Incident of the attack on the house of Lady Fatima (a): Difference between revisions

The story of the attack on Fatima’s (a) house, which took place after the [[Saqifa incident]] and with the aim of taking Imam Ali’s (a) allegiance for the [[caliphate]] of Abu Bakr,<ref>Ibn Qutayba, ''al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa'', vol. 1, p. 30- 31.</ref> and led to the martyrdom of Lady Fatima (a),<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Dalāʾil al-imāma'', p. 134.</ref> has been one of the issues affecting Shiite-Sunni relations. Some of the earliest Shiite sources, such as the ''book of Sulaym b. Qays'', ''Ithbat al-wasiyya'', ''Tafsir al-'Ayashi'', and ''[[Dala'il al-Imama]]'', have reported the incident and its consequences and in contrast, Sunni sources deny setting the door of the house on fire and the abortion of [[Muhsin b. 'Ali|Muhsin (a)]], and called the narrators unreliable and Rafidiyy.

In Shiite and Sunni sources, the [[occasions of revelation]] of some verses from the Qur’an are considered related to the households of Lady Fatima’s (a) house (including Imam Ali (a), Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a), [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]] and [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]]), including [[Al-It'am Verse|the verse “It’am”]] and the [[al-Tathir Verse|verse “Tathir”]]. In the interpretation of the verse “And bid your family to prayer…” (Qur'an 20:132), it is narrated from [[Abu Sa'id Khidri]] that when this verse was revealed, the Prophet (s) used to go to the house of Fatima (a) every day for eight months, call the households to prayer and then recite the verse of “Tathir”.  

The Prophet (s) had introduced Ali b. Abi Talib (a) as his successor on the [[18th of Dhu al-Hijja]] in [[10 AH]]/[[March 16]], 632, returning from [[Hajjat al-Wida']] [“the Farewell Hajj”]. ‘Umar b. Khattab was among those who congratulated Imam Ali (a) on that day. But just after the demise of the Prophet (s), a number of the [[Emigrants]] and the [[Helpers]] in a gathering formed in [[Saqifa Bani Sa'ida]], against the will of the Prophet (s), agreed on the caliphate of [[Abu Bakr]] and pledged [[allegiance]] to him. According to Ibn Kathir, allegiance to Abu Bakr took place before the Prophet’s (s) burial, at which time Imam Ali (a) was preparing the Prophet’s (a) body for burial.

According to Hussein Mohammad Ja’fari, the author of ''[[Tashayyu' dar masir-e tarikh]]'', people’s allegiance to Abu Bakr was not enough for him to gain power, because Ali (a), who was the most important candidate for caliphate among the Prophet’s (a) family, as agreed by Shiites and Sunnis, as well as his close companions and [[Banu Hashim]] were not aware of the decision of the members of the Bani Sa'ida meeting. Therefore, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, fearing a serious reaction from Imam Ali (a) or his followers, called them to allegiance and used force when faced with their refusal.