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The battle between the Shiites and the Sunnis began only a
generation or two after Mohammed's death.  On the surface, the debate
was over who should inherit the power of The Prophet.  Who, in short,
was the man Allah had chosen as the new spokesman of his truth.  On
one side, the Shiites believed that the proper leader of Islam was Ali.
Ali had taken Mohammed seriously at a rather difficult time.  When
the merchant planted himself on corners and attempted to preach the
truths he had picked up in his cave-bound conversations with an
angel, not a soul outside his own home believed him.  His only
follower was his wife!
Ali was The Prophet's ten-year-old cousin when Mohammed
began his harangues.  The youngster listened attentively to the
seemingly lunatic new religion.  Then the boy threw in his lot with his
older relative.33  The Prophet probably welcomed the new believer
with disproportionate enthusiasm.  If he couldn't make a dent among
the adults, at least he had won over a child.
When Mecca's town fathers plotted to murder Mohammed while
he slept, young Ali acted as a decoy.  The killers crept up to the
Prophet's bed in the middle of the night, only to discover that the
sleeper stretched out upon it was the faithful youth.34  Meanwhile, the
holy man was hot-footing his escape through the desert.  Not long
after, Ali made the long trek to Medina to rejoin his mentor.  To bring
his bonds to the Chosen One Of God even closer, Ali married
Mohammed's daughter, Fatima.  Young Ali became Mohammed's
lieutenant and standard bearer when the Holy One led his followers in
raids on passing caravans from Mecca.  Ali sustained sixteen wounds
in one battle alone.  And The Prophet treated Ali as an adopted son.
Now that Mohammed was dead, the Shiites35 believed Ali was the man
all Mohammedans should obey.
Ranged against the Ali-following Shiites were those who
believed in the legitimacy of the Banu Umayya. In the days when only
Mohammed's wife and nephew had believed in his utterances, another
had come to uphold the truth of His mission.  It was Mohammed's best
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