Though every person who claimed to be a Muslim was commanded...

Though every person who claimed to be a Muslim was commanded and obliged to unquestioningly submit to the command of the Prophet (S), in letter and in spirit, history is full of instances where the companions, who later became Caliphs , stood up to question the Prophet’s wisdom of word or deed.[^1] They often asked, “ Is this from you or from Allah ?”[^2] And every time the Prophet (S) had to reassure them that, as the Qur’an vouchsafes, he never did anything out of his own will, personal whim, or for pleasure.[^3] Later, whenever a tradition that was in favor of Ali (a.s.) or against their liking or interest was related, these very companions conveniently branded the tradition as the personal whim of Muhammad (S) the individual and not the act of Muhammad the Prophet (S).

History is replete with instances where, for instance, Umar confessed about the peace treaty of Hudaibiya and said, “ It was a day when I doubted the wisdom of Muhammad (S) as never before, and I was nigh recanting from the faith .”[^4] A perpetual, persistent, and commonly shared doubt in the Prophethood of Muhammad (S) and the anomaly of being counted upon as the companions of the very object of their suspicion, created inroads for a close nexus between the Banu Umayya and such of the tribe of Quraysh who held similar views.

The ‘doubt’ was well conviction and they could not dispel it despite spending time in the company of the Prophet (S). The history of the prophets is replete with instances where their flock accused them of being ordinary men like themselves. This arose on account of the fact that if the Prophet (S) claimed to be super human, the flock will rightly claim that the commandments could be followed by him–a super human- and not by ordinary mortals.

Therefore, the Prophets had to appear human, subject to thirst, hunger, pain, joy and to walk about in the market place to buy and sell. At the same time, the prophets also performed miracles which set them apart from ordinary human beings.

A right thinking man considered the prophets to be similar but superior to himself, whereas ignorant and misguided men considered the prophets (S) to be just like any ordinary man.[^5] Ultimately, a solution to the contradiction that arose between a perpetually lingering doubt while constantly being viewed as the Prophet’s companions took the shape of the old proposition that was all too convenient for their secret plans.