Ali
Ali ibn Abi Talib was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Fatima bint Asad, Ali was raised in the household of his cousin Muhammad and was among the first to accept his teachings.
Ali played a pivotal role in the early years of Islam when Muslims were severely persecuted in Mecca. After the immigration to Medina in 622, Muhammad gave his daughter Fatima to Ali in marriage and swore a pact of brotherhood with him. Ali served as Muhammad's secretary and deputy in this period, and was the flag bearer of his army. Numerous sayings of Muhammad praise Ali, the most controversial of which was uttered in 632 at the Ghadir Khumm, "Whoever I am his, then Ali is his." The interpretation of the polysemous Arabic word is disputed: for Shia Muslims, Muhammad thus invested Ali with his religious and political authority, while Sunni Muslims view this as a mere statement of friendship and rapport. When Muhammad died in the same year, a group of Muslims met in the absence of Ali and appointed Abu Bakr as their leader. Ali later relinquished his claims to leadership and resigned from public life during the reigns of Abu Bakr and his successor, Umar. Even though his advice was occasionally sought, the conflicts between Ali and the first two caliphs are epitomized by his refusal to follow their practices. This refusal cost Ali the caliphate to the benefit of Uthman, who was thus appointed to succeed Umar by the electoral council. Ali was also highly critical of Uthman, who was widely accused of nepotism and corruption. Yet Ali also repeatedly mediated between the caliph and the provincial dissidents angered by his policies.
Following Uthman's assassination in June 656, Ali was elected caliph in Medina. He immediately faced two separate rebellions to avenge Uthman: The triumvirate of Talha, Zubayr, both companions of Muhammad, and his widow Aisha captured Basra in Iraq but were defeated by Ali in the Battle of the Camel in 656. Elsewhere, Mu'awiya, whom Ali had removed the governorship of Syria, fought against Ali in the inconclusive Battle of Siffin in 657, which ended in a failed arbitration process that alienated some of Ali's supporters. These formed the Kharijites, who later terrorized the public and were crushed by Ali in the Battle of Nahrawan in 658. Ali was assassinated in 661 by the Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljam, which paved the way for Mu'awiya to seize power and found the dynastic Umayyad Caliphate.
Ali is revered for his courage, honesty, unbending devotion to Islam, magnanimity, and equal treatment of all Muslims. For his admirers, he has thus become the archetype of uncorrupted Islam and pre-Islamic chivalry. Sunni Muslims regard him as the last of the caliphs, while Shia Muslims venerate him as their first Imam and the rightful religious and political successor to Muhammad. Ali's place is said to be second only to Muhammad in Shia Muslim culture. The shrine of Ali in Najaf, Iraq, is a major destination for Shia pilgrimage. The legacy of Ali is collected and studied in numerous books, the most famous of which is.
Birth and early life
Ali was born in Mecca to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib and his wife Fatima bint Asad around 600 CE. His date of birth is possibly 13 Rajab, which is the occasion celebrated annually by Shia Muslims. Ali may have been the only person born inside the Ka'ba, the holiest site of Islam, which is located in Mecca. Ali's father was a leading member of the Banu Hashim, a clan within the Meccan tribe of Quraysh. Abu Talib also raised his nephew Muhammad after his parents died. Later, when Abu Talib fell into poverty, Ali was taken in at the age of about five and raised by Muhammad and his wife Khadija.Aged about eleven, Ali was among the first to accept Muhammad's teachings and profess Islam. Ali did so either after Khadija or after Khadija and Muhammad's successor, Abu Bakr. While the precise order here is debated among Shia and Sunni scholars, the earliest sources place Ali before Abu Bakr. Muhammad's call to Islam in Mecca lasted from 610 to 622, during which Ali assiduously supported the small Muslim community, especially the poor. Some three years after his first revelation, Muhammad gathered his relatives for a feast, invited them to Islam, and asked for their assistance. Aged about fourteen, Ali was the only relative there who offered his support, after which Muhammad told his guests that Ali was his brother and his successor, according to the Sunni historian al-Tabari. The Shia interpretation of this episode is that Muhammad had already designated Ali as his successor.
