Martyrdom of Imam Ali (AS) – the Doyen of Justice

Heartfelt condolences to you on the tragic martyrdom anniversary of the Doyen of Justice, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). The Islamic Republic of Iran is observing a public holiday on this doleful day when hearts are turned towards holy Najaf in Iraq to salute the Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

This prepared work for a special article on the persons whose greatness and merits remain unsurpassed despite the passing of a millennium and three centuries. Let us first read the special supplication for the 21st day of the blessed fasting month of Ramadhan.

“O Allah, assign me this day a guide to Your good pleasure;do not allow Satan to impose himself upon me; and make paradise my abode and place of rest, O Fulfiller of the needs of the petitioners!”

“There has died tonight a man who was the first among the early (Muslims) in (good) actions. Nor did any later (believers) attain his level in (good) actions… He, peace be on him, has died on this night on which (Prophet) Jesus, son of Mary, was taken up (to heaven), on which Joshua, son of Noon, the testamentary legatee of (Prophet) Moses, peace be on him, died. He has left behind no gold or silver except seven hundred dirhams of his stipend, with which he was intending to procure a servant for his family.”

These the words are the tribute of a bereaved son for his departed father. This is how Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS) summed up the merits of the One and Only Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), on whose martyrdom anniversary we are clad in black these days.

Ordinary mortals cannot describe, neither the God-given virtues nor the self-acquired excellences of the person who happens to be the only one born in the most holy of holies, God’s symbolic house on earth, the sacred Ka’ba. Raised by the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, he alone had the honour to be present on Mount Noor in Mecca when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), by the command of God, was formally entrusted by the Archangel Gabriel with the universal mission of Islam at the age of 40 years. When the Prophet pronounced God’s indivisible Oneness with the words “Ash-hado an la ilaha il-Allah” (which means “I bear witness there is no god but Allah”), it was the 10-year old lad, Ali, who taught people how to be Muslims by saying: “Ash-hado anna Muhammadan Rasoul-Allah” (which means “I bear witness Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)”.

Next we see him as a pre-teenager standing up to declare his readiness to be the Helper and Assistant of his cousin, each time the Prophet asked the Qoraysh, after announcing his mission to them, as to who would be his Helper, Assistant, and consequently Legatee and Vicegerent. When the pagan Arabs let loose their wicked brats upon the Prophet to mock him and pelt stones at him, it was the boy Ali, who foiled their plots by saving his cousin and putting to flight the Arab tramps.

During the three-year economic and social boycott of the neo-Muslim community it was this teen-aged Ali, who with the money of the Mother of Believers, Hazrat Khadija (SA), used to procure grains for feeding the besieged – by risking the displeasure of the disbelievers. Next he volunteered to sleep on the Prophet’s bed on the Fateful Night of Hijrah – risking his own limbs and life – so that the Prophet could migrate undetected to Medina, safe from the would-be assassins hovering around the Abode of Divine Revelation.

In Medina when armed battles were imposed on the Prophet by the Arab infidels and the ever-rebellious Israelites (sometime operating in tandem against Islam), it was the valour of Ali and the sharpness of his flashing twin-bladed sword “Zulfeqar” that laid low many a pagan warlord and brought victory to Muslims. It will be needless to recount the gravity of the Battles of Badr, Ohad, Khandaq, Khaybar and Hunayn, where the victory of Islam was ensured by the Prophet’s cousin. Earlier, the Prophet had declared him as his worthy brother, while pairing the duos of similar traits from among the Mohajer of Mecca and the Ansar of Medina, in order to foster Islamic solidarity among the neo Muslim community. It was to Imam Ali (AS) the Prophet gave in marriage his, daughter Fatema Zahra (SA) after turning down the proposals of the wealthy Muslims.

Imam Ali (AS) excelled on the fields of parley as well. It was he, along with his wife and two young sons, Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS) – and no other Muslim besides – who accompanied the Prophet to the unique imprecation challenge known as Mubahela with the Christians of Najran that proved the truth of Islam. It was Ali, whom the Prophet immediately dispatched, to overtake Hazrat Abu Bakr r.a, take charge of the mission and proclaim to the Meccans the opening ayahs of Surah Towba, concerning disavowal of disbelievers, when the Archangel Gabriel descended with the commandment of God that either the Prophet personally discharge the mission at the holy Ka’ba or send someone closest and nearest to him.

No wonder, God and the Prophet in turn showered the choicest praises upon him through the ayahs of the holy Qur’an and the Hadith that further confirmed his prime position in Islam which no other Muslim could ever equal. The culmination of Divine Decrees in the favour of Imam Ali (AS) was the memorable event of Ghadeer-Khom, where while returning from his Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage the Prophet was ordered by God to formally proclaim Ali as his vicegerent, thereby perfecting the faith of Islam.

Needless to say it was Imam Ali (AS) who performed the last rites of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). And alas, while he was in the state of grief, his right to the caliphate or the political leadership of the Islamic State was usurped by persons unworthy to hold a candle to him.

This is evident by his advising the Second Caliph against personally participating in the wars against the Romans and the Persians, when ordinary mortals would have wished for calamities to befall the deprivers of their rights. In short, 25 years after the Prophet when the caliphate came begging at his door, Imam Ali (AS) reluctantly took up the reins of political power and in the next four-and-a-half years, despite the seditious wars by those masquerading as Muslims, he built the model administration of social justice, the like of which the world has not yet seen. In the process, he braved the wars imposed upon him by the pledge-breakers at Basra, by the seditionists at Reqqa near Aleppo in Syria, and Nahrawan in central Iraq.

This was Imam Ali (AS), the Doyen of Justice, who said that even if the rule of the seven climes were to be given to him on condition that he take out a mere morsel of food from the mouth of an ant, he would never do so. He lived a simple life, wore coarse clothes, and ate meager food devoid of delicacies, despite being the ruler of a realm spreading from North Africa to Central Asia. The book Nahj al-Balagha that contains his letters, sermons, and maxims, is proof of his knowledge, wisdom, prudence, piety and patience, in addition to unsurpassed eloquence that is regarded by Arab literati, as next only to the Revealed Words of God Almighty.

Here is part of what he said while leaving the mortal world, on being struck in the state of ritual prayer in the Mosque of Kufa, in the fasting month of Ramadhan by the poisoned sword of the renegade Abdur-Rahman ibn Muljam. After expressing that immortal phrase “Fuzto wa Rabb-il-Ka’ba” which means “By the Lord of the Ka’ba I have succeeded”, he said this on his deathbed before his soul flew to the ethereal heavens:

“As for my last will, it is that concerning Allah, do not believe in a partner for Him, and concerning Muhammad (SAWA). Do not disregard his Sunnah. Keep these two pillars and burn these two lamps. Till you are not divided, no evil will come to you… I am departing from you like one who is eager to meet (someone). Tomorrow you will look at my days, then my inner side will be disclosed to you and you will understand me after the vacation of my place and its occupation by someone else.”