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The Successor to The First Kalif Nominated

When on 13th JAMADI II. 13 A.H. (634 A.D.), ABU BAKR got ill and got hopeless of recovery, he nominated OMAR in his place. (For details the readers are referred to TKS., translation by JARRET). Any enlightened man or woman would ask:

1- What happened to the principle of election resorted to in the case of the choice of the first KALIF?

2- On what authority of the holy QUR'AN or HADITH or the principle of politics was the appointment of the successor to the first KALIF effected?

THE SUCCESSOR TO THE SECOND KALIF CO-OPTED

When OMAR felt the approach of his end, he avoided election as well as nomination and appointed a committee of six men of his own choice to elect a successor to him:

1- ABDUR RAHMAN B. AUF.

2- ALI IBNE ABI TALEB.

3- SA'D IBNE ABI WAQQAS.

4- OTHMAN IBNE AFFAN.

5- ZOBEIR F. ALAWAM.

6- TALHA IBNE OBAIDALLAH.

If was by OMAR that MU'AYIAH was appointed as the governor of Syria. (MR. ANNL., ENI). To know the details as to what took place and how OTHMAN was elected, and how the KALIFATE was conducted by him, one would do better by referring to TABARI and KAMIL IBNE ATHEER etc., and W. MUIR has given the details in his ANNALS on p. 324. However, OTHMAN was co-opted to the KALIFATE. OTHMAN'S patronage of his relatives gave further strength to MU'AYIAH son of ABU SOFYAN to the extent that MU'AYIAH'S son YAZEED could play the havoc of the heartless wholesale massacre at KARBALA, and his issues, the OMMAYIDS, followed by the ABBASIDES, killed the holy Imams of the House of the holy Prophet, one after another, until the eleventh of them, and the Twelfth one, like Jesus, was rescued by God to be kept alive as per the will of the Lord.

FATEMA'S HOUSE ATTACKED

In compliance with God's command "BALLIGH MA ONZILA ILAIK.." (Divine guidance in succession to the Final apostleship) and had placed Ali as the First in charge of it, and had declared it at the historic ceremonial event at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM', before the multitude of the thousands of the HAJIES, on 18. 12. 10. A.H. at the conclusion of which event was revealed 5:6. declaring the religion to be perfect and Islam to be the religion for man, accepted by God. In pursuance of the expressed divine will of the Lord, Ali could not recognize or yield to the man-made authority set up at the 'SAQEEFA' and hence had not paid fealty to it.

ALI TO EXERCISE PATIENCE

The holy Prophet who knew through the divine gift of knowledge as to what would happen after him till the Day of Judgment, had advised Ali to exercise the maximum possible patience against every atrocious move that might confront him. In compliance with the apostolic will, without the least interference into, or any concern with the affairs that proceeded at the 'SAQEEFA', Ali had retired with a determination not to get out until collects together all the notes on the holy QUR'AN which he had from the holy Prophet about the external as well as the internal meanings of the Final Word of God.

Without Ali being subjugated, the authority set up at the 'SAQEEFA' could not have the seal of the recognition of it, by the holy AHLUL-BAIT and Ali was now the Chief of the AHLUL-BAIT the House of the holy Prophet, and he would not yield. The retirement of Ali was exploited and a charge of conspiracy was coined and the people of the newly set up rule, headed by OMAR, collected at the door of FATEMA, demanded Ali to come out of the house. The reply from inside was that it was a vow Ali had made not to come out until the collection of the important notes on the holy QUR'AN is not completed. But the insurgent crowd would not agree and a big row was set into action.

FATEMA'S HOUSE THREATENED WITH FIRE

The holy Lady FATEMA, bereaved only a day or two before, deeply sunk in grief, standing behind the door of her abode remonstrated saying: "O' people! It is only yesterday that my father, the holy Prophet, departed form you and today you have the audacity to attack his house in which his daughter is mourning for him, which door he did not enter but with a salutation on its inmates". Some historians say that fire and firewood was already collected at the door of the holy House with the threat to set the abode on fire and some say fire was already kindled. However, SHIBLI NO'MNAI in his well-known 'ALFAROOQ' says:

"some say that fire was already set, but with the short temperedness of OMAR this act was not improbable" (AF).

FATEMA WOUNDED

A violent kick at the door from one among the crowd pushed it down on the side of the holy Lady FATEMA standing behind it, breaking her rib and the Queen of Paradise, fell unconscious and ultimately the hit and the wound killed the holy Mother along with the baby son in her womb. According to the tradition of the AHLUL-BAIT, the Baby was already named 'MOHSIN'.

ALI'S PATIENCE

Even at this juncture the Lion of God abided with the will of the holy Prophet and like a helpless one, kept quiet without any resistance or retaliation which, if he had only willed to resort, would have played havoc with the insurgents. In short, if the valor and prowess of Ali during the time of the holy Prophet in the establishment of Islam and its propagation was a wonder, his patience and forbearance and fortitude which he exercised against all the atrocities from even the cowards among the people, was on less a surprise and a wonder.

