Rebellion and Civil Disobedience in Islam The Need for a Paradigm ...

Hajjaj and many rebels were killed. Al-Hajjaj executed some jurists such as Sa‘id Ibn al-Jubayr who was known for his erudition in Islamic jurisprudence.5) Zayd Ibn Ali, another member of the Prophet’s family, rebelled against theUmmayyad Caliph Hisham Ibn Abd al-Malik in Kufa in 122H (740) but was defeated,killed, and crucified. Abu Hanifah supported Zayd’s rebellion and provided Zayd with aconsiderable sum of money 39 . In fact, when the Umayyads ordered Abu Hanifa to assumea judicial position in Kufa, he refused to do so because this would have been a valuablesymbolic gesture in favor of the legitimacy of the Umayyads. As a result of his refusal,Abu Hanifa was mercilessly tortured but he never recanted his position.6) Yazid Ibn al-Walid Ibn Abd al-Malik led the first rebellion against the Umayyadsin their capital and locus of power in the Levant in 126H (744). The rebellion ended inkilling the notorious Umayyad Caliph al-Walid Ibn Yazid Ibn Abd al-Malik whoinflamed the religious feelings of the masses by his immoral iniquitous behavior. Aftergetting the pledge of allegiance of Muslims, Yazid declared that the political systemwould resuscitate the principle of shura (consultation) and the right of people tooverthrow the unjust Imam and participate actively in choosing the next Caliph. He alsodeclared the establishment of justice among people whether they were Muslims or non-Muslims. Yazid is considered the only Umayyad Caliph who has risen to power afterbeing freely chosen by the community 40 . He has not reached his position by heredity orusurpation but rather by bay‘ah and shura. He was named al-Naqes (the reducer) becausehe decreased the grants given to the Umayyad family from the public treasury.7) Muhammad a-Nafs al-Zakiyyah Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Hasan revolted against theAbassid Caliph al-Mansour in 144H (761). The Muslims in al-Hijaz pledged theirallegiance to al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah despite their preceding pledge to al-Mansour. WhenImam Malik was asked about the bay‘ah to al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah, he responded that it waslegal because the bay‘ah given to al-Mansour was obtained under duress and thereforewas invalid. Al-Mansour defeated al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah in al-Madinah and when the newsreached Muhammad’s brother Ibrahim in Iraq, he and his followers did not panic butrather insisted on fighting injustice till victory or martyrdom. Abu Hanifa who hadsupported the Abassids, because of the corruption and injustice of the Umayyadis, wasoutraged by al-Mansour’s brutality. When one of al-Mansour military commanders askedhim if he could repent after he had participated in killing rebels, Abu Hanifa replied thathe could, on the condition of abstaining from killing any more Muslim and sacrificing hislife if ordered to smash Ibrahim’s rebellion. Ibrahim was defeated and Abu Hanifa paidthe price of his sincerity and belief as he previously did with the Umayyads.39 There is disagreement as to why Abu Hanifa was not able to join the actual fighting. According to onereport, Abu Hanifa said that if he did not know that the people would betray Zayd and allow him to bekilled, he (Abu Hnaifa) would have joined Zayd. According to another report, Abu Hanifa was unable tojoin Zayd because of illness, and in yet another version, Abu Hanifa was unable to join the revolt becausehe was responsible for many trusts. Abu Hanifa asked the jurist Ibn Abi Layla to take over theresponsibility of the trusts, but Ibn Abi Layla refused. Unable to find anyone to take responsibility of thetrusts, Abu Hanifa had no choice but not to join the battle.40 It can be argued that Mu‘awiyah also reached power after the community agreed on him in ‘am‘aljama‘a. Evaluating what happened in that year is outside the scope of this booklet.21