The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

;
256 'ATJ [chap. XXXVI.
A.H. 36.
'All's
position at
Kufa weak
strength of
Mu'avviya's
at Damascus.
the aged man in time of trouble, am responsible for his
death." From his retirement he watched the struggle at
Al-Basra; and when 'All proved victorious, repaired at
once to Damascus, and presented himself before Mu'awiya,
In consequence of his unfriendly attitude towards 'Othman,
Mu'awiya at first received him coldly. In the end, however,
the past was condoned and friendship restored. Thenceforward
'Amr was the trusted counsellor of Mu'awiya.
This coalition, and the false step of 'All in recalling
Keis from Egypt, materially strengthened Mu'awiya's hands.
The success of 'All at Al-Basra had also this advantage
for Mu'awiya, that it removed Talha and Az-Zubeir, his
only other competitors, from the field. The position of
'All, again, as one of concession to the Arab faction, was
fraught with peril. While refusing ostensibly to identify
himself with the murderers of 'Othman, it was virtually
their cause that he had fought ; and therefore equally the
cause of the Arab tribes against Koreish and the aristocracy
of Islam. And 'All might have foreseen that the socialistic
element in this unnatural compromise must, sooner or
later, inevitably come into collision with the interests of
the Caliphate.
The authority of Mu'awiya rested on a firmer basis ;
his
attitude was bolder, his position more consistent. He had
from the first resisted the levelling demands of the faction
hostile to 'Othman. He was, therefore, now justified in
pursuing these to justice, while, at the same time, in so
doing, he asserted the supremacy of Koreish, The influence
of the " Companions " had always been paramount in Syria
while the Arab element there was itself largely recruited
from the aristocratic tribes of the south ;—the result being
that the Bedawln were by Mu'awiya held thoroughly in
check. The cry for vengeance, inflamed by the gory
emblems still hanging from the pulpit, was taken up by
high and low ; while the temporising attitude of 'All was
in every man's mouth proof of complicity with the regicides.
And though many may have dreaded 'All's vengeance in
the event of his success, the general feeling throughout
Syria was a burning desire to avenge the murder of his
ill-fated predecessor.
Still, whatever the motives at work elsewhere, the contest