The point quite obvious in this regard is that to Ali the first concern was the safety, security and the maintenance of the faith and not the owning of any fortune through any temporal power, though the right to be the temporal leader as well besides being the spiritual guide, in the place of the holy Prophet, was of none but his, which fact is unanimously acknowledged and openly declared even by his antagonists.

ALI ARRESTED

However, when the crowed shouted to Ali to come out, and even the door of his abode had fallen on the side of his wife the holy Lady FATEMA, throwing her down unconscious and seriously hurt, Ali came out. He was tied by a rope round his neck and the world witnessed the unbelievable sight of Ali the Lion of God, the Conqueror of KHAIBAR, the Victor against the giant warriors of Arabia, OMAR IBNE ABDA'WOD and MARHAB, being dragged by the people to the court of the KALIFATE. It is to this extent that Ali fulfilled his promise of patience, to the holy Prophet. They holy Prophet had predicted to Ali saying:

"Others will be preferred to thee when they will not be in their own rights. Resign thyself to it until thou reacheth me at the Spring (KAUTHAR)" (S.M).

ALI READS OUT SALMAN'S MIND

Along with Ali, was also arrested SALMAN the well known faithful companion of the holy Prophet and the servant of Ali, on whom the holy Prophet had conferred the exclusive and the unique honor of declaring him as: "SALMAN MINNA AHLUL-BAIT".

"SALMAN is of we the AHLUL-BAIT". SALMAN was also tied with a rope and was marched behind Ali. SALMAN was a very old gentleman, who, according to the historians, was more than two hundred years old, for he is reported to have died in 35 A.H. while he was 250 years of age and according to some historians his age at his death was 350 (EHI). While marching under arrest, the oldest devotee of the House of the holy Prophet could not keep pace with the men dragging him and at the same time he was sunk deep in wonder and surprise saying heart: "What! Is this the same Ali, the ever victorious Lion of God whose strength is unconquerable and whose valiance and prowess matchless, who fought and killed the giant warriors of Arabia in single combats and who knew no running way from the battlefields even in the worst of the circumstances and when even the closest of the companions had deserted the holy Prophet?". Lost in his wonder and the irreconcilable surprise at the absolute patience of Ali, poor old SALMAN could not keep pace with those who were dragging him violently. Suddenly a violent blow from some one in the crowd, fell on the neck of SALMAN with a shout to be quick. Ali, who was walking quietly under the rope, looking down, sounded to SALMAN behind him:

"SALMAN! The blow thou didst receive is the reward for thy wonder at heart about my silence and patience. What dost thou know SALMAN! When to draw the sword and when to be quiet. This is to fulfill the will of the Lord declared to me though His Prophet".

The Open Enmity Becomes Settled Hypocricy

With the establishment of Islam and the successful conclusion of the ministry of Muhammad, the Last Apostle of God, ended the need to fight any open enemy of the faith or of the holy Prophet, for there did not remain any in the land who did not profess the faith who could defy it openly. As long as the faith was not firmly established and there were the open enemies strong enough to openly attack Islam and the Muslims, there was the need of Ali, the Lion of God 'KARRARAN GHAIRA FARRARAN', who knew only to fight the enemy of God and the of the holy Prophet and he knew not even to turn his face away from his antagonist, far from running away from him.

Thus Ali was given to the holy Prophet, with the godly strength, the matchless bravery and the wonderful prowess to play the role of the Ever-Triumphant Protector of the faith and faithful. But with the extirpation of the open opposition and aggression against the faith, ended the duty of the Lion of God of an open fight against any open enemy, and with the departure of the holy Prophet from this world, started the problem of the perseverance of the faith and the maintenance of the fellowship of its adherents, lest the tender plant of the just established faith which had not yet been sufficiently rooted in the minds and the hearts of the people, would perish for ever, and there was no other prophet to come to re-establish it.

Until the firm establishment of Islam, there were the disbelievers who repeatedly attempted to regain the power and authority for their pagan cult, and with the firm establishment of Islam as an unshakable power, and the holy Prophet departing from this world, started the struggle within the ranks of those who had embraced the faith half-heartedly, for power and authority which they restlessly waited to own for themselves. The one impediment in the way of these opportunists, was the problem of the declared position of the 'AHLUL-BAIT', particularly of Ali who the declared Vicegerent of the holy Prophet, openly announced both at the very outset of the apostolic ministry (at the 'DAAWATE-ASHEERA' the Feast of the Relatives) and finally at the conclusion of the apostleship, at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM'. Thus the pre-Islamic enmity against the 'AHLUL-BAIT' particularly against Ali, for without subjugating Ali and neglecting the 'AHLUL-BAIT' none could have his own way

