How would you answer the claim that the Companions did not follow the views of Hz Ali?

- Imam Ali tried to make people return to the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) during his caliphate but it was of no use because they followed the ijtihads of Umar b. Khattab. We draw the following conclusion form those facts:

- Hz. Ali and his Shiite followed the Sunnah of the Prophet. They tried very hard to maintain the sunnah and never abandoned it. The other members of the ummah followed the bid’ahs of Abubakr, Umar, Uthman and Aisha. Then, they called those bid’ahs as "nice bid’ahs" (sunnah al-hasana). (Sahih Bukhari, Vol.2, p.252; Vol.7, p.98)

- Imam Ali knew the Quran and all of its decrees. He is the one that compiled the Quran first. Bukhari approves of it. However, Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman did not know the Quran by heart; they did not know its decrees either. (The incident about Umar’s not knowing about tayammum is famous. (see Sahih Bukhari, Vol.1, p. 90.) (Muhammed Ticani, Gerçek Ehl-i sünnet Şia'dır. Neva yayınları, Istanbul, 2006)

Dear Brother / Sister,

We learn from sound hadith resources like Bukhari and Muslim, from sound siyar and history books that Hz. Abu Bakr and Umar were at the peak among the Companions with their knowledge, taqwa and foresight. Hz. Umar’s or somebody else’s not knowing a decree, especially a new one, is quite normal. It does not mean they do not know other issues.

The Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

“There had been among the people before you inspired persons and if there were any such among my ummah, Umar would be one of them.” (Muslim, Fadailus-Sahaba, 23-2398)

Abdullah b. Abbas narrates:

"When Umar b. Khattab was placed in the coffin the people gathered around him. They praised him and supplicated for him before the bier was lifted up, and I was one amongst them. Nothing attracted my attention but a person who gripped my shoulder from behind. I looked at him and saw that he was Ali. He invoked Allah's mercy upon Umar and said:

I swear by Allah that you have left none behind you (whose) deeds (are so enviable) that I love to meet Allah with them. I hoped that Allah would keep you and your two associates together. I had often heard the Messenger of Allah saying:

“I came with Abu Bakr and Umar; I entered with Abu Bakr and Umar; I went out with Abu Bakr and Umar.” I hope and think that Allah will keep you along with them. (Muslim, Fadail 14 -2389)

We see in sound hadith resources that three verses were sent down in accordance with the desire of Hz. Umar: “Maqam Ibrahim’s becoming a prayer place; women’s hijab (tasattur); if the Prophet divorced his wives, Allah would give him better ones." (see Bukhari, Talaq, 32; Tafsir/al-Baqara 9, al-Ahzab 8, at-Tahrim 1; Muslim, Fadailus-Sahaba, 24-2399).

The Prophet (pbuh) states the following in a hadith: “Caliphate is thirty years after me.” The thirty-year period mentioned in this hadith is considered as twenty-nine years and six months of the rightly-guided caliphs plus the six-month caliphate of Hz. Hasan. (see Nawawi, Sharhu Muslim, 12/201).

The term nice bid’ahs “are the good things that did not exist during the Era of the Prophet and that emerged later.” They are not actually bid’ahs because bid’ahs are bad things that affect the origin of the religion and eliminate the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

For instance, Hz. Umar’s saying “a nice bid’ah” for “the tarawih prayer performed in congregation” is an indication showing how loyal he is to Islam because it is not a real bid’ah. For, it is known that the Prophet (pbuh) performed tarawih prayer in congregation though only for a few days. However, the Prophet (pbuh) did not continue performing tarawih prayer in congregation due to his compassion for his ummah, fearing that it would be wajib for his ummah. Hz. Umar sincerely called it “a nice bid’ah” sincerely since he took this subtlety into consideration. 

It is known that there are verses praising Hz. Abu Bakr and Hz. Umar.  

It is really madness in terms of religion to nurse a hatred against Hz. Aisha, who was the Prophet’s beloved wife and whose cleanliness was confirmed by the clear expression of the Quran. How can those who commit this crime expect intercession from the Prophet (pbuh).

Allah wanted the four caliphs we know to make caliphs. When he did it, He took their lifespans into consideration and put them in order. If Hz. Ali had been the first caliph, the other three would not have been caliphs because Hz. Ali was martyred after the other three caliphs.  

In our opinion, if Hz. Ali had thought that that the caliphate was his right and that his right had been grabbed, he would not have shown consent to it even for an hour and would have opposed.

What Shiite say “taqiyya” is a great wrongdoing to Hz. Ali, who is a symbol of heroism and a hero of Islam. It means to accuse him of cowardice.  

In our opinion, Hz. Ali is at the top among the Companions in terms of knowledge, taqwa and courage. The incidents that occurred during his caliphate did not occur because of him, but because of the people opposing him. Hz. Ali is definitely right in the Incident of Jamal and the Incident of Siffin. However, Hz. Zubayr and Hz. Talha who opposed him, especially in the Incident of Jamal, were people who were promised Paradise just like Hz. Ali. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the issue carefully.

In our opinion, to rake the issue up means to incite the Shiite-Sunni division and a great wrongdoing to Islam and Muslims. The care in our writing is a reflection of this responsibility.

Finally, let us hear the following words of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, which are a serious and good lesson for us:    

“O Sunnis, who are the people of truth, and ‘Alawis, whose way is love of the Prophet’s (pbuh) family! Quickly put an end to this meaningless, disloyal, unjust, and harmful dispute between you. Otherwise the atheistic current which is now so influential will make one of you a tool against the other, and use the one to crush the other. And after defeating the one it will destroy the tool. As believers in divine unity, it is essential that you leave aside unimportant matters that cause division, for there are a hundred fundamental sacred bonds between you that enjoin brotherhood and unity.” (Lem'alar, p. 26)

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