When Marwan ibn al-Hakam was taken on the day of Jamal at Basra, he asked Hasan and Husain (peace be upon them) to intercede on his behalf before Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (A.S). So they spoke to Imam Ali ibn e Abu Talib about him and he released him. Then they said, A O Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (A.S), Marwan desires to swear his allegiance to you. Whereupon Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (A.S) said:
Did he not swear me allegiance after the killing of A Othman? Now I do not need his allegiance, because his is the hand of a Jew. If he swears me allegiance with his hand he would violate it after a short while. Well, he is to get power for so long as a dog licks his nose. He is the father of four rams (who will also rule). The people will face hard days through him and his sons.1
1. Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the nephew (brother’s son) and son-in-law of A Othman. Due to a thin body and tall stature he was known with the nickname A Khayt Batil (the thread of the wrong). When A Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan killed A Amr ibn Sa’id al-Ashdaq, his brother Yahya ibn Sa’id said:
O sons of Khayt Batil (the thread of wrongdoing) you have played deceit on A Amr and people like you build their houses (of authority) on deceit and treachery.
Even though his father al-Hakam ibn Abul- A As had accepted Islam at the time of the fall of Mecca, his behavior and activities were very painful to the Prophet (P.B.U.H. and His Household) Consequently, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. and His Household) cursed him and his descendants and said, A Woe will befall my people from the progeny of this man. At last in view of his increasing intrigues, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. and His Household) exiled him from Medina towards the valley of Hajj (in Ta’if) and Marwan also went with him. Thereafter, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. and His Household) did not allow them to enter Medina as long as he was alive. Abu Bakr and A Omer did likewise, but A Othman sent for both of them during his reign, and raised Marwan to such a height as though thereins of caliphate rested in his hands. Thereafter his circumstances became so favorable that on the death of Mu’awiyah ibn Yazid he became the Caliph of the Muslims. He had only ruled nine months and eighteen days before death overtook him in such a way that his wife sat with the pillow on his face and did not leave until he breathed his last.
The four sons to whom Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (A.S) has referred were the four sons of A Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan namely al-Walid, Sulayman, Yazid and Hisham, who ascended the Caliphate one after the other and colored the , pp. of history with their stories. Some commentators have regarded this reference to Marwan’s own sons whose names are A Abdul-Malik, A Abdul- A Aziz, Bishr and Muhammed (P.B.U.H. and His Holy Household). Out of these A Abdul-Malik did become Caliph of Islam but A Abdul- A Aziz became governor of Egypt, Bishr of Iraq and Muhammed of Jazira.
