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Newsletter for June 2016
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Lives of the Twelve Imams from the Ahle Bait
The First Imam: Ali ibne Abi
Talib (AS)
Name: Ali
Title al-Murtadha
Epithet Abu al-Hasan
Father Abu
Talib bin Abd al-Muttalib
Mother: Fatima binte Asad,
bin Hasbim
Date of Birth: Rajah
13, 23 BH (May 25, 600 AD)
Place of Birth: Inside
the Holy Ka'ba in Makkah
Progeny from Fatima binte
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam
(pbuh)
Two sons: al-Hasan and al-Husain
Two daughters: Zainab and Umm
Kulthum
From Khawla binte Ja'far bin
Qays al-Hanafta
One son: Muhammad
From Umm al-Banin binte Hizam
bin Khalid bin Darim
Four sons: al-Abbas, Ja'far,
Uthman, Abd Allah
From Umm Habib binte Rabia
One set of twins: Umar and girl
Ruqayya
He had many other children from
other wives
Date of Death: Ramadhan 21, 40
AH (January 27, 661 AD)
He lived to an age of 61 years
Place of Death: In the main
mosque in Najaf, near Kufa in
Iraq
Place of Burial: Ghouri
in the town of Najaf in Iraq
LIFE
OF ALI DURING THE TIMES OF THE
PROPHET
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
bom 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 titlcs 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 theMubahela 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 theProphet
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 senior
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.
ALI
IS THE IMAM OF GUIDANCE
Allah says in Qur'an that there is no
compulsion in Faith. However
Allah favored Man with guidance
and intelligence so that he may
choose what he wishes to believe
and to set his own course for
the conduct of his life. In
the end, those who choose
virtuous conduct will enjoy the
everlasting bounty of Allah in
the gardens of Paradise, while
those who follow evil ways will
have to endure the everlasting
wrath of Allah in the doom of
Hell.
Allah has ordained: "O ye
who believe! Obey
Allah, obey the Apostle and
those charged with authority
among You. If
ye differ in anything among
yourselves, refer to Allah and
His Apostle, if ye do believe in
Allah and the Last Day: that is
best, and most suitable for
final determination." IV:59.
To obey Allah, there is the Word
of Allah: the Book, al-Qur’an.
To obey the Prophet, there is
the word of the Prophet: al-Hadith. Allah
authenticates the word of the
Prophet: "Nor
does he say (aught) of(his own)
desire. It
is no less than revelation sent
down to him. He
was taught by one Mighty in
Power." LIII:3-5.
To obey those charged with
authority are by Allah's Will. The
Qur'an says: "And
We made them leaders, guiding
(men) by Our Command, and We
sent them inspiration to do good
deeds, to establish regular
prayers, and regular charity;
and they constantly served Us
(and Us only)." XXI:
73.
Allah has further clarified His
ordinance: "..fight
ye the chiefs of Unfaith: for
their oaths are nothing to
them..."IX:12. "And We made them
(but) leaders inviting to the
Fire; and on the Day of Judgment
no help shall they find"XX'VIII:
41. "But
those who were blind in this
world will be blind in the
Hereafter, and most astray from
the Path. "
XVII:72.
It is Allah's grace that He gave
mankind the will to choose their
path, including the choice of a
leader (Imam) for guidance-.-
For making such a choice, Allah
warns in the Qur'an: "One
day We shall call together all
human beings with their
(respective) Imams: those who
are given their records in their
right hand will read it (with
pleasure), and they will not be
dealt with unjustly in the
least." XVII:
7 1.
To the believers, the Prophet
warned, "Choose
your Imams wisely, for those who
died without recognizing the
Imam of their Time died the
death of the Times before the
Truth came to them."
