The event of Sakeefa was a heinous event wherein the pagans who had converted to hypocrite Muslims and were the fake companions of the Prophet decided to usurp Vicegerency from Imam Ali.  Soon after the death of the Prophet the hypocrite companions gathered at a place called Sakeefa and did not even bother attending the Prophet's funeral.  They gathered int he midst of the darkness of night and appointed Abu Bakr as the Caliph.  These companions had been present at Ghadeer and had witnessed the appointment of Imam Ali [pbuh] as the successor of the Prophet and yet they denied the ORDER OF ALMIGHTY AND THE PROPHET and appointed themselves a leader, all due to desire for power.  The conspiracy of 'Saqeefa" is one of the most dangerous turning points of Islamic history. Many scholars are of the opinion that the effects of the Saqeefa had deviated and corrupted the leadership issue and deprived the entire human society from the benefits and bounties of Immaculate leadership which was Divinely appointed by Almighty Allah(s.w.t.) Himself. Such deviation not only stopped human society from getting the benefits of the sincere leadership, but also imposed on them the misery of corrupt leaders who sprang out as a result of and in continuation of the Saqeefa.

What was 'Saqeefa'?
Saqeefa in Arabic means a place with a ceiling or a shelter. It was a place in Medina which belonged to a tribe called Bani Sa'eda, in which a number of people gathered immediately after hearing the news of the passing away of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w.a), taking advantage of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib(a.s)'s being busy in the funeral arrangements of the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.a), and the state of shock and sadness amongst the Muslims during those tragic moments. The group of people who had gathered had wanted to snatch away the leadership of Muslims from the true leader, namely Ali ibn Abi Talib(a.s) while he was busy and unable to attend.

Omar ibn al-Khattab wa proposed by Abu Bakr to be the Khaleefa. In return, Omar proposed Abu Bakr for the post and shook hands with him to confirm not only his supporting him, but also imposing him as a Khaleefa. Omar's gang followed him immediately in shaking hands with Abu Bakr as a Khaleefa. Omar, Abu Bakr and their cohorts left the place to enforce their Khaleefat on the people, threatening anybody who may object to them that he shall be killed. By this terrorist manner, they succeeded in creating atmosphere of fear and horror amongst the people, thus silencing the majority of Muslim public.

Saqeefa ignored the Holy Prophet's orders

The Saqeefa conspirators tried to ignore the most important Islamic announcement which was made by the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.a) himself at Ghadeer Khum, just seventy days before his departure. (18 Zul-hijja to 28 Safar). The Ghadeer Khum announcement by the Holy Prophet was very clear that "For whomsoever I am the master and leader, Ali is the master and leader" (Ref: Sunan al-Tirmithi, 5:633, Sunan ibn Majah, 1:43, Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, 1:84, Tafseer ibn Katheer, 4:114, al-Mustadrak by al-Haakim al-Neesaboori, 3:109 and Tafeer al-Durr al-Manthoor by Soyooti,2:519).
The conspirers of Saqeefa then started taking allegiance from people by force.

Consequences of Saqeefa
Saqeefa established the foundation of every illegal government in Islamic history as it has given the ground for the followings:

1. Divine leadership appointed by Allah(s.w.t) and His Prophet(s.a.w.a) was ignored, which meant that Muslims can also ignore the Divine leadership whenever they like.
2. The candidate at Saqeefa was proposed in the presence of a few individuals, depriving the whole ummah from nominating their candidates.
3. The people who supported Saqeefa candidate were a few individuals who deprived the majority of ummah from even having their right of expressing their opinion.
4. Muslims were forced to accept the outcome of Saqeefa under the threat of killing or severe punishment( Sayyeda Fatima(s.a) was tortured and martyred because of her and the AhlulBayt's opposing Saqeefa). This set a dangerous precedent of forcing to accept the ruler, and established the tryannical attitude of illegtimate rulers who forced themselves upon the Muslim ummah using similar ways in the succeeding centuries.

It is important to mention here that according to the Holy Qur'an and authentic ahadeeth the successor of the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.a) cannot be elected by people, but only appointed by Allah(s.w.t) who knows the best person who can succeed the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.a) and lead humanity.
Yet we find that those who claimed that they adopted the process of election, are unable to prove the existence of any proper election in the history of their leadership. Saqeefa is an outstanding example of corrupted 'election' where even a semblance of an election did not exist and the rights of people were severely violated.

Saqeefa was never an election. It was a conspiracy to forcibly appoint a leader against the Divine leader whose appointment was announsed by the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.a) himself.

Saqeefa was the foundation of illegal leadership in Islamic history, as it gave the excuse to Abu Bakr to blatantly appoint Omar as the Khaleefa without any sort of election whatsoever. Omar nominated only six persons as candidates and voters at the same time. He included the name of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib(a.s) knowing too well that the ummah had known and wanted him as the real leader. But he put in the majority persons who would never vote for Imam Ali(a.s)

Omar appointed Mu'awiya [a Saqeefa supporter and staunch enemy of the Ahlul-Bayt(a.s)] as a ruler of Syria, from where Mu'awiya made his base to oppose Imam Ali(a.s) and fight against him, Yazeed was appointed by Mu'awiya (Omar's nominee) as a leader and 'Khalifa' after him.
So, the chain of desastrous events in Islamic history are directly linked with Saqeefa, which is the starting point of a chain of illegtimate leaders who claimed that they were entitled to lead the ummah, defrauded the ummah and imprisoned and killed those who disagreed with their wrong doings.
The tragedy of Karbala was perpetrated by Yazeed who was appointed by Mu'awiya who in his turn was appointed by Omar, the architect of Saqeefa.

Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib(a.s) who was the first victim did not fight against Saqeefa group, because he did not want to see a crack in the Muslim society, which may hepl the infidels. Nevertheless, he kept declaring that Saqeefa was illegal. His Khutba Shaqshaqiya is just one example.
Sayyeda Fatima(s.a) condemned Saqeefa and boycotted its gangsters and did not allow them even to attend her funeral.
Imam Hasan ibn Ali(a.s) condemned Saqeefa and was poisoned by Mu'awiya.( a product of Saqeefa).
Imam Hussain ibn Ali(a.s) condemned Saqeefa and was persecuted and murdered by Yazeed(again a Saqeefa product). The Imam (a.s) knew that Islam was in danger and that if he did not rise up against Yazeed and confront him islam would die.

The confict between the infallible Imams(a.s) and the tyrant governments was based on the fact that those tyrants represented Saqeefa with all its injustice and corruption, while the Holy Imams(a.s) represented truth and justice of True Islam.
Finally, we are forced to conclude that without understanding Saqeefa, its roots and consequences, no serious student of Islam can understand what happened in Islamic history and what is the reason for the confict between the Real leadership of Islam and the corrupt leaders who sabotaged the Muslim ummah. Understanding Saqeefa is not limited to understanding history, but understanding the Islamic message by which Allah(s.w.t) wanted to continue guiding people through Divinely appointed leadership. Saqeefa aimed to deviate the Message of Islam and turn it into a worldly conflict.