by Ann Williams
BLOODY REVOLT
While Emperor Nero was throwing Christians and Jews alike to the lions, violence was flaring up in Judae. There was a conflict in Caesarea between Jews and Gentiles over activities that had been taking place in the synagogue. There was a public outcry when a Gentile offered a pagan sacrifice next to the entrance of the synagogue, causing the authorities in Jerusalem to ban the act of sacrifices. Florus, the governor from Caesarea, entered Jerusalem with troops and took a large amount of gold from the temple treasury. When people gathered to try and stop them, Florus simply unleashed his troops on the innocent civilians causing the death of more than 3,500 people. Hundreds of women and children were raped, whipped and even crucified. The reaction was so strong, that mobs swarmed the streets and forced the legionnaires out of their city.
Meanwhile, taking the Roman garrison by surprise, the Zealots occupied the Masada fortress. From here they managed to distribute large amounts of weapons, and due to the frenzy raised by the revolt even the nonpolitical Pharisees joined the Zealot movement by their hundreds.
Violence even mounted within the Zealot group itself when Eleazar, a Zealot leader, who had ordered the slaughter of all Roman prisoners remaining in the city, assassinated the Zealot leader Menahem. At this point the revolt reached its climax.
Hearing of the violence against fellow Romans in Jerusalem, the Gentiles in Caesarea fought against the Jews, and within a single day 20,000 Jews were slaughtered, regardless of age or sex. This slaughter was repeated in other parts of the empire, until an estimated 50,000 were killed in Alexandria alone. Literally the land was running with blood.
Nero acted quickly, ordering his leading general, Vespasian, to end the Jewish problem once and for all. Vespasian’s army numbered more than 50,000 men and together they took several towns by force, destroying Gamla completely, where the Zealot movement was originally formed. Men were either crucified or executed, while the women and children were sold into slavery. Once again Galilee was in the hands of the Romans. Vespasian went on to conquer the coast and the lands east of Judea, and then took Jericho and Emmaus, which guarded the eastern and western approaches to Jerusalem, leaving the city isolated without any strongholds.
Vespasian became emperor in AD 68 due to the suicide of Nero. He handed over his duties as general to his son Titus, who was then left to finish the campaign against Jerusalem.
In the city of Jerusalem the situation was chaotic. Zealots had converged on the city, taking control of Temple Mount and appointing their own priest. When the Sadducee priests tried to resist, the Zealots responded by killing them along with 8,500 of their supporters. Jerusalem was in a complete state of confusion and terror under the reign of the Zealots. Titus and his army did not arrive in Jerusalem until the spring of AD 70. However, even the presence of his army in the city didn’t stop the killing between the rival Jewish factions. They killed for food, they killed for money and they killed if anyone even contemplated surrender. Many of those who did surrender were crucified outside the walls of the city so that anyone who was thinking of turning against the Zealots could watch their fellow men die in agony. Eventually famine took its toll on Jerusalem, and it is estimated that more than 600,000 bodies were thrown out of the city.
At the end of the revolt the Jews’ holy city and Temple were completely destroyed. A few of the remaining Zealots took refuge at Herod’s fortress of Masada, hoping to outlast the Romans. Titus’s legion built a fortified wall 20m (6ft) high and more than 3km (2 miles) in length around the fortress. However, the Zealots felt safe in their stronghold and Herod had left extensive storehouses filled with food and water, so they were able to stay there for a long period of time. Over the next seven months, the Romans built a siege ramp against the western side of the mountain. When the ramp was complete a battering ram was hoisted to the top, and the Roman soldiers rammed a hole into the side of the fortress wall. Still the Zealots fought back by fortifying their walls with timber, but the Romans simply set these on fire.
That night the Zealots, along with their leader, Eleazar from Gamla, had a meeting and argued that the only course of action was a mass suicide pact. They knew what the Romans would do to their women and children if they succeeded in breaking into their fortress, and rather than serve anyone other than God, they were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Every single man killed his family, while ten more were chosen to kill the Jewish soldiers. They chose one out of the ten to kill the remaining Zealots, and then he took his own life, and in so doing the band of revolutionists had the last word and stole victory over the Romans. Only two old women and five children survived the revolt to tell the world their horrific tale.
