Raids of Muawiyah

Raids on Iraq

After the failure of Muawiyah's mission in Basra, he decided to undertake raids on Iraq with a view to create a sense of insecurity among the people of Iraq in general, and the people living in the border areas in particular. Muawiyah organized raiding parties under different commanders, and these parties were commanded to undertake raids in the territory of Iraq all along the border. A party under the command of No'man b Bashir was asked to ravage Ayn Tamr. A party under Sufyan b Auf was required to operate against Hit and Anbar. The third party under Abdullah b Masa'ada al Fazari was commanded to operate in the Taima section. Another party under Zohak b Qais raided Upper Mesopotamia. The purpose of these raids was to ravage and plunder. As a result of these raids, the Syrians gathered considerable booty. These parties appeared as a whirlwind and after striking blows, and ravaging the countryside they withdrew to their territory. Ali strengthened the border security guard force. As a result of these raids, the Syrians were not able to occupy any area in Iraq, but such inroads had a considerable nuisance value, and proved to be a great drain on the meager financial resources at the disposal of Ali. Even when there were disturbances along the border, the people of Kufa remained indifferent, and they did not respond to Ali's call to rise en masse in defense of their territories. It was with great difficulty that Ali managed to raise some force to defend the border, but its strength was very small as compared with the extent of the danger that faced the State.

Expedition to Hijaz

In the beginning of 660 C. E. near the time of the annual pilgrimage Muawiyah sent an expedition of 3,000 horses under the command of Basr b Artat to ravage Hijaz Basr was a hard hearted savage brute, cruel by nature. His mission was to win over the people of Hijaz to the side of Muawiyah. Basr began his campaign with Madina. Ali had shifted the capital from Madina to Kufa, in order to keep the war away from Madina, and thereby respect the sanctity of the city of the Holy Prophet. Ali had accordingly made no arrangements for the defense of Madina. When the force of Muawiyah appeared before Madina, the Alid Governor fled the city, and Basr occupied it without any resistance. Basr asked the people of Madina to assemble in the Prophet's mosque. Basr ascended the pulpit, and accused the people of Madina in not coming to the kelp of their Caliph Othman, and let him be murdered in cold blood before their very eyes He made a passionate plea for vengeance for the blood of Othman. He said that he would show no mercy to the murderers of Othman. The people assembled in the mosque shed tears of repentance and mourned the assassination of Othman. Thereafter all the people of Madina took the oath of allegiance to Muawiyah. Basr deposed the Alid Governor of Madina, and appointed a new Governor on behalf of Muawiyah. Madina was thus lost to Ali.

From Madina, the Syrians proceeded to Makka. Qatam b Abbas the Alid Governor of Makkah fled the city, and the people of Makkah did not offer any resistance. Like the people of Madina, the people of Makkah offered their allegiance to Muawiyah. Those who did not take the oath of allegiance escaped from the city. Among them was Abu Musa Ash'ari, one of the umpires at Dumatul Jandal. Abu Musa Ash'ari had given his decision against Ali, but he had not favored Muawiyah either. He was pursued, and brought to Makkah where he was produced before Basr. Basr asked him why he had escaped from Makkah. He said that he had fled for his life. Basr said that if he valued his life, he should take the oath of allegiance to Muawiyah. Like the other people of Makkah, Abu Musa Ashari took the oath of allegiance to Muawiyah. Thus Hijaz web lost to Ali, and that was obviously a great blow to his cause.

Basr's expedition to Yemen

Basr deposed the Alid Governor of Makkah and appointed a new Governor on behalf of Muawiyah. Thereafter Basr and his troops proceeded to Yemen. The Governor of Yemen was Ubaidullah b Abbas, a cousin of Ali. He made a feeble attempt to resist the invader, but then fled from the battlefield leaving the command to his deputy Abdullah Harithi. In the action that followed Abdullah was defeated and killed. Thereafter Basr entered the capital city of Yemen. He resorted to atrocities as a savage brute and is referred to by some historians as a second Nero. He killed the young children of Ubaidullah. Most of the men of Yemen who had fought against the Syrians were taken captive and killed. Like the people of Madina and Makkah, the people of Yemen were made to take the oath of allegiance to Muawiyah.

