120 No god but God
without argument. Fatima, on the other hand, was inconsolable. In
the span of a few months she had lost her father, her inheritance, and
her livelihood. She never spoke to Abu Bakr again, and when she died
a short time later, Ali quietly buried her at night without bothering to
inform the Caliph.
Scholars have long argued that there must have been some other
motivation behind Abu Bakr’s decision to disinherit Ali and strip the
ahl al-bayt of power. Indeed, throughout his short Caliphate, Abu
Bakr seemed to do everything in his power to prevent Ali from ever
attaining a position of authority in the Ummah, mostly because of his
conviction that prophethood and Caliphate—that is, religious and
secular authority—should not rest in a single clan, lest the two
become indistinguishable. But to say that there was no personal ani-
mosity between Abu Bakr and Ali would be a lie. Even while Muham-
mad was alive, there was a great deal of friction between the two men,
as evidenced by the infamous “affair of the necklace.”
As the story goes, on the way home from a raid against the Banu
al-Mustaliq, Aisha—who nearly always followed Muhammad regard-
less of whether he was going into battle or negotiating a treaty—was
accidentally left behind at one of the campsites. She had slipped away
to relieve herself, and in so doing she lost a necklace Muhammad had
given her. While she searched for it, the caravan departed, assuming
she was still in her litter; no one noticed her absence until the follow-
ing morning. While the men scrambled about frantically, trying to
figure out what to do about having lost Muhammad’s beloved wife, a
camel suddenly entered the camp carrying Aisha and a handsome
young Arab (and childhood friend of hers) named Safwan ibn al-
Mu‘attal.
Safwan had stumbled upon Aisha in the desert and, despite her
veil (the verse of the hijab had recently been revealed), he recognized
her at once. “What has caused you to stay behind?” he asked.
Aisha did not answer; she would not violate her hijab.
Safwan understood her predicament but was not about to leave
Muhammad’s wife in the desert. He rode up to her and extended his
hand. “Mount!” he said. “May God have mercy on you.” Aisha hesi-
tated for a moment, then mounted the camel. The two raced to catch