(except from Dr.Sayed Haider Hussain Shamsi's
book, " The lives of the Imams of Ahlul Bayt ".
This book can be read online in the book section
of this website).
The birth of Imam Ali took place
under unique circumstances inside the holy
Ka'ba. It is considered unique because no
prophet or saint has ever been born in a holy
sanctuary. Fatima binte Asad, the expectant
mother of Ali was praying outside the Ka'ba
when she suddenly felt the labor pains. Just
then the wall of the holy sanctuary opened. As
she stepped in, the wall closed behind her.
Shortly after that she gave birth to her baby.
When they came out, Muhammad took the newborn
in his arms and named him Ali. The infant looked
at his face and smiled.
Muhammad nurtured Ali in his childhood, and the
child fully assimilated the habits and the
qualities of the Prophet. When he grew up, Ali
accompanied Muhammad wherever he went, and
followed him like his shadow. This early
association blossomed in his devout love for the
Prophet whom he emulated in every manner, and
assisted him in the delivery of the Message at
every step. The association between the two was
not accidental. Muhammad himself was born in
the Shabe Abi Talib (the house of Abu Talib
just out side Makkah) and was raised and
nurtured by Ali's parents, Abu Talib and Fatima
binte Asad. Abu Talib took special care of his
nephew Muhammad, and protected him against all
odds as long as he lived.
Ali came into focus as a young lad of about I I
years when he became known as one the first to
witness Muhammad as Allah's Messenger. The other
person to acknowledge the Prophetic mission of
Muhammad was his wife Khadija.
Now that Muhammad was commanded by Allah to
proclaim his Prophet-hood and invite his
kinsmen to Islam, he asked Ali to act as his
messenger. Ali called on the elders of Quraish
to extend the Prophet's invitation. He and his
father arranged a feast known as dhil-Asheera.
The Prophet delivered the Message, asking them
to forsake the idols and worship Allah alone. In
the face of great hostilities, when he asked if
any one would help him in his work, none other
than Ali stood up and declared his unconditional
and unfettered support of the Prophetic
Mission.
The Quraish of Makkah unleashed their torment to
the early believers, but the Prophet continued
to convey the Message undaunted by the insults
and the harsh treatment of the Makkans. All
protected and defended the Prophet at every
opportunity despite his young age. Along with
handful of the early believers, Ali endured the
harsh economic and social blockade of his
parent's house by the arrogant Quraish when the
Prophet refused to abandon his mission.
On the night of Hijra, when the enemies of the
Prophet were lying in wait for him, he
willingly and gratefully undertook the hazardous
task of sleeping in the bed of the Prophet so
that the Messenger of Islam would not be hurt.
It helped the Prophet escape the assassins in
the darkness of the night. Allah recognized
this service of Ali in the Qur'an: “And there is
the type of man who gives his life to earn the
pleasure of Allah; and Allah is full of kindness
to (His) devotees." 11: 207.
After the departure of the Prophet for Madinah,
Ali acted on behalf of the Prophet and returned
to the Makkans the valuables that they had
placed with the Prophet for safe keeping.
When the Prophet arrived in Madinah, he
initiated the foundation of a cohesive society
in the form of Brotherhood in Islam. He assigned
one Muhajir (migrant) from Makkah as a brother
unto one resident Ansar (helper) in Madinah.
Since Ali was delayed in Makkah carrying out the
duties entrusted to him by the Prophet, he was
unable to participate in the newly formed
brotherhood. On his arrival in Madinah, when
Ali asked the Prophet who would be his
'brother' according to the new rule, the
Prophet told him: "You and I are brothers in
this world and the Hereafter. "
The idolaters of Makkah could not bear the
escape of a handful of Muslims from under their
noses. They wanted to kill the Prophet as well
as his followers. In the second year of al-Hijra
(the Islamic calendar year) they came out in
Badr, in the outskirts of Madinaf4 well equipped
with arms, eight hundred and fifty strong on
foot, and one hundred on horseback. They were
almost three times larger in number than the
poorl3f equipped and hastily raised 'army' of
just three hundred and fourteen. Muslims
defenders (80 Muhajirs and 234 Ansars). Of
these, only seventy were on camels and only two
were on horseback! This was the first of the
several confrontations the early Muslims had to
face against the pagans in defense of their
faith and property. The soldiery of Ali was
unknown and untested until this first battle.
With a resounding victory for Islam seventy of
the bravest Quraish were slain and forty-five
were taken prisoners of war. Ali emerged as the
undisputed hero for the Muslims. He alone was
responsible for almost one half of the carnage
of the pagans in that battle. There was no
family in Makkah that was not affected by Ali's
sword in the Battle of Badr. Ali was to be
looked upon as a deterrent and a formidable
force in the future. He was not only the
'brother' of the new Prophet but also his
fighting hand. The Prophet hardly ever used his
sword himself pleased with his unparalleled
bravery as well as chivalry, the Prophet
declared All openly as Asadullah (the Lion of
Allah), and Yadullah (the Hands of Allah).
