The clouds were louring, and the horizon of the unfortunate Caliph darkening all around.
CHAPTER XXXI.
DOMESTIC EVENTS DURING THE CALIPHATE OF OTHMAN. HIS GROWING UNPOPULARITY.
Discontent at Kûfa and Bussorah.
Kûfa and Bussorah at this period exercised an influence on the destinies of Islam hardly less potent than that of the Court of Medîna itself. The turbulent and factious atmosphere of these cities became rapidly and dangerously charged with sentiments of disloyalty and rebellion, and an unwise change of governors aggravated the evil.
Sád reinstated in the government of Kûfa; A.H. XXXIV. A.D. 645,
Moghîra did not long enjoy the power to which the weakness of Omar had raised him. He was removed by Othmân shortly after his accession; and, to fill the vacancy, in obedience (as some say) to the dying wish of Omar, Sád, the conqueror of Medâin, was reinstated in his former office. The issue was again unfortunate. To provide for his luxurious living, Sád, shortly after his appointment, took an advance of money from the chancellor of his treasury, Ibn Masûd; who, by and by, became importunate for its repayment. A heated altercation ensued, and Sád swore angrily at Ibn Masûd. The factious city ranged itself, part with the great warrior, and part with the quondam slave. The quarrel reached the ears of Othmân, who was much displeased, and recalled Sád before he had been a year at Kûfa. but shortly superseded by Welîd ibn Ocba,As successor, the Caliph appointed Welîd ibn Ocba, a brave warrior, but suspected of intemperance, and withal a uterine brother of his own. To make the choice the more unfortunate, Welîd was son of that Ocba who, when taken prisoner in the battle of Bedr and about to be put to death, exclaimed in the bitterness of his soul, ‘Who will care for my little children?’ and was answered by the Prophet, ‘Hell-fire!’ The words were not forgotten, and faction was careful now to turn them to the worst account. Nevertheless, Welîd was popular; and as, for several years, he directed successive campaigns in the east with gallantry and vigour, he managed thus to divert the restless spirits of his people from discontent at home. But in the end, the unruly populace was too strong for him. A murder took place, and sentence of death was executed at the city gate against three of the culprits.[450] who was deposed for inebriety. A.H. XXX. A.D. 651.Their relatives resented the act of justice, and lay in wait to find ground of accusation against the governor, whose habits gave them ready opportunity to attain their object. Charges of intemperance were repeatedly laid against him, and as often dismissed by Othmân, because wanting in legal proof. At last his enemies succeeded in detaching from his hand the signet-ring of office while he slept (as they said) from the effects of a debauch, and carried it off in triumph to Medîna. But still worse, it was established that Welîd had on one occasion conducted the morning prayers in such a state of inebriation that, having come to the end of the proper service, he went on, without stopping, to commence another. The scandal was great; and the majesty of Islam must be vindicated. Welîd was recalled to Medîna, scourged according to law, and deposed.[451]
Abu Mûsa deposed at Bussorah. A.H. XXIX. A.D. 650.
At Bussorah, too, things were going from bad to worse. Abu Mûsa had now been many years governor, when the restless citizens became impatient of his rule. He had been preaching to the pampered soldiery the virtue of enduring hardness as good soldiers of the faith, and therefore of going forth on foot to war. When the next expedition was ready to start, they watched to see whether he would himself set the example. And as his ample baggage issued forth, winding in a long string of mules from the approaches to the castle, they set upon him, crying out, ‘Give us of these beasts to ride upon, and walk thou on foot, a pattern of the hardness thou preachest unto us.’ Then they repaired to Medîna, and complained that their governor had drained the land of its wealth, pampered the Coreish, and tyrannised over the Arab tribes. Instead of checking with promptitude their petulance and insubordination, Othmân gave it new life by deposing Abu Mûsa on these vague complaints, and appointing an obscure citizen whom they desired, to be their governor. Found unequal to the post, this man was deposed, and a youthful cousin of the Caliph, Ibn Aámir,[452] promoted in his room. Ibn Aámir appointed governor.When tidings of his nomination reached Bussorah, Abu Mûsa told the people: ‘Now ye shall have a taxgatherer to your hearts’ content, rich in cousins, aunts, and uncles; he will flood you with his harpies!’ And so, in truth, it turned out; for he soon filled all the local offices and the commands in Persia with creatures of his own. But in other respects he proved an able ruler, and took a leading part in the struggle now close at hand.
Saîd governor of Kûfa. A.H. XXX. A.D. 651.
The government of Kûfa, vacated by the deposition of Welîd, together with the whole province of Mesopotamia, was conferred by Othmân upon another young and untried kinsman, Saîd ibn al Aás. His father was killed fighting against the Prophet at Bedr; and the boy, thus left an orphan, had been brought up by Omar, and was eventually sent by him to the wars in Syria. Receiving a good account of his breeding and prowess, Omar summoned him to his court, and gave him two Arab maidens to wife.[453] This youth, now promoted to the most critical post in the empire, was not only without experience in the art of governing, but was vainly inflated with the pretensions of the Coreish. Accustomed in Syria to the discipline of Muâvia’s rule, he wrote to Othmân, on reaching Kûfa, that license reigned there; that noble birth passed for nothing; and that the Bedouins were away, beyond control, with the bit between their teeth. His final address as governor was a blustering harangue, in which he glibly talked of crushing the sedition and arrogance of the men of Kûfa with a rod of iron. Discontent gains ground at Kûfa.Countenanced by the Caliph in his vain career, he fomented discontent by advancing to invidious distinction the Coreishite nobility, and treating with contumely the great body of the citizens. ‘One Coreishite succeedeth another in this government,’ they said;—‘the last no better than the first. It is but “out of the frying-pan into the fire.”’ The under-current of faction gained daily in strength and volume. But the vigorous campaigns of Saîd in northern Persia, for he was an active soldier, served for a time to occupy men’s minds, and to stay the open exhibition of the rebellious spirit.