MODERN-DAY SICARII
The city of Medellin in Colombia has been documented as being one of the most dangerous cities in America. Living there are a modern-day equivalent of the Sicarii, an army of hitmen or ‘sicarios’, drawn from the poor neighbourhoods in the outer reaches of the city. A drug trafficker named Pablo Escobar formed these squads of hitmen, and in a city of two million, there were an estimated 4,000 violent deaths in 2005. The sicario philosophy was that it was better to live fast and die young, and taking advantage of this, Escobar used these desperate men to do his dirty work, wiping out rival drug dealers, politicians, judges, policemen or indeed anyone that crossed his path.
Ali Ibn Abi Talib
He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.
Ali ibn Abi Talib
Ali ibn Abi Talib was an early Islamic leader who was born in Mecca in the Hijaz region of central western Arabia, c.599. Ali was a direct cousin of the Holy Prophet, Muhammad, and he was raised by him and brought up like his own son. He lived in an atmosphere of virtue and piety that was to have a lasting effect on the young boy. He grew with a passionate love for truth and Allah and later proved to be a fearless fighter.
Ali truly loved the Holy Prophet as his own father and would do anything for him without bounds. One night when the Holy Prophet was due to leave for Medina, they discovered that his house was surrounded by bloodthirsty men of the Quraish. The Prophet asked Ali if he would sleep in his bed and cover for him while he crept stealthily away. Ali was only too pleased to do this for his beloved Muhammad, and he was even more thrilled that between them they had succeeded in outwitting the Quraish who were waiting to kill the Prophet.
The following morning when the Quraish realized they had been outwitted by a young boy, they decided to make him pay with his life for the part he had played. However, Ali stood unnerved by the threat of death and, shocked by his courage, the Quraish decided to let him go. Ali wanted to follow the Holy Prophet to Medina, but before he could do this he was given the dangerous job of returning all the goods and properties which had been entrusted to Muhammad for safekeeping, to their original owners. Ali also survived this risky mission and then set off for Medina to join the Prophet.
Medina was a small community of Muslim immigrants who were at first extremely poor. They had no land, no houses and basically lived on the charity of the Madinans who had converted to Islam. Ali lived among the peasants and shared in their poverty and hardships.
Ali first proved himself as a soldier in the year 624, when he fought at the Battle of Badr. The emigration of the Holy Prophet to Medina had turned the enemies from Mecca more hostile, and they were constantly thinking how they could overthrow him and put an end to Islam. The Battle of Badr was the most important of the Islamic battles of Destiny and for the first time the followers of the new faith were put to a serious test. This battle laid the foundation of the Islamic State and made the Muslims a force to be reckoned with.
Although Ali already had a very close tie with Muhammad, following his part in the Battle of Badr and his ultimate success, the Holy Prophet offered his daughter, Fatima, to Ali in marriage. She was his youngest and favourite daughter, and Ali realized what a great honour this was. They raised two sons, Hasan and
Hussain, both of whom the Holy Prophet loved as his own sons.
Ali stood firm in his support of Muhammad during the years of persecution of Muslims in Mecca and for the ten years that he led the community in Medina, Ali was extremely active in his cousin’s armies. He led parties of warriors on raids, carrying messages and obeying the Prophet’s orders. Ali became a person of authority and standing within the Muslim community and his skill with a sword put fear in the heart of his enemies.
During the battle of Ohud, Ali stood bravely beside the Prophet. However, the battle did not go well because Muslim archers had left one of the passes undefended, and soon the soldiers were running in fear. A rumour spread quickly that the Messenger of Allah had been killed, and in the midst of all the confusion the Prophet fell into a deep pit that the enemy had covered with twigs and grass. Ali, with no regard for his own safety, pulled him out with the aid of two fellow soldiers. Ali himself had received 17 wounds in this battle, but he and his faithful Fatima tended the wounds of his Prophet before tending to his own needs.