The Battle of Badr had far reaching consequences
for Ali. Whereas this son of Abu Talib
intimidated the pagans of Makkah, some among the
believers carried grudges and jealousy, even
animosity against him. The nascent faith had
not yet cleansed their hearts of the old bias
they had carried against the man who had, with
his sword, cut down their kinsmen, even their
closest relatives, their fathers, uncles, sons
and husbands. This hostility, which they were
unable to express during the life of the
Prophet, for fear of annoying Allah's Messenger,
showed up immediately after his death. The
history, in the years to come, was to witness
how the anti-Ali faction came out of the hole,
succeeded in isolating the 'brother of the
Prophet’ from the affairs of the Islamic
State for 25 years. Even in his own Caliphate,
the same group rose in rebellion with one
pretext or another, and finally plotting to end
his life with a sword. In the years that
followed, the might and valor of Ali in the
service of Islam was to be avenged by his
adversaries in killing his sons, his grandsons
and kinsmen in the battle of Karbala in an
effort to get even with Ali, the Lion of Allah.
After the battle of Badr, the Prophet gave his
only daughter Fatima in marriage to the virtuous
Hashimite hero of Islam. Together they had two
sons, Hasan and Husain, who succeeded as Imams
after him, and they laid down their
lives upholding and defending the values of
Islam.
In later years, Ali continued to be the
victorious champion of Islam while others had
failed in some of the most threatening battles
the Prophet had to undertake in defense. of
Islam, the Muslims and the nascent Islamic State
that was emerging in Yathrib. As a consequence,
Ali received many valedictory titles from the
Prophet, and wide acclaim among the believers.
Only a few of these are briefly narrated below.
The enemies of lslam did not wait long to avenge
their shameful defeat at Badr. The following
year, they came back at Uhod under the command
of Abu Sufyan, the chief of the Makkan infidels.
They laid their siege right at the outskirts of
Madinah with three times the force they had
mustered previously at Badr. This time they were
determined to exterminate Islam by killing the
Prophet and his followers. Here again the
Muslims were outnumbered three to one and poorly
supplied. However, All and Hamza raged havoc in
the ranks of the infidels, and Ali felled each
of the seven standard bearers of the Makkan
pagans successively. Together with the valiant
believers, the enemy was routed and
scattered in all directions. The battlefield
resounded with the voice "There is none
victorious other than Ali and there is no equal
to the sword Zulfiqar."
Hamza was targeted by Hinda, the wife of Abu
Sufyan, who had him killed by the spear of her
Abyssinian slave, and she savagely mutilated his
body personally.
With the apparent victory, the Muslims ignored
the warning of the Prophet not to move from
their appointed strategic place and ran to loot
the battlefield. They were caught unaware by the
spare contingent of the pagan army under
Khalid bin Walid, and many perished in the act
of looting, while others fled for their lives.
Many of the senior companions of the Prophet
used to reminisce saying that they never ran
faster in their lives than in the battle of Uhod!
The Prophet was injured in the onslaught led by
Khalid bin Walid. Ali hastened to the rescue and
stood by to protect the Prophet. At that
station, he repelled several attempts by the
pagan contingent. Finally, the pagans were
driven away. Fatima (the wife of Ali and the
daughter of the Prophet) tended to the wounds of
her father. The Prophet asked Ali why he did not
flee for his life like the others had done. Ali
replied that his life belonged to the Prophet,
and he had no business with the others, and
being a believer would not want to become a
disbeliever!
In the fifth year of al-Hijra the arch enemy of
lslam, Abu Sufyan, the Umayyad chief of the
pagans of Makkah raised an army 'of about ten
thousand confederates of Jewish and other tribes
of the Arab idolaters and marched on to Madinah.
With this force, he was confident that he could
wipe out Islam and its Prophet. However, the
Prophet learning of the mighty force marching
towards the home of the Muslims, had a ditch dug
out between the city of Madinah and
the advancing force of the infidels. Whereas
this kept back the general advance of the
confederate army, a hand full of the infidels
jumped across the ditck led by Amr bin Abd Wudd.
They jeered and slung abuses at the Muslims
and challenged them to send their best for a
duel. Ali was a gallant warrior, and the Muslims
were frightened of his armor clad gigantic
personality. It was Ali who repeatedly asked
permission of the Prophet to allow him to face
the challenge. When none else dared to come out,
the infidels flung further abuses
and provocative language at the Muslims. Finally
Ali was allowed to face the enemy. The Prophet
prayed Allah for Ali and said: "today total
Faith has gone out to face total infidelity."
