Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter Two: The Parties

We have seen that the birth of the Islamic State gave rise to speculation regarding the ruler after the Prophet, and that this made certain people take stock of their own possibilities and potentials. They were determined to make a bid for the throne. The result was that the companions of the Prophet were, during his life, as his UMMA has been since his death, divided into two groups, viz. (a) those who accepted and were prepared to obey the Prophet's orders nominating Imam Ali as the successor, and (b) those who were opposed to this. The opposition party comprised by far the majority of the companions, and was headed by many influential persons.

But for obvious reasons this opposition was kept screened from the public view. There were however occasions on which the leaders of the opposition would discard their mask when silence would have greatly jeopardized their cause. One such occasion was the time when the Prophet expressed his desire on his deathbed to write a will in favor of Imam Ali, and demanded writing materials for the purpose. Silence on that occasion would have been fatal to their cause; the mask was, therefore, taken off.

The Prophet (P) was fully aware of the existence of this party. He used to say to Imam Ali, "The hearts of these people are filled with jealousy and animosity towards thee, which they conceal now, but will disclose after my death". The Prophet was quite right when he said, "O Ali, this nation will play you false when I am gone". The members of this party used to talk among themselves About ways and means of taking possession of the Government after the death of the Prophet.

It can well be believed that whenever they met in groups, they used to engage in propaganda work against the AHL-AL-BAYT (family) of the Prophet (P). This is evident from the following observation of the Prophet (P); "What has become of these people; whenever they see a man of my family. They at once cut off their talk. By God, true faith does not enter the heart of anyone unless and until he loves my AHL-AL-BAYT for the sake of God and on account of my relationship with them". It appears they criticized the Prophet's laying emphasis on the importance of this relationship; they refuted the Prophet's remark with the assertion that relationship to him could be of no avail in the next world.

He had, therefore, to repeat the fact in these words; "What has become of these people; they say that my relationship will be of no use. By God, it will benefit the people of this world and the next. Take note that I will arrive at the HAWD AL-KAWTHAR on the Day of Resurrection before you. A group of people will be brought to me who will try to make me recognize them by letting me know their parentage. I shall reply; "Indeed I know you, but you reverted to disbelief and disobeyed my order after my death". This last HADITH is called "HADITH AL-HAWD". It has been mentioned by several eminent writers that it was in these words that the Prophet (P) spoke; "On the Day of Resurrection, I will arrive at the HAWD AL-KAWTHAR long before you. Some of my companions will be brought there. I shall recognize them, but when I am about to give them water from the HAWD, I shall be told; "They do not deserve this; you do not know what ill deeds they did after you". I will then have them removed from my presence".

Reading these sayings together, it becomes abundantly clear that the Prophet's meaning was that the companions who would thus be deprived of the benefit of the HAWD would be those who had been Imam Ali's opponents and enemies in this world. This conclusion receives support from another saying of the Prophet, which says that it is Ali who will thus drive away the guilty ones from the HAWD.

From whatever point you argue, the same conclusion is reached; the companions who are driven away from the Prophet's HAWD will be the persons who have gone astray. Who learn from another HADITH too that those who leave Ali will go astray. This HADITH runs as follows:

"I am leaving behind me two very precious things: the Book of God and my ITRA (progeny); these two will never leave each other until they both appear before me on the Day of Resurrection at my HAWD (Fountain). Let us see now you behave towards them after my death. You will never go astray so long as you follow them".

The abandonment of the one is the abandonment of the other, as the two are inseparably linked together. The companions who have gone astray and will, therefore, be driven away from the HAWD, are thus those persons who had left Imam Ali and deprived him of the leadership of the Muslims. These were the persons whom the Prophet in this life also drove away from his presence by saying "QUMU ANNI" (Be you gone from me!) on the occasion when at his deathbed they disobeyed him, and stood in the way of him writing his will in favor of Imam Ali.

