In the afternoon the same day Jebrâil ‘alaihis-salâm’ and Azrâil ‘alaihis-salâm’ (Angel of Death) came to the door together. Jebrâil ‘alaihis-salâm’ entered. He said that Azrâil ‘alaihis-salâm’ was at the door awaiting permission to enter. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ gave permission. Azrâil ‘alaihis-salâm’ entered, greeted, and informed with the command of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Rasûl-i-ekrem ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ looked at Jebrâil’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ face. The Archangel said, “O the Messenger of Allah! The Mala-i a’lâ is awaiting you.” Upon this Fakhr-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “O Azrâil! Come and perform your duty!” So the Angel took Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ blessed soul and transported it to the A’lâ-yi illiyyîn.
When signs of death were seen on Rasûl-i-ekrem, hadrat Umm-i-Eymen ‘radiy-Allâhu anhâ’ sent a message to his son Usâma. Upon receiving this sad news, Usâma and ’Umar Fârûq and Abû Ubayda left the army and came back to the Mesjîd-i-Nabawî. When Âisha-i-Siddîqa and the other women began to weep, the Sahâbîs in the Mesjîd-i-sherîf were astonished, confounded, and paralyzed. Hadrat Alî was motionless as if he were dead. Hadrat ’Uthmân was left speechless. Hadrat Abû Bekr was in his home at that moment. When he arrived at the place, running, he entered the Hujra-i-sa’âdat. Opened the face of Fakhr-i-’âlam, and saw that the Prophet had passed away. The blessed face and all the limbs of the Messenger of Allah were elegant, clean, and luminous like a halo. He kissed him, saying, “O the Messenger of Allah! You are so beautiful, dead or living!” He wept bitterly. He put the cover back on the Prophet’s blessed face. He consoled the people in the house. He went to the Mesjîd-i-sherîf. He advised the dumbfounded Sahâba and restored everything back to normal. Thus all of them believed that Rasûlallah was dead. In the meantime, the army under Usâma’s command entered the city. Hadrat Burayda-t-ibni Hasîb set up the flag he was holding in his hand. Pain and sorrow, like a poisonous dagger, pierced the hearts of the Sahâba. Their eyes were weeping, their tears were cascading, and their hearts were grieved with the woe of separation.
Hadrat Abbâs, his son Fadl, hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhum’, and the people in the house began in tears to make preparations for the funeral. Hadrat Abû Bekr stood by the door, weeping, lamenting, and helping with the services. Lamenting and moaning, however, would not serve the purpose; a president, a Khalîfa was requisite for the management of Muslims’ affairs and the performance of Islam’s commandments. At that time Abû Bekr as-Siddîq was the most suitable person for this task.
Hadrat Abbâs and Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anhumâ’ were closer to Rasûlullah. Yet Fakhr-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ had held Abû Bekr, his companion in the cave, higher than all the other Sahâba. During his illness, on the day he had made his farewell speech to his Sahâba, he had said that Abû Bekr had been the person he had been pleased with most. He had closed all the doors opening into the Mesjîd-i-sherîf and permitted only Abû Bekr’s door to be left open. Three days before his passing away he had appointed him Imâm for his As-hâb, thus granting him a position ahead of all the others in the performance of namâz, which is Islam’s basic pillar. All these facts denoted that Abû Bekr was to be made Khalîfa. What remained to be done was for the As-hâb-i-kirâm to come together and elect him.
On the other hand, some of the Ansâr attempted to elect a Khalîfa from among themselves. They gathered under Benî Saîda’s brushwood shelter. Sa’d bin Ubâda ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’, the leader of Hazraj tribe, was there, unwell as he was. He said to the Ansâr:
“O Ansâr! No other tribe has the superior qualities you possess. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ called his tribe to Islam for thirteen years in Mekka. Very few of them believed him. And the few who believed him were not numerous enough to make Jihâd. When Allâhu ta’âlâ conferred on you the honour of becoming Muslims, he blessed you with the fortune of protecting His Messenger and his As-hâb and consolidating and promulgating the Islamic religion by making Jihâd. You were the people who subdued the enemies. It was the fear of your swords that convinced the peasants of Arabia to become Muslims. Rasûl-i-ekrem was pleased with you when he passed away. It is your right to preside now. Do not give this right to someone else.” Most of the Ansâr being there said, “You are right. May Allah help you. We elect you Khalîfa.”
