Irving "The birth...

Irving "The birth, the alliance, the character of Ali which exalted him above the rest of his countrymen might justify his claim to the vacant throne of Arabia. The son of Abu Taleb was, in his own right, the Chief of the family of Hashim, and the hereditary prince or guardian of the city and the temple of Mecca.

The light of prophecy was extinct, but the husband of Fatema might expect the inheritance and the blessings of her father; the Arabs had sometimes been patient of a female reign and thc two grandsons of the Prophet had often been fondled in his lap, and shown in his pulpit, as the hope of his age, and the Chief of the Youth of Paradise.

From the first hour of the mission to the last rites of his funeral, the Apostle was never forsaken by a generous Friend, whom he delighted to name his Brother, his Vtcegerent and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses." Gibbon abridged by W. Smith p.

466 Besides the above two quotations, the following is the one which the great learned scholar and the judicial head Amir Ali has chosen to quote in his famous work The Spirit of Islam:- "Had," says Sedillot "the principle of hereditary succession in favour of Ali been recognised at the outset a would have prevented the rise of those disastrous pretentions which engulfed Islam in the blood of Muslims.

The husband of Fatema united in his person the right of suc- cession as the lawful heir of the Prophet as well as the right by election. It might have been thought that all would submit themselvcs before his glory so pure and so grand." Spirit of Islam- Amir Ali However, the right of Ali was ignored and later at a stage the fate of the people passed into the hands of those who enacted the gruesome scene of Karbala and the massacre of the godly members of the House of the Holy Prophet.

The Funeral of the Holy Prophet THOSE OF THE companions who were turned out by the Holy Prophet from his presence, got busy in the Saqeefe and did not return until he was buried. When the Holy Prophet passed away, Ali assisted by his pupil Idne Abbas and the other Heshimites, attended to the last rites to the Holiest one of God's creation and the grief of Fatema moved the hearts of those present there.

History says that Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Omar and the other companions being busy at the Sapeefe, could not attend the funeral of the Holy Prophet (KO., AM., EXI).