Ali ibn Abi Talib was the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad. He was considered by the Sunni Muslims as the fourth caliph of the Islamic community but the first Imam and rightful vicegerent of the Prophet by the Shia Muslims. Hazrat Ali is among the pure household of the Messenger of God (Ahl al-Bayt), those Allah has cleansed from every impurity and thoroughly purified (See: Qur’an 33: 33). He is among the near Prophet’s kinship whom their love and obedient are made obligatory on the entire Muslim community (See: Qur’an 42: 23).
He was among the participant at the event of malediction [Mubahala] in defense of Islam against the Najran Christians in which Ali is referred to as the “self” of the Prophet (See: Qur’an 3: 61). One of the honors bestowed upon Ali was that he was brought up in the arms of the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) and was with him since childhood. Ali was the first man to believe in the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH). On one occasion, Ali said; “No one accepted the call to the truth (i.e., Islam) before me, and no one is blessed with the act of keeping the family ties, forgiveness and generosity like me[1].”
His Lineage
Ali (peace be upon him) is the son of Abu-Talib. His grandfather was Abd al-Muṭṭalib, the son of Hāshim, the son of Abdul-Manaf. The family of Hāshim was known for their magnanimity and generosity among the Quraysh. In a statement, Ali himself described his lineage thus: “I swear to Allah, my father and my grandfather Abdul Muṭṭalib, Hāshim and Abdul Manaf never worshipped an idol. He was asked: Hence, what did they worship? He said: They used to pray towards the house of Ka’aba and adhere to the religion of Ibrāhim (peace be upon him)[2]”.
His mother was Fatima, the daughter of Asad, the son of Hāshim, and the son of Abdul-Manaf. She is also from Quraysh and the Bani Hāshim family and was in charge of the upbringing of the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) for some time, and she was like a mother to him.
Fatima is one of the women with a pleasant record in the history of Islam and because of her love and care for the Messenger of Allah in his childhood, she was so much loved by the Prophet, and he used to remember her with a pleasant memory and used to pray for her.
His Teknonym and Nicknames
Ali’s famous teknonym is Abu al-Hasan (i.e., The Father of Hasan) and he has several nicknames, including the Commander of the Faithful (Amir al-Mu’minin); “Asadullah”, which was given to him by The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and his mother called him “Haydar”, which means “Lion” in Arabic. Meanwhile, the most famous nicknames among the Iranians are Asadullah and Haydar[3].
His Noble Birth
Ali (PBUH) was born inside the House of Allah (Ka’bah) and this honour is exclusively for him. That is to say, no one before or after him was born inside the Ka’bah. His birthday was on Friday, the thirteenth of Rajab, thirty years after the year of Elephant[4]. Sheikh Ṭūsī (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his book titled Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām: “Ali was born in the city of Mecca and the Holy House of Ka’aba on Friday; the 13th of Rajab, thirty years after the year of the elephant[5].”
Allama Amīnī )May Allah have mercy on him(, in the sixth volume of Al-Ghadīr, narrated the story of the birth of the Holy Imam in Ka’aba from more than twenty Sunni books and more than fifty Shiite books. The primary hadith was narrated by Yazid bin Qa’nab, who said: “I and Abbas ibn Abdul Mutṭālib together with a group of Bani Abdul Uzzai tribe were sitting facing the House of the Ka’aba in the Haram Mosque, when suddenly Fatima, the daughter of Asad, who was distressed by the childbirth pain, appeared and came to the Holy House [Ka’aba] and said: “O Lord, I believe in You and all the Prophets and Divine Books that came from You, and I acknowledge the speech of my ancestor Ibrahim Khalil and in him who built this Ka’aba. O Lord, for the sake of this baby in my womb, make his birth easy for me.”
Yazid ibn Qa’nab said: “Suddenly, I saw that the backside of the Ka’aba split open and Fāṭimah went inside the Holy House and hid from our view and the wall of the House was also joined together (as before). When we saw this, we wanted to open the door, but the door could not be opened and we knew that (there is a mystery in this event and this story) it was a divine act.”
This story quickly spread in the city and people were discussing it in every mountain and village the women of the veiled women also heard about this amazing story and talked about it. Three days passed after this incident but when it was the fourth day, Fatima came out of the same portion while holding Ali in her hands and saying to the people: “Allah, the Exalted, gave me superiority over the women before me, because Asia the daughter of Muzāhim worshipped Almighty Allah in a place that He should not be worshipped except during an emergency and necessity, and Maryam, the daughter of Imran, moved the dry palm tree so that she ate fresh dates. But I went to the House of Allah and ate Heavenly food and fruits. And when I wanted to leave the Sacred House, a voice called out: O Fatima, name this child “Ali” because Allah, the Most Mighty said: I coiled out his name from My Holy Name and taught him My manners, and I chose him to resolve the difficulty associated with My knowledge. And he is the one who will break the idols in My House, and he is the one who shall make the call to prayer (Azān) on the roof of My House and shall sanctify Me. Woe unto the one who hates and disobeys him.”