The Aws (Evs) tribe of the Ansâr did not like this. They gathered around Usayyad bin Hudayr, their chief.
The Muhâjirs, on the other hand, would not have elected the Khalîfa from among either of the two tribes of the Ansâr. For the Qoureish tribe was the highest and the most honourable of all the tribes of Arabia. A great controversy was imminent among the Muslims.
It was at this very critical and dangerous time that Abû Bekr and ’Umar and Abû Ubayda arrived at the place like the miraculous life saver, hadrat Hidir. At that moment one of the Ansâr had stood up and was saying, “We helped Rasûlullah. We gave asylum to the Muhâjirs. The Khalîfa must be one of us.”
On the contrary, Rasûl-i-ekrem ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ would have Abû Bekr on his right hand side and ’Umar on his left everywhere. And he would say about Abû Ubayda, “He is the trustworthy one of this Ummat.” ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhum.’ When all three of them suddenly appeared on the scene, it was as if Rasûl-i-ekrem resurrected and came to the place. Everyone was silent, waiting eagerly to hear what they were about to say. Hadrat Abû Bekr said:
“This Ummat used to worship idols formerly. Allâhu ta’âlâ sent them a Messenger so that they should worship Him. Unbelievers found it difficult to abandon the religion of their forefathers. Allâhu ta’âlâ blessed the Muhâjirs with the honour of becoming Believers. They became Rasûlullah’s companions and fellow-sufferers. They patiently shared with him the persecutions inflicted by the enemies of religion. They are the earth’s first worshippers of Haqq (Allah) and Believers of His Messenger. For this reason, the Khalîfa will have to be from among them. No one can be their partner in this respect. It would only take cruelty to try to deprive them of this right. O Ansâr! Your services to Islam could not be denied, either. Allâhu ta’âlâ chose you as helpers to His religion and Prophet. He sent His Rasûl (Messenger) to you. After the people who had the honour of being the first Muhâjirs, no one is more valuable than you are. You embraced the Messenger of Allah. The honour of boasting about having helped him belongs to you. No one would dispute this. Yet all the people of Arabia wish that the Khalîfa be from among the Qoureish. They do not want to see someone else as the Khalîfa. For everyone knows that the Qoureish are the highest of the Arabs with respect to genealogy and virtue. And their land is in the middle of Arabia. Let us be the commanders, and you will be our viziers, counsellors. Nothing will be done without taking your counsel.”
Then hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ said, “O Ansâr! Rasûlullah entrusted you to us during his illness. He would have entrusted us to you if you were to occupy the commanding position.”
Being at a loss as to what to say, the Ansâr-i-kirâm began to think deeply. One of them, namely Hubâb bin Munzir, stood up and suggested, “Let us have one Emîr from among us and one from you.” Hadrat ’Umar’s answer was: “There cannot be two Emîrs at the same time. The Arabs will not accept or obey the Khalîfa unless he belongs to the same tribe as Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ did.” Hubâb protested, “O Ansâr! The Arabs accepted this religion through your swords. Do not let anyone seize your right!”
Ubayda-tabnil-Jerrâh ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ warned, “O Ansâr! You are the people who served this religion in the beginning. Be careful lest you should be its first spoilers, too.” Upon these statements, one of the Ansâr, namely Beshîr bin Sa’d bin Nu’mân bin Kâ’b bin Hazraj ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ of the Hazraj tribe stood up and said:
“O Muslims! Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ belongs to the Qoureish tribe. It would be more appropriate for the Khalîfa to be from among them, too. It would be correct. Yes, we were earlier to become Muslims. We had the honour of serving Islam with our property and lives. Yet we did all these because we love Allah and His Messenger ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’. We do not expect any worldly recompense for this service of ours.” Hubâb questioned, “O Beshîr! Are you jealous of your paternal first cousin?”
