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‘Ali was born in 600 A.D., in the shrine, Kaaba, in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. His father, Abu Talib, and his mother, Fatima, took care of Ali until he turned 7. That year a severe drought caused much poverty and Mohammed, a cousin of ‘Ali and nephew of Abu, offered to take care of ‘Ali. Mohammed, during his own childhood, received much kindness and care from Abu and especially Fatima, so Mohammed took the responsibility to look after young Ali’. Three years later, Mohammed received his first “vision” from an angel appearing as Gabriel, declaring the word of the God Almighty, Allah. “Ali, though only ten years old, believed everything Mohammed told him and thus he became the first male convert to Islam.”• Ali stayed with Mohammed for a total of 26 years up until “The Prophet’s” death.
Ali proved himself both brave and steady in the fighting that occurred to expand Islamic influence during and after Mohammed’s life. In numerous battles he revealed remarkable, extraordinary loyalty and leadership qualities. How much of the other information available on the life of Ali and how true the information is causes debate. “The question of Ali's right to succeed to the caliphate is an article of faith which divided the Mahomedan [Mohammedan] world into two great sects, the Sunnites and the Shiites, the former denying, and the latter affirming, his right.” ? It appears nearly impossible to really find out which party actually represents Ali’s factual self because those that recorded the hadiths, narrations of what happened during Mohammed’s life and those around him, already were divided over the split and so wrote respectively to support their view. For instance, Ali’s wife and Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima, wrote numerous hadiths, but already disliked Caliph Abu and his daughter, Aisha, because Abu refused Ali the Caliphate and took it himself. These hadiths very clearly support the Shiite version of Ali’s life as an upright and clear successor of Mohammed. But in support of the Sunni’s version, Abu’s daughter and Mohammed’s wife, Aisha, who hated both Ali and Fatima, wrote her version in many hadiths also, which seemed very inconsistent and contradictory of Fatima’s account.
Mohammed showed favor to his foster son and commended Ali frequently in front of others throughout his life. Ali, on occasions, led the army into battle or stayed in charge over a city while Mohammed himself went out to lead the Muslim armies against “infidels”. He also assisted Mohammed when in danger. When Meccan citizens plotted to kill Mohammed on the night of his flight to Medina, Ali offered and took Mohammed’s place in bed to act as a decoy. Later on, during the Meccan Wars, Ali showed his dedication to Mohammed by not only supporting his uncle and step-father in times of peace but also fighting when needed. With the exception of “the expedition of Tabuk, [where he did not participate] Ali fought in all the early battles of Islam with great distinction, particularly in the expedition of Khaybar. It is said that in the Battle of Uhud he received more than sixteen wounds.”? While the “Prophet” lived, he frequently complimented Ali for using his wisdom and knowledge of law to solve a dispute instead of always using his sword. While three other “Companions of Mohammed” became Caliphs before him, Ali lived quietly, helping the citizens of the Muslim nation instead of trying to take control. It is recorded that all three caliphs before him, frequently asked for his advice in difficult decisions.
As Caliph, he showed himself a capable leader with many commendable traits. When the third Caliph, Uthman, was killed by a mob, the other Companions encouraged Ali to finally take the Caliphate. Because Uthman was violently killed, Ali proved cautious to receive the office too readily, which could link him with the murder of Uthman. When he did accept, upon the urgings of the other Companions, he decided to change the system of the government. By that time, Islam had spread rapidly and conquered all of Arabia and other territories as well. Most officials and government workers received great wealth from the loot of the conquering armies. With so much wealth, many of the officials became corrupt and independent. This caused suspicion of whether the religion was about self-sacrifice for God or just a matter of acquiring wealth for ones self. Ali himself did not change his lifestyle, for he learned never to live long in riches and frequently used the money he obtained by supplying money for more religious conquests or for charity. When Caliph, he refused to hire personal body guards and a watch at night and insisted that people could come with requests or charges against him at any time, including the middle of the night. Upon taking office, he expected his subordinate officials to act likewise. Also, he strived to create better highway systems, improve the judiciary system and initiate other reforms, particularly in the levying and collecting revenues.
Though these improvements helped his popularity, he lost much support and never fully recovered for not succumbing to the pressure about punishing the murders of Uthman. With all the improvement accomplished by Ali, everyone was happy… right? Wrong. The officials grew angry that they were forced to serve the people instead of ruling them. Also, some accused Ali for Uthman’s death and turned to Muawiya as their leader. It started when Ali, in an attempt to bring peace to the capitol, refused to kill the assassins of Uthman. This did not help matters as he expected and Aisha, Mohammed’s first wife, joined Muawiya, the influential governor of Syria, in demanding that he avenge the blood of Uthman. Ali refused, fearing to kill some people that were not proven to be the actual murderers. The two sides battled it out with their armies. The outcome proved terrible because, though no concise winner emerged, the clash brought great division in the Hijaz area and throughout the entire Islamic nation. It became so bad that Ali moved the capital of government to Iraq. This move brought even more protest because this decision divided the political capital from the religious capital of Islam, Mecca. During this time, Muawiya took advantage of the confusion and openly rebelled. Ali sent the remnant of the Muslim army against Muawiya’s forces but again there were no decisive outcomes. Before much more could be decided though, Ali was assassinated by a member of the fanatic group called the Kharijites. This group attempted to kill all the main leaders (Ali, Muawiya, and the Egyptian ruler at the time) believing them all to be un-godly. Only Ali’s assassin was able to kill him before getting caught. Though the blow to the head didn’t kill Ali, the poison on the sword finally killed him, ending the line of men which the Sunni call the Rightly Guided Caliphs of Islam. He was buried near “…the city at Najaf, the place of his burial (although some believe he is buried at Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan).”?
In all, Ali was a wise yet humble man who strived for outward sincerity and righteousness. He believed in God and risked his life frequently in his effort to promote Islam. He tried to earn heaven through his own righteousness and piety. This is confirmed in his speech “Beware that sins are like unruly horses on whom their riders have been placed and their reins have been let loose so that they would jump with them in Hell. Beware that piety is like trained horses on whom the riders have been placed with the reins in their hands, so that they would take the riders to Heaven.”? In Isaiah 64:6, we are told that “All our righteousness are like filthy rags…”? Ironically, though he did promote peace, he lived by the sword. And just as Jesus Christ said in Matthew 26:52 “…for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” ?
Endnotes:
? this is his name for short, “(The full name of) the Commander of the faithful is Ali b. Abi Talib b. Abd al Muttalib b. Hashim b. Abd Manaf.” Taken from http://www.shaheedfoundation.org/14in/1imam.htm
• quoted from http://sunnah.org/publication/khulafa_rashideen/caliph4.htm and the majority of sources agree, though some sources contradict this statement by saying it was Abu Bakr or another Companion of the Prophet
? directly quoted from http://23.1911encyclopedia.org/A/AL/ALI.htm
? directly quoted from http://www.beconvinced.com/MUSLIM/fourcaliphs.html
? directly quoted fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_ibn_Abi_Talib
? directly quoted from http://www.al-islam.org/nahj/default.asp?url=39.htm
? taken from the Bible, Isaiah 64:6, New American Standard
? directly quoted from the Bible, Matthew 26:52, New American Standard
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