimites. The real aim of Muawiyah was to create difficulties in the way of Ali in order to pave the way for the transfer of power to the Umayyads. The conflict between Ali and Muawiyah was really the recurrence of the old rivalry between the Hashimites and the Umayyads.

Ali, an outspoken and straightforward man, wanted to exert authority over Muawiyah for the simple reason that he had been elected as the Caliph and all authority vested in him. Pressing all his qualities as a shrewd politician into service, Muawiyah proceeded to undermine the authority of Ali by resorting to propaganda against Ali, and adopting other underhand means. He raised the cry for vengeance for the blood of Othman. He displayed the blood stained garments of Othman, and the amputated fingers of Othman's wife Naila in the main mosque at Damascus. This display was backed up by propaganda which raised the emotions of the people to a high pitch. With all the vehemence at his command, he addressed the congregations accusing Ali of complicity in the murder of Othman. He maintained that the erection of Ali as Caliph was irregular as it was held under the pressure of the rebels who had assassinated Othman. When Talha and Zubair defected from Ali and advanced the plea that they had taken the oath of allegiance to Ali under the coercion of the rebels, that furnished Muawiyah another argument for criticizing Ali. When Talha and Zubair were killed at Basra, Muawiyah presented them as martyrs who had given up their lives in seeking vengeance for the blood of Othman. He maintained that Ali was not merely involved in the murder of Othman, he was guilty of the murder of thousands of Muslims including Talha and Zubair as well. He criticized Ali for the ill treatment of Ayesha.

Muawiyah did not rest content with carrying on propaganda against Ali, he undertook steps to weaken the hold of Ali on the territories held by him. Muawiyah was shrewd enough to see that if Egypt held fast Ali, it could stab a dagger in the back of Syria. Muawiyah therefore directed his efforts towards undermining the influence of Ali in Egypt. At that time Ali had a Governor in Egypt who was very loyal to him, and who held the province well under control. Muawiyah tried to bribe the Governor and win him over to his side. When he did not succeed in this effort, he resorted to intrigues to make Ali suspicious of the loyalty of his Governor. Under some misunderstanding Ali deposed his Governor. That weakened the hold of Ali on Egypt. In order to take advantage of this tactical mistake on the part of Ali, Muawiyah stood in need of an ally who could conquer Egypt for him. He soon found such an ally in the person of 'Amr b Al-'Aas known to history as the "Conqueror of Egypt". He was the Governor of Egypt during the reign of Umar. Othman had deposed him. That created bitterness between Othman and 'Amr b Al-Aas. 'Amr b Al-Aas had in fact incited the Egyptians to rebel against the authority of Othman. He had gone to the extent of challenging Othman that he would raise even all the shepherds of the land against him. Muawiyah in spite of his cry of vengeance for the blood of Othman found no harm in making an alliance with a man who had in fact incited the rebellion against Othman. 'Amr b Al-Aas in spite of his bitter opposition to Othman during his lifetime saw nothing wrong in joining the chorus for vengeance for the blood of the man in whose murder he was indirectly if not directly involved.

Muawiyah realized that if he had to go to fight against Ali, the Byzantines could take advantage of such rift among the Muslims and invade Syria. He, therefore, made peace with the Byzantines on terms favorable to them, and even agreed to pay them an annual tribute.

Muawiyah was also shrewd enough to realize that in case he had to strive for capturing power he must have a strong army at his disposal. He accordingly built a strong standing army. On the other hand, Ali had no large standing army at his disposal and for each campaign he had to raise volunteers.

Since the election of Ali as the Caliph, Muawiyah had been raising the cry for vengeance for the blood of Othman, and all the time had been trying to build up his strength. A year after the election of Ali, Muawiyah was strong enough to take the offensive against Ali.