Companionship of Muhammad
When tipped off about an assassination plot in 622, Muhammad escaped to Yathrib, now known as Medina, but Ali stayed behind as his decoy. That Ali risked his life for Muhammad is said to be the reason for the revelation of the Quranic passage, "But there is also a kind of man who gives his life away to please God." This emigration marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Ali also escaped Mecca after returning the goods that had been entrusted to Muhammad there. Later in Medina, Muhammad selected Ali as his brother when he paired Muslims for fraternity pacts. Around 623–625, Muhammad gave his daughter Fatima to Ali in marriage, aged about twenty-two at the time. Muhammad had earlier turned down marriage proposals for Fatima by some of his companions, notably, Abu Bakr and Umar.Event of the
A Christian envoy from Najran, located in South Arabia, arrived in Medina circa 632 and negotiated a peace treaty with Muhammad. The envoy also debated with Muhammad the nature of Jesus, human or divine. Linked to this episode is verse 3:61 of the Quran, which instructs Muhammad to challenge his opponents to , perhaps when their debate had reached a deadlock. Even though the delegation ultimately withdrew from the challenge, Muhammad appeared for the occasion of, accompanied by Ali, his wife Fatima, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn. The inclusion of these four by Muhammad in the ritual, as his witnesses and guarantors, likely raised their religious rank within the community. If the word 'ourselves' in the verse is a reference to Ali and Muhammad, as Shia authors argue, then the former naturally enjoys a similar religious authority in the Quran as the latter.Political career
In Medina, Ali acted as Muhammad's secretary and deputy. He was also one of the scribes tasked with committing the Quran to writing. In 628, Ali wrote down the terms of the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya, the peace treaty between Muslims and Meccan pagans. In 630, divine orders pushed Muhammad to replace Abu Bakr with Ali for a key Quranic announcement in Mecca, according to the canonical Sunni source. Ali also helped ensure that the Conquest of Mecca in 630 was bloodless and later destroyed the idols housed in Ka'ba. In 631, Ali was sent to preach Islam in Yemen, as a consequence of which the Hamdanids peacefully converted. Ali also peacefully resolved a blood feud between Muslims and the Banu Jadhima.Military career
Ali accompanied Muhammad in all of his military missions except the Expedition of Tabuk in 630, during which Ali was left behind in charge of Medina. The hadith of the position is linked to this occasion, "Are you not content, Ali, to stand to me as Aaron stood to Moses, except that there will be no prophet after me?" This statement appears in the canonical Sunni sources and, among others. For the Shia, this hadith signifies Ali's usurped right to succeed Muhammad. In the absence of Muhammad, Ali commanded the expedition to Fadak in 628.Ali was renowned for his bravery on the battlefield, and for his magnanimity towards his defeated enemies. He was the standard-bearer in the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Khaybar. He vigorously defended Muhammad in the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of Hunayn, and Muslims' victory in the Battle of Khaybar has been attributed to his courage, where he is said to have torn off the iron gate of the enemy fort. Ali also defeated the pagan champion Amr ibn Abd Wudd in the Battle of the Trench in 627. According to al-Tabari, Muhammad reported hearing a divine voice at Uhud, " no sword but Zulfiqar , no chivalrous youth but Ali." Ali and another companion, Zubayr, apparently oversaw the killing of the Banu Qurayza men for treachery in 626627, though the historicity of this account has been doubted.
Ghadir Khumm
On his return trip from the Hajj pilgrimage in 632, Muhammad halted the large caravan of pilgrims at the Ghadir Khumm and addressed them after the congregational prayer. After the prayer, Muhammad delivered a sermon to a large number of Muslims in which he emphasized the importance of the Quran and his . Taking Ali by the hand, Muhammad then asked if he was not the believers than themselves, this is evidently a reference to verse 33:6 of the Quran. When they affirmed, Muhammad then declared, "He whose I am, Ali is his.", a canonical Sunni source, adds that Muhammad repeated this statement three or four more times and that Umar congratulated Ali after the sermon, "You have now become the of every faithful man and woman." Muhammad had earlier alerted Muslims about his impending death. Shia sources describe the event in greater detail, linking the announcement to verses 5:3 and 5:67 of the Quran.The authenticity of the Ghadir Khumm is rarely contested, as its "among the most extensively acknowledged and substantiated" reports in classical Islamic sources. However, ' is a polysemous Arabic word and its interpretation in the context of the Ghadir Khumm is split along sectarian lines. Shia sources interpret ' as 'leader', 'master', and 'patron', while Sunni sources interpret it as love or support for Ali. Shias, therefore, view the Ghadir Khumm as the investiture of Ali with Muhammad's religious and political authority, while Sunnis regard it as a statement about the rapport between the two men, or that Ali should execute Muhammad's will. Shias point to the extraordinary nature of the announcement, give Quranic and textual evidence, and argue to eliminate other meanings of in the hadith except for authority, while Sunnis minimize the importance of the Ghadir Khumm by casting it as a simple response to earlier complaints about Ali. During his caliphate, Ali is known to have asked Muslims to come forward with their testimonies about the Ghadir Khumm, presumably to counter challenges to his legitimacy.