Incident of Saqifa: Difference between revisions

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Western scholars of Islamic Studies and some orientalists such as Lammens, Caetani, and Madelung have studied the Event of the Saqifa in detail.

Many conversations occurred between the Helpers and the Immigrants who joined them, all of which had a role in the final decision. However, the most influential speech was that of Abu Bakr and his companions. The most important talks in that event belonged to the following:

He spoke mainly in the beginning of the session and prior to the coming of Abu Bakr and his companions. Because he was sick, his speech was delivered to the audience with the help of his son. The main themes of his speech were the following: the virtues and excellence of the Helpers, their superiority over the other Muslims, their service to Islam and to the Prophet (s), and the fact that the Prophet (s) was pleased with them when he passed away. With these points, he stated that the Helpers should choose a leader from themselves. Against the suggestion of choosing one leader from the Helpers and one from the Immigrants, he said that the suggestion was a failure and a retreat.  

Abu Bakr’s sayings in this gathering determined the direction toward which it moved. He talked several times,  and the main themes of his speeches were the following: the advantages of the Immigrants over the Helpers—including being the vanguard in accepting the Prophet’s call, faith and worshipping God, their kinship with the Prophet (s)—which made them more deserving of the succession to the Prophet (s) than the Helpers, and the virtues of the Helpers and their being better fitted to be viziers, not caliphs.  

He spoke in the Saqifa two or three times, and his speech each time contained instigation and threat against the Immigrants, and especially against Abu Bakr and Umar. He also repeated the suggestion of choosing one ruler from each tribe.  

Umar mostly reinforced Abu Bakr’s statements by mentioning some points, including the claim that the Arabs would not disagree with the succession of the Prophet’s relatives and the impossibility of choosing two rulers, because two swords do not fit in one sheath.  

In his speech, he warned the Helpers against changing the religion and ruining the unity of the Muslims.  

He was one of the Helpers from the tribe of Khazraj. He spoke several times and affirmed the arguments of Abu Bakr and his companions. Urging the Helpers to fear God and respect Muslims’ rights, he warned them against disagreeing with the Immigrants.  

He spoke about the place and virtues of such figures as Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali (a), and reminded the Helpers that they did not have such personalities among them.  

He was one of the Helpers. In the Saqifa and against the arguments of Abu Bakr and Abd al-Rahman b. Awf, he introduced Ali (a) as the one who had all the mentioned virtues. He stated that if Ali (a) is ready to accept the position, no one would oppose him. Mundhir’s saying was affirmed by a group of the Helpers who proclaimed that they would only pledge their allegiance to Ali (a).   

==Ali’s (a) Reaction==

The historians agree that Ali (a) did not pledge his allegiance to Abu Bakr on the day of the Saqifa. However, there is disagreement as to when and if he pledged his allegiance afterwards. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid maintains that “the view of the scholars of the Shiʿa and the true opinion is that Amir al-Muʿminin Ali b. Abi Talib (a) never pledged his allegiance to Abu Bakr.” During the first days after the Saqifa, when the supporters of Abu Bakr tried to force him to pledge his allegiance to Abu Bakr, Imam Ali (a) said to them, “I am more deserving of the caliphate than you, and I will not pledge my allegiance to you. You are more deserving of pledging your allegiance to me. You took the caliphate away from the Helpers arguing that … because you were closer to the Prophet and were his kin, you were more deserving of the caliphate than them. Now, I argue against you by the same reasons that you mentioned against the Helpers. If you fear God, be fair with me, and accept from me the same thing that the Helpers accepted from you; otherwise, you will have knowingly done wrong”.

==The Saqifa in the View of Western Islamicists==

In 1910, the Belgian scholar Henri Lammens (1862-1937) published an article entitled “Triumvirate of Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and Abu ʿUbayda,” in which he argued that the close cooperation of these three men in the lifetime of the Prophet (s) and their plans for the succession resulted in the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar. Had Abu ʿUbayda not died during the caliphate of Umar, he would have certainly become the third caliph. Although Lammens does not speak of a conspiracy to attain the caliphate, his claim certainly implies this term. He claims that Aʿisha and Hafsa informed their father of all the hidden thoughts and decisions of their husband.

The Italian orientalist Leone Caetani talks about a deep rift between Abu Bakr and Banu Hashim, and considers Abu Bakr’s claim to succession in the Event of the Saqifa surprising. He indirectly accepts the seriousness of Ali’s claim to the succession. Later, Caetani affirmed Lammens’ theory of the triumvirate of Abu Bakr, Umar and Abu Ubayda.

In his book The Succession to Muhammad, Madelung has thoroughly explores the topic of the succession to the Prophet (s). Unlike most historians, he believes that the gathering at the Saqifa was not initially intended to choose a successor for the Prophet (s). The Helpers simply thought that after the demise of the Prophet (s), the allegiance to him had expired and the integrity of the society was in danger. So they decided to choose a ruler from themselves for their own city, Medina. This is why they gathered without informing the Immigrants, whom they thought would return to Mecca. And those who did not want to return, the Helpers thought, would have no problem with the rule of a Helper over Medina. Madelung maintains that it was only Abu Bakr and Umar who believed that the successor of the Prophet (s) should rule over all the Arabs, and the Qurashites are the only ones deserving of the succession. He holds that prior to the demise of the Prophet (s), Abu Bakr had the plan to become the successor of the Prophet (s) and to surpass his rivals, the most important of whom were Ahl al-Bayt (a). The gathering at the Saqifa provided an opportunity for Abu Bakr to reach his goal. In that gathering, he first suggested that Umar and Abu Ubayda, who did not have any chance, should succeed the Prophet (s). It is clear that this suggestion was not serious and was intended only to create arguments among the participants and lead to the conclusion of the session in his favor.  

Madelung believes that the point made by some Sunnis and Western scholars that Ali (a) was not a serious candidate because of his young age and inexperience compared to Abu Bakr and Umar is false and that there are other reasons why Ali was not chosen for the caliphate.   

Muhammad Rid Muzaffar mentions seventeen massively transmitted or well-known hadiths related to the events in which the Prophet (s) clearly or with some ambiguity pointed to the succession of Ali (a) to himself, such as the Event of Warning the Close Kin, Hadith al-Ghadir, the Even of the Covenant of Brotherhood, the battles of Khandaq and Khaybar, the Hadith of the Fixer of the Shoes, and such hadiths as the following: “Ali is of me and I am of Ali, and he is the guardian of all believers after me,” “For every prophet, there is an executor of his will, and the executor of my will and my inheritor is Ali b. Abi Talib,” and “I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate.” The verses 5:55, 33:33, and 3:61 are among the Quranic verses which Shiite apologists use to demonstrate the succession of Ali (a) to the Prophet (s).  

Many scholars maintain that several historical events after the demise of the Prophet (s) were the consequences of the Event of Saqifa, including the following:  

• The siege of and the raid on the house of Fatima (a) to force Ali (a) to pay his allegiance to Abu Bakr—an incident which let to the martyrdom of Fatima (a).