A Journey Through Hell Fire
Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here. Part 7 is here. Part 8 is here. Part 9 is here. Part 10 is here.
Part 11 is here. Part 12 is here.
There is also a poem by Khaled.
Part 13 is here. Part 14 is here. Part 15 is here.
Breaking free from Islam Between Halal and Haram
A Journey Through Hell Fire
Chapter 16: “Power Struggle Part 1”
Two other books I read that have sealed the deal of leaving Islam were history books dating to two states, following the Rashidun Caliphate, The Umayyad Caliphate and the Abbasid Caliphate. However, before summarising why these books were significant in my journey, it might be beneficial to give the reader a quick insight into the Rashidun Caliphate first so that the power struggle that follows after that is better understood.
The word Rashidun is derived from the Arabic word “Al-Rasheda.” Which means mature with the connotations of righteousness, wisdom and fairness. The word Caliphate is English for the Arabic word “Khilafa”, meaning succession. If you put these together in English, the phrase means wise, fair, and righteous succession. Was it really?
Before dissecting this, I am going to admit that this topic was a subject of bothersome to me since I was a young Muslim when I learnt at school about the conflict between Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, the fourth and last Rashidun Calif and Mu’awiya bin Abi Sufyan, the establisher of the Umayyad Califate, a conflict that resulted in the death of thousands of Muslims by other Muslims and the killing of Ali himself. The reason for my confusion stemmed from a holly speech for the Prophet Muhammed, saying The Prophet said: “When two Muslims are engaged in combat against each other with their swords, and one is killed, both are doomed to Hell”. I said, “O Messenger of Allah! As to the one who kills, it is understandable, but why the slain one?” He replied: “He was eager to kill his opponent”. Ali was the prophet’s dear cousin, and Mu’awiya was one of his friends. Would they be both distanced to hell? Ali is one of the ten men that the Prophet testified that they are promised to enter paradise. The Prophet was depicted in the Quran (An-Najm 53/3,4) that he does not speak out of desire. And that anything he says, indeed, is nothing except a revelation which is revealed by god. I asked, and the answer was this topic is better not to think about, but they will not go to hell. I stopped thinking about the topic only to discover, when I got a bit older, that the last three Rashidun Caliphs were killed and that even the first one’s natural death is debatable.
So, in the coming chapters, I will dive into a brief. history of each Chaliph and the reason for the death of each one of them as it is important to understand that the “revelation” that I had during my journey all made sense in light of what I have already learnt at school and in the mosque.
To be continued …
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