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The Day of Ghadeer
Ali ebn'e Abe Talib (AS)
The Commander of the Faithful
| Introduction | His birth | His Mother |
| His Teacher | His Islam | After the Prophet(S) |
| His Authority | His Immate | His Martyrdom |
Secret of Imam Ali's Love
by Allama Murtaza Mutahhari
Persian Poems about Imam Ali (AS)
This part gives) an account of the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, the first of the Imams of the believers, of the rulers of the Muslims and of God's (appointed) successors in religion after the Apostle of God, the truthful one and the trusted one, Muhammad ebn'e abd'allah, the seal of the Prophets, blessings on him and his pure family.
(He was) The brother of the Apostle of God and his paternal cousin, and his helper (wazir) in his affair, his son-in- law (being married) to his daughter, Fatima the chaste, mistress of the women of the universe. (The full name of) the Commander of the faithful is Ali ebn'e abi'talib ebn'e abd'ul'Muttalib ebn'e Hashim enb'e abd'Manaf. (He was) the Lord of the testamentary trustees of authority (wasiyyin), the best of blessing and peace be on him. His kunya was Abu al-Hasan.
He was born in the Sacred House (i.e. the Kaba) in Mecca on Friday, the thirteenth day of the month of Rajab, thirty years after the year of the Elephant (c.570). Nobody before or after him has ever been born in the House of God, the Most High. (It was a mark) of him being honored by God, the Most High, may His name be exalted, and of his position being dignified in its greatness.
His mother was Fatima, daughter of Asad b. Hashim b.Abd Manaf, may God be pleased with her. She was like a mother to the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, and he (the Apostle) was brought up under her care.
He was grateful for her kindness and she was among the first to believe
in him and she emigrated with him in the group of the emigrants.
When she died, the Prophet shrouded her with his own shirt in
order to protect her from the insects of the earth, and he laid
her to rest in her grave in order that, through that, she might
be protected from (the crushing pressure of) the
narrow space within the grave. He dictated to her her last
words (which were) the statement of the authority (wilaya) of
her son, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, so that
at the examination after burial, she would be able to reply with
those words. He singled her out with this great favor because of her
position with God, may He be magnified and exalted,and with him, peace
be on him. The report of that is well known.
The Commander of the faithful, Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be on him, and his brothers were among the leading members of the second generation of descendants of Hashim. In this way he gained two marks of nobility, through his growing up under the care and education of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family.
He was the first of the family of the House and of the Companions to believe in God and His Apostle. He was the first male whom the Prophet, may God bless him and his family, summoned to Islam and who answered.
He never ceased to support the religion and to strive against the polytheists. He constantly defended the faith and fought against those who supported deviation (from the truth) and despotism. He spread the teachings of the sunna (the practice of thc Prophet) and the Qur'an, judged with justice and enjoined (people) to do good.
He was with the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family,
twenty-three years after the (coming) of the (prophetic) mission.
Of these, thirteen years were in Mecca before the migration when
he shared with him
all the persecutions and bore most of his hardships.
Then there were ten years in Medina after the emigration when he defended him against the polytheists and strove with him against the unbelievers. He protected him with his own life from the enemies of religion until the time God, the Exalted, took (the Prophet) to His heaven, raised him to the highest place in heaven and bestowed His blessings and peace on him and his family. On that day the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, was thirty-three years of age.
On the day of the death of the Prophet, may God
bless him and his family, the community differed over his Imamate.
His Shia who were all the Banu Hashim, Salman, Ammar, Abu Dharr,
al-Miqdad, Khuzayma ebn'e Thabit - the man who is known as the
possessor of two testimonies - Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Jabir b.
Abd Allah al-Ansari Abu Said al-Khudri and people like them among
the important emigrants and Ansar, (all these) maintained that he
was the successor (khalifa)
after the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, and the
Imam.
(They did this) because of his outstanding merit (fadl) above all
mankind, through the fact that there were gathered in him the
qualities of outstanding merit, judgement and perfection, such
as him being the first of the community to enter the faith, his
superiority over them in knowledge of the laws, his precedence
over them in fighting (jihad) and the distinction which set him
apart from them in the extent of his piety, asceticism and righteousness.
Furthermore he had been specially singled out by the Prophet from among (all) his relations because of (the qualities) which no other relation, apart from him, shared with the Prophet and because of the nomination (nass) of his authority (wilaya) by God, may God be magnified and exalted, in the Qur'an where He, may His name be exalted, says:
"Your authority (wali) is God and His Apostle and those
believers who perform the prayer and pay alms (zakat) while
they are bowing (in prayer)." [ V 55 ]
It is known that no one except him paid alms while bowing (in prayer).
It has been established in language that wali means "the most
appropriate for authority" (awla), without there being any
opposition (to this definition). If the Commander of the faithful,
peace be on him, was, by the stipulation of the Qur'an, more
appropriate for authority among the people than themselves because
of his being their wali according to the textual nomination (nass)
in the Clear Explanation (i.e. the Qur'an, tibyan), it was obviously
necessary for
all of them to obey him, just as obedience to God, the Most High,
and obedience to His Apostle, peace be on him and his family,
was required because of the information about their authority
(wilaya) over creatures which is given in this verse with
clear proof.
(Another reason for their support for the Commander of the faithful
was) because of what the Prophet, may God bless him and his family,said
on the day (of the assembly) at his house. He had especially
gathered the Banu Abd al-Muttalib there in order to make the
(following) solemn pledge:
"Whoever helps me in this matter will be my brother, my
testamentary trustee (wasi) my helper (wazir), my heir and
my successor after me."