THE THREE CLASSES OF THE PROPHET: THE BELIEVERS, THE DISBELEIVERS AND THE HYPOCRITES

With the advent of Islam, the people of Mecca and Medina got sorted into two main groups: the believers and the disbelievers, and among those who professed belief in Islam, there were the sincere ones the 'MOMINS' and those who had joined the ranks succumbing to the changed circumstances over which they could not gain any hold, they were called the 'MONAFIQS' or the Hypocrites. As regards the sincere believers and the Hypocrites, holy QUR'AN clearly exposes the fact:

"The dwellers of the desert say 'We believe'. Say thou (O' Our apostle Muhammad unto them) 'We do not believe (in fact). (Hence) say ye 'we have submitted' (i.e., only embraced Islam) and the faith has not yet entered your heart.." [49:14]. Even the declaration of the hypocrites, bearing witness to the apostleship of the holy Prophet Muhammad has been flatly denied by God, as a false profession:

"when the Hypocrites come unto thee (O' Our Apostle Muhammad) say they (unto thee) 'Verily thou art the Apostle of God, and God knoweth that verily thou art His Apostle, and God beareth witness that the hypocrites are certainly liar" [63:1]. Thus besides the evidence of history, there is the unchallengeable verdict of the Word of God about the fact that those who professed Islam and called themselves as Muslims, during the time of the holy Prophet, all were not sincere. There were those in whose hearts the faith, far from getting rooted therein, had not even entered, they were only Muslims [49:14] i.e., those submitted to the circumstances unavoidable for them. Verse 63:1 clearly gives out that the lip-profession of the faith in the apostleship of the holy Prophet was not also the genuine conviction at the heart of people and the people have been clearly termed by God himself, as the Hypocrites.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HYPOCRITES

Besides history, the holy QUR'AN is too eloquent and too aloud to declare the fact, about the hypocrites being in a definite group of their own and how busy were the hypocrites in their subversive plans. The importance and the significance of making known the presence of the hypocrites among the Muslims and their inimical activities, is quite evident from a separate chapter altogether being assigned to describe their conduct and character and declare their evil intentions and devices.

The wonder is, what happened to the hypocrites, that as the holy Prophet departs from this world, there is a sudden silence about them, and there is no mention of them at all any of the writings of the Muslims. The amazing questions arise:

1- Have they all suffered a wholesale death, immediately at the departure of the holy Prophet, which no history reports?

2- Or, were they only waiting for the departure of the holy Prophet and immediately as he left this world, they all, overnight became sincere believers, that there is no mention of them at all?

3- Or, they are those who have joined together and formed an organized front against the House of the holy Prophet, for only in such a case none can expect the hypocrites themselves to call themselves hypocrites thereafter? Otherwise where have they gone? What has happened to them that none speaks or makes mention of them at all?

THE POSSIBLE AND THE ACCEPTABLE ANSWER

The one and the only object of the hypocrites and their hidden subversive activities, was the regaining of the power and authority from the holy Prophet, which they could not do until his stay in this world. They only waited for his departure, and the moment he left, they had their own way and has successfully established themselves in power and authority neglecting the House of the holy Prophet (i.e., the holy 'AHLUL-BAIT'). Thus the dirty body of hypocrisy went under the cloak of general Islam and whenever the evils of hypocrisy became too obvious to be hidden or to be defended, they were termed as unintentional indiscretion of a well-intended 'IJTEHAD'.

The holy QUR'AN and the history is there to vouch that as hypocrites, during the lifetime of the holy Prophet. They tried the worst possible for them to displace the authority of the holy Prophet by deserting him in the battle of HUNAIN, and it is a historic fact that HOZAIFA the faithful companion of the holy Prophet, had the list of the plotters who were shown in their very person to the holy Prophet, by heavens, through a timely lighting. And now as Muslims, having the power and authority which they lusted for so long, they easily bypassed the holy 'AHLUL-BAIT' and established themselves over and above them, and planned to do away with them totally, by killing the godly ones one after another.

Thus, with departure of the holy Prophet, ended the peace and the safety for the 'AHLUL-BAIT', and started the age of their godly patience and endurance against the atrocious murderous treachery of ht people, and simultaneously began the persecution and the slaughter of their devotees.

THE LIFE IN THE HOUSE OF THE 'AHLUL-BAIT'

FATEMA during her lifetime, set the best examples of a righteous and a correct womanhood on earth.

Her marriage was so simple that if the Muslims, particularly those who proudly claim to be the devotees of the 'AHLUL-BAIT', only follow the example in their practical life, they will themselves be the happiest souls in their practical life. FATEMA'S obedience to her husband was ideal and the contented life she led was a lesson to every Muslim woman. Her godliness and god-mindedness was a beacon light of guidance to womanhood.

Her treatment to her handmaid 'FIZZA' is a practical example to every righteous woman. In her household life every alternate day FATEMA herself minded the whole work of the household and 'FIZZA' was given rest. It was FATEMA who said that the best thing for a woman is neither to cast her glance on any 'Non-MAHRAM' man not to expose herself to his glance. It is worth imagining that if women follow this FATEMA Watchword for chaste Womanhood how pure and safe will be womanhood and how graceful, healthy, happy and holy would have been the human society today.

