ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Caliphate Its Conception and Consequences Chapter Seven : After the Announcement The expected had happened; Imam Ali had been announced as the future ruler of the Islamic State. What next? The commonality in the camp could not control their feelings of anguish and despair, and openly accused the prophet of sinister motives. The leaders of the opposition party took the announcement as a phase of the struggle they had expected.

But they were very worried about the prophet's next move, and realized the need for a closer watch over his movements. Would he follow up the announcement by any act, which might tend to undermine their strength or upset their plans? This was the fear, which was uppermost in their minds. They had no way of knowing what the next move of the prophet would be, and this uncertainty made them very nervous. However, they kept themselves in readiness for any emergency that might arise.

I would be doing an injustice to the faithful few if I did not in turn describe the state of their minds. They had complete faith in God and Muhammad (P). To them it was the highest kind of irreverence and impiety to entertain even a passing thought that the prophet (p) could be unjust or have any but the purest of motives.

They knew that it was the same Muhammad who had spurned the riches and honor of the world, which the Arabs had been prepared to lay at his feet if only he would refrain from preaching the glory of God. Still ringing in their ears were his memorable words: "If you place the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left, I will not move one inch from the stand that I have taken".

The memory of the hardships he had borne and the insults he had to put up with, all for the sake of Islam and for the preaching of his mission, was still fresh in their minds. His picture was still vividly before them, that of a forlorn and weary wanderer from place to place, preaching his mission and derision and scorn. Would such a man destroy the edifice of his own making, and that too towards the close of his life when he had already become aware of his approaching end?

Their faith was reinforced by the fact that there was no man abler or fitter than Imam Ali to take the place of the prophet (p). In the announcement of Imam Ali as the prophet's successor, they saw justice being done to a deserving man, and the Muslim nation being given the ablest and fittest leader.