FRIDAY LEARNING ZONE FROM WESSEX JAMAAT

17^th Rajab 1425/3^rd September 2004

IMAM ‘ALI BIN ABI TALIB (A.S.)

THE FIRST BELIEVER OF ISLAM

‘Umar bin al-Khattab has reported that the Holy Prophet (saww) said, “O ‘Ali, you were the first among the believers to believe, you were the first among the Muslims to embrace Islam, and you are to me like Aaron was to Moses”.

                                                             (Dhakhair al-‘Oqba)

“And warn your nearest relations. And be kind to him who follows you of the believers. But if they disobey you, then say: Surely I am clear of what you do”. (26:214-216)

When the Holy Prophet (saww) received the above command from Allah (SWT) to warn his nearest kin, he (saww) ordered ‘Ali (a.s.) to invite them to a banquet. They came to the Prophet (saww)’s house, forty in number. After dinner, the Messenger of Allah (saww) addressed them:

“O Sons of ‘Abdul-Muttalib! Allah has sent me to all creation and to you in particular. He (SWT) said: ‘And warn your nearest relations’. So, I ask you to say two phrases, light on the tongue, heavy in the scales, by which you will master the ‘Arabs and ‘Ajams (non-Arabs), the nations will follow you and by them you will enter Paradise, and will be save from Hell: to bear witness that there is no god save Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah. Whoever responds to this and supports me to carry it out will be my brother, vicegerent, helper, inheritor and successor...” (Al-Baihaqi in his Sunan/ al-Tabari in his Tarikh al-Seerah al-Halabiyyah)

While Abu Lahab criticised and warned the Messenger (saww) against carrying on his mission, on the other hand, Abu Talib (ra) offered his support and said to the Messenger (saww): “Go ahead with your errand! By God I will never stop protecting and defending you”. (Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, Vol.2, page 24)

At this time, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.), the youngest of them all, stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah! I will back you up in the matter”. The Holy Prophet (saww) asked him to sit down. But seeing nobody else responding, he (a.s.) stood up again and offered his readiness to serve him, but was told to sit down again.

The Messenger of Allah (saww) called out thrice and every time it was only ‘Ali who responded. It was his firm commitment and strong faith that broke their silence. Finally, when nobody responded after the third time, the Messenger (saww) turned towards ‘Ali (a.s.) and said, “Sit down. You are my brother, vicegerent, minister, inheritor, and successor after me”. (Al-Baihaqi in his Sunan/ al-Tha’labi in Tafseer al-Kabeer)

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM IMAM (A.S.):

• “He, who adopts greed as a habit, devalues himself; he, who discloses his hardship, agrees to humiliation; and he who allows his tongue to overpower his soul, debases the soul”.

• “Mutual reconciliation is the covering for short-comings; and he who admires himself attracts many opponents against him”.

• “When you get small favours do not push them away through lack of gratefulness”.

• “Whenever a person conceals a thing in his heart it manifests itself through unintentional words from his tongue and (in) the expressions of his face”.

• “The tongue of the wise man is behind his heart, and the heart of the fool is behind his tongue”

(All the above sayings are from Nahjul-Balaghah)

Our heartiest greetings and felicitations to Imam al-Hujjah (AJ) and to all the Muslims and Shia’h of Ahlul-Bayt (as) on the occasion of the birth of MAULOOD AL-KA’BAH, Imam ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (as).

Mulla Mujaheedali Sheriff

mulla@almahdi.org.uk