Saqifah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on the Succession to Muhammad
Farewell Pilgrimage Ghadir Khumm Pen and paper Fatimah's status The dispatchment Abu Bakr's prayer Muhammad's demise Saqifah Fatimah's house The inheritance Land of Fadak This box: view • talk • edit

Saqifah, also known as "Saqifa Bani Saeda" or Saqifat Bani Sa'ida, was a roofed building used by the tribe, or banu, of Sa'ida, of the faction of the Khazraj, of the city of Medina in the Hijaz, northwestern Arabia.

1 Significance of Saqifah
2 Ibn Ishaq's account
3 List of Participants
4 List of non-participants
5 Legacy
- 5.1 Sunni view
- 5.2 Shi'a view
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Significance of Saqifah

On the day that the Muslim prophet Muhammad died, June 8 in 632 CE, the Muslims originally from Medina, the Ansar, gathered in the saqifah to discuss the future of the Muslim community. There were two factions in the Ansar, the Khazraj and the Aws; both were present. However, the Muslim emigrants from Mecca, the Muhajirun, had not been notified of the gathering. When Muhammad's companions, Abu Bakr and Umar learned of the gathering, they rushed to the meeting. After a tumultuous debate, the details of which are highly contested, those who gathered there gave their allegiance, or bay'ah, to Abu Bakr as the new leader of the Muslims.

The name of the house is used as shorthand for the event, or the gathering, which was a crucial turning point in the history of Islam. There were a number of Muslims who felt that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, should have been the new leader. They initially refused to take the oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr and were known as the Shi'at Ali, or followers of Ali.Ali himself refused to take the oath. After a period of time -- long or short, this also is a matter of debate -- Ali and his party were forced to submit. However, Ali's supporters never ceased to feel that there had been a miscarriage of justice at Saqifah. Over time, disaffection with the government of the caliphs, or successors, strengthened the ranks of the Shi'at Ali. This ultimately led to the separation of the Muslim community into the Sunni and Shi'a traditions.

[edit] Ibn Ishaq's account

One of the earliest accounts of Saqifah is to be found in Ibn Ishaq's sira, or biography of Muhammad. It is based on the words of Umar himself, as reported to Ibn Ishaq by Ibn Al-Abbas.

According to this account, after the death of Muhammad the Ansar gathered at the Bani Sa'ida's saqifah while the closest relatives of Muhammad, Fatima and Ali and their relatives, were preparing Muhammad's body for burial. The Muhajirun had gathered with Abu Bakr and Umar. Abu Bakr suggested that they join the Ansar. On the way, the Mahajirun learned that the Ansar were prepared to choose a leader without consulting them. Abu Bakr and Umar hastened to the meeting, where Abu Bakr addressed the Ansar.

Abu Bakr argued that only a leader from the Quraysh, Mecca's leading clan, could keep Muhammad's state intact. Only the Quraysh were universally recognized as a noble clan, worthy of leadership. He suggested that the meeting choose either Umar or Abu Ubayda (both Quraysh) as a leader.

One of the Ansar suggested that the Ansar should choose a leader and the Meccans should choose their own leader. The meeting became loud and unruly. Umar is reported to have said that he feared that the Muslim state would dissolve then and there. He seized Abu Bakr's hand and loudly swore fealty to him as the leader of the Muslims. The Muhajirun hurriedly followed, and then, after an altercation, the Ansar. (The Muhajirun "jumped on" the leader of the Khazraj faction of the Ansar, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, as detailed on p. 686 of Guillaume's translation of Ibn Ishaq.) According to Madelung's book The Succession to Muhammad, Umar described the event as a falta, a precipitate arrangement (p. 30).

The next day, the Muslim community of Medina gathered for prayers and Umar spoke, praising Abu Bakr and urging the community to swear allegiance to him. Ibn Ishaq says that they did so.

Ibn Qutaybah says that when Bashir ibn Sa'd, the chief of the tribe of Aws, saw that the ansar were uniting behind Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah, the chief of the Khazraj, he was overcome with envy and stood up supporting the claim of the Qurayshite muhajirun.

In the midst of this melee, 'Umar said to Abu Bakr: "Hold out your hand so that I may give my bay'ah (i.e., pledge of loyalty)." Abu Bakr said: "No, you give me your hand so that I may give my bay'ah, because you are stronger than me and more suitable to the caliphate."

'Umar took the hand of Abu Bakr and pledged allegiance to him saying: "My strength is not of any value when compared to your merits and seniority. And if it is of any value then my strength added to yours will successfully manage the caliphate."

Bashir ibn Sa'd followed suit. Khazrajites cried to him that he was doing it out of envy for Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah. Then the tribe of Aws talked amongst themselves that if Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah was made caliph that day, the tribe of Khazraj would always feel themselves superior to the Aws, and no one from the Aws would ever achieve that dignity. Therefore, they all pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr ^[1].

Habab ibn Mundhir stood up and said: "O Ansar, beware! Take the reins of government in your hands; for the people are under your protection, no one can quarrel with you. Do not fall out between yourselves, so that what you do is ruined. These people do not accept our authority, so we must have our own ruler, and they theirs."

"That can never be," said 'Umar. "The Arabs would never submit to your rule; they will not yield, for the Prophet was not from you."

Habab stood up again and said: "O Ansar! You must decide! Do not listen to this man and his friendliness. He wants to do completely away with your right. If they do not give up, you must throw them out of this town and take things over. I swear by Allah, you are the more deserving."

"May Allah kill you!" said 'Umar.

"May He kill you!" said Habab.

Abu'Ubaydah stood up to come between them.