Ali had a brisk duel with Amr and cut down the
challenger with one stroke of his famous sword.
Prophet declared, "the single stroke of Ali's
sword is superior to years of ibada (obedience
to Allah)." The Muslims initially watched
the encounter from a distance. However, some
believers got encouraged with the success of Ali
and joined him to eliminate the remaining threat
from the infidels who had crossed over the
ditch. Ali perused Ikramah bin Abu Jahl into
the ditch and killed him.
In the month of Zi-Qa'd, in the sixth year of
al-Hijra, the Prophet undertook journey to
Makkah for Haj accompanied by about fourteen
hundred unarmed Muslims. It was traditional in
all of Arabia to suspend all kinds of
hostilities
during the months of Haj. However, the Makkans
came out armed to stop the advance of the
pilgrims. The Prophet made a halt at the well of
Hudaybiya. After tense negotiations (from within
his own ranks of the Muslims, and-from that of
the pagan Makkans) a treaty was concluded under
which the Prophet had to carry out his rituals
of a lesser Hajj at the very campsite, and would
return the following year for a full ritual Haj.
Ali represented the Muslims and wrote the
contents of the Treaty of Hudaybiya.
Early in the seventh year of al-Hijra, the
Prophet learned that the Jewish tribes in the
valley of Khaybar, about eighty miles north of
Madinah, were planning mischief against the
Muslims. He decided to march to Khaybar
and eliminate the threat to their homes and
lives. He took about 1600 believers with him but
Ali was unable to go with the Muslim army at
that time because of sore eyes.
The Muslims took the smaller
fortresses one by one, and laid siege over
the grand citadel of Khaybar. Each of the
repeated attempts made by the Muslims
was repulsed effectively by the ferocious Jewish
warriors. Even the most senior and trusted
companions of the Prophet failed to break into
the defenses of the citadel. By this time the
Muslims were getting somewhat discouraged
and demoralized. Finally, the Prophet declared,
"Tomorrow I shall hand over my flag to one who
loves Allah and His Prophet, and who is beloved
of the Lord an d His Prophet, a fearless
champion who n ever turns his back upon a foe;
and at his hands the Lord will give victory. "
Hopes ran high in the hearts of all potential
commanders to earn that benediction. However,
All arrived at the scene with sore eyes. The
Prophet healed them with his saliva, and gave
him the Standard of die Muslim army. He faced
his first adversary in Marhab, a formidable
warrior, and cut him into two with one stoke of
his famous sword. This was followed with
successful duels with six other Jewish warriors.
He then led the Muslims to a general attack, and
won the day by subduing the fort of Khaybar.
Some miraculous feats are reported in the books
of history concerning the
way Ali pulled out the gate of the fort and,
first used it as a shield for himself and then
threw it as a bridge over the ditch for the
Muslims to cross over. The Prophet did not evict
the vanquished people from their homes. The
people ceded half of their property to the
Muslims for submission, and in return, they were
allowed to continue to cultivate the land for
their subsistence. The grove of Fadak was
retained by the Prophet, and gave it to his
daughter Fatima for her family to use.
In the eighth year of al-Hijra, the pagans of
Makkah violated the peace treaty signed with
them two years earlier. The Prophet took ten
thousand believers with him and marched to
Makkah. The city was subdued without active
fighting, and the archenemy of Islam had to
embrace Islam along with other infidels of Makkah.
Upon the conquest of Makkah, the holy Ka'ba was
cleansed of hundreds of idols. The grand idol,
Hubal, treated as a deity by the pagans of
Makkah was fixed on a high position, beyond
reach. The Prophet asked Ali to mount his
shoulders to reach it and destroy it. Ali
initially hesitated but complied on second
command, and standing on the shoulders of the
Prophet, he pulled the heavy idol from its high
place and knocked it down to the floor where
it crashed to pieces. The Prophet recited:
"Truth has come and falsehood being perishable,
has vanished. X'VH: 82.
It was the same year of al-Hijra when the
Prophet sent Ali to Yemen as his envoy to
replace Khalid bin Walid. Khalid had earlier
been sent to Yemen to collect the obligatory
taxes. He ransacked the place and caused havoc
amongst the southern tribes with loss of life
and dignity, in his pre Islamic ruthless style.
The news of this event caused much grief to the
Prophet. Khalid was recalled and rebuked for his
conduct. To compensate the families of
the victims, the Prophet dispatched Ali to Yemen
with money. On arrival there, he distributed the
compensation according to the needs of each
family. There was still some money left which
was also given away to the needy. The people
were impressed by this true soldier of Islam and
admired him for his generosity, kindness, piety
and knowledge.
By virtue of the verse in Qur'an, Ayae tat-heer.......
