رسالة د. كهلان الخروصي

… Careful reading of the text allows us to extract important information about the political and doctrinal principles of the early Ib~‡‚s، especially in Basra where many significant confrontations took place and many secret and non-secret opposition movements flourished. One of these topics is regarding the assassination of the third caliph `Uthm~n b. `Aff~n in (35/656). This particular tradition [18] is not ascribed to J~bir b. Zayd or any of his Ib~‡‚ contemporaries. Instead، it is reported of `Al‚ b. Ab‚ œ~lib that he once mentioned `Uthm~n in a speech and he said about him: “Truly، Allah has killed him while I was with Him”. This statement does not only summarize the Ib~‡‚ view on that distinctive issue but by ascribing it to `Al‚ it also indicates their attitude towards later vital political events، such as the revolt of œalˆa and al-Zubayr (36/656) which led to the battle of al-Jamal and the rebellion of Mu`~wiya which led to the encounter at ^iff‚n in 37/657. Both revolts were activated by the ostensible notion of bringing the murderers of `Uthm~n to justice.<sup>(1)</sup> The above mentioned quotation encapsulates the view that both revolts were illegitimate and more importantly makes clear the Ib~‡‚ perception that `Al‚ approved of the assassination of `Uthm~n. Another parallel example is tradition [248] which presents the opinion of `Abd All~h b.