FROM WAR TO PEACE

was a departure from its original purpose. Nevertheless, it occurred—and in some form, it continues to this day. 1. The first deviation in this regard occurred during the second generation of the Prophet’s Companions. Two notable figures are al-Husayn ibn Ali (d. 61 AH) and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (d. 73 AH). Both of them rebelled against the Umayyad ruler Yazid ibn Muawiyah. To justify their actions, they cited Yazid’s oppression. In other words, they expanded the meaning of qital al-fitnah, which was originally meant for religious persecution, to also include political corruption. This extension was clearly an error in independent reasoning (ijtihad). A clear proof of this is that the Prophet had explicitly commanded that, after him, no rebellion should be launched against rulers because of political corruption. This is why, although many of the Companions were present during the wars of these two figures, they did not participate in them. Abdullah ibn Umar made it clear that these later wars were a deviation from the Quranic ruling on qital al-fitnah—fighting to end religious persecution— not an example of following it. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 7095). 2. The second major deviation on a larger scale began after the rightly guided caliphate and lasted nearly a thousand years. This deviation originated from Muslim