Translator: Zahra. Kalaa
Source: rasekhoon.net



 

The matter of leadership and successor was too important for the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants). Hence, even when he was about to die, he bade ''bring pen and paper to write something so that next generations do not go astray.
The Sunni dignitaries, Mr Ebn Asghalani in the book '' Fath al-Bari'' and Mr. Novi in the book '' the explanation of Sahih Mosalam'' , says clearly about the Hadith '' pencil and ink '' the purpose of the prophet ( peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) from writing letter was to specify caliphs and Imams after him. Even Sunni Ebn Abi al-Hadid Motazeli narrates from Ebn Abbas
We were walking at the beginning of caliphate of the second caliph. Mr. Omar asked me '' O' Abu Bakr Abbas! Did you know what the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) wanted to write in the last time that he requested pen and ink. Ebn Abbas says '' I said '' the leader of the faithful (Omar) says to us his remarks in order to use them''. The prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) willed to specify the leader of the faithful (peace be upon him) as caliph, Imam and successor, but I prevented him fromit.
لقد اراد رسول الله أن يصرح بإسم علي فمنعته.
We said some matters in relation to the bitter and painful events before the decease of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) and some bitter and unpleasant events after the decease of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants). Today, I want to say to you that although the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) emphasized on assigning Imam Ali (peace be upon him) as a successor after him, what factors made the orders of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) about Imamate be ignored, people ignored Ali (peace be upon him) and they assigned another person as Imam. The prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) tried for them for 23 years. Wisdom, conscience and fairness were involved that they should have got together in the day of the decease of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) and they should have picked up his corpse and after they buried him, they should have dealt with caliphate. However, unfortunately, they left the corpse over some people of Bani Hashem such the leader of the faithful (peace be upon him) and they went to Saghife Bani Saede to choose a caliph and said
مناأمير و منكم أمير.
The first question:
In spite of the fact that the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) emphasized a lot on assigning Imam Ali (peace be upon him) as Imam and caliph of the Muslims, was the name of Ali (peace be upon him) mentioned in that adventurous land where there was rowdyism and even they deformed the nose of Hobab Ben Monzar and they crushed Mr. Sad Ben Ebade under their feet as much as he was about to die. Moreover, even Sad Ben Ebade pulled the beard of Omar and he said '' if a strand of hair be reduced from my beard, I will smash all of your teeth. The history is clear to us and it says so clearly and obviously
فقالت الأنصار أو بعض الأنصار: لا نبايع إلا عليا
We never swore allegiance with anyone except Ali (peace be upon him)
This was one of slogans of Saghife.
He also says clearly in the book '' Yaghubi History'' (volume 2/page 123)
و كانوا مهاجرين و الأنصار لا يشكون في علي.
The migrants and the supporters had no doubt about the caliphate of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).
But it is important and crucial to say that some of them had been fond of presidency, policy and headship as much as they could not see realities at all.
Mr Zehbi that is one of Sunni scientific founders narrates in the book '' Seir al-Alam al-Nebla'' (volume 19/page 328) about Abu al-Mali
'' Mr Ghazali that is the writer the book ''al-Oyun'' was asked '' Excellency Ghazali! Was Mr. Omar Ben Khetab that attended in the day of Ghadir the first person that congratulated Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) and he said
بخ بخ لك يا علي، أصبحت مولاي و مولاي كل مؤمن و مؤمنة
Or not? Mr Ghazali said '' yes, he was the first person that congratulated Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) ''. They asked '' did they swear allegiance with each other?'' he said '' yes, they swore allegiance with each other''. They asked '' why did they break that?'' Mr Ghazali said '' being fond of presidency made Excellency Omar break allegiance and choose another person as the caliph of the Muslims.
أنسيتم قول رسول الله يوم غدير خم قال: من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه
.It is clear that the slogan is not useful
Hazrat Fateme Zahra, only child and the soul of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants), attended in the mosque among the migrants and the supporters in the last day of the prophet decease (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) and she said loudly
أنسيتم قول رسول الله يوم غدير خم قال: من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه
' Have you forgotten the remark of my father that bade in the day of Ghadir Ali will be the leader of everyone that I used to be as their leader.
According to the narration of Sheikh Sadugh in the book '' Khasal'', Hazrat Fateme Zahra (peace be upon her) bade
هل ترك أبي يوم غدير خم لأحد عذرا؟
Did my father leave any excuses and way out for anyone in the day of Ghadir?
There were a lot of shouts to defend Hazrat Ali (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants), but there were no ears to listen. This was a matter that had already been planned. He had provided the introductions of this story many months and years ago and they had predicted all of its grounds.
