It can be said with certainty that Mu`awiyah...

It can be said with certainty that Mu`awiyah, `Amr ibn al-`As and the other functionaries appointed by `Uthman knew `Ali’s nature very well. They would have put all sorts of impediments that `Ali (a.s) was defeated in the race for the succession. They had also prepared `A’ishah to toe their line. She was, in fact, in the first lines of the opponents of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s). These persons would have advised `Uthman to set up a new Shūra and repeat the history again!

They could have persuaded him to nominate someone using the subterfuge of the sirat al-shaykhayn to justify the decision. But the circumstances changed so fast that they did not get the opportunity to put their plans into operation. `Uthman paid with his own life for the maladministration that was perpetrated during his regime. After the Prophet (a.s), `Ali (a.s) spent a long period with no concern for the governance and the life style that he lived attracted the attention of the people.

They therefore reached a conclusion that there is no person better than `Ali ibn Abi-Talib (a.s) to be at the helm of affairs. Therefore, the important persons from the Muhajirūn and Ansar gathered at the al-Masjid al-Nabawi and decided unanimously that `Ali (a.s) be requested to take the reins of the caliphate in his hands. After this decision they sent a delegation to `Ali (a.s). In this delegation, Talhah and al-Zubayr too were there.

The delegation made their request with `Ali ibn Abi-Talib (a.s). `Ali (a.s) hesitated in accepting their request and said that he did not like to interfere in their affairs and that they should look elsewhere for another person. He wanted them to leave him to his own scruples. Those people said: “We do not consider anyone other than you deserving of the Caliphate, nor is anyone more eminent than you on the basis of the past services to the Faith.

There is none near to you in the closeness with the Prophet (a.s).”[1] `Ali (a.s) refused once again. But they pleaded with him very much. When they saw that `Ali (a.s) was not yielding to their requests they literally begged him: “We request you in the name of Allah! You are seeing the condition we are in! Are not you seeing the state of Islam and [1] Al-Kāmil fit-Tārīkh, Vol 3, Page 98 the mischief that is rampant?