Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام

Zahoor and upbringing

Ali’s zahoor was in Mecca, in the house of Abu Talib and Fatima bint Asad. The Twelver tradition, and Sunni authors such as al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, report that his zahoor was inside the Ka‘ba, on 13 Rajab in the thirtieth Year of the Elephant. During a time of hardship the Prophet took the young Ali into his own household, and he grew up at the Prophet’s side.

He was among the first to believe — the first male, in the Shia view — and at the gathering of Banu Hashim when the Prophet was commanded to warn his kin, he alone offered his support.

In Medina

On the night of the Hijra he slept in the Prophet’s bed, risking his life so that the Prophet could leave unseen, and later brought the Prophet’s family and trusts safely to Medina. The Prophet chose him as his brother in the pact of brotherhood and gave him his daughter Fatima in marriage.

He carried the standard in many campaigns and is remembered especially for his role at Badr, Uhud and the Trench, where he faced Amr ibn Abd Wudd in single combat, and at Khaybar, where the Prophet said he would give the banner to a man who loves God and His Messenger and is loved by them. When the Prophet left him in charge of Medina during the Tabuk expedition, he told him that he was to him as Aaron was to Moses, except that there would be no prophet after him.

At Ghadir Khumm in 10 AH the Prophet declared him mawla of all who held the Prophet as their mawla.

The twenty-five years

After the Prophet’s passing the community gave allegiance to Abu Bakr, then Umar and then Uthman. Ali maintained that leadership was his right, yet he refrained from armed conflict to preserve the young community. During these years he was consulted on questions of law, collected and taught the Qur’an, and cared for the poor of Medina; many of his judgements are preserved in Shia and Sunni sources.

Caliphate (35–40 AH)

Following the killing of Uthman in 35 AH, the people of Medina pressed Ali to accept the caliphate. He moved swiftly to restore equal distribution of public funds and to replace governors he considered unjust. His rule was marked by three civil wars: the Battle of the Camel (36 AH), Siffin against Mu‘awiya (37 AH), which ended in arbitration, and Nahrawan (38 AH) against the Kharijites who had rejected that arbitration.

His letter of appointment to Malik al-Ashtar as governor of Egypt (Letter 53 in Nahj al-Balagha) remains one of the most studied texts on just government in Islamic thought.

Martyrdom

At dawn on 19 Ramadan 40 AH, while leading the prayer in the mosque of Kufa, he was struck with a poisoned sword by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam. He died two days later, on 21 Ramadan, aged sixty-three. His sons buried him outside Kufa at the site that became Najaf; the location was kept discreet for many years and later made known through the Imams of his line.

Teachings and Nahj al-Balagha

Ali’s teaching unites knowledge, worship, detachment from the world and an uncompromising commitment to justice. In the late fourth century AH al-Sharif al-Radi gathered selections of his sermons, letters and sayings as Nahj al-Balagha (“The Peak of Eloquence”). Its authenticity has been questioned by some, but modern research has traced many of its passages to works older than al-Radi.

The supplication taught to his companion Kumayl ibn Ziyad, Du‘a’ Kumayl, is recited by Shia every Thursday night.

Significance in Twelver Shia belief and Fiqh-e-Jafariya

He is the first Imam and the Prophet’s designated successor (wasi). Belief in his wilaya — his God-given authority and guardianship — is a pillar of Twelver faith. Many Shia add a testimony to his wilaya in the call to prayer; jurists stress that it is not an obligatory part of the adhan. His judgements and rulings form part of the Sunna on which Ja‘fari jurisprudence is built.

Significant dates

1. 13 Rajab, 30th Year of the Elephant (c. 600 CE)Zahoor inside the Ka‘ba
2. c. 610 CEAcceptance of Islam as a boy
3. 1 AH (622 CE)Night of the Hijra in the Prophet’s bed (Laylat al-Mabit)
4. 2 AHMarriage to Fatima al-Zahra; Battle of Badr
5. 5 AHSingle combat at the Trench
6. 7 AHKhaybar
7. 18 Dhu al-Hijja 10 AHDeclaration at Ghadir Khumm
8. 11 AH (632 CE)Beginning of his Imamate
9. Dhu al-Hijja 35 AH (656 CE)Allegiance as caliph
10. 36 AH (656 CE)Battle of the Camel
11. 37 AH (657 CE)Battle of Siffin
12. 38 AH (658 CE)Battle of Nahrawan
13. 19 Ramadan 40 AHStruck in the mosque of Kufa
14. 21 Ramadan 40 AH (661 CE)Martyrdom; burial at Najaf

Narrations and texts

Narrations are given as careful paraphrases, not verbatim translations. See the Editorial Methodology

Differing reports

• Some historians question the report of his zahoor inside the Ka‘ba; it is widely transmitted in Shia sources and accepted by some Sunni authors, among them al-Hakim al-Naysaburi.
• Reports differ on his age at accepting Islam (commonly around ten).
• The authenticity of individual passages of Nahj al-Balagha is debated; source-critical studies trace many to earlier works.
• Other genealogists give different numbers and names for the children of Imam Ali عليه السلام.
• Ubayd Allah: al-Mufid counts him among the martyrs of Karbala, while other historians report that he died later.

Sources

1. al-Kafi — al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub (d. 329 AH / 941 CE). Kitab al-Hujja, Bab mawlid Amir al-Mu’minin
2. Kitab al-Irshad fi Ma‘rifat Hujaj Allah ‘ala al-‘Ibad — al-Mufid, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu‘man (d. 413 AH / 1022 CE). Part I
3. Kitab al-Irshad: The Book of Guidance into the Lives of the Twelve Imams — al-Mufid
4. Nahj al-Balagha — al-Sharif al-Radi, Muhammad ibn al-Husayn (d. 406 AH / 1015 CE), compiler
5. al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihayn — al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah (d. 405 AH / 1014 CE)
6. Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk — al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (d. 310 AH / 923 CE). years 35–40 AH
7. The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate — Madelung, Wilferd
8. Masadir Nahj al-Balagha wa Asaniduh — al-Husayni al-Khatib, Abd al-Zahra’
9. Bihar al-Anwar — al-Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir (d. 1110 AH / 1699 CE)
10. Maqatil al-Talibiyyin — Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Ali ibn al-Husayn (d. 356 AH / 967 CE)