Ali ibn Abi Talib, And his aura in Islam
Imam
Ali is one character that every Muslim recognizes, he is
easily one of the most influential characters in the history
of Islam, and certainly one of the most interesting figures.
His position in the Islamic history is quite significant, as
he and his offspring had an everlasting impact on Muslims.
Ali was the last rightly guided Caliph according to Sunnis
and the first Imam according to Shia, his character has
contributed in shaping the Islamic world that Muslims live in
today and changed the course of history forever.
Ali
was the prophet’s cousin, and was a brother to him as was
Aaron to Moses, as mentioned in hadiths: "Ali is my brother
in this life and the afterlife" (Yanabea Al-Mawadda - Al-Turmuthi
63), “Ali to me is as Aaron was to Moses” (Hulyat Al-Awlyaa by
Al-Tabarani, 1/63).
Ali’s father, Abu Talib, was the person who raised the
prophet, then Ali himself was raised in the prophet’s
household. When Ali was six years old, Mecca underwent harsh
times that brought economic crisis to the city, Abu Talib had
three sons, Ali, Aqeel and Jafar, Muhammad and Al-Abbas ibn
Abdul Muttalib went to Abu Talib to offer him help and take
care of his sons, to lighten the burden on him, Al-Abbas
took Jafar and Muhammad took Ali, and so was Ali raised by
Muhammad and accompanied him wherever he went (Chapter VII On
The Knowledge Of The Imam), some other narratives also
indicate that he even went with the prophet to Ghar Heraa
for praying. Ali was a Hanif, as he had never bowed to
idols in his life.
According
to some narratives from both Sunni and Shia, Ali was born
inside the Ka’aba in Mecca, and was the only person to be
born there. Ali was born before Muhammad became a prophet by
about ten years. Many narratives say that Angel Gabriel
allowed Fatima bint Asad in the Ka’aba, she stayed there for
four days and gave birth to a newborn that Allah asked her
to name “Ali”, which afterwards became one of Allah’s 99
names that were mentioned in the Quraan. Both Fatima and Abu
Talib were from Bani Hashim, Ali was the first person to be
born to Hashimi parents at that time.
Ali
was the first person to enter Islam and believe in
Muhammad’s message. He became a Muslim when he was young,
when the prophet introduced Islam to his relatives from Bani
Hashim. In some narratives it is said that the prophet
invited his relatives for a feast, and said that the first
person who believes in his message will become his heir and
successor after him, and no one answered him but Ali, that
hadith became known as Hadith Yawm Al-Dar. The following is a
narrative mentioned in Fe Tarikhih, by Al-Tabari: “When this
verse has been revealed “And
warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred.”, the prophet called me
and said: O Ali, Allah has ordered me to warn my closest
kindred, which brings me fear, I know whenever I bring that
to them I only see from them what I hate, I withstood until
Gabriel came and said: O Muhammad, If you do not do what you
have been ordered, Allah shall punish you, prepare food and
collect Bani Abdul Muttalib...”, until “..and they ate until
they had needed nothing more, then the prophet talked and
said: O Bani Abdul Muttalib, by Allah I do not know any
person within the Arabs who has brought something better than
what I have brought to you, I brought to you the best of
this life and the afterlife, and Allah has ordered me to
invite you to it, is there anyone who would support me in
that, knowing he will become my brother, my heir and my
successor in you? He said: The people remained silent. And I
said: I, O prophet of Allah, shall support you in it. And
he took me and said: “This is my brother, my heir and my
successor in you, listen to him and obey him. He said: The
people started laughing, and saying to Abu Talib: He has
ordered you to listen to your son and obey him.”
On
the day the prophet decided to emigrate to Yathrib, the
chiefs of the tribes assembled and agreed to kill him, their
conspiracy was to bring a man from each tribe and kill him
together, to spread his blood among the tribes, so they
collected strong men and ordered them to wait at the door of
the prophet’s house to kill him. According to the belief of
the majority of the Muslims, Angel Gabriel came to the
prophet and warned him about the conspiracy of Quraysh, so
the prophet asked Ali to sleep in his bed instead him so
that the people think it is the prophet sleeping, and so was
the emigration of the prophet covered and the conspiracy
failed (Al-Kamil Fe Al-Tarikh). In some narratives, he asked
his companions who would sleep in his bed, and no one
answered him but Ali three times, Ali is considered as the
first “Feda’i” in Islam for his attitude that night that was
later known as “Laylat Al-Mabeet”, and Shia interpreters say
that the verse “And of the people is he who sells himself, seeking
means to the approval of Allah . And Allah is kind to [His] servants.”
