The Incentives of the Revolution

We precieve clearly, when we notice the historical circumstances, which surrounded the Fatimite movement, that the Hashimite 1 house, which was distressed by the loss of its great chief, had all the incentives of a revolutions to change them and to establish them a new. Fatima had all the possiblities for the revolution and the attainments for the opposition, which the oppositionists decided to be a peaceful dispute 2 whatever it would cost.We feel if we study the historical reality of the case of Fadak and its dispute, that it was affected by the revolution and we feel clearly that the dispute in its reality and motives was a revolutions against the policy of tha state,which Fatima found that it was different from the rule she was familiar with (during the time of her father).It was not just a dispute about something of the financial affairs or the economic system, which the government of Shura followed; even it sometimes seemed to be so. If we to catch the threads of the Fatimite revolution from the beginings,we have to look with a deep comprehensive look at two close events in the Islamic history; one was echo and the natural reflection of the other. They both extended in their roots and threads together so that they might meet at a shared point.

One of them was the Fatimite revolution against the first caliph, which was about to shake his political entity and to throw his caliphate into the waste-basket of history.

The other was an opposite situatiion,in which Aa'isha,3 the caliph's daughter stood against Ali the husband of Fatima, who rebelled against Aa'isha's father. The fate made those two rebellious women fail with a difference between them relating to the share of contentment of each of them with her revolution and the internal comfort with the right or wrong situation of each of them and the chance of victory according to the account of the truth, which had no crookedness. It was certain that Fatima failed after she had made the caliph cry and say : "Depose me4 and break my homage" but Aa'sha failed and wished if she had not gone to the war5 and to break the obedience.These two revolutions were close in Subject and persons so why did they not end to close reasons and similar motives? We know well that the secret, behind the change occured to Aa'isha when she was told that Ali became the caliph, belonged to the first days of the life of Ali and Aa'ish a when the competition for the prophet's heart was between his wife and his daughter. This competition could expand in its effects to create different feelings of rage and dissension between the two competing ones and to reach the friends and the assistants around each of them. It expanded indeed on one side and happened what happened between Aa'isha and Ali and hence it had to expand on the other side to include those, against whom Aa'isha tried her best in the prophet's house. Yes, the reversal of Aa'isha was inspired from the memories of those days when Imam Ali counseled the prophet to divorce her in the famous story of (lie).6 Ali's counsel showed his discontentment with her and her competition with his wife. The dispute between the prophet's wife and his daughter (Fatima) expanded to include Ali and other than Ali of those, who took care of the results and the stages of the competition.

____________
1- Concerning Hashim,the prophet's grandfather.

2- Imam Ali had great insistence on the peacefulness of the opposition and not to exceed the limits of protesting and refuting the other's excuses although it led him to be pulled from his house to pay homage unwillingly and that the pure hoouse was liable to the threat of setting fire to it. It was noticeable that when Abu Sufyan came to Imam Ali and said to him: " If you want, I will attack them with my knights and men". Imam Ali chided him and refused his suggestion.Refer to Sharh Nahjul Balagha vol.6 p.47-49 and p.17-18 and at-Tabari's Tareekh vol.2 p.233 and 237.

3- With reference to the battle of ( the camel) against Imam Ali, whose leaders were az-Zubayr, Talha and Aa'isha in thirty six AH that happened in Basra. Refer to at-Tabari's Tareekh vol.3 p.476.

4- A'lamun Nissa' vol.4 p.124 at-Tabari's Tareekh vol. 3 p.353 where Abu Bakr said: "I do not regret from the life except three things that I wished if I had not ... I wished that I had not exposed Fatima's house to anything". Refer to Sharh Nahjul Balagha vol. 6 p.41.

5- Ibnul Atheer's Tareekh vol.3, p.111 and Tathkiratul Huffaz by Sibt bin aj-Jawz p.80-81

6- Refer to the details of the event in al-Bukhari's Sahih vol.3 p.24, at-Tabari's Tareekh vol.2 p.113.