Monday, 11 May 2026 (24 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1447 AH)
Question: Among the things that perplex the mind is what occurred from the Muslims after the death of the Messenger (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), and before that during his illness, when he urged them to go forth in the expedition of Usāmah and they were sluggish in responding to him, as though they pitied him more than he pitied himself. Then when he passed away, they left him and busied themselves with the matter of pledging allegiance (bayʿah) for the caliphate.
Here arises a question: Why were the Anṣār alone gathered in the Saqīfah? And why did they pledge allegiance to Abū Bakr? Then when ʿAlī or Fāṭimah later called them, they said: “If we had heard this statement from you before pledging allegiance to Abū Bakr, not a single man among us would have stayed back.”
And where are the hadiths that mention ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) and his entitlement to the caliphate? Did everyone forget them, or did they feign forgetfulness? Even though the Anṣār love ʿAlī (Peace be upon him).
Likewise the incident of objecting to the writing of the Messenger of Allah’s (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) document (the “Calamity of Thursday”). All of this is found in the sources of both the Shīʿah and the Sunnis. So how can the situation be depicted in its true form? Is there something in the hadiths that the people of that era did not know? Or was there another hidden factor operating behind the scenes, obstructing and hindering the prophetic commands?
Clarify the matter for us: what excuse is there for those who have an excuse, and what is the truth concerning these events?
Answer: There is no doubt and no ambiguity about the deviation of Quraysh, in general, from ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) and their enmity toward him. In Nahj al-Balāghah there is much of his complaint against Quraysh, such as his saying: “O Allah, I seek Your aid against Quraysh, for they have severed my kinship and denied me a right that is mine…” or as he said; and such as his saying: “Quraysh have recompensed me with the worst of recompense…” and so on.
Quraysh seized control of the caliphate after the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), and the caliphate became purely Qurashī. Banū Hāshim and the Anṣār were removed from it; Quraysh did not grant them any share or portion in it at all.
They declared a cold war against ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) and the People of the House, and against the Anṣār. The caliphs forbade narrating hadith from the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) altogether, both in transmission and in writing. No one dared to narrate the virtues of ʿAlī and the People of the House, or the virtues of the Anṣār. Then they promoted and spread propaganda against the personality of ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) until he (Peace be upon him) became, in the eyes of the generality of Muslims, a symbol of falsehood. This was in the era of the early caliphs.
As for the Anṣār, although their love for ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) was greater than their love for anyone else, they nevertheless coveted the caliphate after the death of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace). The majority of them forgot the Prophet’s bequests (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) and abandoned them, preferring their own desires and longing for worldly gain.
No one from their scholars and people of insight attended the meeting at the Saqīfah. Rather, those who were present were their common folk and their Bedouins. Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī did not attend, nor did Khuzaymah ibn Thābit, the possessor of the “two testimonies”. Twelve of their scholars did stand up, however, when Abū Bakr assumed the caliphate, and they made public what they possessed of knowledge; this is well known.
- It is known that the common people are followers of every screamer, and they sway with every wind. Therefore, their gathering in the Saqīfah is not something to be found strange, for it is the very nature of the masses and the ignorant.
Know that the gathering of the common Anṣār in the Saqīfah to seek the caliphate did not come from the opinion of their scholars and people of insight, as is proven by the objection of those twelve scholars who stood up in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) and made clear to the people what they had of knowledge concerning ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) and his entitlement to the caliphate over Abū Bakr.
What the Anṣār said to ʿAlī and Fāṭimah after the pledge of allegiance to Abū Bakr is true, because if ʿAlī (Peace be upon him) had been in the place of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar on the day of the Saqīfah, they would have pledged allegiance to him. Or, if they had been given a choice between the two men, they would have chosen to pledge allegiance to ʿAlī. No choice made by the masses is surprising, for they are ready to pledge allegiance to Saʿd ibn Muʿādh —and they had been intending that—and to pledge to someone else besides him without concern, just as is the case with the masses in all situations.
- This is the reality of the situation on that day: Quraysh, who were enemies of ʿAlī (Peace be upon him), gained control of the matter, and the common Anṣār followed them. Nothing remained at the side of ʿAlī except Banū Hāshim and the people of knowledge and insight from the Anṣār, and they were few, counted on the fingers.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3