Then the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, stood up before him among all the gathering of them, and on that day he was the youngest of them, and he said:
"O Apostle of God, I will help you."
Then the Prophet, may God bless him and his family, said:
"Sit down, you are my brother, my trustee, my helper, my inheritor and successor after me."
This is a clear statement about the succession (after the Prophet).
In addition, there is also what (the Prophet), peace be on him and his family, said on the day of Ghadir Khumm. The community had gathered to listen to the sermon (in which he asked):
"Am I not more appropriate for authority (awla) over you than yourselves?"
"Yes",
they answered.
Then he spoke to them in an ordered manner without any interruption in his speech:
"Whomsoever I am the authority over (mawla), Ali is also the authority over."
Thus he (the Prophet) required for him (Ali), through laying down obedience to him and his authority (over them), the same authority as he had over them, and which he made them acknowledge and which they did not deny. This is clear (evidence) of the nomination (nass) of him for the Imamate and for succession to his position.
Furthermore there is (the Prophet's), peace be on him and his family, statement to him at the time of setting out to Tabuk:
"You are in the same position with respect to me as Aaron (Harun) was to Moses (Musa) except that there is no prophet after me."
Thus he required him (to have) the office of helping (i.e. administering)
and to be characterized by love and outstanding merit over everyone.
(He also required) his deputizing for him both during his life
and after his death. The Qur'an gives evidence for all that coming
to Aaron (Harun) from Moses, peace be on them, when God, may
He be magnified and exalted, said in
giving a report of what Moses, peace be on him, said:
"Make Aaron, my brotherly a helper for me from my family. Give
me support through him and make him participate in my affair
so that we may glorify You much and we may remember You frequently
in that You have been a watcher over us."
[ XX 29-35]
God, the Most Exalted said:
"Your request is granted Moses." [ XX 36 ]
This (verse) confirmed that Aaron had a share with Moses in prophecy,
and in
helping in delivering the message and his support was strengthened
through
him by his aid. (Moses) also told him of deputizing for him (when
he said):
"Deputize for me among my people. Act for (their) benefit and do not follow the path of the corrupters." [ VII 142 ]
This confirms his succession by the precise statement of revelation.
Therefore, when the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family,
gave all the ranks which Aaron had from Moses to the Commander
of the faithful, peace be on him, in the same extent, except
for prophecy, (all such things) were required of him as helping
the Apostle, giving him support, outstanding merit and love,
because these qualities were definitely required by that. Then
by the clear statement there is his deputizing for him during
his life and "after the
prophethood" which (gives evidence of his succession) by specification
of the exception, (of Prophethood) when he excludes him from
it by mentioning "after".
The Imamate of the Commander of the faithful,
peace be on him, was for thirty years after the Prophet, may
God bless him and his family. For twenty-four years and six months
of these he was prevented from administering the laws (of the
office and had to) exercise precautionary
dissimulation (taqiyya) and withdrawal.
For five years and six months of these, he was troubled by wars against
the hypocrites, those who broke their pledges, the unjust and
those who deviated
(from the religion) and he was plagued by the sedition of those who
had gone astray. In the same way the Apostle of God, may God
bless him and his family, had been prevented from (administering)
the laws (of his office) through fear and through being spied
upon, and through being a fugitive and through being exiled,
so that he had no power to fight the unbelievers and
no means of defending the believers. Then he emigrated and for ten
years after the emigration he remained making war on the unbelievers
and being troubled by the hypocrites until the time that God,
may His name be exalted, took him unto Himself and made him dwell
in the gardens of Paradise.
The death of the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him occurred before dawn of Friday, the twenty-first of the month of Ramadan, in the year 40 A.H. He was a victim of the sword. Ibn Muljam al-Muradi, may God curse him, killed him at the mosque of Kufa, which he had come out to in order to wake the people for the dawn prayer on the night of the nineteenth of the month of Ramadan.
He had been lying in wait for him from the beginning of the night. When he (the Commander of the faithful) passed by him while the latter was hiding his design by feigning sleep amid a group of people who were asleep, he (Ibn Muljam) sprang out and struck him on the top of his head with his sword which was poisoned.
He lingered through the day of the nineteenth and the night and day
of the twentieth and the first third of the night of the twenty-first.
Then he, peace be on him, died a martyr and met his Lord, Most
High, as one who has been wronged. He, peace be on him, knew
of that before its time and he told the people of it before its
time. His two sons, al- Hasan and al-Hussein, peace
be on them, performed (the tasks) of washing him and shrouding him
according to his bequest. Then they carried him to al-Ghari at
Najaf in Kufa and they buried him there. They removed the traces
of the place of his burial according to his bequest which was
made about that to hath of them by him, because of what he,
peace be on him, knew about the regime of the Umayyads (which would
come) after him, and their hostile attitude towards him. (For
he knew) the evil action and abuse to which they would be led
by their wicked intentions if they had been able to know that
(place). His grave, peace be on him, remained hidden until al-SAdiq
Jafar ebn'e Muhammad, peace be on them, pointed it out during
the Abbasid regime. For he visited it when he came to visit Abu
Ja'far (al-Mansur) while the latter was in al-Hira.
Then the Shi'a knew of it and they began from that time to make visitation to his (grave), peace be on him and on his pure offspring.
On the day of his death he was 63 years of age.
Ref:
Kitab al Irshad - Pages 1 - 6
(The Book Of Guidance)
By Shaykh al Mufid
Translated by I.K.A Howard
