Then he raised the hand of Imam ‘Ali (a) in front of...

Then he raised the hand of Imam ‘Ali (a) in front of thousands of people and announced: “‘Ali is the master for whom I am the master.” The Prophet called ‘Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain when the following verse of holy Quran was revealed: «فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ وَنِسَاءنَا وَنِسَاءكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ.» “But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: Come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars.” [^4] He prayed: O Lord!

These are my . Imam Tirmidhi narrates from Imran ibn Haseen a tradition of the Prophet: “Ultimately what do you want from ‘Ali? ‘Ali is from me and I am from ‘Ali without any doubt. He is the chief of all believers after me.” Now the same question arises. Why was Imam ‘Ali (a) kept away from Caliphate in spite of so many virtues? We will have to study the events in the Prophet’s last moments and after he passed away.

We must also remember that Imam ‘Ali (a) was busy all the time in the burial of the Prophet after he passed away. On the other hand, the politically inclined people left his body and gathered in Saqifah of Bani Saada and established their Caliphate.[^5] According to Umar, one of the reasons behind keeping Imam ‘Ali (a) away from Caliphate is that Arabs could not bear to see both prophethood and Caliphate in a single family. To summarize this incident, the Prophet passed away in 11 A.H.

and Imam ‘Ali (a) became involved in his burial. The political waves were flowing all around outside the Prophet’s house. The topic of Caliphate was the most favorite one. Saad ibn Abu Ubadah reached Saqifah of Bani Saada along with the chiefs of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar and Abu Ubaidah were discussing the issue of Caliphate in the mosque. Other groups were busy holding discussions at different places.

When Abu Bakr heard the news of the Prophet’s passing away, he came to the Prophet’s house from Sunh locality. He saw Umar standing at the door with his sword unsheathed. He was threatening people saying: “I shall kill whoever says that the Prophet has passed away. The Prophet hasn’t passed away. He has gone to the heaven like Prophet Isa.

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