Ali carried out all these orders without being diverted by...

Ali carried out all these orders without being diverted by anything even though he knew that the others were racing to Banu Sa`ida's saqeefa (shed) in order to promote one of them as the caliph. He could do the same and sabotage their plan, but his respect for the Prophet's Sunnah, and his implementation thereof, dictated thae he remain by the side of the Prophet. Here we have to pause, though for a short while, to observe such great manners which Ali had learned from the Prophet.

While sacrificing his position as the caliph in order to carry out the injunctions of the Sunnah, he witnessed the others rejecting the Sunnah as they sought the caliphate. [^14] Read on p. 29, Vol. 1, of al-Shahristani's book Kitab al-milal wal nihal the Prophet's statement: "Allah curses whoever lags behind Usamah's army." Previous…