The great historian, Masūdi[6] and some of the other authorities[7] have affirmed Ali’s birth in the Ka’aba and this is considered one of the greatest distinctions of Ali: One of the greatest distinctions that Ali enjoyed was that he was born in the House of Allah.
Another contemporary Egyptian historian, Mahmūd Saeed al-Tantawi in his book published in 1976 by Matab’a al-Ahram at-Tijariyya, Cairo, Egypt, writes: “May God have mercy upon Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was born in the Ka’aba. He witnessed the rise of Islam; he witnessed the Da’wa of Muhammad, and he was a witness of the Wahy (Revelation of Al-Qur’an al-Majid). He immediately accepted Islam even though he was still a child, and he fought all his life so that the Word of Allah would be supreme[8].”
The custom among the Arabs was that when a child was born, he would be placed at the feet of the tribal idol or idols to indicate the dedication of the newborn child to the pagan deity. All Arab children were “dedicated” to the idols except Ali ibn Abi Talib, who had never bowed down or worshipped idols in his lifetime. When Ali was born, Muhammad, the future Messenger of God, came into the precincts of the Ka’aba to greet him. He took the infant into his arms and dedicated him to the service of Allah.
In a nutshell, birth in Ka’aba was one of many distinctions that God bestowed upon Ali. Another distinction that he enjoyed was that he never adored the idols. This again makes him unique since all Arabs worshipped idols for years and years before they abjured idolatry and accepted Islam.
His Upbringing
Ali was brought up by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). Abu-Ṭālib, who was the guardian of Muhammad as a child, had many children. In order to relieve him during a difficult year for Quraysh, Muhammad took Ali and Abbas took Ja’far. He was in the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) since his childhood and he was considered a child to him. According to the famous narration, he reached the age of ten or twelve years old when the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) was appointed as a Messenger of Allah. Ali himself said the following about this: “When I was a child, he used to put me next to him and placed me on his chest. And he made me sleep on his bed such that my body becomes his body and his pleasant smell got me.” In another instance, he said: “I was following him the way a baby camel follows its mother, he set up a manifestation of his morality for me every day and ordered me to follow it.”
Ali was always with the Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) on the days and nights and became a confidant of the secrets of his life. Considering the intense love that existed between the two of them, just as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) at the beginning of his prophecy had announced his mission to his wife Khadijah, and invited her to his religion, he had also informed Ali about the divine religion and his mission and invited him to the new religion. It is believed that Ali (PBUH) was the first man to accept Islam. Ali himself said the following in this regard: “Every year, he used to seclude himself in the Mount of Hira. I saw him and no one saw him except me. At that time, there was no Muslim in any house except the house where the Messenger of Allah and Khadijah were. I was the third of them. I saw the light of revelation and prophethood and I heard the smell of prophecy[9].”
The Messenger of Allah (PBUHH) also had special attention for Ali ibn Abi Talib as he taught him whatever was revealed to him and trained him as his best and most complete student for the future of Islam. The evidence of this assertion was also another narration which is mentioned in Manāqib: “And it is narrated that whenever a divine message was revealed to the Prophet at night, he would inform Ali of what was revealed to him before the morning of that night, and if it was revealed to him during the day, he would not reach the night before he would teach it to Ali.[10]“
References
[1] . Quoted from the book: “Ali in his own words” by Seyed Jafar Shahidi, p. 4.
[2] . Quoted from the book: “The life of Amir Al-Mu’minin” by Seyed Hashim Rasuli Mahallati, p. 3.
[3] . Quoted from the book: “Ali in his own words” by Seyed Jafar Shahidi, p. 2.
[4] . Sheikh Mufid, Al-Irshād, p. 2.
[5] . Sheikh Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām, vol. 6, p. 771.
[6] . Masūdi, Murooj-udh-Dhahab, vol. 2, p. 76.
[7] . Hakim, Mustadrak Sahihayn, vol. 3, page 483; Halabi, Sira Halabi, vol. 1, page 165; Ibn Sabbagh Maliki, Fusūl al-Muhimma, page 14; Muhammad ibn Yusuf Shafi’, Kifayat al-Ṭalib, page 261; Shablanji, Nurul Abṣār, page 76.
[8] . Min Fada-il al-‘Ashrat al-Mubashireen bil Janna, 186.
[9] . Quoted from the book: “Ali in his own words” by Seyed Jafar Shahidi, p. 3.
[10] . Quoted from the book: “The life Amir Al-Mu’minin” by Seyed Hashim Rasuli Mahallati, p. 7.