The
Prophet spared no effort to
illustrate to the believers that
Ali was the Imam of Guidance
after him. Ali
was nurtured by the Prophet from
the very beginning of his life. By
his own words, Ali lived his
life like the shadow
of the Prophet, "like
a baby camel follows its
mother!" He
protected the person of theMessenger
of Allah on
numerous occasions and defended
the Message
of Islam from
its very inception. His
gallant feats of soldiery were
exemplary to the believers and a
source of encouragement and have
remained unmatched throughout
history. It
is beyond the scope of this book
or even this chapter on the
First Imam to describe all the
events, the circumstances or the ahadith quoted
from the Prophet about him. Only
a few of the major events of his
life have been described above
along with the relevant ahadith of
the Prophet. A
few other important ahadith are
given below to highlight the
life of the Patriarch of the
Imams of Ahle Bait
during the life of the Prophet
of Islam. For
details and for research, the
reader is referred to the
sources listed in the
Bibliography.
THE
PROPHET'S AHADITH ON IMAM ALI
On Relationship of Imam Ali
with the Prophet
(pbuh)
"I am
to you like Musa (Moses) was to
Harun (Aaron) except that there
shall be no prophet after me".
"O Allah! Befriend
those who befriend Ali, be enemy
to those who exhibit animosity
towards All."
"O Ali! You
are the foremost among the
believers. You
are the wisest and the most
faithful in honoring a pledge. You
are the best in giving
justice. You are the kindest of
the Muslim ummah. You
are the most patient in
adversity. You
are my right arm. You
will wash by body, and you will
give me burial ' On the Day of
Judgment, you will carry the
banner of Islam, and you will
drive away the unworthy from
Hawdhe Kawthar (the
Pond)." "Whoever
parts company with Ali parts
company with me; whoever parts
company with me parts company
with Allah."
On the Person of Ali:
..... that looking at the face
of Ali is an act of devotion"
and
.....that zikre Ali
(elaborating the deeds and acts
of Ali) is devotion."
"The fist (measure) of Ali and
my fist are equal."
On
Knowledge:
"I am the City of all Knowledge,
and Ali is the gate (door) of
that City. Whoever
wishes to enter that city should
come through its gate."
On
Judgment:
"Ali is the best of judges among
you."
On Faith:
"Ali is total Faith...
On
Truth:
"Ali
is with the Truth, and the Truth
is with Ali."
On
Bravery:
"Ali
is the fearless Lion of Allah."
"Ali
is the Hand of Allah."
"Ali
is always victorious. He
never turns his back to the
enemy."
On Piety:
" Ali is the Imam (leader) of
the pious,"
"No one ever acquired such
excellence as Ali. He
leads his friends to the Right
Path, and prevents them from
going astray."
During the life of the Prophet
himself, many of his companions
also attested to the knowledge,
valor, judgments, generosity,
piety and faith of Ali; and to
his unparalleled greatness.
LIFE OF
ALI DURING THE TIMES OF THE
FIRST THREE CALIPHS
On the death of the Prophet, the
people of Madinah were concerned
that if they remained passive,
the goveniment of their city
would pass over to the
Muhajirs. Likewise,
the Muhajirs had
no intention of relinquishing
the government over to the Ansar of
Madinah. The
most prominent companions of the
Prophet hurried to join a heated
conference on the matter. For
Ali, the primary obligation was
to bury the Prophet after his
death, and there was nothing in
the world that would have
distracted him from carrying out
his mission. He
was confident that the public
declaration made by the Prophet
about him was sufficient
reassurance for his rights of
succession.
At the meeting, Abu Bakr was
elected the first Caliph and
Umar led the congregation 'in
Madinah the next day to obtain
fealty for the new Caliph. All
felt betrayed and refused to
give his endorsement to the process
of election by which Abu Bakr
became the first successor to
the Prophet of Islam. As
a result of this incidence,
bitterness and unpleasantness
ensued. However,
All did not raise arms to obtain his rights
by force. In
fact, there were many in Madinah
at that time who wanted him to
do so. He
only wished for Islam to remain
a unified force, and showed no
wish to divide the young nation
by a civil war of succession. Within
six months of the death of the
Prophet, his beloved daughter
Fatitna also passed away leaving
her husband and her family in
deep grief.
