فَمَنْ ذَا أَحَقُّ بِهِ مِنِّي حَيّاً وَمَيِّتاً؟...

10, pp. 180-183) that Amir al-mu'minin's saying that he never disobeyed the commands of the Prophet is a sort of taunt to those who felt no hesitation in rejecting the Prophet's commands and sometimes even checked him.

For example, when, at the time of the peace of al-Hudaybiyah, the Prophet was agreeable to negotiate peace with the unbelievers among the Quraysh, one of the companions became so enraged that he expressed doubts about the prophethood of the Prophet whereupon Abu Bakr had to say: Woe be to you! Keep clinging to him. He is certainly Allah's Messenger and He will not ruin him.

The introduction to the oath, 'inna', and the word of emphasis 'lam' which are used here to create conviction about the prophethood shows that the addressee had gone farther than mere doubt, because these words of emphasis are employed only when the stage of denial has been reached. However, if belief required absence of doubt, the presence of doubt must imply defect in the belief, as Allah says: The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, they doubt not thereafter,...

(Qur'an, 49:15) Similarly, when the Prophet intended to say the funeral prayers of Ubayy ibn Salul the same companion said to him, "How do you intend to seek forgiveness for this Chief of hypocrites?" And he even drew away the Prophet by catching the skirt (of his shirt). Then the Prophet had to say, "No act of mine is beside the command of Allah". In the same way the Prophet's command to accompany the force of Usamah ibn Zayd was ignored.

The greatest of all these insolences was displayed in connection with the Prophet's intention to write down his advice as to when such a blame was laid against the Prophet which proves an absence of belief in the commands of the shari`ah, and creates a doubt about each command as to whether it is based on divine revelation or (Allah may forbid) just the result of mental disorder.