Beshîr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ replied, “I swear by the name of Allah that I am not. I only do not want anyone to infringe on the rights of the Qoureish.”
At that moment hadrat Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ said, “I nominate these two people for you. Choose one of them,” pointing to ’Umar and Ubayda. Both of them drew back and said, “Who could stand before a person whom hadrat Prophet placed before others?” Voices were raised. Everyone began to talk his way.
Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ began to talk. Turning towards hadrat Abû Bekr, he said, “Rasûl-i-ekrem made you his Khalîfa in the namâz which is Islam’s archstone. He placed you before all of us. Hold out your hand! I have chosen you Khalîfa.” Ubayda was about to hold out his hand to choose Abû Bekr, too, when Beshîr sprang forward, held Abû Bekr’s hand, and paid homage to him before the others did. “You are our new Khalîfa,” he said. ’Umar and Abû Ubayda paid homage, too. All the members of the Aws tribe, headed by their chief Usayyad bin Hudayr, came and paid homage. Upon seeing them, the Hazraj tribe paid homage, too.
If Abû Bekr, ’Umar and Abû Ubayda ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’ had not arrived on time, Sa’d bin Ubâda would have been paid homage, which in turn would have given way to hostilities between the two tribes Aws and Hazraj. The Qoureish tribe, on the other hand, would have been thoroughly against this and the Muslims would have been broken to factions. Abû Bekr as-Siddîq prevented this great danger. Owing to his being elected Khalîfa, Islam weathered a crisis which would have let to its fracturing.
Hadrat Beshîr bin Sa’d, who had a major role in this service, joined the Holy Wars of Aqaba II, Bedr, Uhud and all the others and fought heroically. He attained martyrdom in the Yemâma Holy War in the twelfth year of the Hijrat.
After being elected Khalîfa on Monday, hadrat Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ went to the Mesjîd-i-sherîf on Tuesday and convened the Sahâba there. He mounted the minber, made hamd-u-thenâ (thanking, praising and lauding Allâhu ta’âlâ), and made this speech: “O Muslims! I have become your governor and president. Yet I am not the best among you. If I do good, help me. If I do something wrong, show me the right way! Rectitude is trustworthiness. Lying is treachery. Someone who is weak among you is very valuable for me. I will save his right. And someone who depends on his power is weak to me. For I shall take others’ rights back from him. Inshâ-Allâhu ta’âlâ, let none of you neglect Jihâd. Those who cease from Jihâd will become despicable. Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Messenger. If I disobey Allah and His Messenger and deviate from the right way, you will no longer have to obey me. Get up, let us perform namâz! May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless you all with goodnesses!”
Then they completed their duty pertaining to Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ funeral. Until evening they entered the room in groups and all of them, men, women, children and slaves alike, performed the namâz (prescribed for the funeral) without forming jamâ’ats, (that is, each of them performed the namâz individually). It was in the darkness of Wednesday night that they buried the blessed Prophet in the same room.
