Imamate and Leadership

Reliance On Unsound Criteria

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Lesson Ten

The atmosphere at the Saqifah was such that even if impartial and concerned people had been present they would have been unable to present matters in their true light. The privileges that those gathered there claimed for themselves as their title to the caliphate derived neither from the Book of God nor from the Sunnah; not even one of those present mentioned piety wisdom moral probity profound knowledge of the bases and ordinances of Islam or freedom from pollution by sin as a qualification for exercising leadership of the Muslims. They totally ignored all the true criteria and attributes required for the office that are intimately connected with the spirit of Islam and the Qur'an.

This complete lack of attention to spiritual perfection and attainment on the part of those who were laying claim to Islamic rule in that decision making body was particularly regrettable.

When the Helpers were gathered around Sa'd b. 'Ubadah
he addressed them as follows: "O Helpers you embraced Islam
more promptly than others which constitutes a particular
virtue for the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and
his family spent years inviting his own people to Islam
without more than a small group coming to believe in him and
accepting his summons. Even they were unable to defend
themselves so God Almighty showed you His favor and
enabled you to become the defenders of Islam. In the battles

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and struggles that followed He caused your superior strength to prevail and to compel the polytheists to surrender. As a result of your efforts the Prophet was strengthened and his enemies were crushed. When he departed this world he was content with you and you were the light of his eyes. So lay firm hold of the leadership for none is more worthy of it than you."' ( 1 )

If there had been any concern for the welfare of Islam and the Muslims thought would have given instead to continuing in the way of the Messenger of God. In place of these criteria primacy would have been accorded to comprehensive knowledge of the shari'ah understanding the cultural dimension of religion and the various needs of Islamic society and freedom from the taint of sin and moral pollution and one possessing all these attributes would have been chosen as leader entitled to obedience. All the discussions that took place and the arguments that were put forward displayed on the contrary a complete lack of attention to the spiritual and ethical dimensions of succession to the Prophet so that we find the Helpers vaunting their wealth and their numbers. If they made no reference to more fundamental matters it was because they had a very small portion of the spiritual and sapiential riches of Islam nor did they see themselves to be free of pollution by sin. They were thus unable to base their concept of government on exalted values.

Even Abu Bakr confesses that he is neither superior to the rest of the people in terms of knowledge or spiritual accomplishment nor immune from the commission of error and sin. Thus he says:

"O people I may fall prey to error just as it is possible that I will make no mistakes. If you see me deviating from the right path compel me to return to it. For the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family was inerrant but I am not; I have a satan that besets me." ( 2 )

'Umar recounted to Ibn 'Abbas the reasons why he
regarded 'Ali peace be upon him as more qualified for the
caliphate: "I swear by God that if your friend 'Ali assumes the

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caliphate he will cause the people to act in accordance with the Book of God and the Sun nah of the Messenger and will lead them to the straight and clear path of religion." ( 3 )

When Abu 'Ubaydah b. al-Jarrah learned from 'Ali of his refusal to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr he turned to him and said: "Abandon the leadership of Islamic society to Abu Bakr for the time being. If you remain alive everyone will come to see that you are the worthiest of all for that post for your virtues strong faith extensive knowledge early commitment to Islam and close relationship with the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him and his family are evident to all." ( 4 )

The Commander of the Faithful 'Ali peace be upon him spelled out for the Companions the distinguished qualities that are needed in the ruler of the Islamic ummah qualities he himself possessed:

no Migrants do not remove from the family of the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him and his family the government that he himself founded and do not transfer it to your own households. I swear by God that we the People of the House are fitter for this task than anyone else.

There are among us persons who have complete comprehension of the concepts of the Qur'an who are fully aware of the roofs and branches of religion and acquainted with the Sunnah of the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him and his family and who are quite capable of administering Islamic society. It is they who can prevent the occurrence of corruption and divide the spoils of war justly among the Muslims. As long as such persons exist - and they are to be found only in the family of the Prophet - others have no legitimate claim. Beware of your wishes and desires lest you go astray and fall into misguidance turning away from justice and truth." ( 5 ) He also once asked Abu Bakr in conversation: "What are the qualities a leader should possession
He answered: " A desire for the people's welfare
faithfulness to his undertakings justice and equity in his

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conduct a knowledge of the Qur'an the Sunnah and the principles of judgeship - these are among the qualities that are needed. In addition the ruler must refrain from deceit have no concern for the life of this world hasten always to aid the oppressed and regard impartially the rights and claims of all." Then he fell silent.

