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Page 22 of 104Kosar ghadirestan Center Nabi (S) www.ghadirestan.comIMAM ALI (S) Sunshine of Civilized IslamIn the eighth year A.H. a force of twelve thousand men united in a league to attackMedina at night. Their decision was only to kill the Prophet and his minister Ali. Some ofthe Muslim scholars were under impression that the Prophet was acquainted with thesituation by revelation but in the meanwhile the plot was reported to him by some spies,who lived about Mecca. The Prophet put the matter before the crowd in the mosque fordiscussion and then Abu-Bakr was ordered to fight against them with an army of fourthousand strong warriors. Abu-Bakr advanced with his men slowly until they came intoview of the enemy. Now two hundred horsemen came before Abu-Bakr and said: “Wehave prepared for this war just to kill Muhammad or his cousin Ali. What do you mean bybringing this army?” Abu-Bakr said: “I have been ordered to propose Islam to you and ifyou refuse it I will fight you.'' They reviewed their army with its high power and ability andhereby Abu-Bakr was frightened and decided to go back to Medina. The return of thearmy, in that bad state, depressed the Prophet deeply. Then Umar was appointed ascommander. He also succeeded in nothing and came back in the same state as Abu-Bakrdid. At last Ali ibn Abu-Talib was called upon and after a short discussion with the Prophethe was ordered to face the enemy. Ali (s), on the contrary to the two previouscommanders, carried his men through a short cut with all speed to go unexpectedly uponthem. He used to move at night until he came into sight of the enemy. Again two hundredknights came and asked him: “Who are you?” He replied: “My name is Ali, the son of Abu-Talib. I invite you to resign yourselves to Islam.” They said: “You are our aim. We will killyou and your men by all means. The fixed time for meeting will be tomorrow at noon.” Ali(s) said: “What ails you, woe be to you. You threaten me with killing. I will fight youtomorrow at the time.” In the same evening, according to Ali’s command, the Muslims fedtheir horses and prepared their defensive position to fight the obstinate enemy. Whendaybreak appeared, the Muslims offered the prayer with the leadership of Ali (s) and thenthey made a sudden attack upon the enemy while it was still dark. The rear guards hadnot yet entered into the field when a great number of the enemy was killed by thevanguard and many of them were bound with ropes and chains. The captives with theircattle were carried to Medina. The Prophet, accompanied by the believers, went out ofthe city to meet Ali (s) and his honored army. Ali (s) arrived at Medina, amid acclamation ofthe crowd, with a great deal of spoils of war. The above tradition was quoted from thereliable sources of the Shia. It was somehow different from what the Sunni scholars had