In continuation of the discussions on the conspiracy against Imam Ali immediately after the death of the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH), we shall focus on other aspects of the topic in this article.
After the death of the Prophet (PBUH&HF), for forty days, Ali (AS) was contacting well-known people at night, reminding them of the instructions of the Prophet about his right to Caliphate, and asking them to join him to get the power. But none responded except Abu Dhar, Miqdad, Salman al-Farsi and some more. The Prophet had already instructed Ali that if the number of his followers at that upheaval exceeds 40 men, he should take the action otherwise he should keep silent since the only remaining pious people would be killed without being able to help Islam. Ali (AS) was not afraid of being killed, and he kept silent only to keep the faded lawn of Islam alive. After he was sure that there would no success in his revolt, he kept silent.
During his silence, he indeed started cooperating with the first 2 Caliphs as a consultant and did his best to decrease the damage as much as possible. If he had not done so, Islam would have been destroyed completely. Imam Ali said: “I tolerated those periods as if there was a thorn in my eye and a sharp bone stuck in my throat.”(1) Islam was very young at that time (only 23 years old!) and division among Muslims could have totally removed Islam from the surface of the earth. So he kept silent, as Haroon (Aaron) kept silent to prevent division: (Moses) said: “O’ Aaron! What kept you back when you saw them going wrong?”… (Aaron said 🙂 “…Truly I feared you would say ‘You caused a division among the Children of Israel and you did not respect my word. (2)
Abu Sufyan was one of those who wanted to destroy the young Islam by encouraging Ali to revolt when he was sure that Ali will have no success due to the small number of his followers. But the revolt of Ali would at least cause a civil war and the destruction of Islam. Al-Tabari reported: When people gathered to give their oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr, Abu Sufyan came while saying, “By God, I see a cloud of smoke which nothing but blood will clear. O family of Abd Manaf! Who is Abu Bakr that he should be the master of your affairs? Where are Ali and al-Abbas, the two oppressed ones?” He then said (to Ali): “O Abul Hasan! Stretch your hand so that I give you the oath of allegiance.”… Ali rebuked him, saying: “By God, you do not intend anything but (to stir up) Fitnah (dissension). For a long time, you have desired evil for Islam. We do not need your advice.” (3)
As we quoted the tradition of al-Bukhari earlier, the Prophet confirmed that the history of the Children of Israel will be repeated for Muslims. In fact, The Quran has mentioned the stories of the Children of Israel to give us a way to understand the true history of Islam itself. There are many other striking similarities in this regard written in The Quran.
Side Comments
A Sunni brother mentioned that Aaron (Haroon) died during the lifetime of Moses, and as such, this is not a correct analogy to confirm the caliphate of Ali using the tradition of Sahih al-Bukhari in which the Prophet said: “Your position to me is like the position of Aaron (Haroon) to Moses but there is no prophet AFTER me.” The claim that Aaron died during the lifetime of Prophet Moses (if true) does not hurt this argument at all if you very carefully read the following paragraphs: As Moses (AS) had left behind Aaron to look after his people when he went to Miqaat (meeting Allah), in the same way, the Prophet (PBUH&HF) was leaving Ali behind as his deputy to look after the affairs of Islam after he met Allah (i.e., his death).
This assertion becomes more evident when we look at the last phrase of the tradition of al-Bukhari where the Messenger of Allah mentioned: “but there is no prophet AFTER me”. Think about the word “AFTER” in the statement of the Prophet. Don’t you think that the Prophet Muhammad is talking about AFTER his death? That position (leadership) which the Prophet entrusted to Ali was with Ali till his death. Nobody except the Prophet Muhammad can take this position back from him.
Prophet Moses (AS) was away from his people for 40 days and he came back and met them along with Haroon (AS). Likewise, Prophet Muhammad is away from us (living in heaven), but he will soon meet us and his companions as well as Imam Ali on the Day of Judgment. He will then question them the same way as Moses questioned his people, especially those who left his religion and worshipped the golden calf. Look at the following tradition from Sahih al-Bukhari to have some idea about the would-be conversation between Prophet Muhammad and some of his companions.
Narrated Abu Hazim from Sahl bin Sa’d:
The Prophet said, “I am your predecessor (forerunner) at the Lake- Fount, and whoever will pass by there, he will drink from it and whoever will drink from it, he will never be thirsty. There will come to me some people whom I will recognize, and they will recognize me, but a barrier will be placed between me and them.” Abu Hazim added: Nu’man bin Abi ‘Aiyash, on hearing me, said. “Did you hear this from Sahl?” I said, “Yes.” He said, ” I bear witness that I heard Abu Said Al-Khudri saying the same, adding that the Prophet said: ‘I will say: They are my companions. Then it will be said to me, ‘You do not know what they innovated (new things) in the religion after you left’. I will say, ‘Far removed, far removed (from mercy), those who changed after me.” Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet said, “On the Day of Resurrection a group of companions will come to me but will be driven away from the Lake-Fount, and I will say, ‘O Lord (those are) my companions!’ It will be said, ‘You have no knowledge as to what they innovated after you left; they turned apostate as renegades (reverted from the true Islam).” (4)
Another person claimed: Not all of the people of Moses worshipped the calf and those who did not kill the ones who did by the order of God. Perhaps, this brother has been told another story. But The Quran tells us that all the followers of Moses (except a few) were deceived by Sameri. The companions of Moses did not kill Sameri either. They were rather about to kill Aaron (AS) who tried to advise them on that affliction. If the number of those who preserved their faith was a lot, Aaron wouldn’t have been in trouble. Here are some verses of The Quran concerning the event: And the community of Moses, after (he had left them), chose a calf (for worship), (made) out of their ornaments, of saffron hue, which gave a lowing sound. Saw they not that it spake not unto them nor guided them to any way? They chose it and became wrongdoers. (5)
And when Moses returned unto his people, angry and grieved, he said: Evil is that (course) which ye took after I had left you. Would ye hasten on the judgment of your Lord? And he cast down the tablets, and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward him. (Aaron) said: “Son of my mother! Lo! People did oppress me and they were about to kill me. Make not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune nor count thou me amongst the sinful people.” (6) Before this, Aaron had already said to them: “O my people! you are being tested in this, for verily your Lord is (Allah) Most Gracious; so follow me and obey my order.”(7)
They had said: “We will not abandon this cult but we will devote ourselves to it until Moses returns to us.”(8)
Continued in the next article: ( Conspiracy Against Imam Ali (PBUH) 3 )
NOTES:
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1. Nahjul Balagha, the sayings of Imam Ali
2. The Quran 20:92-94
3. Sunni reference: History of al-Tabari, English version, v9, p199
4. Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 8.585
5. The Quran 7:148
6. The Quran 7:150
7. The Quran 20:90
8. The Quran 20:91