After the fifth year of fighting, all the enemies of Islam joined together and led an enormous army against Medina. The Holy Prophet started to take precautions and ordered that a deep, wide trench be dug around the city to act as fortification. This proved to be successful for a while, until a feared Arabian warrior by the name of Abdwood succeeded in jumping the trench on his horse. Not one of the Prophet’s men dared faced this man, but Ali came forward and offered him a fight. It took Ali only a few minutes to overcome his opponent and cut off his head. Ali once again proved that he would stop at nothing in his protection of Muhammad and his unfaltering belief in Allah.
DEATH OF MUHAMMAD
In 632, following several months of ill health, Muhammad returned to his quarters, following prayers at a mosque, and died. Before his body was barely cold, a gathering of Muslims swore allegiance to a man named Abu Bakr as the new leader of the Muslim community. Ali had many supporters, friends and followers who believed that he should have succeeded Muhammad, but Ali had not even been informed of the meeting, nor had his name even been mentioned as the future Caliph.
It is customary when a new Arab chief is declared that the whole community had to give their declaration of allegiance to the new leader. Ali accepted the chosen Caliph without question, but the Shia’s believed it should have rightfully gone to Ali as he was the closest and most loyal subject to the late Muhammad. Although Ali had declared Abu Bakr as the Leader, a group formed calling themselves the Shi’tes, who pledged their allegiance to Ali and stated that they wanted him to be the First Caliph. This was when the Muslims ultimately divided into two branches based on their political issue towards this matter – the Shi’tes and the Sunni.
DEATH OF CALIPH UTHMAN
In the year 656, the third caliph, Uthman was murdered in his own house in Medina while reading the Qur’an. The murder was carried out by rebellious Muslim soldiers. From what was once a small, poor town, Medina had now grown into a large city and was in fact capital of an empire that stretched from Africa to Central Asia. The city fell into chaos, and some Muslims turned to Ali for assistance, urging him to seek the caliphate. Ali initially refused their request, as having been horrified by the assassination of Uthman, he did not want to be seen profiting from the situation in any way. However, his supporters pressed him further until Ali finally agreed to be proclaimed caliph.
Some of his opponents at that time claimed that he had been instrumental in the murder of Uthman to further his own cause, but of this there is no proof. Ali was revered by the Sunnis as the last truly exemplary successor of Muhammad, and they held him in very high esteem.
One of Ali’s first acts as caliphate was to quell a rebellion led by two eminent associates of Muhammad, who had been edged on by his widow, Aisha. According to the Shi’tes she disliked Ali intently and had tried very hard to stop him being advanced to the position of caliphate.
The resultant fighting culminated in the Battle of Basra. After the battle Ali inspected the battlefield and was distressed to see body after body piled up, the plain literally being soaked with their blood. He felt sickened by the deplorable sight of Muslims having killed Muslims and consequently did not celebrate the victory. Instead he ordered three days of mourning.
After the days of mourning were over, Ali and his men entered the city of Basra. He declared amnesty for the people of Basra, against the wishes of his own men, and asked them to assemble in the city’s mosque. Ali made a proclamation that they were all free to return to their homes and that no action would be taken for their sins or any part they had taken in the battle. Aisha, on the other hand, had felt the strain of the battle and humiliation at the failure of her mission. She was escorted back to Medina, where she was offered a pension so long as she took no further part in politics.
Soon after the battle, honestly believing that many of Uthman’s troubles were due to the men that he employed, Ali dismissed several governors, some of whom were relatives of Uthman, and replaced them with trusted aides. He then transferred his capital from Medina to the Muslim city Kufa, in what is now known as Iraq. The governor of Syria, Mu’awiyah, raised an army and marched against Ali, claiming vengeance for the murder of Uthman. A long battle ensued in July 657 near the Euphrates. The Battle of Siffin was turning in Ali’s favour, until members of the opposition decided to pin copies of the Qur’an to the tips of their swords, claiming that:
The matter ought to be settled by reference to this book, which forbids Muslims to shed each other’s blood.
