Imam Ali the Commander of Faithful [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

PUBLISHER'S WORD

"…ALLAH ONLY DESIRES TO
KEEP AWAY FROM YOU UNCLEANNESS, O PEOPLE OF THE
HOUSE,…"

Holy Qur'an (33:33)

PUBLISHER'S WORD

"And We desired to bestow a
favor on those who were deemed weak

in the land, and to make them Imams, and to make them
the heirs,"

Holy Qur'an (28:5)

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds,
Who sent His Prophet, Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Mustafa
(s.a.w.), as a Mercy to the Worlds. Praise be to Allah,
the Most Generous, Who also gave to mankind, the Guides,
who would continue to keep us on the Straight Path after
the death of the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.).

This idea of guidance is called Imamate, and without
adherence to it, one has no hope to gain Divine
Satisfaction for any of his prayers or deeds in this
world, and no reward in the hereafter.

Why is Imamate so important that if we do not believe
in the Guides and follow them we cannot hope for life
after death? Imam Ali (a.s.) is referred to in the Holy
Qur'an many times. All of these references are positive,
praising, and respectful. How could it be that the final
word of Allah, Almighty, praises this Imam, and yet for
centuries he was cursed on the minbars of the mosques
throughout the Muslim empire?

The answer to these questions can be found by any sincere
researcher with an open heart who earnestly wishes to
know. As for the Muslims, they have been misguided to the
point that only through Allah's intervention can they
throw off their useless and evil alliances and
affiliations of the past which will only lead them to a
place where repentance will do them no good.

May Allah, for the sake of His Prophets and Imams, bring
them out of the darkness they have fallen into because of
treachery, ignorance, greed, jealousy and pride.

This book, which you now hold in your hands, is such a
small and weak attempt to explain the person of Amir al-
Mu'minin Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) that only volumes
of work could begin to do him justice. And the whole
question surrounding this great man is grounded in
exactly that one word "Justice".

A note of importance is the difference in the meanings of
Imam and Caliph. The Imams refer exclusively to Imam Ali
bin Abi Talib (a.s.) and his sons Imam Hasan and Imam
Hussein (a.s.) and the nine sons descended from Imam
Hussein (a.s.). They were chosen by Allah, the Almighty
and were not selected by the people. Whereas the caliphs
were elected to their offices in a political role.
Unfortunately, Islam does not divide politics from other
parts of life including religion and since the elected
ones were not always qualified to interpret the religious
aspects of their rule, many deviations have occurred and
continue to occur in the Muslim community. With this in
mind, the position of Imam Ali (a.s.) becomes all the
more esteemed as you will find in the reading of this
small book.

Islamic history is probably one of the most colorful,
intriguing, mysterious and brilliant records of all. As
Muslims, or those who are interested in Islam, we find
that to have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of
the religion we must know its history. For no other
religion is steeped in so many mysterious happenings that
brought about innovations in thc precepts taught by its
Prophet (s.a.w.) and at such a rapid pace.

When studying and researching Islamic history, no name or
personality is more discussed than that of Amir
Al-Mu'minin Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.). So much has
been said of him, in truth and in falsehood, that we can
become quite confused over this one personality and the
implications of the mark he left on history.

Western writers have admired him and written many word
about him. Eastern writers have revered him. In some
places he is erroneously worshipped. Islamic writers have
tried to present a clear picture of him and the
historical facts that surrounded him from his birth to
his death. Much dialogue between the different sects of
Islam has taken place about him. Still we have only been
able to touch the "'tip of the iceberg" when
speaking about Imam Ali (a.s.).

At the time of the death of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.),
Imam Ali's (a.s.) position became one of controversy and
self-imposed isolation. He was selected by Allah and
nominated by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) at a place called
Ghadir Khum to take up the reins of leadership after the
Prophet (s.a.w.). More than 100,000 Muslims witnessed
this selection and nomination and gave their allegiance
to him at that time and place. Still, it was nearly 25
years before he could take his rightful position. He
ruled for less than 5 years before he met martyrdom at
the hands of a paid assassin. At 63 years of age his
earthly light was extinguished and his heavenly light
shone once again.

His singular distinction is that he was the Imam and
Caliph of the Muslims. His descendants were Imams,
guiding the Muslims in religious matters, but none were
able to truly take the political position of Caliph
during their lifetimes. When it looked as though they
might become such by popular choice, they were brutally
assassinated except for the last of them, Imam Mahdi
(a.s.), on whom we await.