Just before his death, Abu Bakr
named Umar as his successor. Thus
Ali was deprived of his rights
to become the caliph a second
time. He
protested against the method but
again refrained from using force
to assert his right to the
caliphate. Despite
his bitterness on the issue of
Caliphate, Ali did not refrain
from providing advice to the
caliphs whenefer he was
consulted in the matters of the
State or ofj'urisprudence. When
Umar was fatally wounded by Abu
Lulu the dis-satisfied Persian
slave, he set up an elaborate
electoralcouncil of six most
eligible candidates for
succession which also included
Ali. However,
the mechanism effectively
eliminated Ali, and Uthman
became the third caliph.
By this time, the boundaries of
the Muslim' rule had extended to
far off lands. It
had been many years that Ali was
not seen participating actively
in matters of the State, and had
retreated into a quiet life in
the coastal town of Yanbu,
located in the north west of
Madinah. By
now, the numbers of new Muslims
from far off lands had exceeded
those in the Arab lands. However,
the reign of Uthman quickly
became controversial because of
his policy of promoting Umayyads
to key positions throughout the
empire. Many
of the previous governors, who
were among the respected
companions of the Prophet, were
replaced by the new Umayyad
nominees. Most
of these new officials of Uthman
were neither pious nor
knowledgeable in matters of
religion. They
were arrogant and their behavior
was brutal to many companions of
the Prophet who had settled in the
new provinces. Complaints
sent to the Caliph produced no
response, as they were filtered
by his personal secretary (and
son-in-law) Marwan bin Hakam. This
aroused wide spread dissention
among the Madinan Muslims as
well as the new Muslims in the
peripheral provinces. Many
deputations sent to meet with
the Caliph returned without any
change of personnel or policies.
Ultimately an angry mob of
Muslims marched onto the
Caliph's palace and assassinated
him. The
mob had consisted of a huge
representation from the
provinces as well as many
prominent companions of the
Prophet from Madinah who had
opposed the policies of Uthman. For
several days there was chaos in
Madinah. At
this point people came to Ali
and unanimously elected him
their Caliph. All
had to accept the trust, knowing
full well that the task of
governing the nation at that
time was a formidable one. He
told the people that he would
strictly follow the Quran and
the Prophet in his government,
and there would be some who
would not like it. However,
many companions who were aware
of the impeccable character of
Ali, were confident that he
would bring justice to the
people.
No sooner did the new Caliph
take office, the Umayyad camp in
the north under Muawiyah bin Abu
Sufyan began a systematic revolt
against him and demanded revenge
for the blood of Uthtnan (who
was also from the Umayyad
clan). His
excuse for the rebellion was
that the new Caliph did nothing
to punish the killers of
Utlunan.
In Madinah, several sympathizers
of the slain Caliph also echoed
the Umayyad uproar. Ironically,
the Prophet's wife Ayesha binte
Abu Bakr, who was among the
foremost to protest against
Uthman's policies, now wanted to
avenge his murder. Whereas
it is true that Ali was not
pleased with the policies of
Uthman, he did not form public
demonstrations and never took
part in any agitation or mob
protest that ultimately led to
Uthman's assassination.
Two of the candidates for
caliphate in the electoral
council designed by Umar before
his death, Talha and al-Zubayr
(the former a cousin and the
other a brother-in-law of
Ayesha), still considered
themselves to be active
candidates for the high
position. The
appointment of Ali to the
Caliphate by popular vote was
not acceptable to them. They
also instigated the rising
against the new Caliph for their
own motives.
LIFE
OF IMAM ALI AS A CALIPH
On becoming the Caliph of the
Islamic State, Ali had a stonny
five years long career. The
rising against the new Caliph
had a catchy slogan:'to avenge
the murder of Uthman'. In
this rising Talha and Zubayr
enlisted the support of Aycsha,
who by her own admission in
later years, was 'gravely misled
by the mischief mongcrs'. Muawiyah
who had been a governor of the
provinces of Palestine and Syria
for nearly twenty five years,
had enjoyed virtual autonomy
during the rule of the preceding
three caliphs. Taking
advantage of the situation, he
refused to accept Ali as the
Caliph. In
fact, he wanted to have the seat
of Caliphate for himself
Muawiyah fuelled the revolt by
the three leaders in Madinah,
and they marched on to the
province of Basrah and took it
after a bloody massacre.
