36 DESTINY DISRUPTED
king, just someone to call meetings, moderate discussions, and hold the
community together. "Choose one of these two," he suggested, pointing to
the irascible Omar and to another of the Prophet's close companions.
Omar himself was appalled. Take precedence over Abu Bakr? Unthink-
able! He grasped the older man's hand and told the assembly that only Abu
Bakr could serve as leader, now that the Prophet himself was gone.
Through tears, he swore allegiance to Mohammed's closest friend, a dra-
matic gesture that electrified the room. Suddenly Abu Bakr did seem like
the obvious and only choice, this sensible, lovable man who had distin-
guished himself all his life by his wisdom, courage, and compassion. In a
gush of enthusiasm, the meeting gave unanimous consent to letting Abu
Bakr assume the modest tide of khalifa {or, as most Western accounts
would have it, "caliph"), which meant "deputy."
This title did not exist until Abu Bakr took it on. No tribe or nation at
that time was headed by a khalifa. No one knew what the title meant or what
powers it conferred. The first titleholder would have to fill in those details.
For now, Abu Bakr went to the mosque, where a crowd had gathered.
His accession was announced. In a gracious inaugural speech he told that
assembly, "I am not the best of you. If I do well, support me. If I make
mistakes, do not hesitate to advise me .... Ifi neglect the laws of God and
Prophet, I forfeit claim to your obedience." Everyone at the mosque gave
him the same acclaim he had received from everyone at the meeting.
"Everyone," however, was not at the mosque or the meeting. One lead-
ing candidate for the role of successor did not even hear that the issue was
being discussed. The Prophet's cousin Ali was washing the Prophet's body
when the elders met. By the time he heard anything about the discussion,
the decision had already been made.
You can see how this might have rankled. In the last months of Mo-
hammed's life, Ali may well have felt like he was the Prophet's successor, no
discussion needed, for he stood closest to the Prophet in every way. Mo-
hammed had several cousins, but Ali was special because his father Abu
Talib had adopted Mohammed and raised him as a son, which essentially
made Ali and Mohammed brothers.
But Ali was almost thirty years Mohammed's junior, and in tribal Arab
culture a much-older brother had a near paternal status with his sibling. In
fact, as a little boy, Ali had moved in with Mohammed and Khadija and