The Commander of The Faithful at a quick glance
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Introduction
(This part gives) an account of
the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, the first of the Imams of the
believers, of the rulers (wulat) of the Muslims and of God's (appointed)
successors in religion after the Apostle of God, the truthful one and the
trusted one, Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah, the seal of the Prophets, blessings on
him and his pure family. (He was) the brother of the Apostle of God and his
paternal cousin, and his helper (wazir) in his affair, his son-in-law (being
married) to his daughter, Fatima the chaste, mistress of the women of the
universe. (The full name of) the Commander of the faithful is 'Ali b. Abi
Talib b. 'Abd al-Muttalib b. Hashim b. 'Abd Manaf. (He was) the Lord of the
testamentary trustees of authority (wasiyyin), the best of blessing and peace
be on him. His kunya was Abu al-Hasan.
He was born in the Sacred House
(i.e. the Ka'ba) in Mecca on Friday, the thirteenth day of the month of
Rajab, thirty years after the Year of the Elephant (c.570). Nobody before or
after him has ever been born in the House of God, the Most High. (It was a mark)
of him being honoured by God, the Most High, may His name be exalted, and of
his position being dignified in its greatness.
His mother was Fatima, daughter
of Asad b. Hashim b. 'Abd Manaf, may God be pleased with her. She was like a
mother to the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, and he (the
Apostle) was brought up under her care.
He was grateful for her
kindness and she was among the first to believe in him and she emigrated with
him in the group of the emigrants. When she died, the Prophet shrouded her
with his own shirt in order to protect her from the insects of the earth, and
he laid her to rest in her grave in order that, through that, she might be
protected from (the crushing pressure of) the narrow space within the grave.
He dictated to her her last words (which were) the statement of the authority
(wilaya) of her son, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, so that
at the examination after burial, she would be able to reply with those words.
He singled her out with this great favour because of her position with God,
may He be magnified and exalted, and with him, peace be on him. The report of
that is well known.
The Commander of the faithful,
'Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be on him, and his brothers were among the leading
members of the second generation of descendants of Hashim. In this way he
gained two marks of nobility, through his growing up under the care and
education of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family. He was the
first of the family of the House and of the Companions to believe in God and
His Apostle. He was the first male whom the Prophet, may God bless him and
his family, summoned to Islam and who answered. He never ceased to support
the religion and to strive against the polytheists. He constantly defended
the faith and fought against those who supported deviation (from the truth)
and despotism. He spread the teachings of the sunna (the practice of the
Prophet) and the Qur'an, judged with justice and enjoined (people) to do
good.
He was with the Apostle of God,
may God bless him and his family, twenty-three years after the (coming) of
the (prophetic) mission. Of these, thirteen years were in Mecca before the
emigration when he shared with him all the persecutions and bore most of his
hardships. Then there were ten years in Medina after the emigration when he
defended him against the polytheists and strove with him against the
unbelievers. He protected him with his own life from the enemies of religion
until the time God, the Exalted, took (the Prophet) to His heaven, raised him
to the highest place in heaven and bestowed His blessings and peace on him
and his family. On that day the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him,
was thirty-three years of age.
On the day of the death of the
Prophet, may God bless him and his family, the community differed over his
Imamate. His Shi'a who were all the Banu Hashim, Salman, 'Ammar, Abu Dharr,
al-Miqdad, Khuzayma b. Thabit - the man who is known as the possessor of two
testimonies - Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Jabir b. 'Abd Allah al-Ansari, Abu Said
al-Khudri and people like them among the important emigrants and Ansar, (all
these) maintained that he was the successor (khalifa) after the Apostle of
God, may God bless him and his family, and the Imam. (They did this) because
of his outstanding merit (fadl) above all mankind, through the fact that
there were gathered in him the qualities of outstanding merit, judgement and
perfection, such as him being the first of the community to enter the faith,
his superiority over them in knowledge of the laws, his precedence over them
in fighting (jihad) and the distinction which set him apart from them in the
extent of his piety, asceticism and righteousness.
Furthermore he had been specially
singled out by the Prophet from among (all) his relations because of (the
qualities) which no other relation, apart from him, shared with the Prophet
and because of the nomination (nass) of his authority (wilaya) by God, may
God be magnified and exalted, in the Qur'an where He, may His name be
exalted, says: Your authority (wali) is God and His Apostle and those
believers who perform the prayer and pay alms (zakat) while they are bowing
(in prayer). (v 55) It is known that no one except him paid alms while bowing
(in prayer).
It has been established in
language that wali means "the most appropriate for authority"
(awla), without there being any opposition (to this definition). If the
Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, was, by the stipulation of the
Qur'an, more appropriate for authority among the people than themselves
because of his being their war according to the textual nomination (nass) in
the Clear Explanation (i.e. the Qur'an, tibyan). it was obviously necessary
for all of them to obey him, just as obedience to God, the Most High, and
obedience to His Apostle, peace be on him and his family, was required
because of the information about their authority (wilaya) over creatures
which is given in this verse with clear proof.
(Another reason for their
support for the Commander of the faithful was) because of what the Prophet,
may God bless him and his family, said on the day (of the assembly) at his
house. He had especially gathered the Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib there in order to
make the (following) solemn pledge: "Whoever helps me in this matter
wi11 be my brother, my testamentary trustee (wasi), my helper (wazir), my
heir and my successor after me." Then the Commander of the faithful,
peace be on him, stood up before him among all the gathering of them, and on
that day he was the youngest of them, and he said: "O Apostle of God, I
will help you."