The existence of this party and their objectives are conclusively proved from the conversations UMAR had with ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS, as related in "Al-FARUQ" of SHIBLI says: "AT-TABARI and other books. In quoting them, MAWLAWI SHIBLI rightly says that those conversations reveal UMAR'S real mind. SHIBLI says: "AT-TABARI has set forth the ideas of UMAR on this point in the shape of conversations. We reproduce them below in this connection, because they disclose the secret mind of UMAR. The conversations took place with ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS, who belonged to the tribe and party of Ali". He then reproduces two conversations, as follows:

UMAR: But I know your nation did not wish you to be the leader and head. ABDALLAH: Why?

UMAR: They did not want the NUBUWWA Prophet-hood and the Caliphate to go to the same family. Perhaps you will say that ABU BAKR deprived you of the Caliphate. But by God, this is not the fact. ABU BAKR did what was proper. Had he intended to give the Caliphate to you, it would not have benefited you.

The first conversation ends here. The other conversation, MAWLAWI SHIBLI says, is fuller. It covers some of the points already given in the first one; but it has more besides. Here it is:

UMAR: Hallo, ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS, I have been hearing many things about you. But I did not make further enquiry regarding them, lest your respect in my eyes should suffer.

ABDALLAH: what are those things?

UMAR: I have heard that you have been complaining that the Caliphate has been taken out of your family unjustly, on account of jealousy. ABDALLAH: I do not like to say anything about the word "unjustly", as it is known to all. As to jealousy, why the surprise? IBLIS envied Adam, and we are the children of Adam; it is no wonder if we are envied.

UMAR: Alas, old grudges and ancient malice remain ever engraved on the hearts of the children of HASHIM. ABDALLAH: Do not say this: the Prophet (P) belonged to the family of HASHIM.

UMAR: leave this topic. ABDALLAH: very well.

MAWLAWI SHIBLI has related only these two conversations. There are some more, which I take from the "Commentary" of IBN ABI-AL-HADID.

UMAR: O ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS, whence are you coming?

ABDALLAH: From the mosque.

UMAR: In what state have you left you cousin?

ABDALLAH: (Thinking he meant ABDALLAH IBN JA'FAR) I left him playing with his playmates.

UMAR: I do not mean IBN JA'FAR: I mean Ali, the head of your family. ABDALLAH: He is watering the garden of a certain person, and is reciting the QUR'AN while watering the trees. UMAR: ABDALLAH, tell me the truth, and if you conceal anything then the sacrifice of camels will become incumbent on you, as I am putting you on oath. Is anything even now lurking in the heart of Ali regarding the Caliphate? ABDALLAH: Yes, it certainly is. Why not?

UMAR: Does Ali think that the Prophet designated him to the Caliphate?

ABDALLAH: Certainly, and what is more I have heard from my father that this contention of Ali regarding his designation to the Caliphate is right. UMAR: There is no doubt that the Prophet said and did many things in this connection which does not support our view that he did not nominate Ali as his successor. The fact is that on many occasions the Prophet did go to the extreme in favoring Ali. It is a fact that during his last illness, the Prophet wanted to write a will designating Ali expressly to the Caliphate; but I prevented him from doing so. By God, the QURAISH will never unanimously agree to Ali's Caliphate, and if he is ever direction.

IBN ABI Al-HADID says that he has copied this conversation from the History of Baghdad by Ahmad IBN TAHIR.

There is yet another conversation which took place in Syria where ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS had accompanied UMAR.

UMAR: I must complain to you about your cousin Ali; I asked him to accompany me, but he refused. I often find him angry with me. What is the reason for that?