Ali’s soldiers laid down their swords and refused to fight and demanded that the issue be referred to arbitration. Ali and his followers are said to have disagreed over the choice of advocate for Ali, which greatly injured his cause and weakened him in the eyes of his men.
DEATH OF ALI
Ali was attacked on the 19th of Ramadan while performing morning prayers in a mosque in the city of Kufa. Ali suffered a mortal head wound, and the legend says that the sword was tainted with poison. As he fell Ali was heard to cry, ‘By the Lord of Ka’bah, I have succeeded!’
Ali died three days after receiving the head wound and mystery still surrounds the place of his burial. If he had been buried according to Islamic law he would have been interred simply, quickly and close to the place where he died. But many believe that Ali was so concerned that his grave would be desecrated by his enemies, that he requested friends to bury him in a secret location.
THE LAST WILL OF ALI IBN ABI TALIB
Imam Ali’s last will to his sons Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain was made after an attempt on his life by Ibn Muljam and it read as follows:
My advice to you is to be conscious of Allah and steadfast in your religion. Do not yearn for the world, and do not be seduced by it. Do not resent anything you have missed in it. Proclaim the truth; work for the next world. Oppose the oppressor and support the oppressed.
I advise you, and all my children, my relatives and whosoever receives this message, to be conscious of Allah, to remove your differences and to strengthen your ties. I heard your grandfather, peace be upon him, say: ‘Reconciliation of your differences is more worthy than all prayers and all fasting.’
Fear Allah in matters concerning orphans. Attend to their nutrition and do not forget their interests in the middle of yours.
Fear Allah in your relations with your neighbours. Your Prophet often recommended them to you, so much so that we thought he would give them a share in inheritance.
Remain attached to the Qur’an. Nobody should surpass you in being intent on it, or more sincere in implementing it.
Fear Allah in relation to your prayers. It is the pillar of your religion.
Fear Allah in relation to His House; do not abandon it as long as you live. It you should do that you would abandon your dignity.
Persist in jihad in the cause of Allah, with your money, your souls and your tongue.
Maintain communication and exchange of opinion among yoursel
ves. Beware of disunity and enmity. Do not desist from promoting good deeds and cautioning against bad ones. Should you do that, the worst among you would be your leaders, and you will call upon Allah without response.
O Children of Abdul Mattaleb! Do not shed the blood of Muslims under the banner: The Imam has been assassinated! Only the assassin should be condemned to death.
If I die of this stab of his, kill him with one similar stroke. Do not mutilate him! I have heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, say: ‘Mutilate not even a rabid dog.’
The Assassin Movement
It is a common myth that the word ‘assassin’ comes from the Arabic word haschishin for hashish user.
The Assassin movement or Hashshashin, also known as the ‘new propaganda’ by its own members, was formed c.1090 when al-Hasan ibn-al-Sabbah established a stronghold in the mountains at Alamut, a region south of the Caspian Sea. The Assassins were a religious sect with a cult following, who specialized in terrorizing the Abbasid elite with politically motivated assassinations. Their motives were most definitely for personal gain and a desire for vengeance. Their own name for the sect was al-da’wa al-jadida, which means ‘the new doctrine’, but among themselves they simply referred to their group as fedayeen, which literally means ‘he who is ready to sacrifice their life for a cause’.
From their mountain stronghold, al-Hasan and his scant group of followers inspired terror out of all proportion to their numbers. Recruits into the Assassins were promised ‘paradise’ in return for giving their life in action. To convince them that this was true al-Hasan would have new recruits drugged with materials such as hashish, and then they would be taken to a garden containing beautiful women and a fountain of wine. On arrival at the garden they were awakened from their drug-induced state and told that this is what they would find at the end of their journey if they remained loyal to their leader and cause.
