One of the arguments advanced by some Muslims for the superiority of Abu Bakr and Umar over Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) is that the two are buried next to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). They consider this as a virtue in their favour and a sign that they were worthy of being leaders of the Muslims.
Is being buried in a particular place cause for superiority in matter of caliphate?
The only way superiority can be claimed is by virtue of one’s actions and in case of leadership of the Muslims, by divine text (nass) i.e. endorsement by Allah and the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). A claim based on any other argument is a figment of imagination and rooted in falsehood. It can easily be rendered baseless with arguments from the Holy Quran and Sunnah as also intellect and wisdom.
In case of Abu Bakr’s and Umar’s burial in particular it would be groundless to claim superiority as they were not buried based on any instruction from Allah and the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Also, those who permitted them to be buried had no right over the property to grant such permission. In other words, the legitimacy of the property on which they are buried is itself questionable. So, rather than being a source of superiority it is a source of discredit and ignominy.
Moreover, the burial argument is used by these Muslims post-facto to justify the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar. How did the Muslims who were selecting the caliph in their life time to know that Abu Bakr and Umar would be buried in the vicinity of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.)? So it is a case of them buried because they were the caliphs of the time and not because of any superiority. Ironically, Imam Hasan b. Ali al-Mujtaba (a.s.) in favour of whom there are too many Quranic verses and traditions to be listed including the all-important one of he along with his brother, Imam Husain b. Ali (a.s.), being the Chiefs of the Youths of Paradise, was not granted permission even for a token circumambulation (tawaaf) of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) grave.
How can being buried next to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) be a source of discredit and ignominy for Abu Bakr and Umar? A discussion on the subject between Abu Hanifa and one of his peers makes the point clear.
Abu Hanifa in a quandary
One day, Fuzzaal b.Hasan b. Fuzzaal al-Kufi (refer Qaamoos al-Rijaal, vol. 4 pg 313), a companion of Imam JafarSadiq (a.s.), was walking through the streets of Kufa with his friend.
He saw Abu Hanifa surrounded by people who were posing religious questions.
Fuzzaal decided to approach Abu Hanifa with some questions of his own, despite protests to the contrary by his friend, who warned him that Abu Hanifa was an intelligent person.
Fuzzaal: O Abu Hanifa! My brother used to say that after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) Ali b. Abi Taalib (a.s.) is the best person. But I say that it is Abu Bakr and then Umar. What do you say in this regard?
Abu Hanifa reflected a little and replied:For the superiority of these two (Abu Bakr and Umar) it is sufficient that they were buried in the vicinity of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Don’t you know it?
Fuzzaal: Yes I know, when I said this point to my brother he countered me thus: Either, the place where they (Abu Bakr and Umar) are buried was the property of Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and hence, it was not permissible for anyone to bury someone on that place without his (s.a.w.a.) permission.
OR
It was property of Abu Bakr and Umar and they gifted it to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Here, again it is illegal for them to partake in an estate which has been gifted to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) (and no longer belongs to them).
Abu Hanifa again deliberated for some time and replied:It was property of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.).But both Abu Bakr and Umar are buried in the shares of their daughters (Aaesha and Hafsah). Since it became the property of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) wives after his death (as inheritance) that is why Abu Bakr and Umar are buried there.
Fuzzaal: Yes, I know I told him that but my brother said: Prophet (s.a.w.a.) left nine wives after his death. So every wife had equal right over that property (and without the permission of other wives Abu Bakr and Umar should not have been buried).
After listening to this, Abu Hanifa said to his companions: Get him out of here he is a Shia.
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| Kaaba,the birthplace of Ali(a.s) |
Is being buried in a particular place cause for superiority in matter of caliphate?
The only way superiority can be claimed is by virtue of one’s actions and in case of leadership of the Muslims, by divine text (nass) i.e. endorsement by Allah and the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). A claim based on any other argument is a figment of imagination and rooted in falsehood. It can easily be rendered baseless with arguments from the Holy Quran and Sunnah as also intellect and wisdom.
In case of Abu Bakr’s and Umar’s burial in particular it would be groundless to claim superiority as they were not buried based on any instruction from Allah and the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Also, those who permitted them to be buried had no right over the property to grant such permission. In other words, the legitimacy of the property on which they are buried is itself questionable. So, rather than being a source of superiority it is a source of discredit and ignominy.
Moreover, the burial argument is used by these Muslims post-facto to justify the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar. How did the Muslims who were selecting the caliph in their life time to know that Abu Bakr and Umar would be buried in the vicinity of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.)? So it is a case of them buried because they were the caliphs of the time and not because of any superiority. Ironically, Imam Hasan b. Ali al-Mujtaba (a.s.) in favour of whom there are too many Quranic verses and traditions to be listed including the all-important one of he along with his brother, Imam Husain b. Ali (a.s.), being the Chiefs of the Youths of Paradise, was not granted permission even for a token circumambulation (tawaaf) of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) grave.