The following account is given in the four hundred and tenth page of Qisâs-i-enbiyâ: As long as Rasûlullah lived, the Wahy was revealed to him and thus the Ummat (Muslims) were informed (with the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ). Revelation of the Wahy was out of the question after him. Yet most of the Sahâba had committed Qur’ân al-kerîm to their memories. And the matters that are not explained openly in Qur’ân al-kerîm were being observed in accordance with the Sunnat-i-seniyya, that is, the records containing Rasûlullah’s utterances and actions as well as actions which he did not prohibit though he saw others do them. However, the Sunnat-i-seniyya and hadîth-i-sherîfs were not in the memories of all the Sahâba. For some of them were busy with buying and selling at market places, some worked looking after their date orchards, and others were peasants working on farms. They therefore had not had time to attend all the Sohbats (of the Messenger of Allah). Those who had attended a Sohbat would tell what they had heard to the ones who had missed it. Thus a person would learn the hadîth-i-sherîfs he had not heard by asking those who had heard them. In fact, it took them a lot of thinking to decide where to bury the Messenger of Allah. Following a hadîth-i-sherîf narrated by Abû Bekr as-Siddîq, they buried him at the place where he had passed away. Likewise, they had to make painstaking inquiries about how they should deal out the property he had left among his inheritors. It was Abû Bekr as-Siddîq, again, who quoted the hadîth-i-sherîf, “Prophets do not leave an inheritance behind them.” So they acted accordingly.
Âisha-i-Siddîqa ‘radiy-Allâhu anhâ’, the mother of Muslims, stated: “When Rasûl-i-ekrem ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallâm’ passed away, the hypocrites rose in rebellion. The Arabs became renegades, that is, they abandoned Islam. The Ansâr held themselves aloof. The disasters that befell my father would have crushed mountains had they befallen them. The case as this was, whereever there was a disagreement, my father would be there to solve it and reconcile the people concerned.”
When the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhum ajma’în’ were confronted with something they did not know how to do, (they would look the matter up in the Sunnat-i-seniyya,) and if they did not find a solution in the Sunnat-i-seniyya, either, they would (decide how to) do it through a method called re’y (finding) and qiyâs (comparison), that is, by comparing it with other matters they knew how to do. This paved the way to ijtihâd. If the ijtihâds of the As-hâb-i-kirâm or other mujtahids agree on a matter, there will be no doubt left pertaining to that matter. This concurrence of ijtihâds was called Ijmâ-i-ummat. Making ijtihâd requires having profound knowledge. Scholars who possess this deep knowledge (and are therefore capable of making ijtihâd) are called Mujtahid. If the ijtihâds made by mujtahids do not agree with one another, it becomes wâjib for each mujtahid to act upon his own ijtihâd.
The caliphate election was a matter of ijtihâd, too. There were hadîth-i-sherîfs denoting that Abû Bekr, ’Umar, ’Uthmân and Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’ would become Khalîfa. Yet the time for any of them was not stated clearly. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ did not say, “Appoint so and so Khalîfa after me.” He left this job over to the As-hâb-i-kirâm to decide on. The ijtihâds made by the As-hâb-i-kirâm pertaining to caliphate election did not agree with one another. There were three different ijtihâds:
The first one was the Ansâr’s re’y [finding]; they said that the person “who has served Islam most must be Khalifa. The Arabs became Muslims in the shade of our swords. Therefore one of us must be Khalîfa.”
The second ijtihâd was the re’y of most of the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în’; they said that the Khalîfa “must be powerful enough to enforce the regulations among the Ummat. The most honourable and the most powerful tribe among the Arabs is the Qoureish. The Khalîfa will have to be one from among the Qoureish.”
The third ijtihâd was the re’y of the Hâshimîs, who said that one of Rasûlullah’s relations must be Khalîfa.
The correct one of these three ijtihâds was the second one. Yes, the Ansâr were of great help to Islam. And the relations of Rasûl-i-ekrem, on the other hand, were very honourable. Yet caliphate was not a chair for rest granted as a reward for past services. Nor was it an inheritable property to be handed over to relations. The second ijtihâd entailed that caliphate was to be given to the Qoureish tribe not because Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ was from this tribe, but because the Qoureish was a tribe renowned throughout Arabia for its honour, power, influence and dignity. For caliphate was an office to provide unity, loyalty and social order among Muslims. And doing this, in its turn, would necessitate being authoritative. The Khalîfa’s duty is to prevent mischief and instigation, to secure peace and freedom, to administer Jihâd, and to maintain order so that Muslims carry on their affairs and businesses easily and smoothly. Doing all these things requires power.
