Incident of Saqifa: Difference between revisions

The [[Shi'a]] believe that the gathering at the Saqifa and its result were violations of the clear instructions of the Prophet (s) regarding the succession. The Shi'a have appealed to some [[Quran]]ic [[verse]]s, historical events, and [[hadith]]s mentioned in Sunni sources, the most significant of which is the [[Event of Ghadir]]. According to the Shia, in that event, the Prophet (s) introduced the succession of Ali (a) to himself as the perfection of his [[Prophethood|prophetic mission]].

[[Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar]] mentions seventeen [[mutawatir|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 [[Hadith Yawm al-Dar|Event of Warning]] the Close Kin, [[Hadith al-Ghadir]], the Event of the [[Pact of Brotherhood|Covenant of Brotherhood]], the stories related to the succession in the battles of [[battle of Khandaq|Khandaq]] and [[battle of Khaybar|Khaybar]], the Hadith of [[Khasif al-Na'layn|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]]{{enote|{{ia|إِنَّما وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسولُهُ وَالَّذينَ آمَنُوا الَّذينَ يُقيمونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤتونَ الزَّكاةَ وَهُم راكِعونَ}}

Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly and call down Allah’s curse upon the liars.’}} are among the Quranic verses which Shiite apologists use to demonstrate the succession of Ali (a) to the Prophet (s).  

*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)]].

*[[Confiscation of Fadak]]: Some historians maintain that the purpose of the confiscation of Fadak was to weaken [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] economically. This measure would strengthen the rule of the first caliph and would prevent the family of the Prophet (s) from opposing the caliph's rule.  

*The [[Tragedy of Karbala]]: According to some scholars, the course that was taken for choosing the Prophet’s successor in the Event of Saqifa led to a chaos in how a [[caliph]] was to be chosen: once in the middle of a conflict between the Helpers and a few individuals from the [[Quraysh]], once with the will of the first caliph, once in a [[six-member council]], and once with [[Mu'awiya]] appointing his son [[Yazid]] as his successor and requiring everyone to pledge his allegiance to him—to a person who caused the tragedy that took place in [[Karbala]].