How can being buried next to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) be a source of discredit and ignominy for Abu Bakr and Umar? A discussion on the subject between Abu Hanifa and one of his peers makes the point clear.
Abu Hanifa in a quandary
One day, Fuzzaal b.Hasan b. Fuzzaal al-Kufi (refer Qaamoos al-Rijaal, vol. 4 pg 313), a companion of Imam JafarSadiq (a.s.), was walking through the streets of Kufa with his friend.
He saw Abu Hanifa surrounded by people who were posing religious questions.
Fuzzaal decided to approach Abu Hanifa with some questions of his own, despite protests to the contrary by his friend, who warned him that Abu Hanifa was an intelligent person.
Fuzzaal: O Abu Hanifa! My brother used to say that after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) Ali b. Abi Taalib (a.s.) is the best person. But I say that it is Abu Bakr and then Umar. What do you say in this regard?
Abu Hanifa reflected a little and replied:For the superiority of these two (Abu Bakr and Umar) it is sufficient that they were buried in the vicinity of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Don’t you know it?
Fuzzaal: Yes I know, when I said this point to my brother he countered me thus: Either, the place where they (Abu Bakr and Umar) are buried was the property of Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and hence, it was not permissible for anyone to bury someone on that place without his (s.a.w.a.) permission.
OR
It was property of Abu Bakr and Umar and they gifted it to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Here, again it is illegal for them to partake in an estate which has been gifted to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) (and no longer belongs to them).
Abu Hanifa again deliberated for some time and replied:It was property of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.).But both Abu Bakr and Umar are buried in the shares of their daughters (Aaesha and Hafsah). Since it became the property of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) wives after his death (as inheritance) that is why Abu Bakr and Umar are buried there.
Fuzzaal: Yes, I know I told him that but my brother said: Prophet (s.a.w.a.) left nine wives after his death. So every wife had equal right over that property (and without the permission of other wives Abu Bakr and Umar should not have been buried).
After listening to this, Abu Hanifa said to his companions: Get him out of here he is a Shia.
(Al-Ehtejaaj, pg207)
Prophets do not leave behind inheritance
Another question that needs answering is how Abu Bakr and Umar were buried on a property that did not even belong to their daughters in the first place. Didn’t they advance the argument to Hazrat Fatemah Zahra (s.a.), the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) daughter, when she claimed Fadak ” first as a bestowal and then as inheritance, that Prophets do not leave behind anything as inheritance and what they leave behind is charity (sadaqah)?
When Hazrat Faatemah Zahra’s (s.a.) claim on Fadak as inheritance was summarily denied, and she is the Chief of the Women of Paradise by consensus of both the sects, where is the question of lesser people inheriting the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) property and burying their dead ones?
Effectively Abu Bakr and Umar are buried on usurped property on which neither they nor their daughters had a claim and far from being a virtue, their burial on the property of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) is a source of discredit and ignominy for them till the Day of Judgement.
Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) burial
In fact, if we go by the argument of Abu Bakr and Umar that Prophets do not leave behind inheritance and what they leave behind is charity, the burial of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) himself comes into question as he (s.a.w.a.) is buried on property that belongs to the Muslims for which obviously no permission was taken. In fact, even if all the Muslims had granted permission, it would still have been impossible to bury the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) since sadaqah is prohibited on him (s.a.w.a.) and the Ahle Bait (a.s.).
But since usurping and stealing cannot be attributed to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) it means that prophets do in fact leave behind inheritance and the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) burial was in conformity with the laws of Shariah.
Ameerul Momineen’s Ali (a.s.) superiority
If at all superiority is claimed, it should be in the matter of birth,since its location cannot be manipulated by usurping and people know it beforehand while discussing the person’s merits unlike the burial where they learn of it only after the person’s death.
In matters of birth Ameerul Momineen Ali (a.s.) ranks higher than not just Abu Bakr and Umar, but all mankind.
It is reported by consecutive chains of narrators (tawaatur) that Faatemah b. Asad (s.a.) gave birth to Ameerul Momineen Ali (a.s.) in the center of the Kaabah.
(Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain vol. 3 pg 483)
None was born in the Kaabah until then (and none was born after that day).
(Noor al-Absaar pg 69 from Ibne Sabbaagh)
Not only was Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) born in the Kaabah he is likened to the Kaabah by the Prophet (s.a.w.a.):
‘O Ali, you enjoy the status of the Kaabah.’
(Kunuz al-Haqaeq fi Hadis-e-Khair al-Khalaeq pg 188 from al-Dailami)
‘You enjoy the status of the Kaabah, it is visited by the people, it does not visit the people.’
Reference:http://www.seratonline.com(Asad al-Ghaabah fi Marifat al-Saḥaabahvol 4 pg 31)
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