Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

34 The Battles of the Camel and Siffeeeen and the issue of arbitration
from the public treasnry of the Muslims on them, that he had
allocated grazing land for himself only, and other accusations and
criticisms by means of which Ibn Saba' managed to rally the thugs
against 'Uthmiin (&). Then he started inciting his followers to send
letters relaying temble news about their cities to people in other
provinces, so that people in all regions would think that the situation
everywhere had gotten so had that it could not get any worse. Those
who benefited from this situation were the Saba'is, because when the
people believed their propaganda, they would be able to light the
spark of fitnah in the Muslim society.60 'Uthmiin (&) realised that
there were plots in other provinces, and that the Ummab was facing a
bad time. He said: "By AUah, the millstone (of fitnah) will soon start
tuming, and it will be better for 'Uthmk if he dies and does not set it
in m~tion."~'
The place where Ibn Saba' found his niche was in Egypt. He
started organizing his campaign agajnst 'Uthmiin (&) there, urging
the people to go to Madinah and stir up unrest on the premise that
'Uthmk (&) had become caliph unlawfully by snatching it from
'Ali (&), who was the true heir of the Messenger of Allah (@)F2 He
deceived them by means of letters that he claimed to have received
from the senior Companions, inciting the people against 'Uthmk
(&)F3 However, when the Bedouin came to Madinah and met with
the Companions, they denied writing the letters that had been
attributed to them, and the Bedouins did not receive any
encouragement from them. They found that 'Uthmk (&) paid
attention to the rights of others, and he debated with them concerning
the accusations against him. He refuted their lies and explained that
his deeds were based on sincere intentions, until one of these
Bedouin, MSllik ibn al-Ashtar an-Nakha'i, said: "Perhaps it is a plot
that has been drawn up against him and