THE
BATTLE OF JAMAL (CAMEL)
Ali invited the instigators of
the revolt to avert the civil
war, avoid the inevitable
killing of more Muslims on
either side, and to resolve the
dispute through negotiation. As
the three leaders had gained
victory at one front, they were
confident of continued success
at other fronts as well. Ali
had to draw his sword when his
ambassador with an invitation
for peace was killed by the
order from one of the revolting
three leaders. This
started the disgraceful Battle
of the Camel. This
was the first time that Muslims
drew their swords against each
other in battle. There
were companions of the Prophet
on both sides. People
had forgotten the Prophet's
famous saying, "Ali
is with the Truth, and the Truth
is with Ali."
However, at the open
confrontation, Imam Ali was
victorious. Although
Zubayr had withdrawn from the
battle, he was assassinated on
his way back to Madinah. Talha
bled to death from an arrow shot
at him by the Uma@ad Marwan, who
was a soldier in their army. At
the end of the battle, Ayesha
was escorted back to Madinah
with great respect.
THE BATTLE OF SIFFEEN
After dealing with the revolt
headed by Ayesha, Ali invited
Muawiyah to come under the
direct rule of the Caliph. Having
enjoyed virtual autonomy and
power for over two decades,
Muawiyah declined to abide by
the Caliph's advice. He
gathered his army of regular
soldiers and declared war
against the Caliph. This
important event took place at
Siffeen.
The army of the Caliph consisted
of believers whojoined forces
with him as volunteers. They
fought with vigor and faith but
the confrontation turned out to
be a long drawn out one. When
Muawiyah saw that his defeat was
inevitable, he resorted to a
clever trick. He
ordered his army to hoist copies
of the Qur'an atop their spears
and cry out aloud to stop the
war in the name of Allah and
turn to the Qur'an to resolve
their differences.
EMERGENCE OF THE KHARJITES
The soldiers of the Caliph fell
to the clever ploy by Muawiyah
and asked Ali to resolve this
matter through arbitration. Whereas
Muawiyah got the arbitrar of his
choice, the Caliph had to accede
to the choice by the majority of
his soldiers. By
a deceitful maneuver during
arbitration, the representative
of Muawiyah gained advantage
over the Caliph's camp. This
sent a wave of dissent in his
an-ny and caused a large portion
of them to abandon allegiance to
him. In
fact, they took up the position
of open confrontation and took
up arms against him. This
group of deserters is known as
the Khawarij (the
Khadites).
THE BATTLE OF NAHRAWAN
With an eloquent lecture to the
dissenting soldiers, Ali was
able to convince a large section
of them to abandon their
hostility and open confrontation
against him. A
remaining force of about four
thousand soldiers persisted in
their resolve to fight him. A
bloody battle ensued at Nahrawan,
and all but a handful of them
perished. At
a later date they regrouped and
had a second attempt against the
Caliph, but lost with massive
bloodshed. Despite
such grave losses, the Kh@ite
movement persisted and could not
be totally wiped out. The
survivors retreated to the
mountains to brew further
mischief.
THE SEQUELAE OF SIFFEEN AND
NAHRAWAN
After the battle of Nahrawan,
Ali invited his army to head for
Syria to subdue the rebel
governor Muawiyah for his
deceit. The
soldiers asked Ali to return to
Kufa briefly so that they could
visit their families and
refurbish their supplies. Having
returned to Kufa, the army of
volunteers simply
disappeared. Thus, the righteous
Caliph was unable to regroup a
substantial force to bring the
revolting governor of Syria
under the rule of the Caliphate.
Muawiyah took this opportunity
and started a systematic scheme
to weaken the hold of the Caliph
over the provinces. He
invaded and took the western
province of Egypt. Muhammad
bin Abu Bakr, the governor of
the province was captured on his
way between Madinah and Egypt
and was killed.
