Religious occasions provide an opportunity to revisit history with a fresh perspective, free from rigid judgments of right and wrong. Instead, they encourage a deeper understanding of past events and their lasting impact, helping us recognise the forces that have shaped societies over time.
In The Great Discord, Taha Hussein highlights the assassination of Caliph Uthman bin Affan in 656 AD as a turning point that fractured the Islamic nation. This event, he argues, led to deep divisions and the breakdown of justice, triggering conflicts such as the Battle of the Camel, Siffin, arbitration and Nahrawan, which ultimately weakened Ali Ibn Abi Talib’s rule.
Hussein describes the chaos of Nahrawan, where Iraqis fought among themselves, consumed by uncertainty and despair. When Ali called for a march on Syria, his commanders hesitated, making excuses about depleted weapons and exhaustion — an early sign of a fractured and disillusioned society.
This divide, Hussein suggests, echoed historical rivalries, as if the old Persian and Roman empires had found new battlegrounds within the Muslim world. More significantly, Iraq itself became internally divided. Ali’s decision to relocate the capital from Medina to Kufa underscored the role of Iraq, particularly Kufa, in the events leading to Uthman’s downfall. Many of those involved in the uprising were from Kufa, and the city remained a centre of opposition until the fall of the Umayyad dynasty.
While many historians emphasise Uthman’s assassination as the key moment of division, earlier events, such as the murder of Caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab by Abu Lu’lu’a, suggest a longer history of internal strife. These acts of violence highlight a fundamental flaw in the prevailing political mindset of the time: the belief that the sword was the ultimate arbiter of justice. But relying on force, rather than dialogue, only deepened divisions.
The absence of alternative solutions left dissenters with no recourse but bloodshed. When the people of Medina opposed Uthman’s rule, they found no means of resolution other than storming his house and assassinating him. Had peaceful alternatives existed, they might have been pursued. Instead, a cycle of violence was set in motion — one that would continue long after his death.
At the Battle of Siffin, Qurans were raised on the tips of spears, symbolising an appeal to divine law. But in reality, the power lay not in the scripture, but in the hands that wielded it. The reliance on force over reason led to a prolonged era of conflict, where fathers fought sons and brothers turned against each other.
Taha Hussein recounts that when Ali surveyed the dead after the Battle of the Camel, he lamented: "I complain to you, O Allah, of my agony and my affliction; I have avenged my soul, but at the cost of my kin." This sorrow reflected his growing realisation that violence had become inevitable. He later observed: "I once believed that rulers oppressed their people, but I have learned that people can oppress their rulers." Such divisions extended beyond battlefields. At Nahrawan, Adi Ibn Hatim fought alongside Ali. Iraq, weakened by internal discord, became vulnerable to Umayyad manipulation, and the subsequent Abbasid revolution emerged as a reaction to Umayyad oppression. The shift of the imperial capital from Damascus to Baghdad under Caliph Al Mansur was a direct response to this power struggle.
Centuries later, the poet Abu Al Ala al Ma‘arri reflected on the transience of power: "If Al Mansur were resurrected, he would cry out: O City of Peace, do not find peace! For the Hashemites have relinquished their throne, and power now belongs to the Daylamites. Had I foreseen this fate, I would not have slain Abu Muslim."
The lesson from history is clear: when dialogue is absent, violence becomes the default. By revisiting the past with an open mind, we gain insights that remain relevant today — reminding us that history, if not understood, is bound to repeat itself.
The author is a poet
Translated by Badr al Dhafari. The original version of this article was published in Oman Arabic newspaper on March 15, 2025
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