(Surah 2:207) was revealed about Ali when he slept in the
prophet’s bed. The people in Mecca knew that Ali followed the
prophet wherever he went, so Ali’s presence in Mecca was as
a disguise to make people doubt that the prophet emigrated,
for they believed that if he emigrated he would have taken
Ali with him. Ali stayed in Mecca three days until he
received the prophet’s message through his messenger Ubai Waqid
Al-Laithi ordering him to emigrate to Medina.
Ali
was very reliable to the prophet, he was one of the writers
of the Quraan who wrote the Quraan in the life of the
prophet. He was one of his ambassadors who carried messages
and invited the tribes to Islam. It was narrated that the
prophet sent Khalid ibn Al-Walid to Yemen to invite them to
Islam, he stayed there for six months and no one answered
him, so the prophet sent Ali to Yemen and all the people of
Hamdan entered Islam by Ali, and the rest of the people of
Yemen entered Islam as a consequence, and that wasn’t the
last time he went to Yemen as the prophet sent him as a
judge in Yemen because of his justice, so he advised him and
prayed for him, and sent him there in the 8th year of
Hijra, and he stayed there for a year. As well as he has
contributed in solving conflict and violence between some
tribes. And as mentioned in Al-Kamil Fe Al-Tarikh, upon the
conquest of Mecca, Sa’ad ibn Ebada wanted to enter Mecca as
a fighter, opposing what the prophet had ordered as he wanted
to enter Mecca without violence, when the prophet heard about
him he sent Ali after Sa’ad and he followed him and took
the banner from him and entered Mecca with it, whereafter the
prophet ordered him to break the idols around the Ka’aba.
Ali
possessed traits that most other companions had not, with his
traits he made the perfect companion for the prophet for
spreading Islam. He was brave, physically strong, eloquent, very
knowledgable, extremely faithful and fearful from Allah, and
followed the prophet just as his shadow from his childhood.
Mustafa Mahmoud Al-Aqad describes him in his book, Abqariyat
Al-Imam Ali: The pace of his growth was fast, he excelled
over his peers, he grew strong, he enjoyed strong physical
abilities, he was careless of coldness and heat, he was more
immune than most people, he was noble, brave, generous and
intelligent.
And
the prophet said: “Who wished to see [Angel] Israafeel in
his prestige, and [Angel] Mekaa’el in his rank, and Gabriel
in his glory, and Adam in his peacefulness, and Noah in his
fearfulness, and Ibrahim in his loneliness, and Ya’aqoob in
his grief, and Yousof in his beauty, and Musa in his call
to Allah, and Ayyub in his patience, and Yahya in his
soberness, and Yunos in his Sunna, and Issa in his piousness,
and Muhammad in his morals, see Ali, for he has 90 traits
of the prophets that Allah has put in him and has not put
in anyone else.”
Ali
contributed in all of the prophet’s battles except for Tabuk,
by an order from the prophet himself, and in that battle he
said to Ali: “Will you not be satisfied to be to me as
was Aaron to Moses, only that there won’t be a prophet after
me”. There was no opponent that fought Ali who was not
killed. Ali was very brave and determined in battles, he had
a fearful rank in wars. In all of his battles he had great
contribution in defeating the enemies. In the battle of Badr
that took place in 634 AD, where 70 soldiers of Quraysh were
killed, 36 of them were but killed by Ali. In the battle of
Uhud, where the prophet’s uncle Hamza died, and when the
Muslims fled and the prophet was wounded, Ali withstood with a
few other Muslims and prevented the enemy from reaching the
prophet, that battle is where the famous quote came: “No man
but Ali, and no sword but Dul Fiqar” which was heard
throughout the place and which is believed to have been said
by angel Gabriel.
