The Prophetic Prophecy regarding Mu’awiyah etc

The prophesies of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) regarding the future events were to guide the people so that, as we said before, they free themselves from the cyclones of destruction by gaining awareness regarding the upcoming conspiracies and plots that could make them blind; and by seeking shelter with the Holy Progeny (a.s.) and by following their path, they could attain mental and spiritual peace and stay aloof of all sorts of flutter, lure and ignorance.

          The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) mentioned these prophecies at different time intervals, in different forms and at different occasions. At times, he described the characteristics of the future events with a general perspective before everyone, and named the time period beginning from his demise till the rise of the Imam e Asr (a.s.) as the time of conspiracies and exams, and warned the people of his time, and the people of the future, of keeping themselves away from these escapades, and at times, he spoke about a few specific events and subjects in order to warn the people regarding them.

          At times, he also named specific individuals and spoke about them with the intention of making the people aware and cautious so that they are able to choose the right path with the help of his prophesies, and do not become a victim of the deceits and plots of these historical conspirers.

          A few prophesies of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) regarding specific individuals, are those sayings that have been narrated from his holiness with reference to Ammar (r.a.), in which he has invited the people to select the path of Ammar.

          Apart from these individuals, such names have also been taken regarding whom the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) strictly warned the people from walking on their path.

          Pay attention to this narration:

Ibn e Abil Hadeed says: Ibn e Dezeel narrates from Abdullah Bin Umar, he narrates from Zaid bin Habab, who narrates from Alaa bin Jareer e Ambari, who narrates from Hakam bin Umair e Thumali – whose mother was the daughter of Abu Sufiyan, that one day, the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) faced his companions and said:

          ‘O Abu Bakr! If you become the Caliph, and this incident occurs, what will you do?’

          He replied: ‘I hope that this situation does not occur in any condition!’

          The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: ‘O Umar! What will you do if you become the Caliph?’

          He replied: ‘I would wish to be stoned because if such a condition occurs, I would be a victim of evil’.

          Prophet said: ‘O Othman! What would you do if you become the Caliph?’

          Othman replied: ‘I will eat myself and will feed others, distribute the wealth and not commit oppression’.

          The Holy Prophet said: ‘O Ali! How would you act if you become the Caliph?

          He replied: ‘I will eat as per my sustenance and power, will support my tribe (Muslims), and will distribute every single date and keep the sacred ones veiled.’

          The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: ‘Indeed, each one of you will soon govern and soon the Almighty will watch your deeds.’

          Then he said: ‘Mu’awiyah! What would you do when you become the Caliph?’

          He said: ‘Allah (s.w.t.) and His Messenger (p.b.u.h.) know better.’

Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: ‘You are the head and base of all the destructions and the key to all kinds of oppressions. You will consider the bad deeds as good and the good ones as bad. Such that the young will grow old and the old will grow much older. Your duration will be short but your oppressions will be great!

          Similarly, Ibn Dezeel narrates from Umar bin Awn, who narrates from Haithem, who narrates from Abu Falaj, who narrates from Amr bin Maymoon that he said:

          Abdullah bin Mas’ood said: How will you be when you observe such conspiracies in which the old, ripe age and young will grow older, and that temptation will spread between the people in such a way that it will be considered a Sunnah and when these conspiracies alter, it will be said that this act is wicked.

           It means that Mu’awiyah and his successors will bring such alterations in the religion that the religion will leave its actual path and when the duration of their reign will conclude, if someone attempts to remove these alterations, people will be so deeply attached to them that they will consider the removal of these alterations to be illegitimate; to such an extent that when Umar bin Adul Aziz eradicated the act of abusing Imam Ali (a.s.) from the pulpits, the people of Syria considered his decision to be unlawful.[1]

          In reply to the questions asked by the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.), that are mentioned in this narration, Abu Bakr wishes not to attain the power, Umar expresses his desire to be stoned and not attain the rule, as he will be entangled in evil in that case, and Othman speaks about eating and says: ‘I will eat myself and feed others’, and their words prove that they did not consider themselves capable of rule.

          And Imam Ali (a.s.) said: I will eat according to my sustenance and will support the Muslims and….

          And when he questioned Mu’awiyah, he ignored the answer and did not speak anything about his own character.

          This narration is quoted by Hakam bin Umair, who is the nephew of Mu’awiyah, and Umar’s son has quoted it from him through two persons.

          According to the narration of Umar’s son, as Umar did not consider himself capable of Caliphate, he said: ‘If only I would have been stoned and not given the Caliphate’.

          If only those Muslims who call themselves the followers of the Islamic ideology and the supporters of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) would have learned from these prophesies which have been mentioned in the Sunni books, and would not have sold the hereafter in exchange of this mortal world.

          The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.), who always spoke from the source of divine revelation, has mentioned his prophesies before all the Muslims for their great learning and understanding, and has exposed the true face of Mu’awiyah before everyone.