ISLAMABAD – On Friday, the 13th of Rajab (the seventh month of the Islamiccalendar) – which falls on March 31 this year – a momentous event tookplace.
According to Shia beliefs and as confirmed by some Sunni texts, Fatimabinte Asad, wife of Abu Talib, was heavily pregnant and had come to theHoly Kaaba to circumbulate it when she felt labour pains. Suddenly, thewall of the Holy Kaaba cracked open and she entered inside; there she gavebirth to a baby boy. To this day, the followers of Ali swear that they cansee the crack though it has been filled up since, and they try andtouch the wall’s surface during Hajj and Umrah.
I, too, have often done the same, despite the objections of the guardsposted there, who feel it is biddat (innovation).
It is said that once Fatima Binte Asad had entered the Kaaba, the wallswere sealed again and it was only on the third day that the locks on itsdoors could be opened when Muhammad, the baby’s cousin, came in. Thus, thiswas the first face the newborn saw, and he was named Ali (exalted).
Ali followed his cousin Muhammad everywhere and thus he learnt the lessonsof the two worlds. As a young boy, he was the first male to embrace Islamas his religion and Muhammad as the Prophet of God. The first woman was theProphet’s wife, Khadijah.
Ali was a medium-built man with piercing eyes. He was unusal as he was notonly a man of wisdom and scholarship, but also one of the bravest warriorsknown to the world and a just administrator. As Sir Edward Gibbon said, “Heunited the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint; his wisdomstill breathes in a collection of moral and religious sayings.”
He is the hero of millions of qawwalis: The most famous being the saying ofthe Prophet (pbuh)
*Man kunto Maula**Fa hazaa Aliyun Maula *(whoever accepts me as a maula/Aliis his maula too)
We have grown up on stories about Ali’s legendary wisdom and bravery. As adevotee of Hazrat Ali, I would like to share a few of them with you.
His sayings and letters have been preserved in a compilation called *NahjulBalagha* or *Peak of Eloquence*. Whenever I have shared his wise thoughtson social media, it has been met with an enthusiastic response.
In fact, I often use his words to respond to my trolls. Some of myfavourites are:
The sin which makes you sad and repentant is more liked by Allah than thegood deed which turns you arrogant.Forgiveness is the best revenge.If yousucceed in misleading somebody, do not think of him as being a big fool.Rather think about how he trusted you.The moment you start arguing with anignorant fool, you have already lost.The best form of devotion to theservice of Allah is not to make a show of it.Imam Ali once said to his sonImam Hasan, “My son, learn four things from me and through them you willlearn four more. If you keep them in mind, your actions will not bring anyharm to you: The greatest wealth is wisdom; the greatest poverty isstupidity; the worst is that of vanity and self-glorification; and the bestnobility of descent exhibits itself in politeness and in refinement ofmanner. The next four things, my son, are: do not make friendship with afool, because when he will try to do you good, he will do you harm; do notmake a miser your friend, because he will run away from you at the time ofyour dire need; do not be friendly with a vicious and wicked personmbecause he will sell you and your friendship at the cheapest price and donot make friend of a liar, because like a mirage he will make you visualisevery near the things, which lie at a great distance and will make you seeat the great distance the things which are near to you”.
For someone who lived his life by The Prophet’s teachings, Ali was notafraid to adapt to changing circumstances. There is a tradition set by theHoly Prophet that “with the help of hair dye, turn old age into youth sothat you do not resemble the Jews”.
When Imam Ali was asked to comment upon this, he said that in the earlystage of Islam, there were very few Muslims. The Holy Prophet had advisedthem to look young and energetic, and to not adopt the fashion of the Jews(priests), who had long, white flowing beards.
But Muslims were not in a minority then, theirs was a strong and powerfulstate, and hence they could choose any style they liked.
When Ali became the fourth Caliph of Islam, he appointed Malik Ashtar asthe governor of Egypt. His instructions to him are a statement of goodgovernance and kept in the United Nations as an example. I am reproducingsome portions here (translated by Rasheed Turabi):
*“*Be it known to you, O, Malik, that I am sending you as Governor to acountry which in the past has experienced both just and unjust rule. Menwill scrutinise your actions with a searching eye, even as you used toscrutinise the actions of those before you, and speak of you even as youdid speak of them…
Remember that the citizens of the state are of two categories. They areeither your brethren in religion or your brethren in kind. They are subjectto infirmities and liable to commit mistakes. Some indeed do commitmistakes. But forgive them even as you would like God to forgive you.
Do not say: “I am your overlord and dictator, and that you should,therefore, bow to my commands”, as that will corrupt your heart, weakenyour faith in religion and create disorder in the state.
Maintain justice in administration and impose it on your own self and seekthe consent of the people, for, the discontent of the masses sterilises thecontentment of the privileged few and the discontent of the few losesitself in the contentment of the many. Remember the privileged few will notrally round you in moments of difficulty: they will try to side-trackjustice, they will ask for more than what they deserve and will show nogratitude for favours done to them…
Unloose the tangle of mutual hatred between the public and theadministration and remove all those causes which may give rise to strainedrelations between them… ”
He then went on to give wise advice on how to keep the army happy, how tochoose a chief justice, how to redress the woes of cultivators for even ifthere is a temporary loss of revenue by reduction of taxes it could be madeup “in the hour of greater prosperity of the land and enable you to improvethe condition of your towns and to raise the prestige of your state”.
He advocated meeting the poor and the oppressed periodically in an openconference without armed guards to hear their grievances.
Today, he is mostly remembered for his legendary bravery, and justifiablyso.
In the battle of the Trench, the famous Quraish warrior Amr bin Abd e Wudchallenged someone from the army of Muhammad to face a duel, which was thecustom of war:
“I am Amr bin Abd e Wud, the greatest warrior in Arabia. Is there anyoneamong you who has the courage to meet me in personal combat?”
No one responded to the giant’s call. When Ali rose, he was stopped by theProphet, who said, “This is Amr bin Abd e Wud.”
Twice the Prophet stopped Ali, but the third time Ali simply said, “I amAli ibn Abu Talib.”
Ali’s agility and his quickness with his feet helped him parry the giant’sblows. Ali also had the famous double-edged sword Zulfiqar in his hand. TheZulfiqar was to become one of the deadliest swords in myth.
Soon, Ali had Amr flat on his back, on the ground. When Amr could not breakAli’s hold and rise, he spat on his face.
Ali, who had been lowering his dagger on Amr’s throat, rose, took a stepbackwards and sheathed his weapons. When Amr then jumped up (to retaliate),Ali swung the Zulfiqar at him and killed him.
He then went back to The Prophet. Muhammad asked, “O Ali! Why did you stepback when you were just about to kill Amr?”
“O Messenger of God, just as I was about to run my dagger on his throat hespat at me and abused me. If I had killed him, then it would have been apersonal revenge as I was furious. I had to overcome my rage and so steppedaway. I wanted to kill him only for the sake of and in obedience to Allah’scommands.”
Cries of triumph could be heard from the victorious army:
*La Fatah Ila AliLa Saif Ila Zulfiqar *(Truly there is no victor like Ali/And no sword like the Zulfiqar).
Note: There are many dates given for Ali’s birth, but as it is recordedthat he was born on a Friday, it has been narrowed down to 16 BH – the year13 Rajab fell on Friday. This date has been fixed as July 17, 607 CE,according to *Kitab Maqtal Ali* by Abu Mikhnaf, originally published 156AH/773 AD; from which Ali Ibn Abi Talib’s birthdate was replicated by IMAM(Imam Mahdi Association of Marjaeya) Cultural Publication; Volume 2, Issue5.