Shaqshaqiya sermon

'roar of the camel') is a controversial text in Nahj al-balagha, the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the fourth Rashidun caliph (r. 656–661), the first Shia imam, and the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

[20][19] In Shia sources, Ali views the succession of Abu Bakr as a digression which paved the way for a full-blown deviation with the rebellion of Mu'awiya during his own caliphate.

[41] Soon after his death, however, it became clear that Ali did not enjoy popular support, which is perhaps why he resigned himself to the caliphate of Abu Bakr, likely for the sake of the unity of a nascent Islam.

[26][47][48] By contrast, among other Shia scholars,[5] the traditionist Abdul Hosein Amini (d. 1970) provided several chains of transmission for this sermon, some of which predate al-Radi.

[4] Other Shia authorities accept the authenticity of the Shaqshaqiya sermon but do not claim tawatur, which is the highest level of credibility in hadith terminology.

[5] This lack of tawatur leaves the possibility that some sensitive words in the sermon were not uttered by Ali, according to the Islamic author Reza Shah-Kazemi.

I then started thinking whether I should attack with a severing hand or should watch patiently the blind darkness in which the old man becomes decrepit and the young man old, in which the believer tries his utmost till he meets his Lord, and I came to the conclusion that patience in a situation like this was wiser.So I adopted patience, although there was a mote rankling in my eye and a bone sticking in my throat on seeing my heritage being plundered, till the first one [Abu Bakr] died and handed over the reins of the caliphate to another person [Umar] after him.