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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imamate and Leadership The Formation of the Caliphal Order At the Saqifah ( 83 ) Lesson Nine The blessed and fruitful life of the Most Noble Messenger peace and blessings be upon him and his family each moment of which had been filled with resplendent deeds had come to an end. The great founder of Islam the soul of the world the savior of mankind had bid farewell to life and departed for the eternal realm.

With his departure the link of revelation with this world was severed and the heavenly manifestations of that blessed being to describe which is beyond human power faded away for ever. May God's peace and blessings be upon him and his family. His immaculate body had not yet been interred.

'Ali peace be upon him some members of the Bani Hashim and a few were busy washing and enshrouding the body in preparation for burial; they and they alone were fully preoccupied with the great blow that had descended and the urgent duty they had to perform. ' ( 1 ) At the very same time a group of the Helpers had convened a meeting at a pavilion nearby known as the Saqifah of the Bani Sa'idah in order to settle the matter of succession to the Prophet in conformity with their own wishes.

'Umar immediately sent a message to Abu Bakr who at that time was in the house of the Prophet telling him to join him immediately. Abu Bakr realized that something significant was about to happen so he left the house and hurried together with 'Umar to the meeting place where the Helpers were ( 84 ) meeting being joined on the way by Abu 'Ubaydah b. al-Jarrah.

( 2 ) Ahmad Amin a well-known Sunni and Egyptian writer whose stance toward the Shi'ah is negative to the point of fanaticism writes as follows: "The of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family were at odds over the question of the succession. It was a sign of their unworthiness that they began arguing over it before the Prophet had even been buried. It was only 'Ali b.

Abi Talib peace be upon him who did not behave in this fashion busying himself instead with the washing enshrouding and burial of the Prophet. The foremost among the were all intriguing over the succession; they had abandoned the body of the Prophet and no one was present at the burial save 'Ali and his family or showed any respect for the one who had guided them and brought them forth from the darkness of ignorance.