12. The Virtuous al-Miqdad (d. 826 A.H.)

 

The orator-Faqih and researcher, Shaikh al-Miqdad al-Sayyari, has said, “When Ali (A.S.) and a group of others refused to swear the oath of allegiance (to Abu Bakr), and when they sought shelter at the house of Fatima (A.S.), rejecting such fealty, he (Abu Bakr) sent her (A.S.) `Omer who hit her on her stomach, causing her to miscarry a son named Muhassan. He also lit a fire in order to burn their house although Fatima (A.S.) and a group of Bani Hashim were all inside it. They took Ali (A.S.) out by force, handcuffing him with his own sword’s suspenders. Nobody should say that only the Shi`as narrate this incident, for someone may say so only to scandalize them. We say that this incident has been narrated by way of the opponents. It is narrated by al-Balathiri and Ibn `Abd al-Birr as well as by others. It is supported by what he (`Omer) had said at the time of his death: `How I wish I left the house of Fatima alone and did not expose it (to invasion of privacy).’”^[1]

I say that the insistence of major scholars of the sect, as I have proven by quoting them, use this incident as an argument against their opponents, taking it for granted. The inability of others to get rid of the charge or to clear themselves from it clearly proves that denying ir or doubting it is not acceptable, even unreasonable. This is so in the presence of the huge number of texts and in the consecutive reporting of it by the Infallible Ones (A.S.), something which fronds no excuse to anyone to deny it, nor does it permit any explanation or justification whatsoever.