The thorns were felt immediately. Even while others
lined up to pledge public allegiance to Abu Bakr as
Caliph, the man who had been passed over remained
with his family inside his house. He was in mourning,
he declared, and this was certainly so, but his refusal to
come out and pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr was also a
clear gesture of deɹance, and a major challenge. If Ali
held out, the Medinan Helpers might renege on their
allegiance and follow him, overturning the outcome of
the shura. Ali had to be pulled into line, and quickly, so
Abu Bakr delegated Omar to deal with the problem. But
by doing so, he only worsened it.
The choice of a stern military man like Omar for what
was surely a diplomatic task was at the least
unfortunate. Omar’s courage and skill as a commander
were beyond question, but so too was his reputation as a
man quick with the whip, “too severe” to bother with
verbal niceties. He was not a man of ɹnesse, and he
demonstrated as much that night. He gathered a group
of armed men, led them to Ali’s house, stationed them
around it, then planted himself right in front of the door.
Ali should come out and pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr,
he shouted. If not, he and his men would burn down the
house.
“If I had had only forty men, I would have resisted
with force,” Ali said later. But that night only the
members of his immediate family were with him: the
Ahl al-Bayt, the People of the House. Ali chose passive