Muawiyah sent his army on a wild
rampage in Hijaz, and all the
way down to the province of
Yemen, leaving in their wake
indiscriminate looting and
burning of property. He
sent down swarms of his army
contingents to the province of
Basra and weakened their
allegiance to the Caliph. As
part of his demeaning propaganda
against Ali, he introduced an
ignoble practice of cursing Ali
on the pulpit in the Friday
congregational prayers, held
throughout the territory
controlled by him.
The Caliph addressed his
subjects during the
congregational prayers and at
other occasions and appraised
them of the deeds of the rebel
governor. He
tried to awaken their conscience
and induce in them the spirit of
individual dignity and
self-respect. He
advised them that if they
remained placid, they would be
the next on the rampage of
Muawiyah. The
untiring efforts of the
Righteous Caliph in his eloquent
sermons again roused his
followers to regroup, and a
respectable army gathered for
the defense of the province of
Iraq.
THE MARTYRDOM OF IMAM ALI
Imam Ali had many enemies from
his first battle against the Kuffar (non-believers)
during the early days of Islam
down to the recurring conflicts
against the charlestons who
declined to accept his
Caliphate, including Muawiyah
bin Abu Sufyan, the rebellious
governor of Syria. The
new faction of the Khwarij in
his own caliphate were his new
enemies, who wanted to have him
killed. Abd
ar-Rehman ibne Mulji@ a
previously unknown Kharji hid
in the mosque over night during
the month of Ramadhan. He
struck the Imam on the head with
a poison-dipped sword while he
was prostrate in Ms prayers. The
Imam suffered from the poisonous
deep cut wound for three days
and died at home surrounded by
his grief-stricken family.
Before he died, he called his
elder son Hasan to his bedside
and appointed him to be the Imam
after him. On
his deathbed, Imam Ali gave his
last advice to his children as
well as Muslims, which is
summarized here: -Keep piety
your foremost goal in life.
-Be organized, and always be
prepared to further the cause of
Islam.
-Do not forget the orphans among
you.
-Remember your neighbors at all
times.
-Make al-Qur'an your guide.
-Maintain prayers as your
foremost discipline in life
because this is the strongest
pillar of your faith.
-Give freely in the name of
Allah, including your lives when
needed to defend Islam.
-Remain united, and protect each
other from sin, because if you
fail to do so, others will
become your overlords.
REFLECIRIONS FROM THE LIFE OF
IMAM ALI
Upon the death of the third
caliph, Imam Ali became the
Caliph of a vast nation of new
Muslims who had not been
introduced to the Ahle Bait
and who had poor knowledge of
the feats of Imam All or the
teachings of the Prophet. However,
among the companions of the
Prophet, the towering
personality of hnam Ali dwarfed
them all. This
provoked feelings ofjealousy
among those who saw the
opportunity slip away from their
hands for the high position. Consequently
the Caliphate of Imam Ali
suffered a series of betrayals
by many friends, companions and
even Ayesha binte Abu Bakr, a
wife of the Prophet. He
was frustrated when he had to
draw his sword against the
Muslims who had previously
protected and defended against
the infidels. Many
were confused when they saw the
close companions of the Prophet
come out in open confrontation
in bloody battle. It
was among these unsure and
skepfic people that the Khaji
faction emerged. It
was these people who failed him
in his efforts to subdue
Muawiyah bin Abu Sufyan, the
ambitious rebel governor of
Syria. When
this group of people rebelled
against the Imam, it further
compounded the problem of
dissention, dissatisfaction and
division among the Muslims
already spearheaded by Muawiyah.
There were others in the Imam's
army who expected large
gratuities from him for their
services, as practiced in the
preceding era. The
Imam did not give in to
favoritism or nepotism, and
considered the public treasury
to be a sacred trust that could
not be violated by using it to
win loyalty or services. Many
of them became dissatisfied and
left the Imam when he refused to
meet their expectations. Even
in the battlefields, he had
forbidden his soldiers to loot
or strip the fallen in the
opposite camp.
