As'salamu Alaikum everyone,
Here are some facts that no Sunni or Shia disagrees on:
1- After Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) death, Ali was busy burrying the Prophet and making the necessary preparations and setup service for the Prophet's grave. Our Sunni sources also say that Ali isolated himself from people for 6 months and just wanted to be away from people and to be all alone. The Shia sources say that Ali was upset from Abu Bakr for this period for rushing the elections during Ali's absence, and never gave Ali the chance to get elected. They also say that Ali for the sake of keeping Muslims united finally gave his Bay3a (vote) to Abu Bakr to be the Muslims' Caliph after 6 months.
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Walaikum Salam wr wb,
Ali didn't isolate himself. Infact, he supported the first Caliph Abubakr in his caliphate. He supported Abubakr against the apostate tribes.
Also, Ali gave Bayah the next day, not after six months. This is mentioned in Sahih Hadiths narrated by Abu Saeed al-Khudri (ra) in:
-Mujama’a al Zawa’ed (5/183), rijal are people of saheeh.
-Al Bidayah wal Nihayah (5/281), chain thabit and saheeh.
-Al Mustadrak (3/76) and al Sunan al Kubrah (8/143) with two SAHIH chains
So Caliph Abu Bakr did what he did to destroy the tumult among the Muslims. As a human, it is also possible that he had desire to be the next ruler. No shame in that. I mean, who wouldn't really. But it wasn't his TOP PRIORITY. I don't believe it was. The Shias disagree with us on this, but our sources have much stronger evidence than what they have. And my evidence above is just one from many.
Yes he didn't want to be caliph but Muhajirin and Ansar elected him as their caliph.
Ali (ra) says:
Narrated Qays bin al Abdi: I Witnesses the sermon of Ali on the day of Basarah, he said: ” He praised Allah and thanked him and he mentioned the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sallam) and his sacrifice to the people, then Allah swt took his soul. (After he said that) then the Muslims saw that they should give the Caliphate to Abu Bakr (RA) so they pledged their allegiance and made their promise of loyalty, and I gave my pledge and I promised him my loyalty, They were pleased and so was I. He (Abu Bakr) did good deeds and made Jihad until Allah took his soul may Allah have mercy on him.” [Imam Abdullah ibn Ahmad narrated in his “Sunnan” (2/563) via trustworthy narrators]
Here is where I believe Ali should've been the first Caliph:
1- Ali was to Muhammad as Aaron was to Moses, peace be upon all of them.
Answer: 1- Aaron (as) didn't succeed Musa (as). Thus, it is wrong to use that example.
The Hadith "You are to me as Harun (as) was to Musa (as)" in context:
We read in Tareekh al-Islam, Vol.1, p.232:
The Messenger of Allah set out for Tabuk with an army of 30,000 men from al-Medinah…and he put Muhammad bin Maslamah Ansari in charge of al-Medinah…The Prophet had left behind Ali to look after his family. The Munafiqoon used this as an opportunity to spread false rumors about Ali. They implied that the Prophet gave little importance to Ali and therefore left him alone in al-Medinah. When his patience ran out, he (Ali) hurried from al-Medinah and–joining the Prophet at al-Jurf–asked: “The Munafiqoon are saying such-and-such about me and so I have come to you.” The Prophet of Allah said: “They are liars. I have left you behind to look after my household, so go back.” In order to soothe his feelings, the Prophet further added: “You are to me as Haroon was to Musa, except that there will be no Prophet after me.” Ali returned to al-Medinah pacified and satisfied.
Explanation of Imam al-Qurtubi in his Tafseer:
There is no disagreement that Haroon died before Musa…and (Haroon) was not a successor after him (Musa), for the successor (to Musa) was Yusha bin Noon (i.e. Joshua), so if he (the Prophet) wanted by his saying (to grant Ali) the Caliphate, he would have said “you will be to me like Yusha was to Musa”, so when he didn’t say this it proved that he didn’t want that meaning, but he (simply) wanted that “you are my deputy over my family in my life and my absence from my family, like Haroon was deputy of Musa over his people when he left to speak to his Lord.”
2- Ali was from Ahlul Bayt, who we send Peace and Blessings to in every single Prayer in our 5 daily Prayers.
Answer 2 - Just because someone is from Ahlulbayt of the Prophet (saw) doesn't mean he should succeed the Prophet (saw) . The Prophet (saw) was not a King but a Prophet. Also, Ibn Abbas ibn Jafar, Aqeel were also from Ahlulbayt etc.
Importantly, the Prophet (saw) in his last days appointed Abubakr (ra) as prayer Imam. What does it indicate?
3- Ali was never part of the Bay3a (election). He should've been given that chance even after Abu Bakr was elected.
But Ali was above any worldly gain, because he was really a pious and purified Believer as the members of Ahlul Bayt were, as Allah Almighty mentioned in the Glorious Quran. Ali didn't really care much about being a Caliph. But NONETHELESS, he should've been at least given the opportunity.
Answer 3 - ALL Sahaba including Ali gave bayah to Abubakr in the Prophet's (saw) Mosque. So If Muhajirin and Ansar (they are praised in the Quran) agreed that Abubakr be their caliph and Ali himself never claimed that he should've been the first caliph, then who are we to make claims that such and such person should have been the first Caliph?
Ali never claimed that he deserved to be the Caliph and that Abubakr didn't deserve. He was only upset that he was not informed about Saqifa NOT because He should've been the first Caliph.
The words of Ali himself:
“We were only angry because we were late for the consultation, we see Abu Bakr as the most deserving of the people to this position after the Apostle of Allah (sallalahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sallam), he is the companion in the cave and the second of the two and we know of his honour and rank, The prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sallam) had ordered him to lead the people in prayer while he was alive”.
Sources: Al Bidayah wal nihayah (6/341), Khilafat Abu Bakr p67, chain is good.
Yes no doubt Ali and other Muhajirin Sahaba, except Umar and Ubaida ibn Jarah, were not present in Saqifa where where Abubakr was given the first Bayah by the people of Ansar. The Ansar (original residents of Madina) gave their Bayah. Now only Muhajirin Sahaba left. They including Ali gave their Bayah in the mosque of the Prophet (saw).
Lets know the Background of Saqifah:
It is related by Umar that as they were seated in the Prophet’s house, a man cried out all of a sudden from outside: “O Son of Khattab (i.e. Umar), pray step out for a moment.” Umar told him to leave them alone and go away as they were busy in making arrangements for the burial of the Prophet. The man replied that an incident had occurred: the Ansar were gathering in force at Saqifah Bani Sa’idah, and–as the situation was grave–it was necessary that he (Umar) should go and look into the matter lest the Ansar should do something which would lead to a (civil) war. On this, Umar said to Abu Bakr: “Let us go.”
(Al Faruq, by Allamah Shibli Numani, Vol 1, p.87)
Umar learned of this (i.e. the gathering of the Ansar at Saqifah) and went to the Prophet’s house and sent (a message) to Abu Bakr, who was in the building…[Umar] sent a message to Abu Bakr to come to him. Abu Bakr sent back (a message) that he was occupied (i.e. with caring for the Prophet’s body), but Umar sent him another message, saying: “Something (terrible) has happened that you must attend to personally.” So he (Abu Bakr) came out to him…
(The History of al-Tabari, Vol.10, p.3)
jazakum Allahu khaira