ABDALLAH: He believes that the Prophet (P) reserved the Caliphate for him. UMAR: O IBN ABBAS, it is true that the Prophet intended and wished that Ali should attain the Caliphate. But the wish of the Prophet can carry no weight, as God did not will it to be so. The Prophet wished that Ali should attain the Caliphate, but God wished it otherwise. The will of God prevailed, thus the Prophet's desire could not be fulfilled. See, the Prophet wished that his uncle should embrace Islam, but God willed that he should not embrace Islam, and therefore he did not become a Muslim. The Prophet wished to write a will giving the Caliphate to Ali, but I prevented him form doing so in the interests of Islam. The Prophet also came to know what was in my heart, and refrained form writing the will. The will of God prevailed.

One day, while walking in the streets of MEDINA, the following conversation took place between UMAR and ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS: UMAR: O IBN ABBAS, I think much injustice has been done.

ABDALLAH: (Thinking to himself not to let this opportunity slip) O AMIR AL-MU'MININ, the return to him what has been snatched form him unjustly. (ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS says that upon hearing this, UMAR took his hand away from that of ABDALLAH, and walked ahead murmuring something. Then he stopped and ABDALLAH caught up with him).

UMAR: I think, IBN ABBAS, that your people considered Ali to be too young for the Caliphate, and therefore prevented him form succeeding to the Prophet (P).

ABDALLAH: (Thinking this reply much more vicious than first one).by God, Allah and his Prophet (P) did not consider him too young when they took the verses of SURAT AT-TAWBA away from your friend ABU BAKR and gave them to Ali to announce to the MAKKANS.

Hearing this, UMAR turned his face, and went away without giving any reply.

These conversations are very helpful, as they conclusively prove the following facts:

1.There was a strong party opposed to Imam Ali succession.

2.Tribal jealousy and enmity towards BANU HASHIM, especially Imam Ali, and not the love of Islam, were the motivating drive of the opposition.

3.Umar was in the confidence of this party, and was aware of their secrets.

4.Imam Ali and all other members of BANU HASHIM held that Imam Ali had been deprived of the Caliphate unjustly, through jealousy.

5.Imam Ali, ABBAD, ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS and other BANU HASHIM maintained that the Prophet (P) had designated Imam Ali as his successor.

6.Umar was of the opinion that the families of BANU HASHIM were actuated by motives of ancient grudge and deep-rooted malice.

7.There is an admission here by UMAR that the Prophet (P) had designated Imam Ali as his successor, that UMAR was opposed to it, and that it was, chiefly he who had stood between Imam Ali and the Caliphate.

8.These conversations clear up all doubts about the incident of the writing of the will on the deathbed of the Prophet (P) when he demanded writing materials for the purpose. They prove beyond all doubt that the Prophet wanted to write his will in order to nominate Imam Ali to the Caliphate, that those present there knew that this was his intention, that UMAR knowing this prevented the Prophet from writing the will, and that his talk about delirium and the Book of God was merely a political move to create an atmosphere of confusion and contumely.

It is thus clear as day that there was an opposition party among the companions of the Prophet on the question of the Caliphate, and that the object of the party was an opposition party among the companions of the Prophet on the question of the Caliphate, and that the object of the party was to prevent Imam Ali from succeeding the Prophet (P). It was in fulfillment of this objective of the opposition party that ABU BAKR, UMAR and Abu UBAIDA IBN Al-JARRAH went to the SAQIFA to contest the Caliphate, and therefore these three companions belonged to the opposition party.

It may be argued that the ANSAR had the objective at the SAQIFA of electing their own man as the Caliph, and that therefore the motive of these three gentlemen in going there was to oppose the ANSAR and defeat their objective, not that of the Prophet regarding Imam Ali. This is a very interesting question, and we reserve it for later discussion when we come to write about the SAQIFA affair, suffice it to say here that they did not go to the meeting with the object of preventing the ANSAR from electing their own man; they went there with the determination to get their own man elected. There is a great difference between these two aims.

