To Egyptians through Malik al-Ashtar, upon his appointment as their governor

[1] The Prophet’s declarations about Amīr al-mu’minīn that “This is my brother, my vicegerent and my caliph among you”, and while returning from his farewell ḥajj at Ghadīr Khum that “For whosoever I am the master, ‘Alī is his master” had settled the issue of his own replacement and succession after which there was no need at all for any new election, nor could it be imagined that the people of Medina would feel the need for an election. But some power-thirsty individuals so ignored these clear injunctions as if their ears had never been acquainted with them, and considered the election so necessary, that, leaving the burial rites of the Prophet, they assembled in the Saqīfah of Banū Sā‘idah and elected Abū Bakr as Caliph with a show of democracy. This was a very critical moment for Amīr al-mu’minīn. On one side some interested persons declared that he should take up arms and on the other hand he noticed that those Arabs who had accepted Islam by dint of its military strength were leaving it and Musaylimah ibn Thumāmah al-Ḥanafī the liar (al-Kadhdhāb) and Ṭulayḥah ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadī (the liar) were throwing tribe after tribe into misguidance. In these circumstances, if there had been a civil war and the Muslims had fought against the Muslims, the forces of heresy and hypocrisy would have joined together and swept Islam off the surface of the globe. Therefore, Amīr al-mu’minīn preferred to keep quiet rather than to fight, and, with the purpose of maintaining the solidarity of Islam, confined himself to protesting peacefully rather than taking up arms. This was because formal power was not so dear to him as the good and prosperity of the community. For stopping the machinations of the hypocrites and defeating the aims of the mischiefmongers there was no other course but that he should not fan the flames of war by giving up his own claim. This was such a big act for the preservation of Islamic polity that it is acknowledged by all the sects of Islam.