- Did Amir al-Mu'minin Ali pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr voluntarily?
Imam Ali 13 (a.s)
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Obligatory allegiance of Imam Ali – 2
1- The life of Imam (Peace be upon him) shows that despite the most severe pressures, he did not extend his hand of allegiance to the caliphs and they took him to the mosque by force.
2- Imam's words in various cases indicate that he considered himself worthy of the caliphate until the last moments of his life.
Detailed answer:
In response to this claim, we must say that:
First: The history of Saqeefah and the life of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) indicates that he did not extend his hand of allegiance to the caliphs despite the most severe pressures.
In one of his letters to Ali (peace be upon him), Mu'awiyah wrote: "You are the one who was forced to pledge allegiance like a camel." This sentence shows that the pressure for allegiance was so great that they forced the Imam out of his house and took him to the mosque.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) does not deny this disrespect in his reply to Mu'awiya's letter, but he states that this is a sign of oppression, where he says:
"You said that they were driving me like a camel to pledge allegiance. You wanted to blame, but unwantedly praised me. You wanted to disgrace, but you were disgraced yourself. What is wrong with a Muslim if he is oppressed and has no doubts about his religion. His certainty is firm and aside from hesitation".[1]
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[1] Nahj al-Balagha, p. 385, (letter 28)
اِنّى كُنْتُ اُقادُ كَما يُقادُ الْجَمَلُ الْمَخْشُوشُ حَتّى اُبايِعَ!. وَ لَعَمْرُ اللّهِ لَقَدْ اَرَدْتَ اَنْ تَذُمَّ فَمَدَحْتَ، وَ اَنْ تَفْضَحَ فَافْتَضَحْتَ. وَ ما عَلَى الْمُسْلِمِ مِنْ غَضاضَة فى اَنْ يَكُونَ مَظْلُوماً ما لَمْ يَكُنْ شاكّاً. فى دينِهِ، وَ لا مُرْتاباً بِيَقينِهِ...