Therefore...

Therefore, he appointed Ali (as) as his substitute in Medina and he delivered his historic statement regarding Ali (as): “أنت منّي بمنزلة هارون من موسى” “You are to me what Harun was to Musa”[^3]. Then he reminded Ali (as) to stay in Medina to handle the internal chaos. There are many verses in the Holy Quran which deal with the hypocrites plotting against Islam. All the verses confirm their enmity towards Islam. When the Prophet passed away, there were many saboteurs living in Medina.

Upon the Prophet's demise, a group of Arabs reverted to their apostasy and were backslidden. By expelling the alms officials, they started their opposition. Although they were not from among the hypocrites, they were weak in their religion, changing to different directions as conditions changed. They tried, in this way, to avoid the newly founded Islam. With such enemies in the vicinity constantly awaiting opportunities to disrupt Islam, how could the Prophet not consider a successor for himself?

Other sides of the enmity triangle The other two sides of the triangle were two great empires of the time: Rome and Iran. The first military clash took place between the Christian army of Rome in Palestine in the eighth year of Hijra which ended in severe defeat for the Islamic army and in their return to Medina under the command of Khalid Ibn Walid. In this war, the great leaders of the Islamic army were killed: Jaafar Tayyar, Zaid Ibn Harith and Abdullah Rawahah.

Such a clear defeat by the army of infidels, would give momentum to Caesar’s army. Every minute there was the danger of their attack to the very center of the newly built Islam. For this reason, the Prophet along with thirty thousand troops headed to the coasts of Syria in the ninth year of hijra to take part in a military maneuver to discourage the army from future attacks and to enter into military pacts with some tribes.

In this military movement, which was full of various obstacles, no clash took place between the Muslims and the Romans. The Prophet then headed for Medina. This sort of victory did not convince the Prophet, who was restless to compensate for such defeat. So, a few days prior to his death, he prepared a flag for Osamah Ibn Zaid and ordered his followers to accompany him to the coasts of Syria and start an attack before being taken by surprise by the foreign troops.