Finally...

Finally, the Sunnis held that the Prophet had not appointed a successor during his lifetime, so it was up to them to choose one. But the minority group, known as the "Shi'ites" (the "partisans" of 'Ali), maintained that the Prophet's successor must not only enforce the Shari'ah , he must also possess divinely illuminated wisdom and be the spiritual guide of men.

Since this latter function is bestowed by God and cannot be judged by the majority of men, the Prophet's successor must be divinely appointed, as expressed in the Prophet's wishes. And the Shi'ites hold that the Prophet had in fact appointed 'Ali as his caliph.[^2] This difference in view between the Shi'ites and Sunnis was often expressed in political terms, resulting in a good deal of strife in the early centuries of Islam between certain Shi'ite groups and the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs.

For, as far as the Shi'ites were concerned, the Imams were the only completely legitimate successors to the Prophet. The first, 'Ali, was appointed by the Prophet himself, and each in turn was appointed by his predecessor according to divine decree. Fatimah The beloved daughter of the Prophet from Khadijah, Fatimah was born in Mecca five years before the beginning of the Prophet's mission.

She was so loved by the Prophet that he called her "a part of me." In 2/624 she married 'Ali ibn Abi Talib from whom she bore three sons, Hasan, Husayn and Muhsin (who died stillborn), and two daughters, Zaynab and Urnm Kulthum. She was at the Prophet's bedside at the moment of his death and fought for her husband's succession to the caliphate. She died six months after her father in the year II/633 and is buried in the Baq'i cemetery in Medina.

It is said that when she was born the whole sky became illuminated; therefore she is called al-Zahra', the "Radiant." She is the mother of the Shi'ite Imams and is considered the most holy of Muslim women. The Imams The First Imam, 'Ali The First Imam, 'Ali (b. A.D. 600, d. A.H. 40/A.D. 661) He was the son of the Prophet's paternal uncle, Abu Talib, who had raised the Prophet like his own son and protected him after he declared his mission.

According to the Shi'ites, 'Ali was the first to accept the new religion at the hands of the Prophet, at the age of ten. He was the greatest warrior of early Islam, and according to his partisans was appointed by the Prophet as his successor at a place known as ''Ghadir al-Khumm".