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While Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, and the rest of Muhammad`s close family were washing his body for burial, the tribal leaders of Mecca and Medina held a secret gathering at Saqifah to decide who would succeed Muhammad as head of the Muslim state, disregarding what the earliest Muslims, the Muhajirun, regarded as Muhammad`s appointment of Ali as his successor at Ghadir Khumm. Umar ibn al-Khattab, a companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr. Others, after initial refusal and bickering, settled on Abu Bakr who was made the first caliph. This choice was disputed by Muhammad`s earliest companions, who held that Ali had been designated his successor.
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