Imam Ali had planned major
reforms for the state since it
had fallen into geperal abuse
towards the end of the rule of
the third caliph. These
were delayed due to the civil
disorder he had to deal with. There
was only a brief period of
relative peace in his province
after the battle of Nahrawan in
which he could institute his
reforms. They
illustrate his great foresight,
wisdom and organization. It
is not within the scope of this
book to discuss or describe tlxm
here. For
this, the
reader may rcfcr to Nalijul-Balaglia, a
collection of the Imain's
Sermons, letters and sayings.
The sermons and lectures of the
lmwn are highly eloquent and
full of knowledge and wisdom. The
style in which he delivered them
reminded people of the times of
the Holy Prophet. The
people attended the
congregational prayers led by
him and sat to savor the sermons
he gave for their spiritual as
well as worldly improvement.
NAHJUL-BALAGHA
Peak
of Eloquence
The book nwned Nahjul-Balagha
was compiled and named as such
by Abul Hasan Syed Muhammad Razi,
generally known as Syed Sharif
al-Razi (359-406AH).
He was a brilliant student of
the great jurist AbuAbd Allah
Sheikh Mufid. Before
his death, he had produced forty
other works of reference on
al-Qur'an and Hadith. However
his masterpiece remains the
compilation of the book
Nahjul-Balagha.
Syed al-Razi had come across the
sayings, sermons and letters of
Imam Ali scattered in various
books of theology, history,
biography, literature and the
commentaries of al-Qur'an and
Hadith. He
found references made to a
considerable collection of
materials by the first century
scholars that had been lost due
to the turmoils of the time. He
went back into the written
materials available to him and
with painstaking meticulousness,
selected the spoken word of Imam
Ali. He
searched and obtained the
authentic collections for his
book. He
could only classify these
materials into sermons, letters
and sayings of Imam Ali. Since
the reference material came to
his attention at different
times, the extracted materials
had no chronological sequence. He
died five years
after the completion of his
book. It
is probable that if he had lived
longer, he would have re@ted his
collection into chronological
order or according to content or
topic. It
is clear that he considered the
work sacred and devoted many
years of his life to complete
it. No
sooner had it gotten published,
than it became the center for
interpretations and commentaries
by many authorities of his
time. Commentaries
on the book have continued to be
published right through the
ages, and most of these works
are currently available in many
languages, including English.
The book Nahjul-Balagha, as
compiled by Syed al-Razi
contains a collection of 245
sermons, 75 letters and 210
sayings of Imam Ali. Apparently
there were many more of these
sermons and letters that were
not available to Syed al-Razi at
the time. It
was Sheikh Muhammad Abdoh (d.
1323 AH), a mufti Ourist)
in Egypt, who got the
Nahjul-Balagha published and
thus acquainted the centers of
learning in Egypt and Beirut
with the wealth
of knowledge contained in this
book. The
reader is urged to obtain a copy
of the book for himself and
benefit from the wisdom and
knowledge of Imam Ali.
THE
DEWAN (COLLECTED POETRY) OF IMAM
ALI
The eloquence of Imam Ali was
exemplary among his peers and
has remained unmatched to this
day. His
normal sermons used have a
poetical rhyme in them. In
fact the origin of the art and
science of grammar in Arabic is
ascribed to him. The
poetical word of Imam Ali has
been quoted in many classic
works, and a Dewan is
ascribed to him. Only
two of his poetical works are
quoted below:
I."Where hearts contain despair
And the spacious
breast is stifled by what is
within it,
And cares make
their abode and repose,
And sorrows anchor
in their habitations,
And no way is seen
for dispelling of distress,
And the stratagem
of the cunning availeth not;
There shall come to
thee in thy despair a helper,
When the answerer
of prayer who is nigh, shall
bring
For all sorrows
when they have reached their
term,
There is linked to
them an approaching joy."
2."Men lust for the world and
plot for it,
Yet its clearness
is mingled for them with
impurities.
