Excellences:
Saad bin Abu Waqqâs relates that on
the occasion of the battle of Tabuk, the Prophet asked Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to stay in Al-Madinah. He said, "You
are leaving me behind among the women and children." The Prophet said,
"Are you not happy that I am leaving you behind as Musa (Moses) had left
Hârun (Aaron) except that there will be no Prophet after me."
On the occasion of the battle of
Khaibar, the Prophet said, "Tomorrow, I shall give the standard to one who
is to conquer the fort and who has pleased Allâh and His Messenger." Next
morning all the Companions eagerly waited to see who was that fortunate one.
The Prophet called Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
and handed over the flag to him and the fort was won as prophesized.
When the Verse concerning Mubâhalah
was revealed, the Prophet called together Ali, Fâtimah, Hasan and Husain and
said, "O Allâh! These are members of my family."
The Prophet once said, "Ali is
friend of one who is my friend." He then added, "Allâh loves one who
loves Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and shows enmity to
one who is the enemy of Ali." The Prophet is reported to have once said,
"I have been ordered to love four persons." When the Companions asked
their names, he revealed, "They are Ali, Abu Dhar, Miqdâd and Salmân
Fârisi."
When the Prophet formed bonds of
brotherhood among the Companions, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) came in tears and said, "You have formed bonds of
brotherhood for all but me." Thereupon the Prophet said, "You are my
brother in this world and the next."
Umar had once said, "Among all
of us, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
is the most prudent." When someone referred to Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) in front of Âishah, she remarked,
"None more acquainted with Sunnah than Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) is now living." Ammâr bin Yâsir reports that once the
Prophet said to Ali, "Most callous of the men are two: one is Ahmar who
hamstrung the dromedary of the Prophet Sâleh (رضي الله
عنه) and the other who will strike a sword to set apart your beard
from your body."
Justice
and Words:
Ali once said, "I thank Allâh
that even my enemy seeks my opinion over religious issues. Mu’âwiyah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) has sought my
opinion regarding the inheritance of a eunuch. I let him know that the matter
is to be decided according to the form of their private parts. If they are
male-like, it will come under the male law; if female-like, it will be treated
as female." When Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
arrived in Basrah, Ibn Al-Kawwa' and Qais bin Ubâdah came to him and said,
"Some people say that the Prophet had promised that you will be installed
as caliph after him. Who can be more trustworthy than you in this matter, so we
ask you the truth." He replied, "It is quite baseless that the
Prophet had promised me any such thing. Had it been so, how could I have
allowed Abu Bakr and Umar to stand on the pulpit of the Prophet and not killed
them with my own hands even if I had been alone to do so."
He further said: "The fact is
that when the Prophet's illness took a turn for the worse, he asked Abu Bakr to
lead the prayers. When Âishah, the Mother of the believers, made an attempt to
hold him back from giving such an order, he angrily said, 'You are women of
Yusuf's days. Take none but Abu Bakr.' The day the Prophet expired, I thought
over the matter and I accepted one for my temporal affairs too whom the Prophet
had chosen for our religious affairs, for he was our leader in our religious
matters and of our worldly matters too. Thus we thought Abu Bakr is deserving
and took Bai'ah (oath of allegiance) at his hand and none went against him. I
too served him in letter and spirit, obeyed him wholeheartedly, fought as a member
of his army and accepted whatever he gave me. He passed away appointing Umar as
caliph. I treated Umar also like that and carried out his orders without any
flaw. On the eve of Umar's death I thought that he would issue orders in favor
of my caliphate with an eye on my being one of the first to embrace Islam, my
relationship with the Prophet and other qualities. But he, however, dreaded the
consequences of picking a man of his own choice. Had he been a man who took
notice of his relatives, he would have preferred his son. In short, the task of
electing a caliph came into the hands of the Quraish."
When they assembled for the purpose,
I thought they would not ignore me. Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf took a promise that we
would all obey the one elected as a caliph. He then caught the hand of Uthmân.
From this I understood that the promise was taken from me to support someone
else. So I took Bai'ah at the hand of Uthmân and served him as I did with Abu
Bakr and Umar. When he too passed away, I thought those already passed were
chosen as our Imam (leaders) I become ready to accept Bai'ah. Thus the people
of Makkah and Al-Madinah and Kufah and Basrah rose to take their Bai'ah (oath
of allegiance) to me. Now a man has posed as my rival who is not like me either
in relationship or knowledge or in order of precedence in embracing Islam,
although I deserved caliphate."
A certain person said to Ali,
"You had said during an address: 'O Allâh! Bestow on me abilities such as
you had given to the Righteous Caliphs,' who were the Rightly-Guided Caliphs in
your sight?" Having heard this, Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) replied with tears in his eyes, "Those are my friends Abu
Bakr and Umar. Both of them were the leaders of the guided and chiefs of Islam.
The Quraish followed them and attained salvation."
Ali abhorred lies. He once was
saying something when a certain person said he was lying. Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) cursed him, with the
result that the person lost his eyesight before leaving the assembly.
Once two persons sat down to eat.
One had five loaves of bread while another had three. Meanwhile, a third person
came and they invited him to share with them. When the third person was about
to leave, he gave them eight dirhams for what he had eaten. After he left the
scene a dispute arose over the division of the eight dirhams. The man with five
loaves of bread claimed five dirhams for himself and three dirhams for his
partner. The person who had three loaves of bread insisted on half the amount,
i.e., four dirhams. This dispute became so intense that they took the matter to
Ali. He said to the man with three loaves of bread, "Your loaves of bread
were less in number, so three dirhams are more than your correct share; it is
better for you to accept it." But he refused to abide by the judgment.
Thereupon Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
said to him, "Now you will get only one dirham as your share while your
partner gets seven dirhams." Hearing this he was left astonished. However,
while protesting against this decision he asked Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to help him to understand his calculations. Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said, "Listen!
There were eight loaves of breads in all while you were three who shared. Since
the breads could not be shared equally, every loaf of bread had to be broken
into three pieces making twenty-four in all. Although, it cannot be said who
ate more than the other, it may be assumed that each of you took an equal
number of pieces, in other words each of you ate eight pieces. Now out of nine
pieces of your three breads, the third man ate only one piece and eight pieces
went to you; while out of fifteen pieces of your partner's five breads, seven
pieces were eaten by the third person and eight pieces went to your partner.
Since the third person gave eight dirhams after eating one piece from your
bread and seven pieces from those of your partner, you are entitled to have
only one dirham while seven dirhams should go to your partner." Hearing
this, the person claiming half of the total amount agreed to one dirham without
harboring any doubt.
A man lodged a complaint with Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) against a person
that said that he had copulated with his mother in dream. Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said giving his
judgment, "The man describing the dream should be made to stand in the
sun, and his shadow be flogged."
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