From The Prophet (s) to Yazid: What Went Wrong - Mizan Institute

Muawiyah made the most of the martyrdom of Imam Ali (as), and quickly took complete power after the ceasefire with Imam Hasan (as), becoming the undisputed caliph of the Muslims for the next twenty years. Bani Umayyah now had total power and to no one’s surprise, Yazid was made successor to Muawiyah, and the rest is history. Ashura could now be seen in the horizon.

Although the Battle of Nahrawan against the Khawarij wasn’t a big deal and they were easily defeated by Imam Ali’s army, yet strategically, it was a big problem; after this battle, the army of Imam Ali (as) was no longer interested in fighting Muawiyah despite the imam (as) pushing for it as hard as he could. The sudden martyrdom of the imam (as) made matters much worse, and as a result, the uncontested power of Muawiyah was cemented.

The Battle of Siffin can be seen as the natural outcome of the Battle of Jamal. The Battle of Jamal paved the way for those who were enemies of Islam to now have an excuse to fight the caliph of the Muslims, even if they were absolutely inferior to Imam Ali (as) when it came to companionship of the prophet (s). The worst part of this battle was the imposed arbitration that led to the added strength to Muawiyah and his rule.

The first of its kind, the Battle of Jamal was a grave mistake that opened the door to civil conflict among the Muslims. Till then, the Muslims had never experienced such a phenomenon, but this battle proved that it was ‘okay’ to fight the caliph of the Muslims, something totally unacceptable during the time of the previous three caliphs.

Arguably one of the most impactful incidents in early Islamic history, the assassination of Uthman opened up a whole new chapter therein. It became the excuse for ensuing civil strife and the root of all the problems Imam Ali (as) had to deal with once he became caliph. Imam Ali (as) himself had warned that this assassination would have such repercussions, but it only fell on deaf ears.

History is filled with different accounts and stories of some of the unacceptable things that took place during the rule of Uthman at the hands of the Bani Umayyah. To mention some examples, the laws of God were trampled, unqualified individuals were put in positions of power, great companions of the prophet (s) were hurt and even expelled from Madinah, and the public treasury of the Muslims was unlawfully and unequally distributed.

For the third time, the caliphate was given to other than Imam Ali (as) through a six-person council he was very critical of. This time was different than previous times though, because Uthman was of the Bani Umayyah himself and as a result of this selection, the Bani Umayyah became stronger than ever.

Muawiyah wasn’t a normal individual and everyone knew it. We can see how he had a huge impact on the history of Islam through different stories he was directly or indirectly involved in. One of the mistakes was that he was given relative power during the caliphate of the second caliph. Without a doubt, this relative power is what slowly evolved into ultimate uncontested power.

If power was taken from its rightful owners in the story of Saqifah, and according to the second caliph, the allegiance given in that event was on the spur of the moment and could have had dangerous outcomes, why was the same mistake repeated after the first caliph? Didn’t the Muslims have enough time to ‘figure things out’ when it was time to choose the next caliph?

The first step for things to end up in the wrong hands, is for them to not end up in the right ones. It isn’t the case that from the first day, power ended up in the hands of Bani Umayyah, but rather, according to the Shi’a perspective, it was kept away from those rightfully entitled to it in the story of Saqifah, and this in turn slowly paved the way for it to end up in the hands of Bani Umayyah.

The main reason the massacre of Ashura took place is because the likes of Yazid were in power. The question that arises is, how was it that such an individual, who was from the Bani Umayyah, was sitting in the place of the prophet (s) as caliph? Hadn’t the prophet (s) warned the Muslim nation that the Bani Umayyah are to never rule over the Muslims? What happened and what went wrong?