Abu Musa al-Ash'ari: Difference between revisions

'''ʿAbd Allāh b. Qays''' (Arabic:{{iarabic|عبدالله بن قيس}}) (d. [[52]]/672) known as '''Abū Musā al-Ashʿarī''' ({{iarabic|أبوموسی الأشعري}}) was a [[Sahaba|companion]] of [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]]. He is mostly famous in historical sources because of the role he played in [[the Arbitration]] which took place after the [[Battle of Siffin]]. He was chosen as the arbitrator of Imam Ali's side. Imam (a) was not pleased with selecting Abu Musa as the arbitrator, but he had to accept it as he was forced by his soldiers. Consequently Abu Musa was tricked and deceived by [['Amr b. al-'As]] who was the arbitrator of [[Mu'awiya]].

'Abd Allah b. Qays' was originally from Ash'ar tribe from [[Yemen]], which itself was part of Qahtan tribe. Zabiyya, his mother, converted to Islam and passed away in [[Medina]].

The information on the time when Abu Musa converted to Islam is not accurate and confirmed. According to a number of reports, he visited [[Sa'id b. 'As b. Umayya]] in [[Mecca]] and became allegiant (halif) of him, and he converted to Islam, afterwards he accompanied other Muslims in their second migration to [[Abyssinia]] (Habasha). However, Ibn Sa'd believed Abu Musa was never an allegiant, and he returned to [[Yemen]] after converting to Islam. In addition, Musa b. 'Aqaba b. Ishaq and Abu Mash'ar and other biography writers did not mention Abu Musa's name among those who migrated to Abyssinia; which confirms the second notion.

Also [[Ahmad b. Hanbal]] quoted from the grandson of Abu Musa that, along with his tribe members, Abu Musa visited [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] three days after the [[battle of Khaybar]] and they received booties, despite the fact that they had not attended the battle.

According to another report, Abu Musa along with fifty members of his family set out for [[Medina]] from Zubayd in Yemen by a ship in 7/628-9. They were hit by a storm that pushed them toward [[Abyssinia]] where they met [[Ja'far b. Abi Talib]] and other [[Muhajirun]] (the immigrants). Then they went to Medina together which is the reason of regarding Abu Musa among Muhajirun. Meanwhile, the Jews in [[Khaybar]] accepted to submit to [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]].

Abu Musa was once appointed as the deputy of the commander of Muslims' army when [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] sent soldiers to suppress [[Hawazin]] tribes once more in [[Shawwal]] 8/630 then after the martyrdom of their leader, Abu Musa was in charge of Muslims' army and he managed to achieve victory. In the same year, Abu Musa and [[Mu'adh b. Jabal]] were in charge of teaching the [[Qur'an]] to people of [[Mecca]]. Also Abu Musa became the governor of [[Yemen]] in 10/631 before [[Hajjat al-Wida']].

Abu Musa became politically active in the time of the [['Umar b. al-Khattab]]. [[Mughira b. Shu'ba]] was replaced with Abu Musa as the governor of [[Basra]], who was the fourth appointed governor of this city by 'Umar b. al-Khattab. Abu Musa managed to rule over [[Basra]] for over 12 years, except for a short interval, when he was sent to [[Kufa]] to replace [[Ammar b. Yasir]]; but he was returned to Basra after a short time. Abu Musa was selected as the judge of Basra by 'Umar b. al-Khattab as well.

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari prepared as army and attacked [[Khuzistan]] and [[Fars]]. He managed to conquer cities after long fights and sieges. A number of the conquered cities were strongly fortified which needed to attack and disengage a number of times to conquer and sometimes to re-conquer.

Abu Musa remained the governor of [[Basra]] in the early years of Uthman's caliphate as it was recommended by [['Umar b. al-Khattab]]. Therefore, it is concluded that 'Umar b. al-Khattab regarded Abu Musa as a trustworthy person. Uthman added judgeship to Abu Musa's responsibilities. It seems right that Abu Musa was Emir of Basra six years after the death of 'Umar b. al-Khattab as it is reported that he was dismissed due to complaints of people in 29/649-50.

When Abu Musa was removed from his position, he refused to accept financial support from the caliph and settled in [[Kufa]]. After five years, people of Kufa led by [[Yazid b. Qays]] and [[Malik al-Ashtar al-Nakha'i]] staged an uprising and forced [[Sa'id b. 'As]] out of Kufa, then Abu Musa was chosen as the governor of the city. As Sayf stated, rioters intended to throw [[Uthman]] down as well, but Abu Musa defended him and said that he would accept to be the governor under one condition: people would take oath of allegiance to Uthman again. This incident delighted Uthman in a way that Abu Musa remained as the governor of Kufa to the end of caliphate of Uthman.

When [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] became the [[caliph]] of Muslims, Abu Musa sent a letter to him and informed him of people's [[oath of allegiance]] to him. While Imam 'Ali (a) removed all of Uthmans' deputies and officials, despite his own will, he accepted to keep Abu Musa in his position as [[Malik al-Ashtar]] recommended. However, later it was revealed that Abu Musa was not willing to take oath of allegiance to Imam 'Ali (a). When Abu Musa was the governor of Kufa, he gave a comment on disagreements between [[Talha]] and [[Zubayr]] with Imam (a) as he said: "The caliph must be a person who give orders and dominate."