'Ali thereupon remarked: "Further qualities needed are primacy in embracing Islam and being related to the Messenger of God." Abu Bakr responded that these two might also be regarded as necessary qualifications. 'Ali then asked Abu Bakr:

"Tell me by God do you see these qualities in yourself or in me?" He answered: "Ali that I have mentioned is to be found in you." ( 6 )

Abu Dharr was not present in Madinah at the time of the Prophet's death peace and blessings be upon him and his family and by the time he returned there Abu Bakr had been firmly established as caliph. He remarked: "With what a slight thing you have contented yourselves while abandoning the Family of the Messenger of God. If you had entrusted rule to them not even two people would have opposed you." ( 7 )

A certain narrator relates the following concerning Miqdad b. 'Umar: "One day I went to the Prophet's mosque and I saw a man kneeling on the ground. He was sighing as deeply as if he had lost the whole world and saying to himself 'How strange that the Quraysh have taken the caliphate out of the hands of the Prophet's family!'" ( 8 )

This the way Salman al-Farisi commented on the caliphate of Abu Bakr: "You have installed an old man as caliph while casting aside the Family of the Prophet. Had the caliphate gone to them not even two people would oppose you and you would have enjoyed the fruits of this tree in peace and in plenty." ( 9 )

It is related that one day Ibn Musattah left his house to
visit the tomb of the Prophet. Standing there he recited verses
to the following effect: "O Prophet important events and
discussions have transpired since you left us. If you were
among us none of these problems would have occurred. But

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you have left us and we are now like parched barren land deprived of rainfall. Affairs are in disarray. O Prophet look upon them and bear witness to what they do!" (10)

'Ali b. Abi Talib peace be upon him that lofty personage whose profound piety exemplary Islamic behavior and humane attitudes make of him a model of true Islamic leadership addressed to God the following words that welled up from the depths of his heart:

"O Lord You are my witness that I do not seek the caliphate for the sake of exercising rule or adding to my wealth.

My aim is to uphold the dictates of religion and bring order into the affairs of the Muslims so that the oppressed will gain relief and the divine laws and ordinances now forgotten be implemented anew." 11)

If an exceptionally lofty personage one free of sin and adorned with esoteric knowledge is present in Islamic society and has moreover been designated by the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him and his family as his legatee and successor it is totally unnecessary and inappropriate that a council be formed in order to select a ruler and leader. In the time of the Prophet no one imagined that his task was simply to transmit the divine message and that as far as governmental matters were concerned a council ought to be convened to choose either the Prophet or some other individual as ruler on the basis of public opinion. Given the presence of one who was in direct communication with the principle of all being and the world of revelation the question of discussing who should be the ruler did not even arise.

The situation was no different after the Prophet. Given
the presence of his legatees who outstripped all others in their
awareness of God's decrees and who were utterly beyond the
reach of all error and sin why should anyone else have been
sought out to take the place of the one who had brought the
Qur'an? Government is after all a part of the Imamate. The
presence of an inerrant Imam means that no one else is fit to
rule in lust the same way that when the Prophet was alive no
one else was entitled to assume the responsibility of governing

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the Muslims and administering their affairs.

The celebrated Sunni scholar Ibn Abi 'l-Hadid writes:

"We recognize no difference between 'Ali peace be upon him and the Most Noble Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family apart from the rank of prophethood and the receipt of revelation that the latter enjoyed. All other lofty qualities and exalted attributes were common to both men." (12)

Shaykh Sulayman al-Hanafi another Sunni scholar relates 'Abdullah b. 'Umar b. al-Khattab to have said:

"Whenever we talked of the Companions of the Messenger of God we would say that Abu Bakr was the foremost among them followed by 'Umar and 'Uthman in that order." Someone then asked 'Abdullah: "What then was the rank of 'Ali?" He responded: "'Ali could not be compared to the Companions. In fact he did not count as one of them belonging rather to the Family of the Prophet; he was his brother and peer." (13)

Even supposing the logic of the Companions to be acceptable the claim of 'Ali b. Abi Talib would still be the strongest. He preceded all others in accepting Islam embracing the faith in the most unfavorable circumstances at a time when none of the relatives of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family were prepared to believe in him.

Similarly his close relationship and kinship with the Prophet was firmer than that of anyone else. It was in the house of the Messenger that he opened his eyes on the world and under his supervision that he grew up. The very depths of his being were intermingled with the truths of Islam. He was the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet and he always participated in the arduous struggles against the enemies of Islam. Who then can be more fitted than him for the leadership of the Muslims? Despite all this that position of leadership was awarded to somebody else.