"O Ansar!" he cried, "you were the first group who gave support and believed, so you must not be the first to go astray."

Then Bashir ibn Sa'ad got up and said, "O Ansar, I swear by Allah that if we were the first in the jihad against the polytheists, and had priority in the religion, it was only because we wanted nothing but the will of Allah."

"Now!" cried Abu Bakr. "Do you wish to swear allegiance to both this 'Umar and this Abu 'Ubaydah al-Jarrah?"

"No!" they shouted. "We swear by Allah that you are the most deserving of the Muhajirin, and we are not on a par with you; so give your hands that we can swear allegiance to you."

Then, as 'Umar and Abu 'Ubaydah wanted, they swore allegiance to Abu Bakr. Bashir ibn Sa'ad, from the Ansar and the tribe of Aws, the great Medina tribe, went before them and swore allegiance.

When the people of the tribe of Aws saw Bashir open the way and acknowledge the Quraysh to be more deserving than them, and the Khazraj, the other great tribe, wanted Sa'ad ibn 'Ibedah as their leader, they spoke among themselves.

"By Allah, if the Khazraj take the reins of power in their hands, they will always have preference. Let us rise up and swear allegiance to Abu Bakr."

Then 'Umar seized Sa'ad ibn 'Ubadah by the collar and said to the people: "Kill him!"

And Sa'ad was evermore loyal to Abu Bakr.* ^[2]

During the meting, Ali and his friends attended to the washing of the body of Muhammad and the proper observances regarding burial. By the time it was over, Abu Bakr had achieved a fait accompli ^[1].

[edit] List of Participants

[edit] List of non-participants

Some view that several people that should have attended, did not. That view is held by Shi'a ^[4] and some Sunnis ^[5]. A list of those people include:

Ali ^[4] ^[5] ^[1]
al-Abbas^[4]^[1]
most of the house of Banu Hashim^[4]
Uthman ^[1]
Talha ^[1]
Usama ibn Zayd^[4]
al-Zubayr^[4]^[1]
Salman al-Farisi^[4]^[1]
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari^[4]^[1]
Miqdad ibn Aswad^[4]^[1]
Ammar ibn Yasir^[4]^[1]
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas ^[1]
Abd-al-Rahman ibn Awf ^[1]
Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman^[4]
Khuzayma ibn Thabit^[4]
Abu Burayd al-Aslami^[4]
al-Bura ibn Azib^[4]
Abu Ka'b^[4]
Sahl ibn Hanif^[4]
Qays ibn Saad^[4]
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari^[4]
Jabir ibn Saad^[4]
Khalid ibn Saad^[4]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Legacy

Umar is recorded to have said in his last hajj:

I have been informed that someone said: "When'Umar dies, I will pledge allegiance to so-and-so." Well no one should be misled like this, thinking that although the allegiance of Abu Bakr was by surprise, it became all right. Of course, it was by surprise, but Allah saved us from its evils. Now if anyone wishes to copy it I will cut his throat ^[6]^[7]^[1]^[8]

[edit] Sunni view

Many Sunni accounts of Saqifah omit some of the uglier details. They record only that the companions of Muhammad gathered and after much deliberation, chose Abu Bakr as the leader. They omit any mention of the apparently ad hoc nature of the meeting, of the absence of some of those most concerned (Ali and Muhammad's other relatives), of the squabbles and fights in the saqifah, and of Umar's desperate bid to unite the community behind Abu Bakr.

However, a good case could be made for the Sunni view of the succession if one considers the events that followed the meeting in the saqifah. The Muslims, following pre-Islamic custom, believed that each member of the tribe should personally give his (or perhaps her) allegiance to the new leader. If the Muslims NOT at the meeting had refused to do so, the group would have split. However, all the Muslims, including Ali and the Shia, did eventually give their allegiance, their bay'ah, to Abu Bakr. They valued the unity of the ummah, the Muslim community, over their first preferences for the leadership. It could additionally be argued that if Umar had not acted as he did, the community would have dissolved, and that Umar, and the community, acted out of necessity. (This, of course, assumes that Umar was telling the truth about the events at the saqifah.)

[edit] Shi'a view

Shi'a accounts of the matter argue for a deep-laid plot on the part of Abu Bakr and Umar to seize the leadership from the rightful heir, Ali. Shi'a believe that Muhammad had already made known to the community his wishes regarding a successor, namely, that Ali should follow him. Shi'a say that Muhammad clearly expressed his wishes in a speech that he gave at Ghadire Khumm.

One episode, immediately following the death of Muhammad, is given as proof of the complicity of Abu Bakr and Umar. Umar seemed to be deranged with grief when he found that Muhammad had died; he claimed that Muhammad was not dead, that he would rise again and lead his people. The burial could not proceed in the face of Umar's intransigeance. This gave Abu Bakr, who was not in Medina, a chance to return and take charge of the situation. After his return, Abu Bakr spoke to the crowd, saying -- in the words reported by Ibn Ishaq:

"O men, if anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead; if anyone worships God, God is alive, immortal." (Guillaume, p. 683) At this, Umar gave up his resistance.

The Shi'a say that this whole episode was a charade, arranged to give Abu Bakr time to return.

It is no accident, the Shi'a claim, that the meeting at the saqifah happened while Ali, Fatima, and Muhammad's immediate kin were preparing his body for burial. Abu Bakr and Umar left without notifying Ali of the meeting. This was a deliberate ploy to cut Ali out of the deliberations. The meeting, being unannounced and attended by only a few Muslims, was irregular, unrepresentative, and had no authority to choose a leader for the community. The fact that many of Medina's Muslims at first refused to accept the results only underlines its illegitimacy in the eyes of the Shi'a.