We shall entrust their charge to a new people who reject them not.

We shall entrust their charge to a new people who reject them not.7 Thus in light of the Qur’ān the successorship of the prophets in relation to mulk (leadership), ḥukm (rule), ḥikma (wisdom), kitāb (the book) and Imamate (a divine institution in relation to leadership)8 is something that belongs to the descendants and close family of the prophets.

In Madelungs judgement the Prophet Muḥammad could not have considered the continual leadership after him over the Muslim community regarding his succession in any other way than reflecting in the light of the Qur’ān inasmuch as following the example of succession of the previous prophets.9 However, in Watt’s opinion in that the most obvious choice in successorship after the Prophet was Abū Bakr as he was the Prophet’s trusted counsellor and a leading deputy and personality, while also being one of the most significant converts in the early days of Islam.10 The contested succession to Muḥammad is clearly the key question in the Shīʿi school of thought and the principal factor separating the Shīʿa from the Sunnī majority.

These nascent trends and issues after the Prophets demise would clearly be seen to have implications and an impact upon the life of ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn during his life. The issue of succession is not as simple as to who the leader of the new Muslim community would be and the question is not only who the successor of Muḥammad was but also the nature of the role of this successor, for it is on both these points that both of these schools of thought have differing views.

However it is not the aim nor the place of this study to evaluate the details of the succession to Muḥammad or to analyse the differing views of the Sunnī and Shīʿa as that would digress from the aim; which is to provide a closer insight into the circumstances and the milieu of ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn and the era preceding him. Thus only significant and major circumstances have been taken into account in order to provide and arrive at a fuller picture of his persona and position.

1.1 Background It is commonly believed by Muslims that Prophet Muḥammad’s lineage can be traced back to the patriarch Abraham. Thus, for the Shīʿa, the lineage of ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn is also linked to Abraham through his father Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, his grandmother Fāṭima bint Muḥammad, grandfather ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and great grandfather Prophet Muḥammad b. ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. Shīʿa theologians uphold that ʿAlī b.