What need does the Kaʿbah have for these chains!

What need does the Kaʿbah have for these chains!?’ ʿ Umar took the decision to do as others suggested and to take the chains on the Kaʿbah and sell them, however ʿAli  said to him: ‘This Qurʾan was revealed to the Prophet (S) and at that time, there were four forms of income which were expressly spoken about: the first is the inheritance of the Muslims (and amongst the inheritors who are entitled to a portion, one is God); the second is the khums (which God has mentioned in the Qurʾan); the third is the zakat (which God has also specifically spoken about and has also mentioned how this wealth should be used); the fourth are the chains of the Kaʿbah which were present even in that day [during the era of the Prophet (S)] – however God left them as they were and did not speak about them – not because He forgot to mention them and not because these were hidden from the sight and knowledge of God.

Thus, you need not think about those chains - just leave them where they are – just as God and His Prophet did.’ ʿUmar replied and said: ‘If you were not here, we would have been disgraced.’ Following this, he [ʿUmar] left the chains as they were.’”[^6] Of course it must be noted that the Commander of the Faithful ʿAli (as) working with ʿUmar and giving him advise was not a sign of Imam ʿAli (as) accepting ʿUmar’s caliphate – rather, it was only done to save the faith of Islam and the Muslims, as it can be seen that during the periods of the caliphate of Abu Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthman, he continued to emphasize on his own truthfulness to the…