Had Ali (A.S.) Responded to Them

Someone claims that Ali (A.S.) was supposed to open the door, or Fidda, or someone else. As for al-Zahra’ (A.S.), there was no justification for her going there to open the door rather than they. Here is the answer:

There are two issues which have to be discussed:

One of them is this: Could Ali (A.S.) or others have opened the door?!

The other is: Why did al-Zahra’ (A.S.), rather than anyone else, undertake such an action?

The answer to both questions is interwoven; therefore, we would like to present it thus:

FIRST: The Prophet (A.S.) used to ask some of his wives to open the door when knocked, as we have already stated; so, there is nothing embarrassing in principle about Fatima (A.S.) responding when her house door is knocked.

SECOND: It is quite obvious that had Ali (A.S.) been the one to open the door, or at least respond to the assailants even from behind the door, it would have implied a couple of things: He was either to do what they had ordered him to, that is, swear the oath of allegiance to their man, Abu Bakr, so he in this case would have recognized the legitimacy of what they had committed, nay, it would have removed any proof that he himself had the right to it from the very beginning. Or he would have only responded to the assailants then refused to agree to their demand. This would have caused the assailants to argue with him and to try to coerce him with strong words, or with kind ones, or even try to get him out by force to swear the oath of allegiance. He (A.S.) would have given them the opportunity to distort the issue and to show it to be the opposite of what it actually was, and they would have claimed whatever they liked, so much so that they would have broken him and distorted the truth to the public, especially since they were the commanding rulers to whom flatterers looked up and tried to get close.

They would have said the following to people: “We went to express our condolences and ask how the people were doing, but Ali (A.S.) was the one who confronted us and whose tongue was sharp against us, or was violent to us, out of his jealousy of us, and due to his conceit, and to express where he stood, how strong he was, how close in kinship he was to the Messenger of Allah (A.S.), the father of the Prophet’s grandchildren. So, he is the aggressor and we are the victims. He is the one who envied and who was malicious, the one who attacked us, the arrogant man, the one who laid a claim to something from which he himself announced his dissociation.” While being busy preparing for the burial and funeral of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.), Ali (A.S.) was rumored as having expressed no interest in caliphate. This is so according to the testimony of al-Munthir ibn Arqam who said so at the saqifa where Abu Bakr gained momentum over Sa`d, and as the Ansar disputed among themselves; his words were:

“There is a man among them who, once laying a claim to this matter, will not be disputed by anyone; I mean Ali son of Aba Talib (A.S.).”^[1]

In a letter said to be written by `Omer to Mu`awiyah, the first says the following about Abu Bakr: “I advanced him to the people to swear the oath of allegiance to him, and I kept him company in order to scare him and scare anyone who denied his fealty and said, `What did Ali (A.S.) ibn Abi Talib do?’ so I would say, `He took it out of his neck and made it obedience to the public will, a minority ruling their majority,’ so he kept sitting at home.”^[2]

Yes, they would say to the people: Since Ali (A.S.) turned away from this matter, and since there had to be order, fearing dissension, we took to doing it in order to safeguard Islam and protect the unity of the nation, the people’s dignity and to regulate their lives because we wanted what is good for people, seeking nearness to Allah and nothing else. And when he confronted us with violence, we had no choice except to arrest him in order to avoid dissension and to safeguard the religion and the nation.

Who would have rejected their claim, seeking that they were rulers in full charge, and the rulers have whips and swords besides which there is wealth and position, and they could satisfy ambitions and aspirations. And their media remains the most heard because it strikes with the swords of money and power and might, with ambitions and with desires. And there was the oppressive grudge of many people against Ali (A.S.) and all those who shelter themselves under his wings or relate to him. They had to benefit from these grudges, too, in order to solidify their control and strengthen their authority.

When Fatima (A.S.) answered them, her answer was the surprise which caused them to lose the opportunity which they thought was there, so they confronted her with violence and force, with anxiety and recklessness, when they assaulted her ferociously an assault that revealed a conduct which had no justification except insistence to extract authority by force even at the cost of killing al-Muhassan and violating the sanctity of her house (A.S.) and assaulting her with heavy beating, the woman who had no ambitions that she was, nor was she envious nor conceited nor grudging nor a trouble maker. She was only a woman who wanted to know who knocked at her door. She was not about to articulate reckless words without calculation, for she had no reason at all to do that, the orphan that she was who had just lost her father, the greatest Prophet (A.S.) in the history of mankind, the man who took them out of the darkness and into the light. She was his only daughter, the human being who was distinguished as the very best of all the women of mankind from the early generations to the last ones, the woman for whose pleasure Allah is pleased, and He is angry when she is angry.

Had they spoken kindly and politely when they went to her and said something like: “How do you feel, O daughter of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.)? We have come here to see how you are doing, to inquire about your health, and to offer our condolences on the demise of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.); so, do you permit us to visit you in order to entertain Ali (A.S.) and see how he is doing?,” would al-Zahra’ (A.S.) have met them with anything but pleasant Islamic ethics, with good words and would have welcomed them?!

Then she makes demands on them and argue with them when they try to confiscate the caliphate, or when Ali (A.S.) demands it of them with wisdom and patience, away from the environment of force and violence, with swords and whips.

