wounded by ‘Umar’s (May God be pleased with him) blows; they were waiting to take their revenge. For both their old religions had been rendered null and void and their old rule and sovereignty, the source of their pride, been swept away. Knowingly or unknowingly, they were emotionally in favour of seeking vengeance on Islamic rule. It was therefore said that some clever, scheming dissemblers like the Jews took advantage of that state of society. That is to say, it could have been averted by reforming the society and the various ideas of the time, not by discovering one or two troublemakers.
What was the true nature of the wars that started in the time of ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him)? What should we call those who took part in them, and those who died and those who killed?
Tabari, Ta’rikh al-‘Umam wa’l-Muluk, ii, 380; Abu Na’im, al-Dala’il, iii, 210, 211; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 370; Suyuti, Ta’rikh al-Khulafa’, 128; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya, vii, 131; al-‘Asqalani, al-Isaba, ii, 3; Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, 101; Suyuti, al-Durar al-Muntathira, 182, No: 462; al-‘Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, ii, 380.
Bayhaqi, Shu’ab al-Iman, i, 233. See also, Musnad, v, 234; al-Haythami, Majmu’ al-Zawa’id, x, 146; Ibn Hajar, al-Matalib al-‘Aliya, iii, 234; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 405, 406.