FATEMA'S POSITION

The distinctive and the distinguishing titles of the holy Lady FATEMA, the only surviving issue and the most beloved one of the holy Prophet have already been given above. The following are a few of the well-known declarations of the holy Prophet about this holy soul: MANSOOR BIN MAKRMAH records that the holy Prophet said: "FATEMA is a piece of my flesh. The one incurred her wrath, incurred my wrath too". "A scion of mine is FATEMA" said the holy Prophet "Whatever maketh her happy, maketh me happy, and whatever filleth her with pain, filleth me too with pain".

"FATEMA is a part of mine, whosoever annouyeth her, hath annoyed me, and whosoever annoyeth me, hat annoyed God and whosoever annoyed God, hath turned an infidel" [SB., SM., KU., MST. Etc). Before assessing the correct value of the above apostolic declarations, one should remember the position of the holy Prophet under the following announcement of the holy QUR'AN:

"He (the holy Prophet) speaketh not anything of his own inclination save what hath been revealed to him (by God)" [53:3] It is how for every believer in the holy QUR'AN as the revealed Word of God, to say that if what is declared by the Lord is true, whatever the holy Prophet said about his 'AHLUL-BAIT', including the above announcements of his about FATEMA, was it not the will of the Lord that was communicated to mankind through His Apostle?

About annoying the holy Prophet, the holy QUR'AN declared: "Those who annoy God and His Apostle, God hath cursed them in this world and the hereafter, and He has prepared for them an abasing chastisement" [33:57]

THE MISERABLE PLIGHT OF THE HOLY LADY

This holy Lady FATEMA, the dearest of the holy Prophet, the wife of the First holy Imam Ali, the holy Mother of the Eleven holy Imams, about whom the holy Prophet had taken the special care to repeatedly announce her divine heavenly position, was the first victim of the treachery of the people immediately after the departure of the holy Prophet.

First of all, she was the most struck with sorrow and grief at the departure of the holy Prophet from this world, when the holy Prophet was about to breath his last, he found FATEMA standing before him shedding tears. He embraced her and said something in her ears. The holy Lady who was sunk in sorrow and grief and restlessly shedding tears, on hearing what told into her ears by her departing Holy Father, went into a smile and looked cheerful. When asked about what was it that suddenly turned her sorrow into cheer and made her smile, she said that the holy Prophet consoled her saying:

"Grieve not FATEMA! For thou will be the first among my 'AHLUL-BAIT' to meet me, and it is a very interval of a few counted days of separation". It is already said that soon after the funeral of the holy Prophet, only a day or two had passed, instead of offering condolences to the bereaved holy family, an insurgent crowd surrounded the abode of this holy Lady, a kick at her door by a tyrant caused the door to fall on her side, wounding her, breaking her rib, the wound which proved fatal.

The holy Lady wept so much for her father the holy Prophet that even the people in the neighborhood could not bear the laments. Besides the grief and the sorrow for her father, was the treatment meted out to her husband Ali, the Vicegerent of the holy Prophet. To add to her grief, she was deprived of her rights over the garden of FADAK which was bequeathed to her by her father the holy Prophet. To know the details as to how her claim was rejected by the KALIFATE, the reader may refer to SAHEEH BOKHARI, which relates from AYSHA a detailed note about FATEMA'S claiming the 'FADAK' and how it was rejected and how FATEMA got annoyed and to whom it was that she did not even talk, until she departed from this world.

FATEMA MARTYRED: SUCCUMBING TO THE WOUND

Thus after seventy-five or ninety days after the departure of the holy Prophet, as prophesied, the holy Lady passed away. But before breathing her last, she called Ali and desired that none of those particularly a few ones, who had turned hostile to the House of the Prophet and violated the will of the Apostle of God, should be informed of her departure from this world, and that she should be quietly buried in the darkness of night. Some reporters say that when the body was lowered into the grave, by Ali, in the grave appeared the two hands of the holy Prophet, with a voice addressing Ali:

"Come on! Ali! Return thou the part of mine, to me".

It is said that Ali shedding tears responded to the voice saying:

"I am ashamed of thee O' Apostle of God, for I look FATEMA from thee sound in her body but I am now returning her unto thee rib-broken". Thus the holy Lady was the first of the Martyrs among the AHLUL-BAIT', after the departure of the holy Prophet. It is now left to the intelligent ones of the readers to judge the position of those who annoyed this holy one of God, (i.e., Lady FATEMA) under the apostolic announcements of the holy Prophet and the verse of the holy QUR'AN referred to above. It is authentically reported that the holy Lady once referring on her miserable plight and the sorrowful life she had to lead, addressing her father, the holy Prophet, standing before his grave, said:

"Oh! Father dear! After thee, fell on me such miseries that had they fallen on bright days, the bright days would have turned into darkest night". The holy Lady of Light left behind two sons and two daughters whose ages at the time of her departing from them, were: HASSAN about 8 years HUSSAIN about 7 years ZAINAB (daughter) about 6 years UMME KALTHOOM (daughter) about 5 years

THE 'AHLUL-BAIT' THEIR LOT, BEFOREHAND

It is a universally acknowledged fact that every one of the holy AHLUL-BAIT, knew beforehand, everything that would befall in his or her life in this world, and the manner in which his or her earthly sojourn will end.

