I know that shia's are generally against the view of the sunni's in regards to Imamah after the Prophet but how do you explain the fact that three of Ali's sons were named Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman if Ali hated them or if it is/was as shia's say?
It would be like the Prophet naming one of his sons after Abu Jahl, the enemy of Islam and the Prophet.
At the beginning, I would like to emphasize that exploring this area must not lead to discord between Muslims who are commanded to be united.
Now, with regard to your question:
The position of Imam Ali a.s and his followers toward the first Caliphs is not something of dispute between Muslim Scholars...It's a historic fact. Even Sahih Al-Bukhari regarded this as a fact, and talked about Imam Ali's a.s. opinion about the rule of the first Caliphs...
So, no matter what names Imam Ali a.s. had chosen to his sons, this will not disprove the above mentioned fact...
Now, with regard to the above mentioned names, it's important to know that they were very wide-spread names, and Imam Ali a.s. Hadiths refute the case made by those who want to use the issue of names to prove what they failed to prove by the other means:
For example, in one Hadith imam Ali mentioned that he named his son after the name his brother-in-Islam Othman bin Madh'oon عثمان بن مظعون:
ففي ( تقريب المعارف - الصفحة : ( 52 ) - نقلا عن تاريخ الثقفي ) : ( ذكر الثقفي في تاريخه ، عن هبيرة بن مريم ، قال : كنّا جلوساً عند علي (ع
، فدعا أبنه عثمان ، فقال له : يا عثمان ، ثمّ قال : إني لم أسمّه بإسم عثمان ........ ، إنّما سمّيته بإسم عثمان بن مظعون ) وروي ـ أيضاً ـ عن عليّ (ع
أنّه قال : ( إنّما سمّيته بإسم أخي عثمان بن مظعون ) ، راجع : ( مقاتل الطالبيين - رقم الصفحة : ( 58 )
Moreover, the first Caliph name is Ateek ibn Abi Quhafah, and not Abu-Bakr...
May Allah unite the Muslims Ummah and support it..
