THE PROPHET'S SUCCESSION; THE TRANSFER OF CHARISMA

Afrer the Prophet Passed away, the issue of his succession was the most importand in the new Muslim community. In addition to Imam Ali, as the outstanding figure among the Ahl-al-Bayt, there were other groups and trends of thought who also laid a claim to hte cliphate. In order to overshadow Ali in the public poinion and to break his immensely superior charisma in the eyes of the people, such groups invented, institutionalized and promoted the charisma of the Prophet's Companions as competition for the Ahl-al-Bayt over the intellectual leadership of the society. They used such means as the prohibition of relating Prophetic hadith (tradition), the presentation of the theory of the Companion's justice and prudence of ijtihad, the fabrication of hadith, etc. to promote their cause. In the next centuries, this trend was continued, organized and strengthened more vigorously. This article takes up such efforts in the context of Max Weber's theory of "routinization of charisma".