a giant task which Mahomet bequeathed to those entrusted with the regulation of his inheritance. At the very outset loomed up the difficulties in the capital itself. The sacred personality of the prophet had succeeded in holding in check the old antipathies within the ranks of the Medina allies (Anṣār) and the continual petty jealousies between these and the Muhājirūn, the companions of his flight from Mecca. But on his death, which for the great majority was sudden and unexpected, these two groups confronted each other, each claiming the right to take up the lead. As soon as the news of the death first reached them the Khazraj, the most numerous tribe of the Anṣār, assembled in the hall (Saḳīfa) of the Banū Sā'ida. Informed of this by the Aus, who feared a revival of the old dissensions, Abū Bakr, Omar and Abū 'Ubaida at once repaired thither and arrived just in time to prevent a split in the community. The hot-blooded Omar wanted to put a stop to it promptly and by energetic means, and would of a certainty have spoiled the whole situation, but at this stage the venerable and awe-inspiring Abū Bakr, the oldest companion of the prophet, intervened and whilst fully recognising the merits of the Anṣār insisted on the election of one of the Ḳuraishite companions of the prophet as leader of the community. He proposed Omar or Abū 'Ubaida. The proposal did not meet with success and the discussion became more and more excited; suddenly Omar seized the hand of Abū Bakr and rendered homage to him, and others followed his example. In the meantime the hall and adjoining rooms had become filled with people belonging, not to either of the main groups, but to the fluctuating population of Muslim Arabs of the neighbourhood, who had in the preceding years become especially numerous in Medina, and whose main interest was that matters should remain in statu quo. These people really turned the scales, and thus Abū Bakr was chosen by a minority and recognised on the following day by the community, though unwillingly, as even tradition is unable to veil, on the part of many. They rendered homage to him as the representative (Khalīfa) of the prophet. The term Caliph was at that time not regarded as a title, but simply as a designation of office; Omar, the successor of Abū Bakr, is said to have been the first to assume the distinctive title "Commander of the Faithful," Amīr al-Mu'minīn, rendered by the Greek papyri as ἀμιραλμουμνίν.
The election of Abū Bakr was doubtless a fortunate one, but it was regarded in circles closely interested as an inexcusable coup de main. Quite apart from the fact that the Anṣār had failed to carry their point and were accordingly in bad humour, the nearer relations of the prophet and their more intimate companions appear to have carried out a policy of obstruction which yielded only to force. Ali, the husband of the prophet's daughter Fāṭima and father of the prophet's grandsons Ḥasan and Ḥusain, who had previously held the first claim to the supreme position, was suddenly ousted from the front rank. His