They do not give
thou of it thy portion
According to thy
wisdom when it is distributed!
But men have their
allotted shares according to
their destinies,
How many there are of the wise
and sagacious unprospered! While
a fool has gained his wealth by
errors,
If it could be
acquired by force and rapine,
Falcons would sweep
off with the subsistence of
sparrows!
GNOSIS OF ALLAH ACCORDING TO
IMAM ALI
1. "I know
Allah by Allah, and I know that
which is not Allah by the Light
of Allah."
"I have seen the Face of Allah,
for if I had not seen it, I
could not worship Him!"
"The height of gnosis is His
confirmation."
"The height of confirmation is Tawhid (Oneness)."
"The height of Tawhid is
the acknowledgement of the
supremacy of Allah in all
matters."
"He is beyond all attributes."
"No particular attribute can
give an idea of His exact
nature."
"He is not bound by anything;
all things are bound by Him."
"He is infinite, limitless,
boundless, beyond Time, beyond
Space, beyond imagination."
"Time does not affected Him."
"He existed when there was
nothing."
"He will exist for ever."
"His existence is not subject to
the laws of birth or death."
"He is manifest in everything,
but He is distinct from
everything."
"He is not the cause of
anything; everything is because
of Him."
"He is unique."
"He has no partner."
"He is The Creator."
"He creates as He destroys."
"All things are subject to His
command."
"He orders a thing to be and it
is."
2.Man is a wave in the boundless
sea of Allah.
"As long as man's vision is
clouded by ignorance and
sensuality he will consider
himself a separate entity,
different from Allah.
"But when the veil between him
and Allah is lifted, he will
then know what he
3 . While living in the world do
not renounce it, yet have no
undue attachment to it. Detachment
from it (zuhd) means
attaining Allah.
IMAM ALI, THE ORIGINATOR
OF SUFISM (MYSTICISM)
Imam Ali is
acclaimed as the Father
of Sufism, and
the Prince
of Saints. Most
Suft orders claim their descent
from Imam Ali and emulate him in
his phi ' losophy, gnosis and
worship of Allah. Imam
Ali held that men should be
virtuous, as virtues purify the
soul; and it is only the
purified soul that can
be the recipient of spiritual
enlightenment. This
is the doctrine of Inner
Light, which
sits in the core of the Sufi
Ihought.
IMAM ALI, THE ORIGINATOR
OF FIQ (ISLAMIC
JURISPRUDENCE)
In the years prior to his own
rule, Imam Ali was consulted by
the preceding Caliphs in matters
of Islamic law and judgements. It
is said that even his archenemy
Muawiyah acknowledged his
superiority in knowledge, and
had consulted him on an unusual
case of inheritance that he was
unable to solve.
During his own rule, Imam Ali
used to address the Muslims
after the congregational
prayers, and expounded on the
Word of Allah, and elaborated
its meanings and implications
with the Hadith
and Sunna of
the Prophet. He
spoke on the purity of Faith and
the Fidelity 'in the ritual
practices of religion, on
Worship and Submission to Allah,
on Charity and Alms giving, on
the Conduct of one!s individual
life and one's interaction with
the Society at large. With
his letters to his governors, he
gave specific instructions on
how to deal with the Muslim and
the non-Muslim subjects under
their charge. All
aspects of human fallibility
were under his direct vision,
and he explained to his sub ects
how to deal with them. Thus,
in the light of Qur'an and Hadith,
as well
as his own illustrious conduct
of life, he laid down the
foundations of Fiq (Islamic
Jurisprudence). The
reader is once again referred to
larger biographical works on the
Imam for details.
IMAM ALI ON KNOWLEDGE
1. Knowledge
is better than (worldly) wealth
because: -"Knowledge is the
legacy of the Prophets; wealth
is the legacy of the pharaohs."
"Knowledge
induces humanity in Prophets to
say,'O Allah! We
worship Thee and are Thine
servants;'while wealth 'induces
the pharaohs and the nimrods to
claim godhead for themselves."
"You
have to guard your wealth, but
knowledge guards you."