1- The holy Prophet had announced a year ago that year was the last one of his stay on earth and the pilgrimage he would perform that year, would be the last one and no pilgrimage thereafter he would have to do.

2- The holy Prophet had already informed every one of the members of his 'AHLUL-BAIT', every calamity that would befall them and the treacherous course the people would adopt after him with regard to his family.

3- The holy Prophet had informed particularly about the calamities that would befall HUSSIAN and the details of the gruesome massacre at KARBALA.

4- To Ali the holy Prophet had already said that he was seeing Ali with his (Ali's) beard drenched with the blood of his (Ali's) head, in the Mosque of KUFA.

5- FATEMA had already foretold even her handmaid FIZZA about her departure. She was informed be the holy Prophet about her stay in the world after him.

6- Ali even used to point out to ABDUR RAHMAN IBNE MULJIM as his assassin, when there was no apparent sign of IBNE MULJIM entertaining any idea of killing Ali. Days before his martyrdom, Ali had been continuously informing his family about his destined departure and had already given the details of his funeral and the location of the place of the burial.

7- HASSAN knew his end and had advised HUSSAIN to be patient against the atrocious behavior of the people and not to insist upon his burial besides his grandfather the holy Prophet when it will be resisted and prevented.

8- HUSSAIN'S Martyrdom was already prophesied by the holy Prophet with all the details of the Tragedy. The holy Prophet had even given a handful of a mysterious dust to UMME SALAMA his wife, saying that it was the dust of KARBALA where HUSSAIN will be martyred and when HUSSAIN would be martyred, the dust would turn into blood, and it happened so.

It is reported that FATEMA before her departure, called her daughter ZAINAB to her and willed to her that on the day when HUSSAIN would ask her for some torn clothes, it will be the last departure of HUSSAIN from her (ZAINAB), then to kiss HUSSAIN on her behalf on HUSSAIN'S throat on which will pass the sword of SHIMR the assassin. FATEMA again called HUSSAIN to her and willed to him, that before his ultimate separation from her (ZAINAB) to kiss on her behalf, on the two sides of her (ZAINAB'S) arms on which will be tied the rope when the ladies of the camp will be taken captives by the YAZIDIAN forces.

ALI'S REGARD FOR FATEMA

Ali's regard for FATEMA was the same as was the regard of the holy Prophet for Lady KHADIJA. Until the life of Lady KHADIJAH, the holy Prophet did not accept the hand of nay other woman and likewise until the life of FATEMA, Ali did not marry any other woman.

The critics of Islam, in their ignorance of the truth, betray their prejudice in their venture to criticize saying that the holy Prophet was extremely polygamous. Such prejudiced critics should know that when the holy Prophet was in the bloom of his youth, he was not only contented but was the happiest husband of a lady in the decline of her age and the death of the lady who was older than himself, he observed the whole of the year following the death, as AAMUL-HUZN, i.e., the year of Grief. It is an elementary truth of human life that if a man be lusty in his sensual desires,

particularly matrimonial, he would be such in his youth. When the holy Prophet was in the fullness of his youth and when he had an aged wife, and if he had only desired to have a young lady, there was already the offer from the people of Mecca to give the fairest woman of his own choice, if he only spares his condemning idolatry, but he bluntly refused. The fact is that the attachment of the holy Prophet to Lady KHADIJA was so much that none dared to offer his daughter and no woman had the courage of even thinking of offering herself.

It was only at the departure of Lady KHADIJA that ABU BAKR could offer his daughter AYSHA who was of about nine years. History is there to vouch that when AYSHA was offered to him, at Mecca, the holy Prophet refused and it was only in Medina after the migration that the holy Prophet could reject the offer of ABU BAKR any longer, just to please the companion that the offer was accepted, otherwise he would not have asked for the hand of a girl of only nine, when he had already crossed the fiftieth year of his age and when there were only a few years before his departure from this world. And the alliance of HAFSA with the holy Prophet, was only to please his other companion OMAR. Similarly, came one after another ladies, some of them far advanced in age imploring the holy Prophet to give them the honor, privilege and the pride to be the wives of the Apostle of God. As the Mercy unto the Worlds which he was, the holy Prophet could not deny the grace asked for, from him.

To know how happy and harmonious was the life of the holy Prophet with his aged wife KHADIJA, let us hear what Carlyle reports about it: This young brilliant AYSHA was, one day, questioning him: "Now am not I better than KHADIJA? She was a widow; old, and had lost her looks: You love me better than you did her?" "No" by Allah! Answered Muhammad: "No, by Allah! She believed in me when none else would believe. In the whole world I had but one friend, and she was that!" SEID, his Slave, also believed in him: these with his young Cousin Ali, ABU TALEB'S son, were his first converts. (Carlyle's Sartor Resartus).

