Covenant (Beiat) and Its Place in the Political Tradition of The prophet Mohammad (S) and Imam Ali (A)

Abstract

Covenant is a political Oath of Loyalty and agreement whose roots are found in tribal Pagan Arabs, and by the appearance of Islam especially in political tradition of the prophet(s) and Imam Ali (A) it was accepted as a legal- political institution. Rereading of this tradition shows that the formation of the prophet's governance in Medina and the access of Imam Ali (A) to the political governance occurred through the public covenant with people and the tribe representatives. This article intends to investigate the objective extension of the covenant in the political tradition of the prophet of Islam and that of Imam Ali, and concludes that first of all oath of loyalty was the crystallization of the idea of people's presence in the political domain, and was considered as backbone of the acceptance of political system of Islam, and secondly, oath of loyalty without having a minimum role in the divine sainthood of the prophet and the Imam, was, practically and officially accepted.