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As for the Khalifat of 'Ali (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu),
it came about as a result of the general agreement of the community, and
by the consensus of the Companions
This view of the matter is borne out by the traditional
report of Abu Abdillah bin Batta, who attributes the following account
to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya:
I was in the company of Hazrat 'Ali bin Abu Tâleb while
'Uthman bin Affan was under seige. Then a man came along and told us: 'The
Commander of the Believers was just killed just a little while ago.' Ali
(Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) sprang to his feet at once, so I grabbed him
and held him by the waist, for fear that he might do something rash, but
he cried: "Let go of me, you wretch!" Then 'Ali went to the palace, where
he found that 'Uthman had indeed been slain, so he made his way to his
won house, went inside, and locked the door.
The people came after him, and started hammering on his door. As soon
as they were admitted inside, they said: 'Uthman has ben killed, and the
people cannot manage without a Khalif. There is no one, as far as we know,
who is better qualified forthe job than you are.' But 'Ali responded to
this by saying to them: 'You do not really want me, for I can serve you
better as a minister (wazeer) than as an Amir.'
Still the people insisted: 'We know of no one who is better qualified
for the job than you are.' So he said: 'Very well, if you insist on leaving
me no choice. In any case, the fact that homage has been paid to me will
not be a secret for long, but let me go out to the masjid, so that all
those who wish to pledge the allegiance to me may do so there.' 'He then
left his house and went to the masjid, where the people came and pledged
their allegiance to him."
He was therefore a rightful leader (Imam) from that time on,
until the moment when he was martyred, contrary to what is said by the
Khawarij, for they maintain that he never was a legitimate leader. May
they be doomed to perdition!
As for the battle he fought against Talha, az-Zubayr, A'isha
and Mu'awiya, the emphatically stated opinion of Hadhrat al-Imam Ahmad
bin Hanbal, Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu, is that we should adopt an attitude
of strict neutrality toward this incident, and indeed toward all the conflict,
contention and controversy that flared up amongst them, because Allahu
Ta'ala will remove it all from their midst on the Day of Resurrection.
As He says in the Holy Qur'an:
And Well shall strip away whatever rancor may be in their
breasts. As brothers they shall be upon couches set face to face. (Holy
Qur'an 15:47)
Besides, from his own perspective, 'Ali (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala
Anhu) was in the right in doing battle with them, because he was firmly
convinced of the legitimate character of his leadership. As we have just
explained, he had in fact been appointed to the Imamate and Khalifat by
the general agreement of the group of Sahabi who had functioned as an electoral
college. Anyone who decided to back out of this at a later stage, and who
actually took arms against him, would of course be a rebel, a person in
revolt against the leader, so the leader would be quite justified
in fighting him.
From the standpoint of those on the other side, notably
Mu'awiya, Talha, and Az-Zubayr (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhum), the battle
against 'Ali was fought because they needed to avenge the death of Sayyidina
'Uthman (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu), the rightful Khalif who had been wrongfully
slain, and the men who killed him were soldiers in the army of Hazrat Ali
(Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu).
Thus everyone involved could come up with a credible justification.
As far as we ourselves are concerned, therefore, the best course is to
adopt an attitude of strict neutrality toward this whole issue, and to
leave the verdict in their case to Allahu Ta'ala, for He is the Wisest
of judges and the Best of deciders. Our attention should be focussed on
the faults in our own selves, on the purification of our hearts from the
root causes of sinful behavior, and of our outer beings from thngs that
pose serious threats of our welfare. |
Islam 