In Part Two of the Biography of Imam Ali (a.s.), in
the series of biographies of the Ahlul-Bait (a.s.), we
will cover the Imamate and Caliphate of Amir Al-Mu'minin
Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.). His wisdom was unmatched
and not overlooked during the rule of the first three
caliphs as we illustrated in Part One. As caliph, all of
the finer points of his knowledge and ability came to the
forefront and his rule was marked with sternness in the
face of the enemy and gentleness in the face of the
oppressed, kindness toward the orphans and poor,
generosity toward the needy, honor toward his
responsibility, and love toward his children. He was all
and everything as no ruler after him could achieve.

We have implored Imam Ali (a.s.) to help us in the task
of relating his story to those who do not know him at
all, and to those who deny him justice. May Allah, the
Most Merciful, help us all.

We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the
One, and that Muhammad bin Abdullah (s.a.w.) is His
Prophet and that Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) is His
Vicegerent. We ask Allah, Most Beneficent, to send our
greetings to the Messenger of Allah and Amir al- Mu'minin
Imam Ali bin Abi Talib.

We pray to Allah, Most High, for His assistance in
this work.

With Allah comes success.

PART ONE

"O Ali, you were the first among the believers
to believe, you were the first among the Muslims to
embrace Islam, and you are to me like Aaron to
Moses."*

Prophet
Muhammad (s.a.w.)

______________________

*Al-Muhib Al-Tabari, Dhakhair Al-'Oqba, Cairo ed , 1356
A. H , p 58,

quoting Umar bin al-Khattab.

INTRODUCTION

"No one has ever suffered from
his people as I have."(1)

Imam Ali (a.s.)

No great person of history has endured injustice and
selfishness as much as Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) did
during his lifetime and even after his departure from
this world.

His life was full of feats and glory, yet injustice was
poured on him and continued after his death. For a long
time after his martyrdom, he was deprived of the simplest
rights, such as having his biography and unique place in
history written fairly and truthfully.

For many generations, after the departure of the Imam,
the Islamic ummah (nation) was subjected to unprecedented
deceitfulness, so that it might forget Imam Ali (a.s.)
and his effective role in pioneering the Islamic movement
towards greatness and glory. If they could not forget
him, they were subjected to a distorted and misleading
portrait of him.

It suffices to know that for decades the oratory
pulpits-then the most important means of education and
disseminating information in the Muslim world--were used
to abusing Imam Ali (a.s.) and his unique part in
history. Such perniciousness was motivated by the enemies
of Islam and to avenge the idolators killed in the Battle
of Badr.

Friday Prayer Sermons, for example, during the Umayyads,
used to start with cursing Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.)
in such words which even history declined to write on its
pages.(2)

This act of heresy effectively defaced the character of
Imam Ali (a.s.). it devised and backed by certain forces
and regimes and taken up by mercenary narrators,
traditionists, court historians and the like.

Yet, despite the pervasive attempts to defy truth with
fabrications and falsifications, nobody, whosoever, could
prevent the reality from emerging through the clouds of
conspiracy owing to the heroic nature of Islam. The
duration of lies and deceit became short-lived together
with the evil plot that invented then.

Thus, the groups of mercenaries, with their hired pens,
who tried to twist Imam Ali's (a.s.) biography according
to their own desires, interests, and mischievous aims,
miscalculated their devious intentions. They were
ignorant of the fact that truth cannot be concealed
forever; that "the foam passes away the scum onto
the banks."

Al-Balagh Foundation--with the help of Allah and
within the scope of its undertaking to spread original
Islamic thought; and to place the facts of its history
before the Muslim ummah in order to remove the camouflage
of obscurity--presents in this book a study on the life
of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) and his fundamental role
in the construction of Islam and its glorious past.

The study is in three sections of two volumes. The
first is a brief biography of Amir Al-Mu'minin (the
Commander of the Faithful) (a.s.) during the life of the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) and during the era of the
first three caliphs.

The second part of the study concerns itself with the
period during which Imam Ali (a.s.) undertook the
leadership of the Muslims. We have tried to cover his
heroic and noble attitudes in the fields of politics,
administration, economics, society and issues of war and
peace.

The third part, published in volume two, outlines the
prominent features of the personality of Amir al-Mu'minin
(a.s.), covering his closeness to Allah, and to the
people around him, and his ideological, informative and
intellectual offerings to the Islamic ummah and, in fact,
the whole of mankind.

We ask Allah's direction, support, guidance and help
in order to devote all our energies and true
possibilities of belief to the arena of the current
ideological conflict between Islamic ummah and its bitter
enemies, until the great Islamic religion prevails. He is
the Hearer, the Responder.

Al-Balagh Foundation