From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral...

From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the apostle was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses'. Gibbon abridged by W. Smith, p. 466. "Ali was cousin-german of Muhammad and husband of Fatima, his beloved daughter. The right of succession, in order of consanguinity, lay with Ali; and his virtues and services eminently entitled him to it.

On the first burst of his generous zeal, when Islamism was a derided and persecuted faith, he had been pronounced by Muhammad his brother, his vicegerent; he had ever since been devoted to him in word and deed, and had honoured the cause by his magnanimity as signally as he had vindicated it by his valour." W. Irving.

The hereditary claims of the youthful hero over and above the Prophet's declarations appointing him as his vicegerent and proclaiming his position as that of Aaron to Moses, were not to the liking of an aristocracy of elders desirous o f securing the sceptre for themselves.

They were longing to crush the pre-eminence of the Hashimites, which had reached its zenith with the advent of Muhammad (peace be on him and his progeny.) The death of the Holy Prophet restored at length their liberty and the ancient discord of the tribes was so rekindled, that reconciliation was out of the question.

As soon as the Prophet breathed his last, without even waiting to commit him to the grave, they convened a meeting at Saqifa Bani Sa'ad, to deliberate on the election of a successor to the Prophet, and thus to deprive Ali of his legitimate right of succession.

The various occasions when the Holy Prophet mentioned Hazrat Ali as his Successor are given below : The First Declaration known as Dawat-e-Asheera, Propagation of Islam among relatives, Gibbon gives a graphic description of the scene of this assembly in these words : "Friends and Kinsmen" said Muhammad to the assembly, "I offer you and I alone can offer the most precious of gifts, the treasures of this world and of the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to His service.

Who amongst you will support my burden? Who amongst you will be my supporter and my Successor ? " No one answered. The spell of astonishment and suspense was at last broken by the impatient courage of Ali : "O Prophet! I am the man; whosoever rises against thee, I shall dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. 0 Prophet!