<P> There are multiple occasions on which Muhammad announced that Ali would be his successor . </P> <P> Muhammad invited people to Islam in secret for three years before he started inviting them publicly . In the fourth year of Islam, when Muhammad was commanded to invite his closer relatives to come to Islam he gathered the Banu Hashim clan in a ceremony . At the banquet, he was about to invite them to Islam when Abu Lahab interrupted him, after which everyone left the banquet . The Prophet ordered Ali to invite the 40 people again . The second time, Muhammad announced Islam to them and invited them to join . He said to them, </P> <P> I offer thanks to Allah for His mercies . I praise Allah, and I seek His guidance . I believe in Him and I put my trust in Him . I bear witness that there is no god except Allah; He has no partners; and I am His messenger . Allah has commanded me to invite you to His religion by saying: And warn thy nearest kinsfolk . I, therefore, warn you, and call upon you to testify that there is no god but Allah, and that I am His messenger . O ye sons of Abdul Muttalib, no one ever came to you before with anything better than what I have brought to you . By accepting it, your welfare will be assured in this world and in the Hereafter . Who among you will support me in carrying out this momentous duty? Who will share the burden of this work with me? Who will respond to my call? Who will become my vicegerent, my deputy and my wazir? </P> <P> Ali was the only one to answer Muhammad's call . Muhammad told him to sit down, saying, "Wait! Perhaps someone older than you might respond to my call ." Muhammad then asked the members of Banu Hashim a second time . Once again, Ali was the only one to respond, and again, Muhammad told him to wait . Muhammad then asked the members of Banu Hashim a third time . Ali was still the only volunteer . This time, Ali's offer was accepted by Muhammad . Muhammad "drew (Ali) close, pressed him to his heart, and said to the assembly:' This is my wazir, my successor and my vicegerent . Listen to him and obey his commands ."' In another narration, when Muhammad accepted Ali's eager offer, Muhammad "threw up his arms around the generous youth, and pressed him to his bosom" and said, "Behold my brother, my vizir, my vicegerent...Let all listen to his words, and obey him ." Sir Richard Burton writes about the banquet in his 1898 book, saying, "It won for (Muhammad) a proselyte worth a thousand sabers in the person of Ali, son of Abu Talib ." </P>

In which of the following countries are shiites the largest religious group