When we examine history discover the roots of the
Companions' behavior we see that the relations of the
Quraysh with the Bani Hashim were by no means as
friendly as they should have been. The lack of harmony was
apparent even during the lifetime of the Most Noble

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Messenger. Sometimes certain members of Quraysh would criticize and find fault with the Bani Hashim causing grief to the Prophet. (14)

Since the Quraysh were unable to bear the caliphate going to the Bani Ha shim they decided to prevent this from coming about. (15) al-Ya'qubi writes in his history: "'Umar told Ibn 'Abbas: 'I swear by God that your cousin 'Ali b. Abi Talib is more deserving of the caliphate than anyone else. However the Quraysh cannot bear seeing him in that position.'" (16) This matter is also recorded by Ibn al-Athir in his history. (17) The Most Noble Messenger peace and blessings be upon him and his family foresaw how the Quraysh would treat his family: "After my death my family will suffer massacres and numerous hardships. (18)

With profound sorrow he also told 'Ali: "Some individuals harbor in their hearts a hatred for you that they will not display until after my death." (19)

We may thus establish a connection between the events that occurred after the death of the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him and his family and the attitude of many of the Companions to 'Ali peace be upon him on the one hand with dislike felt for the Family of the Prophet by the Qurayshi Migrants on the other hand.

This negative attitude on the part of the Quraysh goes back to the beginning of the Prophet's mission. Although they were well aware of his truthfulness trustworthiness and honesty they refused to accept his summons of faith. The Quraysh thought that if they were to accept his messengerhood the Ban! Ha shim would come to prevail over all the other families of Quraysh. So strong were the feelings of jealousy this prospect aroused that they decided to act coercively against him blockading him and his close relatives and not shrinking from any form of pressure or intimidation. In the end they drew up a plan to assassinate him and their conspiracies compelled him to quit his city and homeland.

Even then they did not sit quite; they had recourse to military measures mobilizing all their forces in order to annihilate the

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Messenger of God and his followers.

Throughout all these trials and struggles 'Ali was the stalwart ally of the Prophet his powerful right hand; in the bloody battles that ensued many of the leading Qurayshites filled as they were with hatred and resentment were brought low by him. The Quraysh thus regarded him as responsible for tile deaths of their leaders their sons and their brothers and although they lost all hope of victory over the Prophet after the conquest of Makkah and their military operations came to an end their desire for revenge on the Bani Hashim in general and 'Ali in particular never abated continuing to smoulder within them.

The Commander of the Faithful 'Ali peace be upon him said: "The hatred for the Prophet that lurked in the hearts of the Quraysh found its expression against me and indeed it will be transferred to my descendants after me. Yet I had no hostility toward the Quraysh and if I warred against them it was only in accordance with divine duty and the command of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family." (20) al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad who regarded the caliphate as rightfully belonging to the one whom the Prophet had chosen - that is to 'Ali - became agitated when he saw the Quraysh laying claim to something that was not theirs. He said to them as they were gathered in their council:

"Amazing it is that the Quraysh wish to deny the caliphate to the Family of the Prophet. I swear by God that they do this not for the sake of God's pleasure but for the sake of worldly benefit; they have totally forgotten the hereafter." (21)

To 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf who later planned the swearing of allegiance to 'Uthman he said: "I swear by God that you have put aside one who enjoined the right and practised justice faithfully. I swear too that if I had men to help me I would fight now as I did at Badr and Uhud." 'Abd al-Rahman responded: "These words of yours will sow dissension." al-Miqdad retorted: "He who invites men to the truth and to obey the holders of legitimate authority cannot be accused of dissension. Rather it is those who drown men in

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falsehood who are the originators of dissension and chaos; they prefer their own desires to justice and truth."' (22) al-Miqdad was a pure and precious Muslim well known for his piety asceticism and devotion to Islam.

In his al-Sunan al-Tirmidhi records the Prophet to have said: "Each prophet is given seven choice companions but I have been given fourteen and 'Ammar and al-Miqdad are among them." (23) Islamic government thus fell into the hands of persons who had no divine guarantee exemption from sin and gradually the caliphate degenerated to such a degree that the whole atmosphere of Islamic society was poisoned losing all trace of piety brotherhood and equality and the spiritual and religious resources of Islam were utterly lost during the Umayyad and 'Abbasid periods.

After allegiance had been sworn to 'Uthman the Bani Umayyah gathered in his house and Abu Sufyan addressed them as follows: "Are there any strangers among you?" "No " they answered. He continued: "O Bani Umayyah take the caliphate from the hands of the Bani Hashim as if it were a ball for there is no reckoning or judgement to be feared in the hereafter; there is no paradise and no hell no judgement and no resurrection."' (24)

'Uthman dissuaded him from continuing in this vein so Abu Sufyan who was blind by this point set out for the tomb of Hamzah the Lord. of the Martyrs accompanied by a guide.