What the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ took into consideration in the caliphate election was to unite the Muslim tribes so as to establish a powerful state. Giving the office of caliphate to the Hâshimîs, who were only one out of the ten Qoureishi tribes, would hardly provide this unity. The higher the number of the people establishing a government, the more powerful the government. For this reason, it would be necessary to elect one of the notables of the Qoureish. And the person to be elected would have to be a superior one, not only in tribal identification and genealogy, but also from the Islamic point of view. The highest Qoureishi tribe at that time was (Beni Umayya). And the most outstanding personage in that tribe was Abû Sufyân bin Harb. Yet the harms he had inflicted on the Muslims during the Uhud war had not yet been totally forgotten. He had already become a true and staunch Muslim. Yet the other Muslims could not fully trust him yet. Consequently, no one could be placed before Rasûlullah’s faithful companion in the cave, who had become a Muslim earliest and caused others to become Muslims, too, and who had been appointed (by Rasûlullah) as the imâm (to conduct public prayers). It was certain that everyone would vote for him. In addition, since the normal procedure was for all the Sahâba to come together and elect the Khalîfa, the Ansâr’s attempt for an election among themselves could cause a commotion. Thus, by running to the place, hadrat Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ forestalled this danger and saved Muslims from a grave tumult.
During these events hadrat Alî was at his wife hadrat Fâtima’s home ‘radiy-Allâhu anhumâ’. Zubeyr, who was Abû Bekr as-Siddîq’s son-in-law, and Mikdâd and Selmân and Abû Zer and Ammâr bin Yâser ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’ were there, too. Their ijtihâd concurred with that of the third group. So Abbâs came to hadrat Alî and held out his hand in homage to him. Yet the latter had heard that hadrat Abû Bekr had become Khalîfa; he therefore refused the offer. Abû Sufyân said, “Hold out your hand and I shall pay homage to you. I shall fill everywhere with cavalrymen and infantrymen if you want me to.” Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ refused the notion, saying, “O Abâ Sufyân! Do you want to cause faction among the Islamic nation?”
As it is seen, both Abû Bekr as-Siddîq and Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anhumâ’ were sensitive about a probable instigation or controversy among the Muslims. At first hadrat Alî was somewhat sorry because he had not been called to the election held under Sakîfa’s brushwood shelter. As is explained in the book Musâmarât, by Muhyiddîn-i-Arâbî, and in the book Daw ’us-sabâh, by Hamîd bin Alî Imâdî (1175 [A.D. 1757]), Abû Ubayda came to the house where hadrat Alî was. He told him all the statements he had heard from hadrat Abû Bekr and ’Umar. [These statements, very long and effective, are quoted in Qisâs-i-Enbiyâ]. Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ listened. The statements were so impressive that he felt as if he had been penetrated to the marrow. He said, “O Abâ Ubayda! My sitting in the nook in a house is not intended to become Khalîfa or to protest against the Emr-i-ma’rûf or to castigate a Muslim. Separation from the Messenger of Allah has shocked me out of my senses and driven me mad.” The following morning he went to the Mesjîd-i-sherîf. Walking past all the others, he went near hadrat Abû Bekr, paid homage, and sat down. The Khalîfa said to him, “You are blessed and honoured to us. When you are angry, you fear Allah. And when you are happy you thank Him. How lucky for the person who will not demand any more than a position bestowed on him by Allah. I did not want to be Khalîfa. I had to accept it lest there should arise a fitna (instigation, mischief). There is no resting for me in this duty. A heavy burden has been imposed on me. I do not have the strength to carry it. May Allah give me strength! Allâhu ta’âlâ has taken this burden off from your back. We need you. We are aware of your superior qualities.”
