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let him go. Ali wanted to follow the Holy Prophet to Medina, but before he could do this he was given the dangerous job of returning all the goods and properties which had been entrusted to Muhammad for safekeeping, to their original owners. Ali also survived this risky mission and then set off for Medina to join the Prophet.
    Medina was a small community of Muslim immigrants who were at first extremely poor. They had no land, no houses and basically lived on the charity of the Madinans who had converted to Islam. Ali lived among the peasants and shared in their poverty and hardships.
    Ali first proved himself as a soldier in the year 624, when he fought at the Battle of Badr. The emigration of the Holy Prophet to Medina had turned the enemies from Mecca more hostile, and they were constantly thinking how they could overthrow him and put an end to Islam. The Battle of Badr was the most important of the Islamic battles of Destiny and for the first time the followers of the new faith were put to a serious test. This battle laid the foundation of the Islamic State and made the Muslims a force to be reckoned with.
    Although Ali already had a very close tie with Muhammad, following his part in the Battle of Badr and his ultimate success, the Holy Prophet offered his daughter, Fatima, to Ali in marriage. She was his youngest and favourite daughter, and Ali realized what a great honour this was. They raised two sons, Hasan and Hussain, both of whom the Holy Prophet loved as his own sons.
    Ali stood firm in his support of Muhammad during the years of persecution of Muslims in Mecca and for the ten years that he led the community in Medina, Ali was extremely active in his cousin’s armies. He led parties of warriors on raids, carrying messages and obeying the Prophet’s orders. Ali became a person of authority and standing within the Muslim community and his skill with a sword put fear in the heart of his enemies.
    During the battle of Ohud, Ali stood bravely beside the Prophet. However, the battle did not go well because Muslim archers had left one of the passes undefended, and soon the soldiers were running in fear. A rumour spread quickly that the Messenger of Allah had been killed, and in the midst of all the confusion the Prophet fell into a deep pit that the enemy had covered with twigs and grass. Ali, with no regard for his own safety, pulled him out with the aid of two fellow soldiers. Ali himself had received 17 wounds in this battle, but he and his faithful Fatima tended the wounds of his Prophet before tending to his own needs.
    After the fifth year of fighting, all the enemies of Islam joined together and led an enormous army against Medina. The Holy Prophet started to take precautions and ordered that a deep, wide trench be dug around the city to act as fortification. This proved to be successful for a while, until a feared Arabian warrior by the name of Abdwood succeeded in jumping the trench on his horse. Not one of the Prophet’s men dared faced this man, but Ali came forward and offered him a fight. It took Ali only a few minutes to overcome his opponent and cut off his head. Ali once again proved that he would stop at nothing in his protection of Muhammad and his unfaltering belief in Allah.
     
    D EATH OF  M UHAMMAD
     
    In 632, following several months of ill health, Muhammad returned to his quarters, following prayers at a mosque, and died. Before his body was barely cold, a gathering of Muslims swore allegiance to a man named Abu Bakr as the new leader of the Muslim community. Ali had many supporters, friends and followers who believed that he should have succeeded Muhammad, but Ali had not even been informed of the meeting, nor had his name even been mentioned as the future Caliph.
    It is customary when a new Arab chief is declared that the whole community had to give their declaration of allegiance to the new leader. Ali accepted the chosen Caliph without question, but the Shia’s believed it should have