Then the Prophet, may God bless
him and his family, said: "Sit down, you are my brother, my trustee, my
helper, my inheritor and successor after me." This is a clear statement
about the succession (after the Prophet).
In addition, there is also what
(the Prophet), peace be on him and his family, said on the day of Ghadir
Khumm. The community had gathered to listen to the sermon (in which he
asked): "Am I not more appropriate for authority (awla) over you than
yourselves?"
"Yes," they answered.
Then he spoke to them in an
ordered manner without any interruption in his speech: "Whomsoever I am
the authority over (mawla), 'Ali is also the authority over."
Thus he (the Prophet) required
for him (Ali), through laying down obedience to him and his authority (over
them), the same authority as he had over them, and which he made them
acknowledge and which they did not deny. This is clear (evidence) of the
nomination (nass) of him for the Imamate and for succession to his position.
Furthermore there is (the
Prophet's), peace be on him and his family, statement to him at the time of
setting out to Tabuk: "You are in the same position with respect to me
as Aaron (Harun) was to Moses (Musa) except that there is no prophet after
me." Thus he required him (to have) the office of helping (i.e.
administering) and to be characterised by love and outstanding merit over
everyone. (He also required) his deputising for him both during his life and
after his death. The Qur'an gives evidence for all that coming to Aaron
(Harun) from Moses, peace be on them, when God, may He be magnified and
exalted, said in giving a report of what Moses, peace be on him, said:
"Make Aaron, my brother, a helper for me from my family. Give me support
through him and make him participate in my affair so that we may glorify You
much and we may remember You frequently in that You have been a watcher over
us. " (XX 29- 35) God, the Most Exalted said: "Your request is
granted, Moses. " (XX 36) This (verse) confirmed that Aaron had a share
with Moses in prophecy, and in helping in delivering the message and his
support was strengthened through him by his aid. (Moses) also told him of
deputising for him (when he said): "....Deputise for me among my people.
Act for (their) benefit and do not follow the path of the corrupters. "
(VII 142) This confirms his succession by the precise statement of
revelation. Therefore when the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his
family, gave all the ranks which Aaron had from Moses to the Commander of the
faithful, peace be on him, in the same extent, except for prophecy, (all such
things) were required of him as helping the Apostle, giving him support,
outstanding merit and love, because these qualities were definitely required
by that. Then by the clear statement there is his deputising for him during
his life and "after the prophethood" which (gives evidence of his
succession) by specification of the exception, (of Prophethood) when he
excludes him from it by mentioning "after".
Proofs similar to these are so
numerous that it would make the book unduly long to mention them all,
(especially) as we have examined thoroughly the statement of the evidence for
them in other places in our books. Praise be to God.
The Imamate of the Commander of
the faithful, peace be on him, was for thirty years after the Prophet, may
God bless him and his family. For twenty-four years and six months of these
he was prevented from administering the laws (of the office) (and had to)
exercise precautionary dissimulation (taqiyya) and withdrawal. For five years
and six months of these, he was troubled by wars against the hypocrites,
those who broke their pledges, the unjust and those who deviated (from the
religion) and he was plagued by the seditions of those who had gone astray.
In the same way the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, had
been prevented from(administering) the laws (of his office) through fear and
through being spied upon, and through being a fugitive and through being
exiled, so that he had no power to fight the unbelievers and no means of
defending the believers. Then he emigrated and for ten years after the
emigration he remained making war on the unbelievers and being troubled by
the hypocrites until the time that God, may His name be exalted, took him
unto Himself and made him dwell in. the gardens of Paradise.
The death of the Commander of
the faithful, peace be on him occurred before dawn of Friday, the
twenty-first of the month of Ramadan, in the year 40 A.H. He was a victim of
the sword. Ibn Muljam al-Muradi, may God curse him, killed him at the mosque
of Kufa, which he had come out to in order to wake the people for the dawn
prayer on the night of the nineteenth of the month of Ramadan. He had been
lying in wait for him from the beginning of the night. When he (the Commander
of the faithful) passed by him while the latter was hiding his design by
feigning sleep amid a group of people who were asleep, he (Ibn Muljam) sprang
out and struck him on the top of his head with his sword which was poisoned.
He lingered through the day of the nineteenth and the night and day of the
twentieth and the first third of the night of the twenty-first. Then he,
peace be on him, died a martyr and met his Lord, Most High, as one who has
been wronged. He, peace be on him, knew of that before its time and he told
the people of it before its time. His two sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, peace
be on them, performed (the tasks) of washing him and shrouding him according
to his bequest. Then they carried him to al-Ghari at Najaf in Kufa and they
buried him there. They removed the traces of the place of his burial
according to his bequest which was made about that to both of them by him,
because of what he, peace be on him, knew about the regime of the Umayyads
(which would come) after him, and their hostile attitude towards him. (For he
knew) the evil action and abuse to which they would be led by their wicked
intentions if they had been able to know that (place). His grave, peace be on
him, remained hidden until al-Sadiq Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be on them,
pointed it out during the 'Abbasid regime. For he visited it when he came to
visit Abu Ja'far (al-Mansur) while the latter was in al-Hira. Then the Shi'a
knew of it and they began from that time to make visitation to his (grave),
peace be on him and on his pure offspring.
On the day of his death he was
63 years of age.
- Kitab
Al-Irshad (The book of Guidance)
- By
Shaykh al-Mufid
-www.imamalinet.net
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