Hadrat Alî and Zubeyr said that Abû Bekr was more suitable than anyone else for the caliphate. They said they had been sorry for not having been informed about the election beforehand, and they apologized for this. The Khalîfa accepted their apology. [The statements which hadrat Alî made in praise of Abû Bekr as-Siddîq that day are written with documents in the (Turkish) book Se’âdet-i ebediyya, in the twenty-third chapter of the second volume; that chapter is the translation of the ninety-sixth letter]. Then hadrat Alî asked for permission and stood up. Hadrat ’Umar very kindly saw him off. As hadrat Alî left, he said, “My being so late to come here was not intended to oppose (Abû Bekr as) the Khalîfa. And my coming here now is not out of fear.” All the Hâshimîs followed hadrat Alî’s example and paid homage. Thus a unanimity was realized.
Both hadrat Abû Bekr and hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhumâ’ managed very vigilant and wise performances throughout the caliphate election. Hadrat Alî’s not being called to the meeting under Sakîfa’s brushwood shelter was a fortunate event. Had he been there that day, the discussions between the Ansâr and the Muhâjirs would have been doubled with the joining of the Hâshimîs, which in turn would have made things all the more complicated.
Differences of ijtihâds pertaining to the caliphate election are not for us to discuss or to comment on. They are the best Muslims. Each and every one of them is a star guiding to salvation. It is from them that the meaning of Qur’ân al-kerîm was acquired. It is through them that hundreds of thousands of hadîth-i-sherîfs were heard. And it is via them that the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ were learned.
It would not be worthy of us to attempt to use the teachings we obtained from them as criteria for assessing their behaviours.
Yes, erring is a human attribute. Mujtahids will err, too. Yet a mujtahid will be rewarded with thawâb anyway; ten times for not erring, and one reward if he errs.
Each and every one of the As-hâb-i-kirâm is a pillar of Islam. Differences among them were based on ijtihâd. They knew one another’s value even when they criticised one another. If hadrat Zubeyr had preferred his personal considerations to his religious conceptions, he would not have disagreed with hadrat Abû Bekr, his father-in-law. Hadrat ’Umar was the most eager supporter of hadrat Abû Bekr in the caliphate election. On the other hand, he, again, was the person who cherished and praised hadrat Alî most. One day hadrat ’Umar asked hadrat Alî a question. The latter answered the question. Upon this he said, “I entrust myself to Allah’s protection from confronting a difficult question in hadrat Alî’s absence.” Hadrat Alî used to say, “After Rasûl-i-ekrem, the most useful people in this Ummat are Abû Bekr and ’Umar.” ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ alaihim ajma’în.’
A month later hadrat Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ mounted the menber and said, “I want to resign from the office of caliphate. If you expect to see me following precisely the same way taken by the Messenger, this is impossible. For the devil could not approach him. In addition, he would be revealed the Wahy from heaven.” Could the hearts of such noble persons harbour any ambitions for rank, positions? Could any tongue speak ill of them?
Actually, Fâtima-t-uz-Zehrâ ‘radiy-Allâhu anhâ’ was so deeply distressed with the bereavement of her father’s death that she could not go out. Hadrat Alî also mostly stayed at home to keep her company in her bereavement; therefore he could not frequently attend the Khalîfa’s sohbat. However, after hadrat Fâtima’s passing away he paid homage again. He would often enter the Khalîfa’s presence, help him and make suggestions. ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum ajma’în’.
As will be concluded from the abovementioned information which we have derived from Qisâs-i-enbiyâ, the Shiite allegation that hadrat Alî and six other Sahâbîs did not pay homage to hadrat Abû Bekr, is ungrounded. To stand against the unanimity of the As-hâb-i-kirâm by not accepting hadrat Abû Bekr (as the Khalîfa) and to make immoderate statements in this subject would not only have been incompatible with Islam, but it would also have meant to disobey Rasûlullah’s command to his Sahâba: “Be in unity and avoid controversies.” To say that hadrat Alî and six other Sahâbîs and Fâtima-t-uz-Zehrâ the highest of women did not carry out this command and disobeyed Islam would mean, let alone loving them, to controvert and belittle those great religious leaders. The controversy imputed to them is so grave that it has inflicted a fatal wound in Islam and caused millions of Muslims to deviate from the right way till the end of the world. The harms done to Islam and the bloodbaths of millions of Muslims perpetrated by those who dissented from the Ahl as-sunna by reading the lies and slanders fabricated by Hurûfîs, are the causes of Islam’s status quo. The harms which groups named Ahmadî and Qâdiyânî inflicted on Muslims are in the open. Could a wise and reasonable person with a light of Islam and a love of îmân in his heart say that hadrat Alî was the cause of this great malice?