Ali
was very famous for his championships, like in the battle of
the trench and Khaybar. The battle of the trench took place
in 627 AD, in Medina, between the Muhajirun & Al-Ansar and
Quraysh, Ghadhfan, Banu Asad, Salim and other Jews. The
prophet built a trench in the northern frontier of Medina to
prevent the enemies from passing. Amr ibn Wud was one of the
most feared warriors at that time, he also had the title of
Yalail, for one night he was with his companion whence they
got attacked by bandits, all his companions fled but he
fought ten of the bandits and got rid of them alone, since
then he was called the Yalail Knight, he was known in the
Arabian Peninsula for his strength and was feared by the
Arabs. He joined the battle of the trench, and he was the
only person to pass the trench. He asked the Muslims: “Have
you any duelists?” Ali stood and said: “I’m for it O
messenger of Allah”, the prophet said: “Sit, it is Amr ibn
Wud”, Amr repeated the call, Ali stood and said: “I’m for it
O messenger of Allah”, the prophet again said: “Sit, it is
Amr ibn Wud”, Amr ibn Wud repeated his call and started
mocking them and saying “Where is the paradise that you claim
you will go to after death”, Amr repeated his call and said:
“Where are your heroes?”, Ali stood and once again the
prophet said: “It is Amr”, Ali replied: “And what if it was
Amr”. The prophet gave Ali the permission, Ali advanced and
fought Amr, and eventually killed him.
The
battle of Khaybar took place in 628 AD, between the Muslims,
with an army of 1,400, and the Jews, with an army of
14,000. The Jews’ defeat in this battle means the ultimate
defeat for Bani Israel in the Arab lands. The Muslims
surrounded the Jews’ fortress for 20 days, and after the
banner carriers he sent failed to break through the fortress,
the prophet gave the banner to Abu Bakr, he was unsuccessful
and returned exchanging blames with the attackers that went
with him, the following day the prophet gave the banner to
Abu Bakr, but he quickly returned exchanging accusation of
cowardice with the soldiers under his banner. The prophet
said: "By God, tomorrow I shall give the banner to a man who
loves Allah and His Messenger, whom God and His Messenger
love, and who will take it in humble obedience.", When the
prophet asked about Ali they said he was suffering from
ophthalmia, The prophet summoned him and applied his saliva in
his eyes prayed for him and he was cured (Kitab Al-Ershad).
He gave him the banner and said: “Take the banner and
advance with it, Gabriel is with you and victory is before
you and fear shall be within the enemy, and you must know,
O Ali, that they see within their book: The one who destroys
them is named Elia, if you see them say I am Ali and they
will be let down by Allah’s will”. Ali set out to the
fortress, meeting Marhab, one of the heroes known to the
Jews, Marhab said: “Khaybar knows well that I am Marhab whose
weapon is sharp, a warrior tested. Sometimes I thrust with
spear; sometimes I strike with sword, when lions advance in
burning rage.” Marhab was wearing two turbans and a stone
under them, as the two soldiers struck at each other, and
only after the second blow, Ali cleaved through Marhab's
helmet, splitting his skull and landing his sword in his
opponent's teeth. As mentioned in the narrations, when Ali
said “I am Ali ibn Abi Talib”, one of the chiefs of the
Jews said “You are defeated and that is what has been
revealed to Moses”, and fear has entered their hearts. When
Ali killed Marhab, everyone with him went back to the
fortress and closed the door. Narrations indicate that Ali
handled the door and used it as a shield, and put it over
the trench for the Muslims pass. The door was said to be so
heavy that even a band of men could not carry. Sure enough,
the Muslims would have never made it if Ali had not lead
them under his banner.
Assuredly,
Ali was very knowledgeable and very eloquent, he was the
founder of Al-Naho, literally meaning “The Direction”, in which
people could learn the grammar and structure of the Arabic
language, he was known as the “Speaking Quraan”, for his
speeches were the second most eloquent after the Quraan, he
was famous for his quote “Ask me before you lose me”, there
was none after him who stated the same thing without failing,
Ali answered any question he was asked seamlessly and with
ease, his knowledge was second only to that of the prophet’s,
the prophet said: “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is
its door, who wants the knowledge enter through its door.”,
and “I am the scholar of Allah, and Ali is my scholar.”
