Leader of Islamic Ummah Imam Khamenei hosts mourning ceremony for 1st Imam of Ahlul-Bait

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei on Monday hosted a mourning ceremony in commemoration of the first Imam of Shiite Muslims, Hazrat Ali (AS), who was martyred on the 21st of Ramadan in Kufa some 1400 years ago.

The mourning ceremony was held after the noon and afternoon prayers.

Muslims in Iran and other countries commemorate martyrdom anniversary of their first Imam, Imam Ali, (the first successor of Prophet of Islam Mohammad).

On the martyrdom anniversary of their first Imam, Muslims are mournful and remember Prophet Mohammad’s highly revered son-in-law and cousin, Ali.

In the city of Medinah, on the eve the 13th Rajab, 24 years before Hijra (~600CE) a son was born to Quraysh who, apart from Prophet Mohammad, is the only character who has had a tremendous volume of works written about his knowledge, courage, belief, honesty, unbending devotion to Islam, and deep loyalty to the Prophet Mohammad.

Imam Ali, among the first believers in Prophet Mohammad’s message of Islam, is among his most famous Companions. Shias believe that in Hajjatulvida (Prophet’s last Hajj pilgrimage), the Prophet appointed Ali ibn Abi Talib, his son-in-law and cousin, as his successor and Imam (Shias believe in Imamat, the political and religious leadership of Muslims bestowed on Imams indirectly by God); however Sunnis also honor and respect Ali as Muslims’ fourth Caliph, among the famous four orthodox caliphs of early Islam.

As Sunni historians had admitted, Ali was the best character for Caliphate of the Prophet Mohammad. He was a forerunner in accepting Islam and it was he who saved the Prophet’s life in critical times when he slept in Prophet’s bed in Mecca, while the Prophet himself was out for Medina, and thus the Quraysh assassins found Imam Ali and not Prophet Mohammad in the place only to sink into despair as the mission failed.