Abd-ul-qâdir-i-Geylânî ‘quddisa sirruh’, one of the greatest Awliyâ, gives the following account in his book Ghunya: “Of the seventy-two groups of bid’at (aberration), nine are the most prominant. Shiites are one of these nine groups. They have parted into twenty sub-groups, all of which dislike one another. The group of Abdullah ibni Saba’ are like Jewry. For instance, Jews say that the right to become an imâm belongs to a certain class of people. Likewise, these people allege that caliphate is a right which belongs to Imâm-i-Alî’s descendants, and that it is not permissible for other people to preside over Muslims. According to Jews, Jihâd [War] is not permissible until the emerging of Dadjdjal. And according to the Saba’ group, Jihâd is not permissible until the emerging of Mahdi. The twelfth imâm, i.e. Muhammad Mahdi, who was the tenth grandson of hadrat Alî, was the son of Hasan Askerî. He was born in 259. When he was seventeen years old he entered a cave and never came back out. The Saba’ group think that he was the promised Mahdi who according Islam’s teachings will appear in the latest time. Jews do not break their fast before stars appear in the sky. This is the case with the Saba’ group, too. Jews make masah on their socks (in ritual ablution). The Saba’ group do the same. It is permissible for a Jew to kill a Muslim. And it is permissible for the Saba’ group to kill the Sunnite Muslims. A woman divorced by a Jew can marry (another man) without having to wait for the time of iddat (according to Islam, length of time during which a divorced woman cannot marry another man). The Saba’ group also do not wait for the time of iddat. According to Jews, having divorced a woman three times will not prevent from marrying her again. The Saba’ group also will marry a woman whom they have divorced three times. Jews changed the Torah. There is not a single copy of the Bible that has remained intact on the earth today; nor is there a true copy of the Torah. Likewise, the Saba’ group wrote the defiled forms of some âyats of Qur’ân al-kerîm in their heretical books. This they did because they thought there were deductions and additions in Qur’ân al-kerîm.”
This faqîr, [’Uthmân Efendi means himself], the author of the book Tezkiya-i-Ahl-i-Bayt, was attending the Ministry of Education, when a pile of drafts of tafsîr (explanation of Qur’ân al-kerîm) written by the Saba’ group arrived in a couple of chests. Permission was not given for their printing. They asked the reason: “Is there anything incompatible with Islam in it?” “Yes,” I replied. “You write that hadrat Alî was a disbeliever.” He was exasperated. “Don’t be angry,” I pacified. “Listen! According to the allegation written in the introduction, hadrat Talha asked hadrat Alî, ‘It has been rumoured that hadrat ’Uthmân deducted seventy âyats from Qur’ân al-kerîm and that hadrat ’Umar deleted eighty âyats. Is this rumour true?’ When hadrat Alî affirmed Talha queried again, ‘It is said that you possess the unchanged copy of the Qur’ân. Do you?’ Hadrat Alî’s answer was: ‘Certainly. And the copy I have is twice as copious as the existing ones.’ When he was asked why he did not reveal it to Muslims, he complained, ‘I would have given it to them if they had elected me Khalîfa instead of Abû Bekr. Because they did not elect me, I am not going to give it to them. I shall advise in my will that it should be kept in secrecy by my offspring till the end of the world.’ These things are written in your tafsîr. Now I ask you for Allah’s sake: Because Jewry conceale