The animosity of hypocrites against Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib...

The animosity of hypocrites against Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws was finally realised at Saqifa , conclusion of the most controversial events in early Islam, due to the exclusion of a large number of the Holy Prophet -saww ‘s companions from the secret council at Saqifa, including Rasool Allah- -saww ’s immediate family members and notably Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws , his -saww most trustworthy, knowledgeable, and flag bearer.

With respect to the succession to the first Caliph, Abu Bakr could not find a better leader than Umar Ibn Khattab and nominated him as his successor. Towards the end of 2 nd Caliph’s rein, a completely new method of choosing the 3 rd Muslim Caliph was devised and a council was formed consisting of six from the companions of Rasool Allah -saww (all of them from the Quraysh – the Mahajareen – Emigrants).

Then when the third Caliph was murdered by a delegation from Egypt, after days of siege and bloodshed, Muslims started looking for the fourth caliph and pleaded to Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws to lead them, who was also martyred, later on, by the cruel strike of Ibn Muljim. Islamic history is tainted by divisions caused at Saqifa.

These divisions continued, leading to several wars among Muslims (mainly involving the companions of Rasool Allah -saww ), e.g., the battle of Camel (battle of Jamal), where companions of Rasool Allah -saww were killed from both warring groups! The Muslim divisions and contention remained so, and lead to the very tragic and shameful killings of the Ahl Al-Bayt -asws in Karbala, their -asws imprisonment in Sham.

And Saqifa contention still haunts the Islamic community, as some extreme Muslim factions have declared the followers of Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws as non-believers and Kafirs and have attempted to kill them whenever an opportunity present to them – and that is all over the world. It is therefore, important to learn about that which occurred at Saqifa and correct our allegiance to Allah -azwj and adhere to His -azwj Path.

Only if we were to analyse the circumstances prior to and after Saqifa and to try to sieve out the falsehood and develop tolerance for each Islamic faction’s point of view, rather than try to eliminate them from the face of the earth – so uprooting the extremism which has been planted by the army of Iblis -la to divide and disintegrate the Muslim nation.