Before the prophet died he summoned Ali, and after he left he
was asked what the prophet had told him, he said “He had
taught me a thousand doors of knowledge, each door opens a
thousand door” (Al-la’ale Al-Masnu’aa Fe Al-Ahadith Al-Mawdou’a
by Jalal Al-Din Al-Syuti اللالئ المصنوعه في الاحاديث الموضوعه لجلال الدنين السيوطي) . Ali
asked the prophet: “Who is better, you or Gabriel”, in
elaboration for other people, the prophet said “O Ali, Allah
has preferred his apostle messengers over his close angels,
and has preferred me over the rest of the apostles and
messengers, and the preference after me is you O Ali.” Other
narrations by Imam Al-Baqir and Al-Sadiq indicate that Muhammad
was given the knowledge of all of the previous prophets, and
Ali inherited the knowledge of Muhammad, passing to the rest
of the Imams, making them more knowledgeable than all of the
previous prophets. According to Al-Kafi, Imam Al-Baqir said:
“They suck on drops of water and leave the great river. They
said and what is the great river? He said the prophet of
Allah, Allah has given Muhammad the knowledge of all of the
prophets, and the prophet has given all of it to Ali.” Ali
was certainly the most knowledgeable companion of the prophet.
As he has accompanied the prophet wherever he went since
his childhood, and learned every aspect of religion from him.
Ali’s speeches were the most eloquent, many of them were
collected and written down by Al-Sharif Al-Radhi, in the book
Nahjul Balagha (The Peak of Eloquence), which preserved some
of the finest speeches in the Arab history and famous sayings
and proverbs that continue to be used in the Arabic language
today. I shall mention a few examples and underline the part
that is used as a proverb today: “Scourge in our days is
not a surprise, but the peace in those days are the
surprise, beauty is not that of clothes that embellish us, [real] beauty is the beauty of knowledge and morals,
the orphan is not one whose father has died, the [real]
orphan is the orphan of knowledge and morals.”, “Leave the
keenness on life, don’t be greedy for living, and don’t
collect the money, for you don’t know who you’re collecting
for, and you don’t know is it your land or another you are
struggling on, wealth is already divided, mistrust is useless, the poor is but the greedy, the rich is but the content.”, In his precept to Malik Al-Ashtar: “People are of two types, either a brother to you in religion, or parallel to you in manners .“,
“Death leaves not a son nor a father, this is the path
until you see none, death has unmistakable arrows, an arrow that has missed you today won’t miss you tomorrow. “
Hadith
Al-Thaqalayn (The two weighty things), is a hadith recognized
by both Sunni and Shia, is one of the Hadiths that indicated
that the prophet has chosen a successor, the hadith is as
follows: “I am leaving among you two weighty things: the one
being the Book of Allah in which there is right guidance and
light, so hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it.
He exhorted (us) (to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and then
said: The second are the members of my household (Ahlul Bayt)
I remind you (of your duties) to the members of my family. “
The members of Ahlul Bayt, indicated by Hadith Al-Kesaa and
Hadith Al-Mubahala, were Ali, Hassan, Hussein and Fatima, both
Hadith Al-Mubahala and Al-Kesaa are also recognized by both
parties. The narration of Al-Mubahala is as follows: “The Christians of Najran were unhappy about the rapid spread of Islam in the lands of Arabia.
They wished to discuss this matter with Muhammad. Learned
scholars were selected by the Christians who had a continuous
dialogue with Muhammad for three days.
Muhammad
and the Christians were unable to arrive on any mutual
understanding. At this point, Muhammad received revelation from
God:
“Then whoever argues with you about it after [this] knowledge
has come to you - say, "Come, let us call our sons and your
sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then
supplicate earnestly [together] and invoke the curse of God
upon the liars [among us]." (Surah Al Imran 61)
The next morning, Muhammad emerged from his house with his closest family. He held the hand of Hasan walking beside him, held Husain in his arms, followed by his daughter Fatimah and finally by his son-in-law Ali. He came and stood with this family in front of the Christian bishops who also came forward to perform the Mubahela.
The chief of the Christians was bishop Abul Harris. When he saw this small family of the Prophet he turned towards his fellow Christians and told them,
do
not indulge in Mubahela with this family, for I am observing
such pious faces that if they would order the mountain to
come to them the mountain shall move towards them. It is
therefore prudent to make treaty with them rather than
confrontation of this spiritual imminence.