Mr. Abu Riye that is one of Sunni famous open-minded scientists in Egypt narrates in the book '' Ma Rejal al-Fekr Fi al-Ghahere'' (volume 2/page 102).
إن الحزب القرشي الذي يرأسه أبو بكر و عمر و أبو عبيدة لم يكن وضعا حاضرا و لا وليد مفاجأة أو ارتجال و إنما كان وليد مؤامرات سرية مبرمة، حيكت أصولها و ربت أطرافها، بكل عناية و إحكام و إن أبطال هذه المؤامرة: أبو بكر، عمر بن الخطاب، أبو عبيدة بن الجراح و من أنصار هذا الحزب: عائشة و حفصة.
The caliphate of Abu Bakr did not happen after several hours talk in Saghife, but it was a conspiracy and it had been planned many times ago. The heroes of this conspiracy were Abu Bakr, Omar and Abu Obeide Jarah and the supporters of this conspiracy were Ayeshe and Hafse. '
This is not the remark of a Sunni scientist but a Shiite scientist and it demonstrates conscience and freedom.
Mr. Abd al-Fateh Abd al-Maghsud is one of famous personalities in Egypt when he discusses about the matter of pen and ink, he prevents Omar Ben Khatab from writing this will and he says in the book '' Ma Rejal al-Fekr Fi al-Ghahere'' (volume 2/page 111).
In my opinion, when the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) bade '' bring pen and ink to write something to prevent you from going astray'' but Omar tried to prevent that. On one hand, it was a conspiracy that prevented Imam Ali (peace be upon him) from Imamate and caliphate and on the other hand, the conspiracy was related to the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) which they crushed the 23 year remarks of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) under their feet.
When Mr. Ebn Ghatibe Dinuri says the story of Saghife in the book '' al-Emame and al-Siyase'' (volume 1/page 29- 31), he says some statements that hurt the heart of human.
When the second caliph entered the house of Imam Ali (peace be upon him), he took Imam Ali (peace be upon him) to the mosque by force. The second caliph said to Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) '' you should swear allegiance''. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said '' at the present, you should firm the foundations of Abu Bakr government so that they leave this government to you by all means''. The leader of the faithful (peace be upon him) writes in Nahj al-Balaghe/ letter 28
إني كنت أقاد كما يقاد الجمل المخشوش حتى أبايع و لعمر الله لقد أردت أن تذم فمدحت ، وأن تفضح فافتضحت.
As a camel is pulled with tied mouth, they took me from the house to the mosque by force.
Mr. Ghatibe says in another book
قالوا لعلي: بايع، فقال علي: إن لم أفعل فمه؟ قالوا: إذا والله نضرب عنقك، فقال علي: إذا تقتلون عبدالله و أخا رسوله! فقال عمر: أما عبدالله فنعم، و أما أخو الرسول فلا.
Omar said to Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) '' you should swear allegiance with Abu Bakr''. Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) said '' if I do not swear allegiance, what will happen? Omar said '' I swear God which I will cut your head''. Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) '' are you going to kill the brother of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) and God's servant?''. Omar said '' if you say that I am going to kill a servant of God by killing you, you will not be right, but if you say that I am going to kill the brother of messenger (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) by killing you, you will be right. However, you are not the brother of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants).
Mr. Ebn Ghatibe has an interpretation that is so ugly and painful. People recognized Imam Ali (peace be upon him) as a hero in all of the Islamic wars until the day of Ghadir. They recognized Imam Ali (peace be upon him) as the winner of the Badr, Khabir, Ohod and Hanin wars. When the name of Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) is mentioned, the masterwork of Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) in wars against the great heroes of unbelievers is imagined in minds. It can be seen only innocence, tears and helplessness from Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him).
Ebn Ghatibe says
'' Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) moaned, cried and looked at the grave of the prophet (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) '' O' cousin! They have planned the conspiracy of murdering me in such a condition. Omar said to Abu Bakr '' why don't you issue the final order for killing Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him)?'' Abu Bakr said '' as long as Imam Ali (peace be upon him) has a supporter like Hazrat Fateme Zahra (peace be upon her), I cannot issue my last remark andorder''. In such a situation, the order of murdering Hazrat Fateme Zahra ( peace be upon her) was issued and the conspiracy of separating Hazrat Fateme Zahra ( peace be upon her) from Hazrat Ali ( peace be upon him) was planned and …fire …door…the abortion of Mohsen Ben Ali….
This was a preplanned and hidden conspiracy.
Another point that needs to be discussed here is whether Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) defended him or he remained quiet from the early moments of Abu Bakr caliphate and his exclusion ( Hazrat Ali ( peace be upon him) from the area of policy and caliphate.