It is unimaginable that one who did not think of any other woman besides his wife, when he was a full-grown youth, to have ever thought of any woman, in the age of about 55 years: The truth is that none of the ladies besides Lady KHADIJA, did the holy Prophet desire to marry. They were either offered by their parents or the ladies themselves volunteered with prayers to accept them. The holy Prophet, the Mercy unto the Worlds, could say no to none.

It was perhaps a providential plan to prove to man the weakness in women that even the Apostle of God who never talked or acted but by the revealed will of the Lord, having mercifully accepted the ladies in matrimony, could not escape the miseries that these ladies inflicted on him which went to the extent that for about a full month or even more, he discarded all of them and the suspension of his connection with the ladies was so long, that people even suspected him to have divorced the ladies and it was at the revelation of verse (66:1) that he resumed his connections with them. See the interpretation of this in any commentary of the holy QUR'AN by any commentator of any school of thought,

be he a Muslim or a non-Muslim. This was definitely to show to man that when even an Apostle of God who is the most balanced head and the divinely conditioned personality, in spite of maintaining full justice among them, could not escape the torment of the envy of the women against each other, how can an ordinary man manage with more than one wife at a time. Even the sanction of having four wives at a time is only a sanction under emergencies and exigencies and not an order. The closing clause of the verse [4:3] clearly says that if equity could not be maintained then man should take only one wife and the verse further clearly asserts that man will never be able to maintain equity among the women, which means that he can take only one at a time. If any one misinterprets the law to suit his own fancy, law can never be responsible nor the Law-giver.

It must also be remembered that it was not Islam that started Polygamy in the world. Most of the ancient prophets and even the great sages in India who are worshipped as gods or the incarnations of gods, were polygamous. On the other hand, Islam is the first of all the religious orders of the world, which controlled and regulated the matrimonial life of man and woman, protecting the rights of woman and restricted the unbridled and unlimited polygamy is such a logical and realistic way that it made man either naturally monogamous or got the lust in man for sexual enjoyment, fully harnessed, loaded with heavy responsibilities to his wives, safeguarding the rights of woman. The responsibilities or the restriction imposed on polygamy are such that the holy QUR'AN clearly warns man saying it will be impossible for him to bear them. What Islam has done for woman, no another religion in the world had even thought of.

The Holy Quran; Its Compilation

It is a historic fact acknowledged on all hands that as and when the holy QUR'AN was revealed in SURAS, in parts of SURAS, and in lonely verses, it was then and there recorded by the scripts engaged by the holy Prophet for the purpose. It is also said that at the receipt of each revelation, the holy Prophet used to direct the scripts to place it in a certain SURA and thus by the end of the ministry the Book of God, the holy QUR'AN, was completely compiled in the form of a perfect Book and before his departure, the holy Prophet declared:

"I have behind amidst you, Two great things, the Book of God and my 'AHLUL-BAIT'. Should ye be attached to these Two, never, never will ye get astray after me, for verily these Two will never be separated from each other until they both meet me at the Spring of KAUTHER" (TA., DM., SM., and others).

The above declaration of the holy Prophet, the genuineness of which is universally acknowledged by all the traditionalists, clearly indicated that at the time of the departure of the holy Prophet there was the holy QUR'AN in the form a complete Book approved by him. Otherwise the statement on the part of the holy Prophet that he was leaving the Book will hold no truth. Secondly, there is the clear undertaking by God Himself about the preservation of the holy QUR'AN in its originality and purity, and the holy Book being garded by God Himself:

"Verily We have sent down the Reminder (the holy QUR'AN) and We Ourselves shall be its Guardian" [15:9]. Who can believe that the above declared will of the Lord, expresses as a challenge to those who had swallowed up the previous scriptures, was not fulfilled and any human hand to have obstructed its fulfillment. Besides, history loudly declares and it is acknowledged by all the traditionalists that the following persons had the full text of the holy QUR'AN in the form of a complete Book which had been read out to the holy Prophet and which he had approved:

1- ALI IBNE ABI TALIB.

2- ABDULLAH IBNE MAS'OOD.

3- K'AB IBNE OBAI.

4- MA'AZ BIN JABAL.

And the copy of ALI IBNE ABI TALEB contained the explanatory and the special notes about the external as well the internal meaning of each verse of the holy Book, given by the holy Prophet. (RN., TIB.)

