From this we come to the following conclusion...

From this we come to the following conclusion: For a ruler to be able to retain his authority he has to possess two important elements: A firm and well-established populous base. An obedient military force capable of supporting him; otherwise his authority would be unstable. If we know this we would be able to put our hands on the factors which contributed to the turbulence which persisted in the Imam's era and hastened its end.

The two above mentioned elements: The firm populous base and the obedient military force were unavailable to the Imam. The sequel of events which took place during the period between the death of the Messenger and the Imam's election made the two elements beyond his reach. Ali did not have the two elements ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib was logically expected to be the closest person after the Messenger to the hearts of the followers of the Messenger.

He is his cousin his son-in- law and the one whom he "brothered." He was after the Prophet the most faithful and the most knowledgeable among the Prophet's companions and the most adherent to the Prophet's teaching. Thus the Muslims who were the followers of the Messenger were and are expected to be genuinely loyal to ‘Ali responsive to his call and obedient to his order more than they were obedient to others.

It would have been only natural for ‘Ali to have the two necessary elements for retaining and expanding his authority. The events of history however did not take their logical sequel. They were rather directed through emotional motives partisan and tribal bigotry and went on through a road opposite of the logical expectation. The Jealousy of Quraish The Qureshites refused while Muhammad was in Mecca to respond to his invitation or to acknowledge his prophethood. They knew Muhammad very well.

They knew his trustworthiness and truthfulness. The main factor which made Qureshites take such a negative attitude was their jealousy of Hashim the clan of the Messenger. They thought that recognition of his prophethood meant recognition of the superiority of the Hashimites above the rest of the Qureshite clans the rest of the Arab tribes and the rest of the nations.

The Qureshites refused to acknowledge the prophethood of Muhammad besieged him and his clan and used against him their means of pressure and threat then plotted to assassinate him. They forced him to leave his hometown to Medina. When their scheme of assassination failed they resorted to military confrontation.