Standing next to the grave he addressed Hamzah: "O Abu 'Ammarah the government that we conquered by the sword is today a plaything in the hands of our slaves." Then he kicked the side of the tomb. (25)

'Ali asked the person who was reporting to him the
doings at the Saqifah and the discussions of the Migrants and
the Helpers: "What privilege do the Quraysh claim entitles
them to the caliphate?" He answered: "They say they are the
family tree of the Prophet and related to him." 'Ali then
remarked: "They make mention of the tree but destroy the fruit
of the tree. If they are worthy of the caliphate because they are

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branches of that tree I am its fruit the cousin of God's Messenger. Why do they oppose me in this matter and why is the caliphate not mine?" (26)

In expounding the exclusive relationship he had with the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family and the care that the Prophet lavished on his upbringing 'Ali said the following:

"You must certainly be aware of my closeness to the Prophet my kinship with him and the rank I enjoyed in his sight. When I was a child he supervised my upbringing in his own house. I touched the body of the Prophet and I can still remember its scent. He would put food in my mouth. He never heard a lie from me nor did he ever see guile and hypocrisy from me. I followed and imitated him in all matters so closely that my footsteps were placed in his. Every day he displayed his noble qualities and virtues to me thus advancing me to ever higher degrees. He would take me with him to Mount Hira and unveil truths to me. At that time the only Muslim house was that of the Prophet and Khadijah and I was tile third member of that house. I saw the light of divine revelation and I inhaled the scent of prophethood." (27)

Although the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family regarded the matter of government and leadership as dependent on God's will and choice not even awarding himself any choice in the matter a group of men made up a set of criteria which they claimed gave them prior claim to leadership. It was as if the question of succession to the Prophet could be resolved by referring exclusively to tribal considerations and unimportant distinctions that were utterly unconnected with the exalted values of Islam.

Muhammad b. Muslim al-Zuhri relates: "When the Most
Noble Messenger went to the Bani 'Amir to invite them to
Islam a man by the name of Bayharah said: 'By God if this
young man allies himself with me with his help I can conquer
all the Arabs.' Then he turned to the Prophet and asked: 'If we
accept all your commands and you conquer your enemies with
our help do you promise that after your death rule will pass to

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us?' The Most Noble Messenger answered: 'The matter of government belongs to God; He will appoint to rule whomsoever He wills.' The man replied: 'Are we to endanger ourselves defending you against your enemies only to see rule passing to others? " (28)

( 1 ) Ibn Qutaybah al-Imamah wa al-Siyasah Vol. I p.5. ( 2 ) Ibn Hisham al-Sirah Vol. IV p.34; Ibn Kathir al-Bidayah Vol. VI p.303; Ibn al-Athir al-Kamil Vol. II p.129; al-Tabari Tarikh Vol. II p.460. ( 3 ) Ibn Abi 'l-Had id Sharh Vol. III p.107. ( 4 ) Ibn Qutaybah al-Imamah wa al-Siyasah Vol. I p.16. ( 5 ) al-Tabarsi al-Ihtijaj Vol. I p.96. ( 6 ) al-Tabari Tarikh Vol. I p.159. ( 7 ) Ibn Abi'l-Hadid Sharh Vol. VI p.5. ( 8 ) al-Ya'qubi al-Tartkh Vol. II p.114. ( 9 ) Ibn Abi'l-Hadid Sharh Vol. II p.131 Vol. VI p.17. (10) Ibid. (11) al-Tabarsi al-Ihtijaj Vol. I p.253. (12) Ibn Abi'l-Had I d Sharh Vol. IV p.520. (13) al-Qunduzi Yanabi' al-Mawaddah p.253. (14) ibid. pp.156-57 222. (15) Ibid. p.373; Ibn Abi '1-Hadid Sharh Vol. III p.283. (16) Tarikh Vol. II p.137. (17) Ibn al-Athir al-Kamil Vol. III pp.24-25. (18) al-Qunduzi Yanabi' al-Mawaddah p.111. (19) al-Muttaqi al-Hind I Kanz al-'Ummal Vol. VI p.408. (20) al-Qunduzi Yanabi' al-Mawaddah pp.226-53. (21) al-Ya'qubi al-Tarih Vol. II p.137. (22) Ibn Abi 'l-Hadid Sharh Vol. II pp.411-12. (23) al-Tirmidhi Jami' al-Sahih Vol. V p.329. (24) Ibn Abi 'l-Hadid Sharh Vol. II p.411. (25) 'Abd al-Fattah 'Abd al-Maqsud al-Imam 'Ali Vol. I p.287. (26) al-Radi Nahj al-Balaghah Sermon 64. (27) Ibn Abi'l-Hadid Sharh Vol. III p.224. (28) al-Tabari Tarikh Vol. II p.84.