They
asked Muhammad for peace and it was accepted. Muhammad
extended the hand of friendship towards them, a treaty was
signed and both parties left on friendly terms.
That
hadiths indicates that Ahlul Bayt that he wished to be
followed and succeed him were again his son in law and his
grandsons. Hadith Al-Kesaa (Or Hadith of the Cloak), refers to
Ahl al-Kisa. The hadith is an account of an incident where
Muhammad gathered Hassan, Hussein, Ali and Fatimah under his
cloak. This is mentioned in several ahadith, including Sahih Muslim,
where Muhammad is quoted as saying the phrase “Ahl al-Bayt”
“People of the House” from the second part of verse 33:33 of
the Qur'an; the verse called ‘’Ayat al-Tathir’’ "verse of purification",
Al-Kesaa is yet another narration indicating that the
prophet’s Ahlul Bayt indicated in hadith Al-Thaqalayn were his
cousin Ali, his two grandsons and daughter.
According
to both Shia and Sunni resources, after the prophet’s
farewell pilgrimage, which he knew he was going to die soon
by news from angel Gabriel, he collected the crowds of
people, who were about 100,000, under the heat of the sun,
he stood over a little hill to make a speech, a speech that
was vital in the history of Islam. According to Shia
resources, the prophet was afraid to make the speech, for it
opposed the people’s desire, and the following verse was
revealed: “O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed
to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have
not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the
people” (Surah Maidah 67). The prophet’s speech was as follows:
“O people, Allah the Most Kind the Omniscient has told me that no
apostle lives to more than half the age of him who had preceded him. I
think I am about to be called (to die) and thus I must respond. I am
responsible and you are responsible, then what do you say?’ They said,
‘We witness that you have informed, advised and striven. May Allah bless
you.’ He said, ‘Do you not bear witness that there is no god but Allah
and that Muhammad is His servant and Apostle, and that His Heaven is
true, His Hell is true, death is true, the Resurrection after death is
true, that there is no doubt that the Day of Judgment will come, and
that Allah will resurrect the dead from their graves?’ They said, ‘Yes,
we bear witness’. He said, ‘O Allah, bear witness.’ Then he said, ‘O
people, Allah is my Lord and I am the lord of the believers. I am
worthier of believers than themselves. Of whomsoever I had been Master (Mawla),
Ali here is to be his Master. O Allah, be a supporter of whoever
supports him (Ali) and an enemy of whoever opposes him and divert the
Haq to Ali.”
Despite
that the prophet explicitly said in front of thousands of
Muslims that Allah opposes whoever opposes Ali, many Muslims
still opposed Ali. The death of the prophet marked the
arrival of a new era. Upon the death of the prophet, while
Ali and his family were burying the prophet and praying
Janaza, the rest of the people were busy deciding who would
lead the Muslims. It was eventually agreed that Abu Bakr
becomes the Caliph. Ali did not follow him nor recognize him
as a successor of the prophet, while the rest of the Muslims
opposed Ali. The opposition continued, till the Muslims
actually fought against him in Saffin, by the command of
Mu’awya, Ali’s army eventually failed him, and his followers
kept diminishing. He was eventually assassinated by Abdul
Rahman ibn Muljim, while he was leading prayers in a mosque.
The opposition did not stop there, but his son Hussein, and
his few followers, were surrounded by the army of Mu’away’s
son, Yazid, for weeks without water, expecting them to submit
to Yazid, they did not, and were eventually killed brutally.
The opposition against the followers of Ahlul Bayt continued
for millennia, it is one aspect that most Muslims are not
aware of, it is one aspect that if had been otherwise, not
only the course of Islamic history would have changed, but
the course of the entire humanities’ history since the birth
of Islam.
And so was the story of the brother of the prophet of Islam, the neonate of the Ka’aba and the martyr of the Mehrab, his life began in a house of Allah and ended in a house of Allah, the first believer and the best defender of Islam, a man who played a vital role in spreading Islam, yet a man who has never been recognized to the fullest, discredited, and opposed by Muslims themselves. We could never imagine what the world would be like if he had been completely absent, or what the world would be like if he had been loyally supported by all. So was the story of Ali ibn Abi Talib.