When Imam 'Ali (a) set out for [[Basra]] to face the rise of [[Talha]] and [[Zubayr]], he stopped in Dhi Qar, near [[Kufa]] and sent [[Muhammad b. Ja'far]] and [[Muhammad b. Abi Bakr]] to Kufa in order to make peace, if necessary prepare warfare and convince people to join the army. While Abu Musa was responsible to prepare soldiers for Imam's army he said: "Staying in house and refusing to attend war would be right and joining war is a mundane action; we took oath of allegiance to Uthman but those who murdered him are not punished yet. Attending a war is not a priority now." He even threatened the messenger of Imam 'Ali (a) to imprison and kill him. The second time, Imam (a) sent [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] and [[Malik al-Ashtar]] to Kufa, but Abu Musa referred to a hadith that he narrated from [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]], based on which the situation was similar to an insurrection and people should remain waiting for the truth to be revealed.

Later Imam 'Ali (a) sent a letter by his son, [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]], to remove Abu Musa from Kufa. Abu Musa delivered a speech to people of Kufa and said the disagreement between [['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]] with [[Talha]] and [[Zubayr]] is [[Quraysh]]-related fight and others should stay away from it. When Imam Al-Hasan (A) arrived in Kufa, people supported him to throw Abu Musa out of palace and they prevented him from plundering public properties. Based on a narration, Abu Musa fled afterwards, and was allowed to live without punishment.

Abu Musa is significantly famous in historical resources for the political role he played in [[the Arbitration]] after [[the battle of Siffin]] which intentionally or unintentionally led to seizure of power by [[Banu Umayyad]]. When [[Mu'awiya]]'s army were facing an eminent defeat in the battle of Siffin, [['Amr b. al-'As]] tricked a number of Imam's soldiers to stop fighting, as a result the fate of the battle was supposed to be concluded by the Arbitration. People of [[Syria]] elected 'Amr b. al-'As as their arbitrator. [[Ash'ath b. Qays]] and some others, who later came to be called [[Mariqun]], suggested Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as the arbitrator from [[Kufa]]. But [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] suggested [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] or [[Malik al-Ashtar]]. Imam 'Ali's (a) recommendations were opposed by Ash'ath and his friends; they refused Malik al-Ashtar on the grounds that he is pro-war, and they rejected Ibn 'Abbas on the grounds that 'Amr b. al-'As is from the Mudari tribes so his interlocutor should be Yemeni.

There are two reasons behind selection of Abu Musa as the arbitrator: First, he was from [[Yemen]] and second, he refused to attend the [[battle of Siffin]]. Abu Musa stayed in [['Urd]] and advised other people not to attend the battle; but when he was informed of the cessation of fight, he thanked God for that. Then when he was told that Imam's soldiers chose him as the arbitrator, he accepted to enter Imam's camp. However, Imam (a) mentioned contradictory behavior of Abu Musa toward the battle of Siffin.  

Hence, Abu Musa al-'Ash'ari and [['Amr b. al-'As]] were chosen to decide the fate of the battle and judge the situation which would make peace between the parties for almost a year. After days of negotiations, Abu Musa proposed to remove both [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] and [[Mu'awiya]] from [[caliphate]] and appoint [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] as the caliph of Muslims which was confirmed by 'Amr b. al-'As. However, when they decided to announce the verdict, 'Amr b. al-'As tricked Abu Musa to begin the talk. As it was agreed between both of them, Abu Musa announced the removal of [['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]] from caliphate, while on the other hand 'Amr b. al-'As refused to remove [[Mu'awiya]], and he announced Mu'awiya as the caliph. When Abu Musa was deceived, he cursed 'Amr b. al-'As and went to [[Mecca]].  

As it is concluded, Abu Musa was a weak-willed, narrow-minded and unwise man. Imam 'Ali (a) was forced to accept Abu Musa as the arbitrator; as [[Ibn 'Abbas]] stated Imam believed Abu Musa was never superior to any other as the arbitrator.

In 40/661 Mu'awiya sent [[Busr b. Artat]] to take oath of allegiance from those who did not accept the result of [[the Arbitration]], which terrified Abu Musa; however, he was not harmed. Later Abu Musa took oath of allegiance to Mu'awiya and visited him in [[Syria]] occasionally, but [[Mu'awiya]] generally ignored him.

Personality of Abu Musa has been described differently in historical and narrative sources of [[Sunni]] and [[Shi'ite]] Muslims. According to a number of narrations, Abu Musa and his family are praised in a Quranic verse. He was regarded among the six knowledgeable companions of [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]]. Hence, he was a source of acquiring [[fiqh]] laws in the time of [['Umar b. al-Khattab]].

Abu Musa al-'Ash'ari narrated a great deal of [[hadiths]] from Prophet Muhammad (s) in different topics. Also al-Dhahabi regarded him as a [[Muhaddith]] (hadith narrator) and among few people who recited the [[Quran]] for [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]]. A large number of narrators have narrated hadiths from Abu Musa including [[Anas b. Malik]], [[Abu Sa'id al-Khudri]], [[Abu Imama al-Bahili]], [[Burayda b. Husayb|Burayda al-Aslami]], [[Abd al-Rahman b. Nafi']], [[Sa'id b. Musayyib]], [[Zayd b. Wahb]] and others.