If their objective had simply been to prevent the ANSAR from proceeding to the end, then their line of argument would have been quite different from what it actually was. They would have tried to impress their point upon the ANSAR in a reasonable manner in words such as the following; "This is a matter of far-reaching consequences, it should not be decided in a hurry; let us first attend to the obsequies of the Prophet, and after that we should assemble in the Prophet's mosque and find out whether he has nominated anyone to the office; if not, then we should select the best man from among us, and ignore any divisions by clan or tribe, ANSAR or MUHAJIRIN. We should regard the Islamic UMMA into ANSAR and MUHAJIRIN, and utilized the opportunity for getting their own man elected. They purposely avoided making it a representative body, for only in this way and no other could Imam Ali be ignored.

The first item on the agenda of this party was to acquire strength by numbers. Every man, every party that was against Ali was welcome. The MUNFIQIN, who though really pagan at heart concealed their feelings of animosity towards Islam and its leading proponents under an outward show of Islam and friendliness, are frequently mentioned in the QUR'AN. They were always on the lookout for opportunities to undermine the State of Islam by spreading disaffection against the Prophet (P). The frequent conversations and lectures of the Prophet in which he dwelt on the right of Ali to succeed him, and his final announcement to that effect, provided them with a good opportunity.

They argued with great vehemence that Muhammad's claim to inspiration from on High was only a cloak to cover his-cupidity to create an empire for himself and his family. This argument, which was very appealing to the Arabs, seething as they were with tribal jealousy and feuds, also provided a good excuse to the faction that was bent upon securing the throne for itself at any cost. The MUNAFIQIN were the greatest enemies of Imam Ali, whom they regarded as the person solely responsible for all their misfortunes and mishaps.

The extent and importance of the service rendered by Imam Ali to the cause of Islam will be apparent as we proceed further in our narration. Suffice it to say here that the Prophet (P) was fully aware of their feelings of animosity and hatred towards Imam Ali, and was therefore able to guess rightly that they would vent their feeling after his death. The attitude of the MUNAFIQIN towards Imam Ali is abundantly clear from remarks made to him by the Prophet from time to time, such as the following:

"No-one except a true Muslim will love thee, and no-one except a MUNAFIQ (hypocrite) will be thy enemy".

"But for thee, the true Muslim would not be able to be distinguished from the MUNAFIQ after my death".

"True faith lies in thy love, and jealousy of thee is the symbol of hypocrisy. The first man to enter Paradise will be thy friend and the first man to enter Hell will be thy foe. Happy is he who loves thee, and woe to thy enemy". JABIR and Abu DHARR, the well-known companions of the Prophet (P), used to say:

"During the lifetime of the Prophet we used to distinguish a MUNAFIQ by his enmity to Ali". The concurrence of interests led to a complete union between the MUNAFIQIN and the opposition party. This gave rise in turn to a unity of action: and this unity of motives and actions caused them to coalesce into one whole. The evidence of this coalescence is supplied by Al-BUKHARI himself, from whom we learn the following information:

HUDHAIFA son of YAMAN says: "Today the MUNAFIQIN are more dangerous than they used to be in the time of the Prophet, because in those days they used to conceal their nefarious activities, whereas today they openly and freely come out in public and carry out their ulterior objectives".

Why was this so? For the simple reason that the men in authority were their friends and comrades-in-arms against Imam Ali. During the Prophet's mission the MUNAFIQIN and their deeds were mentioned frequently in the QUR'AN. An instance of their attitude can be seen on the occasion of the expedition to TABUK, which was the only time when Imam Ali was not included on an expedition. It is said by the chroniclers that it was the MUNAFIQIN who made much of this fact, as in their opinion it cast a slur on Ali. The MUNAFIQIN were so jubilant over the matter that the Prophet (P) had to clear up the misunderstanding by saying that this posting of Ali to MEDINA was for other reasons, and that Imam Ali was to him what Aaron was to Moses.

