DISMISSING THE GOVERNORS
The second issue ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was up against had to do with the governors of the provinces who were mostly a source of constant complaints from people during the rule of ‘ Uthmaan, may Allah be pleased with him. ‘ Ali had to make up his mind whether to dismiss them or keep them in their posts for a while till he managed to hold sway all through.
In Ali’s opinion, the governors whom ‘ Uthmaan had appointed were primarily responsible for all the events that ensued. He had even advised ‘ Uthmaan to be firmer with them till things were back under control. He anticipated that the situation might be aggravated and matters could take a turn for the worse. Therefore, no sooner had people pledged allegiance to ‘ Ali than he replaced all of’ Uthmaan’s governors at once. Instead, he appointed ‘ Abdullaah Ibn ‘ Abbaas as the governor of Yemen; ‘Uthmaan Ibn Haneef as the governor of Basrah; ‘Imarah Ibn Shihaab of Kufa, and Qays as the governor of Egypt. Sahl Ibn Haneef was asked to take charge of governorship of Syria from Mu’awiyah.
Almost all historians unanimously agree that it was not wise on the part of ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, to take such action. A group from among the wisest of Muslims, including Mu ghee rah Ibn Shu’bah and Ibn ‘ Abbaas, advised ‘Ali not to take such a hasty action. According to them, he should not dismiss them unless they pledged loyalty to ‘ Ali, because Uthmaan’s assassination could be an easy excuse for them to refuse the pledge of loyalty to ‘ Ali altogether. They particularly warned him against deposing Mu’awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyaan, who was then a major power to he reckoned with. It is noteworthy that Mu’awiyah, and behind him the entire people of Syria, unwaveringly refused to accept what happened to ‘Uthmaan and all the events that followed. It is obvious, therefore, that the whole situation needed to be handled with much more subtlety and flexibility than was displayed by ‘Ali.
Despite being a shrewd politician, ‘Ali’s adamant adherence to what is right won the better of him. lie was a man of unshaken principles who would never turn a blind eye to whomever he was displeased with. He believed that pretending to be on good terms with them was a screaming violation of honesty and straightforwardness. Me, therefore, did not hesitate for a minute to depose them all.
(Source: Biographies of the Rightly Guided Caliphs )
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