ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Life of Fatima Az-zahra' The Great Trial No writer, whatever skilled he is in describing the minutes of history and in analyzing the events, can describe accurately and deeply the disasters and seditions that attacked the Muslim nation after the departure of the Prophet (a.s.) as the Qur'an had described in this verse, (And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; the messengers have already passed away before him, if then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels?

And whoever turns back upon his heels he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least and Allah will reward the grateful. 3:144). Since the very moment when the Prophet (a.s.) died, and he was still not buried yet, serious disagreements took place between Muslims that resulted from the different trends of the parties that had been founded before the death of the Prophet (a.s.). The following are those parties: 1.

The Alawids They were the family of the Prophet (a.s.) under the command of Imam Ali (a.s.) the chief of the pure progeny, the gate of the Prophet’s town of knowledge, and the father of his two grandsons. He was Ameerul Mo'minin for whom the Prophet (a.s.) had taken homage on the Day of Ghadeer Khum to be the caliph after him. The best of the Prophet’s companions like Ammar bin Yassir, Abu Tharr, Salman al-Farisi, and many other trustworthy, religious people followed Imam Ali (a.s.). 2.

The party of Quraysh It included famous companions like Abu Bakr, Umar, Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah, and Khalid bin al-Waleed. This party represented the opinions of the people of Quraysh in Mecca. Some ones from the Ansar such as Basheer bin Sa’d bin Tha’labah al-Khazraji and others joined this party. They saw that the caliphate was their right because the Prophet (a.s.) was from them (from the tribe of Quraysh).

These people did not attend the funerals of the Prophet (a.s.) and participated neither in the prayer on him nor in his burial because they were busy in the conference of as-Saqeefa. [1] 3. The party of the Ansar The Ansar**[2]** were the pillar of the armed forces in Islam which was built on their jihad and sacrifices. They were from two wings; al-Awss and al-Khazraj. There were enmities, spites, and bloodsheds between these two tribes before the immigration of the Prophet (a.s.) to them.

The last war between them was the war of Bughath six years before the Prophet’s immigration to them.