When the Prophet (S) immigrated to them...

When the Prophet (S) immigrated to them, he tried his best to spread love and peace between them, but nevertheless, spites were hidden in their inners and they appeared barefacedly on the day of Saqeefa. Khudhayr bin Usayd, the chief of the Awss was full of grudge against Sa’d bin Ubadah when the Ansar nominated him for the caliphate.

He said to his people, “If you give it (the caliphate) to Sa’d one time, the preference shall be for them by it forever and they will not give you a share in it at all. Get up and pay homage to Abu Bakr…”[^3] Anyhow, these parties were effective after the death of the Prophet (S). We shall talk about the events that led to the great trial that brought Muslims every evil throughout their history.

The Conference of Al-Saqeefa In the history of Islam, there was no event more dangerous and harmful to Islam and Muslims than the conference of al-Saqeefa. It was the cornerstone of the deterioration of the nation and the disasters and calamities that Muslims suffered and are still suffering. Political fancies and the fanatic spirit of party-ness were widespread where personal interests were preferred to the interests of the nation.

The conference of al-Saqeefa was the beginning to the disasters that afflicted the nation. The caliphate was turned away from its legal, deserving, well-qualified people to the Umayyads who were enemies to Islam. And from among the painful events that resulted from the meeting of al-Saqeefa was the disaster of Kerbala where the pure progeny of the Prophet (S) had been killed in an unbearable, savage way.

The Ansar held their conference in the Saqeefa (shed) of bani Sa’idah immediately after the death of the Prophet (S). They did not even wait until the Prophet (S) would be put into his last abode. As we think, the reasons behind that were the following: First, they saw the political activity of the Muhajireen[^4] to turn the caliphate away from the Prophet’s family. The Muhajireen refused to join the army of Usama because they knew the purpose of the Prophet (S) by marching this army.

It was to make Medina empty of the companions after the Prophet’s death so that Imam Ali (a.s.) would assume the caliphate easily and without troubles. Therefore, they refused to join Usama whom the Prophet (S) had appointed a leader over an army to march towards Sham.