Caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib

This fact is also indirectly narrated in Bukhari, chapter Al-Jihad. It shows that there was no animosity, hatred or lack of trust among these Companions of the Prophet.38

28th Dhul al-Hijjah 35 AH till 21st Ramadan 40 AH (27th June 656 AD – 28th January 661 AD) Martyrdom of Usman had polarizing effects and things got out of hand. Most of the noble Companions and the sacred wives of the Holy Prophet had gone to Makkah for performing hajj. The rebels were freely roaming in Madina. The dead body of Usman was lying unattended because the rioters were not letting anyone go near it. Three days passed by. Finally, Ali and some Companions talked to the rebels but they did not allow the burial of Usman. Ali, not caring about his life, rebuked them extremely and took care of Usman‟s burial and last rituals himself. Because of the circumstances Usman could not be buried in Jannat al-Baqi. He was buried in a cemetery behind Jannat al-Baqi. Later on, the wall separating the two cemeteries was demolished and Jannat al-Baqi was extended in the direction of the cemetery. Now Usman‟s tomb is inside Jannat al-Baqi. Among the noble Companions, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Talhah ibn Ubaydullah, Zayd ibn Thabit, Ka‟ab ibn Malik took part in Usman‟s funeral. The

38 If a man loves someone only then he names his children after that person‟s name. Ali also named his three sons after the names of the three Caliphs. Description of which is as follows: 1- Ali‟s wife Umm al-Banin birthed four sons; Abbas Alamdar, Jaffar, Abdullah and

Usman. All four brothers were martyred in the Battle of Karbala. Among them

Usman was named after the third Caliph. 2- Ali‟s wife Layla bint Mas‟ud bore two sons. Ali named one of the sons as Abu

Bakr. Although Abu Bakr is a teknonym and not a name but since he loved the first

Caliph thus he named his son Abu Bakr. He named his second son as Ubaidullah.

Both these sons were also martyred in the Battle of Karbala. 3- According to the books on genealogy and the books of history, the progeny of Ali progressed from his five sons, Hasan, Husayn, Mohammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah,

Abbas Alamdar and Umar al-Atraf. His son Umar was named after the second Caliph.

rioters were agitating even during funeral and burial but Ali strictly reproached them. After the martyrdom of Usman ibn Affan, a group of Ansar and emigrants went to Ali with the intention of pledging allegiance to him but Ali refused by saying, “I would rather be a vizier than the ruler, I will vote for whoever you will chose.”

Continuous plea and request of people could not change his mind. After the martyrdom of Usman, the rioters had to face a lot of trouble. They knew that the Muslims will not agree upon caliphate of anyone else except the Quraish. They tried to convince Talhah, Zubayr, Sa‟d, Abdullah ibn Umar and Ali to take the seat of Caliph but all of them refused. People from Kufa were inclined towards Zubayr while the people from Basra wanted Talhah to be the next Caliph. People from Egypt were pressurizing Ali to accept caliphate. When none of the Companions accepted the seat of caliphate, the miscreants got worried. The ignorant and the malicious ones among them wanted to go back leaving Madina in such an indecisive situation but the ones with a little wisdom could see polarizing situation arising in Madina, therefore, they did not want to leave without selecting a Caliph. Majority of them were from Egypt. Finally, they assembled the people of Madina and said, “You are the members of consultation committee (Majlis-eShura). Your ordain is implemented on the whole Mohammadan umma. Choose a Caliph from amongst you within two days. We will leave after pledging allegiance to whoever you choose. If you fail to do this, we will leave after killing so and so person.” This was a difficult situation for the residents of Madina. They had seen what insurgents had done to the innocent Caliph Usman. Therefore, they went to Ali ibn Abi Talib and insisted him to accept caliphate. Initially, Ali refused but when the people of Madina were persistent, he asked them to give him a day to think over it. Next day the Companions went to him to persuade him