Chapter 15
MUSLIMS: DOCTRINES
OF AUTHORITY AND REBELLION
THE POLITICS OF PIETY
Piety had political signifidnce. Styles of piety expressed different
values and interests in the conflicts over authority and leadership among
Magians, Jews, and Christians. But they seem to have been more
overtly political among Muslims, for whom the degree of one's piety
or asceticism was associated with the degree of one's opposition to or
support for the government. For some Muslims personal piety was an
expression of alienation and a way to escape from the conflicts among
other Muslims; pious seclusion seems to coincide with periods of fitna.
For other Muslims who refused to worship behind any imam, piety
was an expression of disapproval and a form of passive resistance.
Abu Dharr and 'Amir ibn 'Abdullah al-'Anbari were both critics of
'Uthman and were noted for their piety and asceticism. But for a
significant number of Muslims, piety was also linked to active, armed
opposition to authority. 'Abd ar-Rai)man ibn Abi Layla was killed
fighting against al-I:Iajjaj on the side of Ibn al-Ash'ath in 701.1 Sa'id
ibn Jubayr came out of seclusion to serve as secretary to the Kufan
qa{its 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Utba ibn Mas'ud and Abu
Burda ibn Abi Musa in the 690s. But he was among the reciters of
the Qur'an who joined the revolt of Ibn al-Ash'ath. He was present
at the Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim in 701. After the revolt was crushed,
he fled to Makka; but Khalid al-Qa~ri, the governor of Makka for al-
Walid, extradited him to al-I:Iajjaj, who executed him in 712.2 The
Khawarij had a reputation for piety and virtue and those who went
out of Kufa to Harura in 657 were called people of fasting and worship.
Shurayi) ibn Abi Awfa al-'AbsI, who was in charge of the left wing
of the Khariji army at Nahrawan in 658, was one of their ascetics
(Ar. nussak).3 The Khariji poet a!-Tirimmai) spoke of night vigils,
sighs, weeping, grief, and of a fear that almost bursts the breast.
In the sociopolitical conflicts among Muslims in the century after
1 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VI, 77.
2 Ibid., VI, 183-85; Tha'alibi, Lata'if, pp. 60-61.
3 D1nawari, Akhbiir at-tiwiil, p. 223.