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- Title
İbn Ebu'l-Hadîd'e Göre Ali b. Ebû Tâlib'in Siyasî Kararları.
- Authors
SONAY, Ahmet
- Abstract
One of the most important issues that distinguishes the Baghdādī branch of the Mu'tazila from the Baṣran branch is their view on 'Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661). Basra branch accepts the order of virtue of the first four caliphs as their order of coming to office, while the Baghdad branch considers the first three caliphs legitimate, but considers Ali more virtuous than them. The Baghdādī Mu'tazilīs who outspokenly defended this idea were Abū Ja'far al-Iskāfī (d. 240/854), Abū al- Qāsim al-Ka'bī (d. 319/931) and Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd (d. 656/1258). Among them, Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd was renowned as "the greatest scholar of the Mu'tazila" and was considered one of the last representatives of this school. He ardently defended 'Alī's superiority in his commentary on Nahj al-Balāgha, the famous collection of Ali's sermons, letters and wisdom sayings. In his defense, he rebutted some criticisms about 'Alī's political decisions from his school's point of view. Many items of Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd's rebuttal are worthy of analysis in terms of their content, style and approach. This article aims to present a detailed account of Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd's aforementioned refutations. In addition to the descriptive method, the interpretative method was also employed in the article. Although Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd did not consider Ali's infallibility necessary (wājib), unlike Imamiyya, he accepted it. Therefore, he responded to the criticisms directed at Ali, starting from the point of Ali's innocence. According to Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd: (a) After the death of the Prophet, 'Alī insisted on becoming the new leader of the Muslim community. He did not act hastily to assume the caliphate because he was not expecting any opposition to that. However, when the events took a different turn, he did not escalate the situation, rather accepted the status quo. (b) 'Alī also did the right thing by participating in 'Umar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb's (d. 23/644) electoral shūrā. This was an opportunity for him to become the next caliph, and reinstitute a system in accordance with the Qur'ānic principles and sunna of the Prophet. (c) It was also not an error when 'Alī decided to stay in Medina during the events of 'Uthmān's murder (d. 35/656). He played an active role in dissuading the rebels from their attempt to kill 'Uthmān, but he was in no position to know that his activity would be used against him later by the Umayyads who accused 'Alī of being complicit in 'Uthmāns's murder. (d) 'Alī took the caliphate after 'Uthmān because of his popularity among the people. In this way, he managed to prevent an unqualified person to occupy the seat of the caliphate. (e) When the Battle of Camel broke out, those who demanded justice and opposed 'Alī were in error. (f) When 'Alī became the new caliph, his decision to remove Mu'āwīya (d. 60/680) from the governorship of Syria was correct. This is because Mu'āwīya would have refused to accept 'Alī's leadership even had he stayed in office as a governor. 'Alī understood that the conflict would end only through fighting, so he did not lose time in marching against Mu'āwīya. (g) During the battle he abided by the sharī'a and allowed the Syrian army to access water. (h) It was not 'Alī, but those defectors in his army who obliged him to end the fighting through arbitration. (i) When 'Alī agreed to sign the Ṣiffīn ceasefire agreement and did not use his title amīr al-mu'minīn, he followed the Prophet's example since the latter also refrained from using his title during the Ḥudaybiyya agreement. (j) 'Alī also cannot be blamed for those among his supporters, such as the poet al-Najāshī, who defected and joined the ranks of Mu'āwīya. The motivations for the defectors were either to attain worldly gains or to escape from punishment for the crimes which they had committed. (k) When Mu'āwīya managed to conquer Egypt, 'Alī's governors of the province, Qays b. Sa'd (d. 60/680) or Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr (d. 38/658), did nothing for which they could be blamed. (l) And finally, 'Alī never had guards to protect him because he was never afraid of being assassinated. Although Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd took Ali's innocence as a basis while presenting these views, he did not make inconsistent comments in general and did not say things contrary to historical facts. Therefore, it is necessary to acknowledge historical value of his views in question.
- Subjects
MUSLIMS; ISLAMIC law; MUHAMMAD, Prophet, d. 632; CALIPHATE; ARBITRATION &; award; CRIME; DEFECTORS
- Publication
KADER, 2021, Vol 19, Issue 1, p95
- ISSN
2602-2710
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.18317/kaderdergi.917058