The question arises that when the above historic facts were known to one and all in Medina and Mecca and to the world around, where was the necessity of any fresh endeavor on the part of any one to collect the holy QUR'AN anew:

It is said that the steps to collect the QUR'AN were first taken during the regime of the first KALIF and continued during the whole of the regime of the second KALIF, without any result, for, history says that the whole collection was deposited with UMMOL MONINEEN AYSHA, the daughter of the first KALIF and there, a part of the collection was eaten away by a goat. There is no historic record say that that collection was ever completed and if so by whom and whether it was ever put to any use by any one thereafter. What history says is only the third KALIF took some authentic copy and granted it, his official seal as the authorized version and commanded that that version of the holy QUR'AN only shall be followed, and in fact the same version was there in the use of the people all the while since the departure of the holy Prophet hence there was not the least murmur or objection to it from any quarter. Since the copy with the official seal was the one which was already with them, the AHLUL-BAIT also allowed it to be called the official version.

It cannot be believed by any Muslim that until about twenty five years there was no QUR'AN in the world. What was it then that the holy Prophet had said that he was leaving the Book of God and what happened to the challenging declaration from God Himself (15:9) God Himself being the Guardian of the Book which He revealed to the holy Prophet?

There is history which declares that by the time the third KALIF set his official seal on a copy of the holy QUR'AN and declared it as the official version of the holy Book, Iran had embraced Islam and the faith had reached up to Azerbaijan on one side, and up to Egypt on the other, and the holy QUR'AN was already in the regular daily use of the people.

Thus the present QUR'AN is the copy the holy Book which was compiled in its present order and read to the holy Prophet and approved by him and was in use of the Muslim World since then. No doubt, the copy of ALI IBNE ABI TALEB contained the special explanatory notes but when Ali offered that copy, it was rejected by the KALIFATE, however, the notes of Ali were given out by his successor Imams, after him, to their disciples which are found in the commentary of the holy QUR'AN based on the version of the AHLUL-BAIT. Whatever opinion about the holy QUR'AN any one might have,

but this is the Truth and to say that there was nothing to be called a Book of God and yet the holy Prophet said that he was leaving it among the people is a clear calumny or that ALI IBNE ABI TALEB had the complete copy to it, but he suppressed it and did not allow the public to have the due benefit to it, and he did not publish it even when he had the opportunity to do it, when he was the KALIF, is a false charge against the holy Prophet and the holy Imam Ali and a blasphemy against God Himself of having taken the undertaking to guard the holy Book and not fulfilling His Word.

When one speaks of anything of Islam or about Islam, the holy QUR'AN and the HADITH or the Traditions of the holy Prophet must be kept in view otherwise what will be said, will be nothing but conjectures of no value whatsoever.

The holy Prophet says that he has left Two very weighty things and they will never be separated from each other until they reach him at the 'Spring KAUTHER. If there was not such a book to be called the holy QUR'AN until the third KALIF compiled it, in 35 A.H. it would mean that the AHLUL-BAIT were without the Book of God for about twenty five years, which is against the declaration of the holy Prophet, which can never be, which is definitely an impossibility, for the word of the holy Prophet, according to the holy QUR'AN, is the Word of God (53:3-4).

If it be said that of the AHLUL-BAIT had a complete copy of the holy QUR'AN and the saying of the holy Prophet was not wrong, then the proposition goes against the wording of the saying which is "I leave among you" i.e., among the people, and not among the AHLUL-BAIT. Secondly, if the Book of God was secured with the AHLUL-BAIT, with its unavailability to the general public, how could the parting advice of the holy Prophet 'if ye be attached to these Two' be enacted by the Muslims?

The Truth is that when the holy Prophet gave out the declaration the 'HADEETHU- THAQALIAN' (the tradition of the Two Weighty things) there was the holy QUR'AN with people, the present copy of it and it is a fact that the AHLUL-BAIT will always be with the holy Book and the holy Book in its present external form and with its meanings plain as well as latent, will be with the AHLUL-BAIT.

If intelligently read, the 'HADEETHU- THAQALAIN', is a clear guarantee or a proof-positive of the fact about the reverse of the statement 'never will they be separated from each other', which clearly indicates that as long as the holy QUR'AN is there in the world, there will surely be one from the 'AHLUL-BAIT' i.e., one of the divinely commissioned Imams of them. It is a clear guidance that in this age also there is one from the 'AHLUL-BAIT' the last one of them the holy Imam MUHAMMAD AL-MAHDI. It is quite a different thing altogether, people believing in him or not. There is God, as He is not seen some people deny His Existence, it does not mean that the Existence of God, is really questionable,

God, the Almighty has kept certain chosen ones of His, like 'KIDR', 'IDREES', and 'JESUS' some people may not believe in this fact but it does not mean that God also is as helpless as any one of us to be subjected to the little and the limited knowledge of the laws of nature which we possess, whereas, He is the Independent Author of nature and nature is subject to His will, and His will is not subject to nature. Nature is nothing but the enactment of His Will.

The motive behind such allegations against the position of the holy QUR'AN is obviously to say that the compilation, the preservation and the propagation of the holy QUR'AN was not done by the AHLUL-BAIT but by somebody else. This was another move to deprive the holy ones, of their divine right. Or it can be a charge against Ali that though he possessed a copy of the holy Book, he did not make it available to the Muslims, even when he once came to power as a KALIF.