"When knowledge is distributed
it increases, but when wealth is
distributed it decreases."
"A man of wealth has many
enemies, but a man of knowledge
has many friends. "
"A man of knowledge has a wider
outlook and is apt to be
generous, but a man of wealth is
apt to be mean and miserly."
"Knowledge gains in depth and
dimension with lapse of time,
but wealth in the forms of
hoarded coins and currency
become rusty and loose its
value."
"You can keep an account of
wealth because it' limited but
you cannot keep is it an account
of knowledge because it is
boundless."
"Knowledge illuminates the mind,
but wealth is apt to darken it."
2. The
highest purpose of knowledge is
the awakening of latent
spiritual faculties whereby
one is enabled to discover his
true and inner self.
3. Any
form of knowledge which failed
to show the infinite
reality in man
was useless, because it could
not fill that vacuun of which
the aching soul of every
individual was so pathetically
conscious."
Selected
Sayings of Imam Ali
1. You
are ordained to recognize the
Imam and obey.
2. Anyone
who has four attributes will not
be deprived of their
(four) effects:
-one who prays to Allah and
implores to Him, will not be
deprived of the granting of his
prayers;
-one who repents for his
thoughts and deeds, will not be
refused acceptance of the
repentance;
-one who has atoned for his
sins, will not be debarred from
salvation;
-one who thanks Allah for His
blessings and bounties, will not
be denied, for their thanks
increase them.
The
truth of this is attested by
al-Quran:
-As far as prayers are
concerned, Allah says, "Pray
thee to me and I shall accept
thy prayers."
-About repentance He says, "
ftoever has done a bad deed or
has persuaded himself to sin,
and then repents and asks for
His forgiveness, he willfind
Allah most Forgiving and
MercifuL "
-About being thankful He says, "Ifyou
are thankfulfor what you are
given then I shall increase My
Bounties and Blessings. " -About
atonement of sins He says, "Allah
accepts the atonement ofthose
who have committed a vice
without realizing its enormity
and then atonefor it.Allah accepts
such attunements, He is Wise and
Omniscient."
3 . Half
of the success in life is to
acquire friends and
sympathizers.
4. This
world is not a place of
permanent abode. It
is a passage, a road on which
you are passing. There
are two kinds of people: -those
who have sold their souls for
eternal damnation; and those who
have bought their souls and
freed them from damnation.
5. Minds
get tired like bodies. When
you feel that your mind is
tired,then invigorate it with
advice.
6. Obstinacy
and stubbornness will not let
you arrive at the correct
decision.
7. In
this world man is a target to
the arrow of death, an easy prey
of calamities and adversities:
-here
every morsel and every draught
is liable to choke one; -here
one never receives a favor until
he loses another instead;
-here every
additional day in one's life is
a day reduced from the total
span of his existence;
-When death is the natural
outcome of life how then can one
expect immortality!
8. No
wealth has more usefulness than
intelligence and wisdom.,
-No solitude is more horrible than
people avoiding you on account
of your vanity and conceit or
when you think your are above
everybody to confide and
consult.
-No eminence is more exalting
than pity.
-No companion can prove more useful
than politeness.
-No heritage is better than culture.
-No leader is superior to Divine
Guidance.
-No deal is more profitable than
good deeds.
-No profit is greater than
heavenly reward.
-No abstinence is better than
refraining from indulging in
doubts (about religion).
-No virtue is better than
refraining from prohibited
deeds.
-No knowledge is superior to
deep thinking and prudence.
-No worship or prayers are more
sacred than fulfillment of
obligations and duties.
-No religious faith is loftier than
feeling ashamed to do wrong and
bearing calamities patiently.
-No eminence is greater than
humility.
-No exaltation or grandeur is
superior to learning and
knowledge.
-Nothing is more respectable
than forgiveness and
forbearance.
-No support and defense is
stronger than consultation and
counsel.
9.Anyone who loves us (Able
Bait) must be ready to accept a
life of austerity.
10.Best deed of a great man is
to forgive and forget. |
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