    20

    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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