The major difference of the Commander of the Faithful’s (P.B.U.H.) rule with the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was in this point that at the time of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), lines were clear: the line of belief and unbelief. Only the hypocrites were left out, yet the verses of the Holy Qur’an constantly warned people about the hypocrites living in the community, showed them, strengthened the faithful in face of them, and demoralized them. In other words, everything was clear in the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) Islamic system. The lines were identified: one was in favor of unbelief, oppression and ignorance while another person was in favor of faith, Islam, monotheism and spirituality. Of course, there were also different kinds of people; yet the lines were clear. At the time of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.), the problem was that the lines were not clear and that was why the second group–i.e. Nākithīn–seemed vindicated and vulnerable figures. Anyone dealing with a person like Zubayr or Ṭalḥa would have hesitated. At the time of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), this Zubayr was one of the prominent personalities, the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) cousin and close to him. Even after the era of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), he was among those who strongly objected to the Saqīfa and supported the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). Well, all is well that ends well! We beseech Allah to make our denouement happy. Sometimes, seeking worldly desires, various circumstances and worldly manifestations have such effects on and cause such changes in the personalities that sometimes one could hardly believe his eyes, let alone the public. So, it was really hard those days.
Indeed, those who were around the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.), stood and fought for him had yielded great insight into the events. I have often quoted from the Imam (P.B.U.H.) saying, “And this banner will not be borne except by those who are the people of sight and endurance”, First, it is necessary to have insight. It is quite obvious how the problems of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) were compounded by such conflicts or such distorted people who fought with and spoke ill of the Imam (P.B.U.H.) based on their wrong claims about Islam. In the early days of Islam, many false thoughts and ideas had been proposed but a verse of the Qur’an would have been revealed and explicitly rejected them whether in the time the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) inhabited in Mecca or in Medina. Look at Sūrat al-Baqara which was revealed in Medina. When one recites it, one finds that this sūra has mainly discussed various challenges and conflicts of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) with the hypocrites and the Jews in details. The Qur’an even has mentioned the ways in which the Jews of Medina used to subject the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) to mental harassment: “Do not say Ra‘inā”, and so forth. Also in the Sūrat al-A‘rāf, which was revealed in Mecca, the Holy Qur’an devoted a whole chapter on and fought with superstitions and fallacies. This matter of making unlawful and lawful the meats and those types of meats on which they had applied false prohibitions: “Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies, the outward among them and the inward…”, This means these are prohibited not the ones you have prohibited for yourself as “Baḥīra”, “Sā’iba”, and such and such. The Qur’an explicitly fought with such thoughts but at the time of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.), the same opponents used the Holy Qur’an and enjoyed the benefit of its verses for their own purposes. For this reason, the situation of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) was more difficult. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) spent much of his short rule dealing with such difficulties and dilemmas.
On the contrary, the front of ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) was indeed a very strong one with the people like ‘Ammār, Mālik Ashtar, ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Abbās, Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr, Maytham al-Tammār and Ḥujr b. ‘Adī; they were all faithful and insightful personalities and played a main role in guiding the people’s thoughts. One of the most beautiful parts of the Commander of the Faithful’s (P.B.U.H.) era–of course, these are beautiful for the enormous efforts they made but at the same time these are bitter for the torments and tortures they suffered–is their move to Kūfa and Baṣra. When Ṭalḥa, Zubayr and some others rallied and seized Baṣra and moved toward Kūfa, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) sent Imam Ḥasan (P.B.U.H.) and some of his companions to them. Their negotiations with the people, their talks in the mosque and their arguments are one of the exciting, beautiful and rich chapters of the history of early Islam. Therefore, you see that the major attacks of the enemies were against these personages. Most of the conspiracies were against Mālik Ashtar; many of the conspiracies were led against ‘Ammār b. Yāsir; there were conspiracies against Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr too. By any means, the enemies slandered and attempted to assassinate all those who had supported ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) from the very first day and demonstrated that their faiths were strong and firm, and enjoyed insight; and finally the enemies martyred most of these personages. ‘Ammār became a martyr in the war yet Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr was martyred by the intrigues of the people of Shām. Mālik Ashtar was martyred by their intrigues too. Some stayed alive but they were later martyred dramatically.
This is the life and rule of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). To sum up, it should be said that this government was a powerful one but at the same time oppressed and victorious. This means that he could bring the enemy to their knees in the days of his life; and after his heart-rending martyrdom, he turned into a blazing torch in the course of history. There is no doubt that the bitterness and hardships which the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) suffered was one of the most heart-rending and difficult tribulations in history.