( 7 ) Apart from this various factors prevented 'Ali peace...

( 7 ) Apart from this various factors prevented 'Ali peace be upon him from reacting strongly to what occurred at the Saqifah and caused him to choose the path of endurance and patience instead a patience he himself described as akin to having "a thorn in the eye and a bone in the throat." ( 8 ) It will be apposite here to cite some passages from the answer of the late 'Allamah Sharaf al-Din to Shaykh Salim al-Bishri: "Everyone knows that the Imam and his friends from among the Bani Hashim and other tribes were not present at the Saqifah when allegiance was being sworn to Abu Bakr; in fact they had not even set foot there being engaged in the imperative and grave task of preparing the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family for burial and being unable to think of anything else.

"The ceremonies of the Prophet's burial were still not over when the people gathered at the Saqifah completed their business. They gave allegiance to Abu Bakr swore loyalty to him and with remarkable farsightedness agreed to confront ( 44 ) firmly any development threatening to weaken the state. "Was 'Ali peace be upon him in any position then to argue his case before the people? And was he given any chance to do so once allegiance had been sworn to Abu Bakr?

His opponents displayed cunning and political acumen and neither did they shrink from violence. Even in our age how many people find it possible to rise up in revolt against the government or to overthrow it simply by popular pressure? And if someone has the intention of doing so will he be left untroubled? "If you compare the past with the present you will see that people were lust the same as they are now that conditions then were just the same.

Moreover if 'Ali peace be upon him had raised his claim at that time the only result would have been confusion and disorder and he would still have been unable to assert his rights. For him the preservation of the foundations of Islam and of the doctrine of divine unity was an overarching aim. The ordeal that 'Ali peace be upon him underwent at that time tried him sorely. Two momentous matters were weighing on him. On the one hand.

his explicit designation as caliph (khalif) and legatee (wasiyy) of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family was still ringing in his ears and impelling him to act.