Ali's counter attack

Ali mustered a force 4,000 strong and sent it to Yemen under the command of Jariah b Qodamah and Wuhaib b Massood al Thaqfi. On the way to Yemen the forces of Ali passed through the territory of Najran, whose inhabitants supported Muawiyah. They resisted the advance of the Alid force. In the action that followed the Najranites were defeated and killed in large numbers. When Basr came to know that the Alid force was advancing on Yemen, he could not make up his mind to risk an encounter with the Alid force. Before the Alid force reached Yemen, Basr and his Syrian troops made good their escape from Yemen and took the road to Syria. The Ali forces occupied Yemen, and restored the rule of Ali. The Governor appointed by Basr was deposed, and the Governor of Ali resumed his office. The people who had taken the oath of allegiance to Muawiyah recanted, and took the oath of allegiance to Ali again.

After restoring the law and order in Yemen, the forces of Ali marched to Makkah and then to Madina. At both the places the story of Yemen was repeated. The Governors of Muawiyah deposed and the Governors of Ali were reinstated. The people who had taken the oath of allegiance to Muawiyah recanted and took the oath of allegiance to Ali again.

Consequences of the raids of Muawiyah

As a consequence of his raids, Muawiyah was not able to acquire any territory. Because of these raids a greater part of the country was ravaged, and many persons had been killed. Basr the Commander of the forces of Muawiyah acted as a savage brute, and let loose a reign of terror. When Basr killed the young children of Ubaidullah, the Alid Governor of Yemen, and Ali came to know of this atrocity he invoked the curse of God on Basr. Back in Syria, Basr was struck with insanity. In the fits of madness that came to seize him he would shriek for his sword whereby he could kill the people. He was provided a wooden sword, and a stuffed animal skin on which to practice his skill. He wielded his sword with such mad fury that he died of exertion and the world was rid of him.

Apart from the ravaging of the countryside and the massacre of the people these raids led to the grave consequence of the demoralization of the people. The people lost the sense of values, and judgement. One day they took the oath of allegiance to one person and the other day they recanted and took the oath of allegiance to another person. Islam came to sit lightly on the people, and instead of fighting in the cause of God as enjoined by Islam, the people fought to seek worldly ends, a course repugnant to Islam.

That set both the sides thinking. According to the accounts that have come down to us, it is not clear what happened exactly after the failure of the raids undertaken by the forces of Muawiyah in the territory held by Ali. According to some authorities it was Ali who made overtures for peace. According to other authorities, it was Muawiyah who took the initiative in starting negotiations for peace. According to Tabari, the Caliphate was partitioned, and it was agreed that Muawiyah was to be the Caliph for Egypt and Syria, while Ali was to be the Caliph for the rest of the territories under the control of the Muslims. The details of such agreement are not available. It may be recalled that prior to the Battle of Siffin, Muawiyah had proposed such partition but Ali had not agreed thereto because he held such partition to be repugnant to Islam. Since then things had turned out to go in favor of Muawiyah, and according to the decision of the umpires, howsoever obtained, Muawiyah had manipulated to secure the sovereignty of the whole of the Muslim world. Muawiyah was not the man to lose the advantage that he had once secured. It appears to me that there was no regular agreement about the partition of the caliphate. The agreement was merely about a truce on the status quo basis "hereunder Muawiyah held Syria and Egypt, and the rest of the Muslim territories were under the control of Ali. This view gets support from the fact that a few months after this agreement, Muawiyah declared himself to be the Caliph for the entire Muslim world. If there had been a previous agreement for the partition of the caliphate Muawiyah could not so soon go back upon such an agreement and declare himself to be the Caliph for all the Muslim lands. According to the political thought that obtained at the time, the caliphate was indivisible and there could not be more than one Caliph. That is why in spite of the decision of the umpires in his favor Muawiyah had refrained from declaring himself as the Caliph so far. After the failure of his raids he made a truce to gain time and gather more strength. With the lapse of time the position of Ali grew weaker and that of Muawiyah grew stronger. By mid 660 C.E. Muawiyah saw that the position of Ali had become sufficiently weak and his best supporters like Abdullah b Abbas had forsaken him. At that stage be felt himself to be strong enough to declare himself as the Caliph. This declaration stunned Ali. He could not remain quiet at such declaration, and yet he was not strong enough to undertake military action against the pretender. At this stage Ali was the most distressed man, who did not know what to do. He felt that God was putting him to test, and as a true Muslim he decides to resign himself to the will of God.