Some of scholars seem to have been misled when they speak of the number of the verses reported to have been found in some version of the holy Book. They have obviously mistaken the explanatory notes might have been there recorded besides the verses in those versions, owned by the different people, as the verses themselves. While arguing about the number of the versed found in any other version with anybody else, one should also remember the declaration of the Sixth holy Imam 'JA'FAR IBNE MUHAMMAD AS-SADIQ that the holy QUR'AN is 'what is in between the two pads', i.e., nothing less and nothing more.

THE DEVIL'S PLAN FRUSTRATED

ABU SOFYAN the old arch enemy of Islam and the holy Prophet, thinking Ali to have been disappointed at others getting into power, position and authority over the Muslim Empire, deemed it an opportunity to create a rift in the Muslim rams and to initiate a civil war among the Muslims themselves. He came to Ali and condemning the conduct of the people against the legitimate rights of Ali, offered to aid Ali with a huge army, if only Ali wanted to revolt against the KALIFATE established by the people. But Ali's reply utterly frustrated the Devil's plan to bring ruin to Islam and the Muslims. Ali old ABU SOFYAN.

"You wanted to ruin Islam and the Muslims during the lifetime of the holy Prophet and now also you aim to do the same, but Ali will never allow you to succeed".

MIRACLES: THEIR VALUE AND SIGNIFICANCE

If people, particularly the enlightened minds of the educated ones among us, only know the meaning of a miracle, its actual value and its significance in the field of guidance to humanity towards the divine truth, far from demanding it, they would never think to it. A miracle is called in Arabic 'MO'JIZA', i.e., an act or manifestation which makes the world helpless against it, i.e., none in the world other than the men of God, can work it. a miracle has three definite aspects of its indication:

1- The need of it relating to the mission of an apostle of God, means his helplessness to make men realize the truth or understand it, through the appeal to the faculty of reasoning in the intellect of the people. Or the unreasonable adamancy on the part of the people to believe in the bonafide of the man of God being in fact an apostle of God.

2- The demand of it on the part of the people, is an indication of the lack of the necessary strength of the faculty of reasoning to realize, understand or recognize the truth by means of their own native endowment of the intellect, and their readiness to believe in a thing only when they are made helpless against it.

3- The use of a miracle in leading the people to the belief in a factor, is to somehow compel them to do it, forcing the belief on them, though they may like it or not.

The power to work miracles was given to every apostle of God, and the holy Prophet the last one of them and along with him every one of the Imams or the divinely commissioned guides from holy House, was given the power in its totality. All the prophets, preceding the holy Prophet, freely used the power and worked out miracles for two reasons:

1- The people in the initial or transitory stages of their intellect, failed to grasp the truth by their limited reasoning and needed something unusual and impossible to be enacted to convince them of the bonafide of the claim of the man of God to be the apostle from God. 2- Since man in those ages, with his yet to develop intellect, was on the wrong track, the divine mercy willed to stop his straying, even by the force of the manifestation of the supreme power of the miracles.

When the final message of guidance in its perfect consolidation was to be given to man with his intellect developed to the extent necessary to understand the right and the wrong without any difficulty, and when man had to be given the individual responsibility after receiving the final guidance, there was no necessity to force the conscience or the intellect in man to accept anything blindly, merely guided by the manifestations of miraculous events. When the heaven's decree of 'No compulsion in faith' 'None shall bear the burden of the other' 'Every atom of goodness shall have its return and every atom of evil shall be punished' had to be announced, there was neither the necessity to show any miracles nor there was any meaning in forcing the truth on man when man had to be tried with the responsibility of the individual choice of the right course.

THE BIGGEST MIRACLES OF THE HOLY PROPHET

The explanation regarding the meaning of a miracle, and its significance given above, does not mean that the holy Prophet or the Imams of His holy House did not show any miracles to their people. The miracles shown by the previous prophets ended with them and remained only in the scriptures, but the miracles of the holy Prophet had been of various kinds. Some of his miracles were timely as those of the previous apostles- viz.

1- The dead, dried and the rotten tree getting evergreen his touch.

2- The coming of the date palm to him and its returning its original position, by his command.

3- His foretelling the fate of the Benedict against ABU TALEB, hung in the KA'BA.

And the innumerable other similar events. Some were those which continued until his stay on earth viz.

1- The sweet fragrance of his body which every approaches to him felt.

2- His possessing a shadow-less body.

3- His belt being taken out of his waists, without being untied or loosened, passing through his body.

4- His seeming taller than the tallest one when walking besides him.

5- His prophecies, besides the revelations from the Lord.

6- His having no education under any mortal, and yet being the fountainhead of knowledge to be called the 'City of Knowledge'.

And the greatest and the ever-current or the everlasting miracle of his, is the holy QUR'AN with its ever-current challenge to the world as a whole, to bring a chapter, or a few verses of its kind, which humanity till now could not do, nor would it do until the end of the world. Similarly, every Imam of his holy House worked innumerable miracles in his own time.