‘Allamah al-Tabarsi, the author of al-Ihtijaj relates from ‘Abdullah b. ‘Abdul Rahman b. ‘Awf that, “‘Umar b. al-Khattab tightened his shirt to his waist and went around the city of Madinah calling out, ‘People have sworn allegiance to Abu Bakr, thus hasten to do the same!’ The people had no choice but to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr. ‘Umar was informed that a group of men had hidden themselves in their homes and thus, accompanied by a group of men, he attacked them and brought them to the Masjid and forced them to swear allegiance at his hand.
Some days passed and ‘Umar came to the house of Imam ‘Ali accompanied by a group of men. He called out to Imam ‘Ali to come out of his house (and swear allegiance). Imam ‘Ali refused to do so. Then ‘Umar called for wood and fire and said, ‘I swear by Him in Whose hands is the life of ‘Umar! If he (referring to Imam ‘Ali) does not step out, I will set the house on fire along with those inside it.’
Some people from amongst those present told ‘Umar, ‘Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet is in the house as well as his sons (Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn) and his symbols.’ The people began to object to ‘Umar (and his threats to burn down the house) and when he realized the gravity of the situation, he said, ‘What do you think? Do you think that I will really do this? I only meant to scare them and not burn them.’
Imam ‘Ali sent a message saying, ‘It is not possible for me to step outside, for I am busy compiling the Qur’an that you have abandoned behind your backs, and attached yourselves with materialism. I have sworn that I will not step out of the house, nor wear my cloak until I finish compiling the Qur’an.’
At this moment, Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet, came out and stood near the door facing the people and said, ‘I have not known a group more ill-mannered than you! You left the corpse of the Prophet in our midst and took the affairs (of electing a caliph) into your own hands! You did not seek our advice and rather, neglected our rights. Perhaps you pretended to not know the event of Ghadir. By Allah! On that day, the Prophet of Allah took the pledge from the people regarding the friendship and authority of ‘Ali. The Messenger did that so that you would never desire to take the authority in your own hands, but you scraped the relation with your Prophet (by doing so). Surely Allah is the Judge between us and you in this world and in the hereafter.’”
House of Sorrows Translation of Baytul AhzanShaikh Abbas Al – Qummi