A shia has asked following questions. Can somebody answer, please?
" I've 3 simple questions for my Sunni friends. If anybody answers them, I promise I'll change my religion.
You claim that Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman had a relationship of brotherly love with Ali and they all got along well and there was no animosity among them and that these are just stories that the Shia made up.
1. If Imam Ali had no differences with the first three Caliphs, why did he not participate in any battles that took place during their reigns, particularly when Jihad against the Kuffar is deemed a major duty upon the Muslim? If he did not view it as necessary at that time, then why did he during his own Caliphate whilst in his fifties unsheathe his sword and participate in the battles of Jamal, Sifeen and Naharwan?
2. Also, why didn't Imam Ali attend the funerals of the three Caliphs who passed away before him even though he was in the city of Madina at the time of all three deaths?
3. Furthermore, you claim that Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman were the Holy Prophet's closest friends and companions and that they loved him dearly. Can you then please explain why none of them were present at the Janaza of the Holy Prophet even though they got to know that the Prophet had passed away? Instead, why did Abu Bakr and Umar give preference to attending the meeting at Saqifa to plan the robbing of the leadership of Islam while Ali along with the Bani Hashim and some other truly devoted companions (Ammar, Salman, Miqdad, Abuzar and Bilal) of the Prophet were busy performing the funeral rites?
(The fact that Imam Ali did not participate in a single battle during their caliphate says a lot and his absence from the funerals of the first three caliphs explains a lot. Also, Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman's absence from the Holy Prophet's last rites speaks volumes.)
NOTE: If you say that Ali DID participate in the battles during their reigns and that he DID attend their funerals and that Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman were PRESENT at the burial of the Holy Prophet; then please prove all this by providing references with AUTHENTIC HADITHS AND HISTORICAL SOURCES. I do not want you to call me names, I do not want you to change the subject, I do not want you to cite "stories" of the merits of these companions, I do not want you to quote other hadiths about them. I do not want to hear praises about them. I do not want to read your imagination. I want DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE from YOUR OWN BOOKS concerning the above three questions, that is all. Thank you."
(Na'udhubillaah)? (We Sunnis have answer to this question, but I would like to know Shi'ite interpretation.)