This proves beyond all doubt that hostility to Imam Ali was the chief characteristic of the MUNAFIQIN. With the commencement of the Caliphate, their separate identity ends and they become verged with the common people. This was anticipated by the Prophet when he said that after his death the MUNAFIQIN would find themselves so favorably placed that they would appear just like ordinary Muslims, and that in that situation the only thing that would distinguish them from the rest of the Muslims would be their hostility to Imam Ali. (This saying has already been referred to above).

In order to prevent the people from finding fault with the MUNAFIQIN and from accusing the Government of associating with them, a HADITH was fabricated; it is called "HADITH al-NUJUM", the word "NUJUM" meaning "stars". The Prophet (P) is represented as saying that all his companions were like stars shedding the light of truth, and that the UMMA was al liberty to follow any of them who were equally learned, pious and God-fearing. That this is an invention is obvious; many companions were addicted to drinking, many were caught in adultery, many were ignorant of the true interpretation of the QUR'AN. UMAR himself had to punish his son for drinking. Even the learned Sunnis have now found by thorough enquiry that this HADITH is a fabrication. But it did the work for which it had been intended-it shielded the MUNAFIQIN who were, of course, the companions of the Prophet (P), as they came under the definition of a "Companion of the Prophet". (See in this connection Al-BUKHARI, who says that anyone who associated with the Prophet, or who, from among the Muslims, saw the Prophet, was a Companion). There were many persons who though not well known as MUNAFIQIN, in reality were.

There was yet another class of men whose relatives had been killed by Imam Ali in the battles for Islam, and they were very many in number. There was hardly a family, which had not had one, or two members thus killed by him, and they entertained the bitterest feelings against him. They carried this feeling of animosity with them even after their conversion to Islam, and it was fanned to white heat by interested persons. The following anecdote fully illustrates this latter point; once UMAR met SA'ID, son of Al-A'AS, while on his way.

UMAR stopped him and said, "I think you have a grudge in your heart against me; I presume that this grudge is on account of the death of your father, whom you think I killed in the Jihad. But this is wrong; I killed my own maternal uncle Al-A'AS son of HISHAM son of MOGHIRA. It is true; I passed by your father, whom I found wallowing in his own blood like a wounded bull. I avoided him, but just then I saw Ali coming toward your father and killed him".

There was a fourth party who must also be included in the category of MUNAFIQIN, which in reality they were. But I mention them separately, as within a very short time they captured the Caliphate as a direct result of the efforts of the opposition party. I am referring to BANU OMAYYA Writing about the accession of MU'AWIYA to the throne of Muhammad; SYYID AMIR Ali quotes a European historian thus: "Thus, by one of the strangest freaks of fortune ever recorded in history, did the persecutors of Muhammad usurp the inheritance of his children, and the champions of idolatry become the supreme heads of his religion and empire"

BANU OMAYYA the MUNAFIQIN and the other QURAISH whose relatives had been slain in the Jihad by Imam Ali never forgave him and never forgot that Imam Ali had been the chief cause of their disgrace and discomfiture. Ali the enemies of Islam, and they were many, knew that Islam could not have won but for the sword of Imam Ali. In short, by his zeal in the cause of Islam Imam Ali had earned for himself the deadliest and everlasting enmity and hatred of the enemies of Islam, who looked upon him as the sole cause of their misfortune and miseries. From the first they had been the enemies of Islam and Muhammad; but matters had now reached such a stage that it was not safe for them to show that enmity openly, and after the battle of KHAIBER, no occasion was left for translating those feelings into action. As they were able to successfully conceal their emotions against Islam and the Prophet (P), they could not be distinguished from the rest of the Muslims. But they had no such pressing need to conceal their feelings against Imam Ali. Moreover, in order to gain their object, it was necessary for them to create an atmosphere of ill will and hatred towards Imam Ali by propaganda and intrigue.

Feelings of animosity against Imam Ali, lurking paganism, trial jealousy and ambition, all combined together to make these parties coalesce into one solid block against him.