Muhammad's covenant

Muhammad named ‘Ali, His cousin and son-in-law, to succeed Him. A few months before His passing in June, 632, whilst on the road to Medina from His last pilgrimage to Mecca, He halted at an oasis and had a pulpit raised with saddles. This He ascended and had ‘Ali up so that he could be seen by the multitudes. To them He said in plain terms that whosoever had recognized and accepted Him as their Master, should recognize and accept ‘Ali likewise. But no sooner had He left this world than controversy broke out as to who should succeed Him. ‘Ali and the immediate members of the Prophet’s family were left to attend to His funeral, while the people gathered at the Prophet’s mosque to wrangle over the succession. Those who were from Mecca, who first gave their allegiance to Muhammad, had suffered greatly for their faith and had migrated from their city, becoming known as the Muhajirin (the Emigrants). In a country of tribal divisions and intense loyalty to the clan, the Muhajirin felt that they were entitled to distinction, because they were chiefly of the Quraysh, Muhammad’s own people, and the traditional custodians of the holy sanctuary of Ka‘bih, venerated in the days of idolatry, and sanctified as well in Islam. On the other hand there were the Ansar (the Helpers), inhabitants of Medina who had accepted Islam when its fortunes were at a very low ebb, had given refuge to the Prophet and His Meccan followers, thus endangering their own security and that of their wives and children and property by inviting the enmity of the ferocious, irate and revenge-seeking idolaters of Mecca, as well as that of the hostile tribes and clans around them. They now claimed the chieftainship of Islam.

The veterans amongst the Muhajirin, of whom the most outstanding was the aged Abu-Bakr—the third person to believe in Muhammad, His father-in-law, and His companion in the flight from Mecca to Medina—were greatly perturbed, because they thought that should a man of Medina be put at the head of Islam the proud Meccans would refuse to submit, and the unity forged by the Prophet would be irreparably impaired. They all ignored the fact that Muhammad had already named His successor. But ‘Ali was young. These men were rich in years, renowned and honoured. The body of the Prophet lay unburied whilst they argued and argued in His mosque about His successor. Finally ‘Umar presented the venerable Abu-Bakr to the multitude as the viceregent of the Prophet, and he himself was the first to pay homage and declare his allegiance to Abu-Bakr. Others followed suit. Only a handful refrained. But they too eventually submitted when ‘Ali bowed to the inevitable and swore fealty to the Caliph.

Arabia was once again ablaze. Tribe after tribe was reverting to idolatry. ‘Ali would not countenance any contention at the very heart of Islam at such a perilous time. Abu-Bakr was a man of piety and integrity, but the seat which he occupied truly belonged to ‘Ali by the Prophet’s prescription. But ‘Ali would not assert his rightful claim when Islam was compelled to fight desperately for its very life, assailed as it was on all sides by dark forces of reaction, as well as by the rise of false prophets (amongst whom incidentally was a woman). Islam triumphed over the faithless hordes who would have reverted back to barbarism, and soon Arabia was once more united under the banner of Islam, ready and poised to challenge the might of the Byzantine and the Persian Sassanid empires.

But the expressed wish and command of the Prophet had been discarded, His Covenant lay in the dust. By the time that ‘Ali, the true successor, was acclaimed Caliph, after Abu-Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, the unity of Islam had been irretrievably shattered and the way paved for the disastrous and irreligious rule of the Umayyids, Muhammad’s traditional enemies. ‘Ali the righteous, of incorruptible nature, high virtue, sound governance, soaring eloquence, profound learning, the Prophet’s Own appointee, was compelled to spend the three short years of his rule containing rebellion and the vaulting ambitions of powerful men who cared nothing for the divine commonwealth founded by Muhammad, but only for their own assumption of power.

(Baha'u'llah - a brief life by H. M. Balyuzi, Page 120)