But the truth is that those folks wanted to hurry and get Ali (A.S.) to swear the oath of allegiance (to Abu Bakr), for otherwise, it won’t be long before the lies which they told the public would be discovered and that Ali (A.S.) did not at all relinquish his right; so, how will they be able to answer the people when they ask them: “In the near past, you swore the oath of allegiance to Ali (A.S.) on the Ghadir Day, then you told us that he resigned! Here shows your discrepancy, the opposite of what you claimed!” So they rushed to Ali (A.S.) in order to obtain the oath of allegiance from him by force in a terrorist way in order to shun any opposition or resistence which might embarrass them and expose what they did not like to be exposed. Through this same terrorist environment did they present Ali (A.S.) as a rebel against legitimacy, an outlaw.

The stand of al-Zahra’ (A.S.) took them by surprise. It robbed them of the ability to behave properly. It foiled their attempt to achieve their objective. So they behaved towards her recklessly, with anxiety and grudge, and she caused their matter to be scandalized by the public, unveiling their intentions and schemes. Where is the piety which they claim, and where is the love for goodness which they allege?! The people knew the truth of what they wanted to achieve, their false claims of putting an end to dissension and the establishment of Allah’s Commandments and the tenets of the religion which they professed.

What they did to al-Zahra’ (A.S.) stripped them of the ability to polish their image. Al-Zahra’ (A.S.) opening the door turned into a successful blow which wiped out their schemes and mischief, nullifying all attempts at forgery and distortion of the facts and realities.

How can the future generations be made immune to media forgery practiced by the rulers who possess great authoritative and materialistic potentials?!

Al-Ma’man killed his brother, al-Aman, then his media apparatus painted him as an inserious man, an ignorant and stupid one as well as mentally retarded. Till now, researchers think of him on these same lines inspired by al-Ma’man to people although the truth is that he was exactly the opposite. But his sin was that he lost, so he was killed.

We have in our belief in the Qur’an the criteria which enable us to discover many facts relevant to what they attribute to the Prophet (A.S.) and to the Imams, peace be upon them. But for others who do not adhere to the Islamic creed, if these wish to discover the truth by studying the historical data available to them, this task will be extremely difficult.

If one of them reads that there was a man whose name was announced by the Prophet (A.S.) as “... your master after me (after my demise),” so the crowd, especially the Ansar, shouted his name^[3], and they said at the saqifa that they would not swear the oath of allegiance to anyone but Ali^[4] (A.S.) the man of courage and knowledge, the strong mujahid, the man who recorded many a magnanimous stand and offered great sacrifices, the Prophet’s son-in-law who was raised by the Prophet (A.S.), his cousin and loved one...

... then he reads in contrast that the opponents of Ali (A.S.) took advantage of his absence from the field and confined the matter to themselves then went to his house and demanded that he endorse what they had usurped, surrender, recognize them and submit to their will...

... then he reads a third time hints regarding the existence of rumors circulated among the people saying that the man in charge quit and no longer demanded his right for personal or general reasons...

The researching judge Noor-Allah al-Tasatturi says, “Some of those who deviated from the line of Ali (A.S.) insinuated to the public that he did not do anything at all to secure the caliphate for himself because he was too upset on account of the death of the Prophet (A.S.), remaining at home, overcome by grief. Khuzaymah ibn Thabit al-Ansari went and said to his people from among the Ansar what he had heard about Ali’s condition, adding that nobody was more fit for caliphate than Ali (A.S.) from among Quraish. The Ansar were worried lest the problem should be compounded and a harsh man from Quraish might seek revenge against them, seeking retribution as was the case during the time of ignorance and due to the grudge nurtured in the hearts of many on account of the Battle of Badr, so they went to Sa`d ibn `Abadah, master of the Ansar, and gathered with the crowd at the saqifa to request Sa`d to accept the post of caliph. But Sa`d refused to take Ali’s post, reminding them that it was the order of the Prophet (A.S.) who did so in compliance with orders which he had received from Allah, the most Exalted One. When the Quraishites heard all of that, and they always were opportunist, they schemed and rushed their oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr....”^[5]

Then the same person may read the following in a fourth place:

This same person regretted having shunned the caliphate, the greed impulse woke up within him again, so he confronted them when they went to him to reject his request, declaring war against them; nay, he even faced them with condemnations and verbal abuses; he even reprimanded them for such high treason and very serious crime.

Then he reads on the following: They responded to being condemned with condemnations of their own, violence with equal violence, so much so that the matters deteriorated to collision and confrontation due to the intensity of the outrage.

A person reading all of this will accept and believe it. He will see before him a complete and harmonious picture and tell himself that authority is sterile due to the power, wealth, posts, benefits, eminence and sanctity. Anyone likes to obtain a government with all of that and will seek for the achievement of his objective any proofs and evidences and amass witnesses and may even be unjust, oppress and forge “facts” to achieve the goal.

So, this person will never be able to discover the truth if he is offered authority or government for which two parties dispute with each other, each saying the following during such circumstances: I am the one oppressed, the assailed, while the other party is the oppressor and the assailant. This is so because this person, as we have just said, does not have sufficient criteria which enable him to verify the truth and distinguish it from falsehood.