Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

328 The oath of allegiance to Xli, his characteristics & his way of life
1.5. Conditions stipulated by Amir al-Mu'mineen
'Ali (&) in the oath of allegiance,
and the first speech that he delivered
Some reports state that Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&)
stipulated a number of conditions with regard to the oath'-of
allegiance to him, including: that allegiance should be sworn in
pubLic and not in secret, that it should be done in the mosque, that it
should be done with the approval of the Muslims, and that he would
run their affairs as he saw fit and on the basis of what he knew. They
agreed and arranged to meet in the mosque the following morning to
swear the oath of allegiance.76 That was an eventful and important
day. Amir al-Mu'mineen came out wearing complete formal
clothing. After praising and glorifying Allah (g), he explained to the
people the attempts that had been made to convince him to accept the
caliphate, and he said: "I was reluctant to be appointed in charge of
your affairs, but you insisted that I should he in charge of you. I have
no authority without your support, and indeed the keys of your
wealth are with me. Verily I have no right to keep even a single
dirham to myself in exclusion of Then he said: "0 people,
this issue of leadership is your affair, and no one has any right to it
except the one whom you appoint. Yesterday we parted after
agreeing on a matter, so if you want, I will sit to receive your oath of
allegiance; otherwise, I do not have any hard feelings towards anyone
(if you change your minds)." Then be raised his voice and said: "Do
you agree?" They said: "Yes." He said: "0 Allah, bear witness over
them," and the people started to give their oath of allegiance to
him.78 After the oath of allegiance had been sworn, Amir al-
Mu'mineen said: "0 people, you have sworn allegiance to me on the
same basis as you swore allegiance to my companions. As you have
sworn allegiance to me, you have no other option than to follow me,
and the ruler is obliged to follow the right path and to be upright and
just. This is a general oath of allegiance..."79