Title: al- Murtaza

Agrnomen: abu’l- Hasan

Father’s name: Abu Talib bin Abd al- Mutlib.

Mother’s name: Fatima bint Asad.

Birth: In the Holy Kabah in Mecca on Friday , 13^th Rajab 23 BH.

Death: Died at the age of 63, in Kufah( Iraq)on Monday, 21^st Ramazan 40 AH; murdered by the an assassin who mortally wounded him with a poisoned sword in the mosque of Kufah during the morning prayer on 19^th Ramazan; buried in an- Najaf al- Ashraf( Iraq).

imam Ali (a.s) was the cousin of our Holy Prophet. When his mother came to Kabah, she felt weighed down by intense pain of pregnancy. Abbas bin Abd al- Mutlib , saw that Ali’s mother praying to God. The wall of the Sacred House split by a solemn miracle. Fatima entered the Kabah and then portion returned to its normal position. The news of this miraculous incident soon spread like fire in Mecca. Ali (a.s) was born in center of Kabah with eyes closed and his body in humble prostration before the Almighty. His mother stayed in Kabah 3 days. When she came out from Kabah the Holy Prophet was waiting to receive the newly born child in his anxious arms. Ali opened his eyes and saluted the divine Prophet.

Ali’s birth in the Kabah is unique in the history of the world. Neither a Prophet nor a Divine saint was ever blessed with such an honor. He was brought up under the care and affection of the Holy Prophet. As Ali(a.s) says in Naju’l-Balaghah: “ the Holy Prophet brought me up in his own arms and fed me with his own morsel. I followed him wherever he went like a baby-camel following its mother.”

10 years in the company of the Holy Prophet had kept him so close and inseparable, that he was one with him in character , knowledge, self-sacrifice, forbearance, bravery, kindness, generosity, oratory and eloquence. From his very infancy he prostrated before God along with the Holy Prophet. Ali(a.s) ,at all the time, accompanied the Holy Prophet to help and protect him from his enemies.

At the migration from Mecca to Medina, Ali was laid to Prophet bed and when Prophet was appointing an Ansar a brother to a Muhajirin, Ali was present there but he did not appointed as a brother to any Ansar. The Holy Prophet said: “ he (Ali) shell be a brother to me”. Ali never disobeyed the Prophet, so that the Prophet said: “Ali is never separated from the Truth nor the Truth from Ali.”

Ali (a.s), the prince of charity-givers, working hard to earn money, overshadowed Hatim Tai, by giving away a laden caravan to a beggar when he asked for a piece of bread (for the sake of Allah). Ali (a.s) himself ate dry barley bread and salt, would spread a banquet for the poor and the beggars. Ali(a.s) the ocean of knowledge, would not speak unless asked. Ali(a.s) has a qualifications of a soldier, and saint; his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious saying; and his eloquence and valor subdued very antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword.

Under divine instructions, Holy Prophet married his beloved daughter Fatima to Ali(a.s) though others vainly tried for her hand. Among their children, Imam Hasan(a.s), Imam Hussain(a.s), Zaynab and Umm Kulthum have left their marks on the history of the word. After the death of Fatima. Ali(a.s) married Ummu’l-Banin. Abbas was born out of this wedlock and was so handsome that he was fondly called Qamar Bamu Hashim. He personified loyalty and bravery and proved it in the battlefield of Karbala with Imam Hussain(a.s)

Ali(a.s) was present in all the wars in which the Prophet was participated except the battle of Tabuk when he was ordered to stay in Medina in the place of Prophet(PBUH). The courage of Ali(a.s) was proverbial in all wars such as Uhud, Hunayan, Khyabar and Khandaq. He never turned back to the enemy. When Mecca was conquered, Prophet ordered the idols to be broken. Following the commands of Holy Prophet, Ali placed his feet on the Prophet’s shoulders, climbed to the top the of the Kabah, pulled “ Hubal”( the largest idol in the Kabah) from its place and cast it down.

At Hudaybiyyah, Ali was asked by the Prophet to draft and write the peace treaty. On the occasion of Mubahilah with the Christians of Najran, the Holy Prophet asked Ali to giver them the terms of settlement. Ali was the father of the Arabic Grammar. He gave the language its grammar. He represented the Holy Prophet(PBUH) to carry the Chapter of Repentance( at-Tawabah) to the Quraysh instead of Abu Bakr.

According to the Holy Quran, Prophet and Apostle Imams are chosen by Allah and not by elected, slected, nominated or appointed by men. When Prophet invited 40 Arabs chieftains and delivered the message of Islam, he proclaimed Ali as his Successor and Caliph. When Holy Prophet was returning to Medina after Hajj in 11 AH , he under Divine Instructions, stopped at Ghaddir Khumm and in the midst of about 124,000 Muslims, he officially and finally proclaimed Ali as His Successor and Caliph.

After the death of Holy Prophet(PBUH) Abu bakr was chosen by some of Ansar and the end of meeting 3 of the Muhajrin in Saqifah while the Holy dead body was still unburied. Banu Hashim and true believers could not join that meeting and they were busy in their sacred duty of burying the Apostle of Allah.

Umer was the 2^nd caliph after Abu Bakr’s death in 13 AH. He, before his death, nominated the 6 persons( unequal in ranks and knowledge) select as 3^rd caliph. Ali is one of them refused to abide with the group’s condition to rule on the footsteps of the two passed caliphs. The group then selected “ Uthman” as the 3^rd caliph in 23 AH.

Mimbar of Imam Ali (A.S.) and Masjid-e-Kufa

When Uthman became caliph, his near kin the “ Umayyads, became the actual rulers of the Islamic territories. Uthman was killed in 35 AH.

Among suffering and chaos, the Muslims clamoured to elect Ali as the successor of Holy Prophet and Allah, following the footsteps of the Holy Prophet, Ali established the Islamic tolerance and justice, brotherhood and goodness. He re-lit the light of Islamic learning and progress. In this old age Ali(a.s) had to make 3 battle of Camel, Naharwan and Saffin and the against the hypocrites, who rebelled and revolted against the commands of the Holy Quran and the Apostle of Allah.

In 40 AH in the small hours of the morning of 19th Ramadan, he was struck with a poisoned sword by a Kharijtie ibn Muljim, the tool of Muawiyah, while offering his prayers in the mosque of Kufah (Iraq) and crowned with martyrdom on 21^st Ramadan and was buried in an-Najaf al-Ashaf (Iraq).

1. O ‘Ali ‘ you are my brother in this word as well as in the Hereafter.
2. I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the gate.
3. Nobody know Ali except Allah and I.
4. Nobody know me except Allah and Ali.
5. If you want to see knowledge of Adam, the piety of Noah, the devotion of Abraham, the awe of Moses, the service and abstinence of Christ, look at the bright face of Ali.

1. O’ people ! ask me( any question) before you miss me, because certainly I am acquainted with the passages of the sky more then the passages of the earth.
2. I advise you not to associate anything with Allah and do not spoil the Sunnah of the Prophet. Keep these two pillars and you will be safe from blame and sins.

(Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of orphans. So do not allow them to starve and they should not e ruined in your presence.