Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Ta^lib 549
al-An@ in charge of Madinah, according to some reports,' but we
do not know how long Ibn Haneef remained in that position. It seems
that his governorship lasted for more than one year, since it was
narrated that he was in charge of Madinah in 37 AH.^ After
dismissing Sahl ibn Haneef, 'Ali (&) appointed Tamh ibn al-
'AbbG. Later, he appointed Abu Ayyoob al-An& and he remained
the govemor of Madinah until 40 AH, when an anny sent from Syria
by Mu'iwiyah and led by Bisr ibn Art& arrived in Madinah." Abn
Ayyoob fled from Madinah and went to join 'Ali (&) in ~ufah."
Thus Madinah slipped from the control of 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib (&)
and came under the control of Mu'iwiyah. So at the time of '~li
(&), Madinah changed from being the seat of the caliphate to being
one of the provinces, and political events began to take place far
away from it. Hence we find that the historical sources ignored it
during that period, until Mu'Zwiyah's army managed to capture it."
1.3. Bahrain and Oman
When 'Uthmin (&) was martyred, Bahrain belonged to the
emirate of Basra, and 1bn.'kr used to appoint some of his workers
to govern it. While 'Ali (&) was the caliph, he appointed a number
of governors in charge of Bahrain, one of the most important of
whom was 'Umar ibn Abi Salamah.I3 He set out from Madinah with
'Ali (*) during his journey to Iraq, then 'Ali (&) sent him to
govem I3ahrainI4 for a period of time. Later, he was summoned to
accompany 'Ali in Iraq. Other employees of 'Ah in Bahrain were
Qudiimah ibn al-'Ajlsn al-~n~2ri'~ and an-Nu'& ibn al-'Ajlk al-
Ans%.'"~li also appointed 'Uhaydull2h ibn 'AbbL to govem
Bahrain;" he was the govemor of Yemen, so perhaps Bahrain and
Najd also came under his governorship at that time. This may be
understood from what at-Tabar2ni said, and what Khaleefah ibn
Khayyit said may be understood on the basis that he did not know