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The prophet and Ali
A very good and pure spirit existed in the family
of Abu Talib. It looked at the world in a peculiar manner
and saw all things connected and united with one another.
This spirit was very strong in the prophet and Ali and
a very firm relationship existed between them, because Ali
had been brought up by the prophet from his childhood
till he grew up to be a youth. When we admit that it is
possible that good morals should become firm naturally in
a heart and a soul we have also to say that Ali was born
with perfect faith in the prophethood of Muhammad and
support for him, because the qualities and virtues of the
Family of Abu Talib in which the prophet was brought up
were transferred to his cousin from his birth. 1
The personality of Ali developed with the virtues of
his family. It was this place where he heard Muhammad
speak and the call to Islam also started from here.
Ali was quite young when the prophet attached
him with himself and called him his brother.
In his sermon entitled "Qase'a" Ali mentions the
attention paid to him by the prophet and says: "Do you
know, that due to my relationship and on account of my
worth and merit, what were my relations with the prophet.
From the very beginning of my life he loved me and I loved
him. He took me in his lap when I was a baby and thence I
was always with him, he often kept me embraced to his
heart, he used to make me sleep next to him; we used to
be so close to each other that I felt the warmth of his body
and smelled the fragrance of his breath.When I was a baby,
he fed me with his hands often chewing hard bits for me.
He never found me lying nor weak and wavering. From the
time of his babyhood God had appointed the Holy Ghost
to be always with him and this archangel was leading him
towards exemplary qualities and high moral values and
I followed the prophet step by step as a baby camel
follows its mother. Daily he used to place before me a
fresh standard of efficiency and used to order me to
follow it. Every year he used to stay in a grotto of the Hira
Mountains for sometime, and nobody used to be with him
but I. None could then see or hear him or be near him
but I. During those days Islam was the religion of only the
prophet and his wife Khadijah, I was the third of the trio
(the prophet, Khadijah and Ali himself). Nobody else in
this world had accepted Islam I even then used to see the
divine light of revelation and prophethood and smell the
heavenly fragrance of prophethood. When the prophet
received the first revelation Satan lamented loudly. I asked
the prophet "Who is lamenting and why". He replied, "It
is Satan who had given up hopes of acquiring complete
sway over human mind. In this disappointment he is
lamenting over the chance lost. Verily, Ali, you also hear
whatever is revealed to me and you also see whatever is
being shown to me. With this difference that you are not
entrusted with prophethood, but you will be my successor,
helper and vi zier, and you will always uphold truth
and justice".
Childhood is the age when one is fully capable of
acquiring good qualities. Ali spent a good deal of his life
with the prophet alone. He imitated the prophet's conduct
and remained separated from his community which was
leading a miserable life and was firmly bound with the
chains of hereditary customs.
For years Ali lived in a pure atmosphere by the side
of his cousin and was loved very much by him. None of
the companions and followers of the prophet could develop
such a close relationship with him. Ali opened his eyes on
the path which had been opened for him by his cousin.
He learnt how to worship God from Muhammad's
prayers. He enjoyed the prophet's love, kindness and
brotherhood. His relationship with Muhammad was
similar to the one between Muhammad and Abu Talib.
When Ali first felt the sentiment of love in his mind
he loved Muhammad. When he spoke for the first time
he spoke with Muhammad. On the very first occasion
when he was required to display manliness and valour he
showed readiness to support Muhammad. Muhammad's
friends were friendly with him and his enemies also respected
his personality. Ali was such a protege and disciple
of the prophet that he became his soul and a part of
his limbs.
In the early days of the prophetic mission of the
prophet some elders amongst Quraysh who hated worship
joined him. The slaves and helpless persons came round
him in expectation of justice and freedom. And after he
was successful and victorious a third group also joined
him, because those people had no alternative left. They
wanted to benefit from the new situation and most of Bani
Umayyah belonged to this group. These different groups
embraced Islam on different occasions and although they
resembled one another in the matter of obedience to the
prophet the degrees of their faith differed. However, as Ali
was born and brought up in the lap of prophethood, his
faith was natural and innate, and he emerged from the body
of his mother with this faith in his heart. His faith had
nothing to do with age or the vicissitudes of time. He offered
prayers and testified the prophethood of Muhammad at
an age when a child cannot even express his thoughts. And
he did all this without obtaining any order or advice from
anyone. Most of the persons who embraced Islam in the
early days of Muhammad's prophethood had worshipped
the idols in previous days. However, when Ali prostrated
for the first time it was before the Allah of Muhammad.
This was the quality of the faith of the person who was
destined to grow up as a supporter and well-wisher of the
prophet, to lead the faithful after the prophet, and to save
the people from the calamities of time.
1
The correct position is this that Abu Talib and the members of his family or the ways and manners of the time or the environments had no influences on the prophethood of Muhammad or the Imamate of Ali. These things were related with divine inspiration and neither Abu Talib nor the members of this family shared the secrets of prophethood and Imamate.
