Imamate and guardianship of Ali

The Caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib from 35 to 40 AH (656-661 AD) in the official history is not the subject of this article.

Regarding the succession of Ali, historians and scholars of Islamic history have generally either accepted the view of the Sunnis or rejected the truth of the matter as undiscoverable.

[4] On the other hand, Laura Veccia Vaglieri in the Encyclopaedia of Islam doubt that Ali really hoped to succeed the Prophet, because the Arabs traditionally chose their leader from among the bearded ones, and Ali was only a little over thirty years old at that time and he did not have the necessary credentials to succeed Muhammad according to Arab tradition; Vaglieri believes that the Shiites, by narrating or interpreting the words attributed to Muhammad, insist that the Prophet intended to choose Ali as his successor, while there is no doubt that at the time of his last illness, Muhammad did not comment on his successor.

Madelung believes that this is not of the type of "coup d'etat carried out by Abu Bakr and Umar" in Saqifah incident, but stems from the deep jealousy of the Quraysh towards Ali; Therefore, Ali 's only chance to moderate the affairs of the Muslims could have been his full participation in the council, which was founded by Umar.

Ibn Abbas narrates that somewhere Umar told him that Ali was in fact the most worthy person to succeed Muhammad, but we were afraid of him for two reasons.

Henry Corbin says that even if there is controversy in the historical citation of these spiritual dynasties, it is more indicative of their intention to connect to the origin of the Wilayah.

[9] When Muhammad, Prophet of Islam, returned from the farewell pilgrimage in 632 AD, he delivered a sermon on Ali that was interpreted very differently by Shiites and Sunnis.

But the Kharijites said that allegiance should be based on the Quran and the traditions of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar, not the guardianship of a particular person.