And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination
from you, ye Members of the Family, and to make
you pure and spotless." XXXIII: 3 3, the Prophet
included Ali as a member of his family (Ahle
Bait). It is reported in numerous ahadith that
the Prophet laid his woolen blanket over
himself, his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali,
and her sons Hasan and Husain, and said, "O
Allah., these are my Ahle Bait."
The following year, the Christians of Najran
came to Madinah to see and to verify the Truth
of the Prophet of the Muslims. They remained
adamantly opposed to all arguments, or to accept
evidence from the scriptures. In the end, they
opted to go out in the open for Mubahela (a
method employed in the olden times to invoke the
curse of Truth over Falsehood).
Allah revealed in al-Quran: "The similitude of
Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He
created him from dust, then said to him Be, and
he was. The Truth (comes) from Allah alone; so
be not of those who doubt. If anyone disputes
in
this matter with thee, now after (full)
knowledge hath come to thee, say: come! Let us
gather together our sons, and your sons, our
women and your women, ourselves and yourselves:
then let us earnestly pray and invoke the curse
of
Allah on those who lie!" III: 59-61. Ali
accompanied the Prophet with Fatima and their
two sons, Hasan and Husain (the five infallible
members of the Ahle Bait of the Prophet) at the
Mubahela representing the men, the women and
the children of all Muslims to face the
Christian challengers fi7om Najran for the test
of the Truth. Seeing the Prophet and his Ahle
Bait, their faces glowing with the light of the
Truth, the Christians withdrew from Mubahela and
returned
home, not converted as Muslims, but in peace
with the Muslims and the Islamic State.
In the same year, Sura Tauba was revealed to the
Prophet. He sent Abu Bakr to Makkah to deliver
it to the pilgrims. But soon, the Archangel
Gabriel reappeared with instructions that the
Message must be delivered by the Prophet himself
or one of his family. The Prophet hastened to
dispatched Ali on his personal camel. Ali caught
up with Abu Bakr, took charge of the important
Divine Proclamation and arrived in Makkah. He
proclaimed in the name of Allah the early verses
of the Sura Tauba, stating that the city of
Makkah would, from then on, be a sanctuary for
all Muslims, and forbidding all idolaters
and polytheists to enter the Holy Precinct, and
forbidding the carrying of idols in
the Sanctuary.
In the tenth year of al-Hijra, the Prophet of
Islam arrived in Makkah for Hajj with thousands
of his followers. Ali was in Yemen at that time.
He also arrived in Makkah in time to participate
in the Haj, personally conducted by the
Prophet. This was one of the most important
events in the history of early Islam, and every
Muslim wanted to perform Haj with the Prophet.
After completion of the Haj, and on the way back
to Madinah, the Prophet of Islam was ordained by
Allah to carry out the last duty of his
Prophetic Mission thus: "O Apostle! Proclaim the
(Message) which hath been sent to theefrom thy
Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst have not
fulfilled and proclaimed His Mission. And
Allah will defend thee from men (who mean
mischief. For Allah guideth not those who reject
Faith." V: 70
He made a stop at the well called Ghadire Khumm
and gathered all those who could be recalled. A
makeshift pulpit was erected and the Prophet
addressed the congregation: "It seems as if I
would soon be summoned to go to Allah and I have
responded to it I entrust you with two very
precious and grand things, one of which is
greater than the other: the Book of Allah and my
Ahle Bait. Take heed of the way you treat these
two trusts, because the Qur'an and the Ahle Bait
will never separate until they return to me by
the Hawd al-Kawthar (the pond). " He then said:
"Allah is my master and I am the master of every
believer. " Then he took the hand of Ali and
raising his arm high above his shoulders for all
to see, and said: " Ali will be the maula
(master) of whoever deems me his (maula) master.
0 Allah! Place within Your own vilayah whoever
accepts the vilayah of Ali and be the enemy of
whoever shows animosity to him. " All those who
attended the congregation under the hot
mid-afternoon sun congratulated Ali on the honor
that had just been bestowed upon him by the Will
of Allah. This event has been recorded in both
Shiite and Sunni books.
It was at this place and occasion when the last
revelation of the Qur’an was delivered to the
Prophet: "... This day have those who rejected
Faith given up hope of your religion: yet fear
them not but fear me. This day have I perfected
your religion for you, completed My favor upon
you, and have chosen for you Islam as your
religion. " V:4. This completed the Book of
Allah as well as the long and onerous task of
the Prophet.
Soon after his return to Madinah the Prophet
became ill and passed away. However, while the
members of the Ahle Bait were busy making
arrangements for the burial of the Prophet, the
companions hurried to a heated conference that
was being held at Saqueefa Banu Saada to
determine the successor to the Prophet. At the
conclusion of the meeting, Abu Bakr was elected
as the first Caliph.