Names And Sources
ʿAlī is known within the Islamic tradition by a number of titles, some reflecting his personal qualities and others derived from particular episodes of his life. They include Abū al-Ḥasan (“Father of Ḥasan” [the name of his oldest son]), Abū Turāb (“Father of Dust”), Murtaḍā (“One Who Is Chosen and Contented”), Asad Allāh (“Lion of God”), Ḥaydar (“Lion”), and—specifically among the Shiʿah—Amīr al-Muʾminīn (“Prince of the Faithful”) and Mawlāy-i Muttaqiyān (“Master of the God-Fearing”). The title Abū Turāb, for example, recalls the time when, according to tradition, Muhammad entered a mosque and, seeing ʿAlī sleeping there full of dust, said to him, “O father of dust, get up.”
Except for Muhammad, there is no one in Islamic history about whom as much has been written in Islamic languages as ʿAlī. The primary sources for scholarship on the life of ʿAlī are the Hadith and the sīrah literature (accounts of the Prophet Muhammad’s life), as well as other biographical sources and texts of early Islamic history. The extensive secondary sources include, in addition to works by Sunni and Shiʿi Muslims, writings by Christian Arabs, Hindus, and other non-Muslims from the Middle East and Asia and a few works by modern Western scholars. However, many of the early Islamic sources are coloured to some extent by a bias, whether positive or negative, toward ʿAlī.
Life
Early years
ʿAlī’s life, as recorded especially in the Sunni and Shiʿi texts, can be divided into several distinct periods separated by major events. The son of Abū Ṭālib and his wife Fāṭimah bint Asad, ʿAlī was born, according to most older historical sources, on the 13th day of the lunar month of Rajab, about the year 600, in Mecca. Many sources, especially Shiʿi ones, record that he was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Kaʿbah, a shrine said to have been built by Abraham and later dedicated to the traditional gods of the Arabs, which became the central shrine of Islam after the advent of the religion and the removal of all idols from it. ʿAlī was related to the Prophet through his father and mother: Abū Ṭālib was Muhammad’s uncle and became his guardian when the boy’s father died, and Fāṭimah bint Asad acted as the Prophet’s mother after his biological mother died. When ʿAlī was five years old, his father became impoverished, and ʿAlī was taken in and raised by Muhammad and his wife Khadījah. At age 10 ʿAlī became, according to tradition, the second person after Khadījah to accept Islam. Although ʿAlī’s father refused to give up his devotion to traditional Arabic polytheism, he accepted ʿAlī’s decision, telling him, “Since he [the Prophet] leads you only to righteousness, follow him and keep close to him.”
From Mecca to Medina
The second period of ʿAlī’s life, lasting slightly more than a decade, begins in 610, when Muhammad received the first of his revelations, and ends with the migration of the Prophet to Medina in 622. During this period ʿAlī was Muhammad’s constant companion. Along with Zayd ibn Ḥāritha, who was like a son to the Prophet, Abū Bakr, a respected member of the ruling Quraysh tribe of Mecca, and Khadījah, he helped to form the nucleus of the earliest Meccan Islamic community. From 610 to 622 ʿAlī spent much of his time providing for the needs of believers in Mecca, especially the poor, by distributing what he had among them and helping them with their daily chores.
Both Sunni and Shiʿi sources confirm the occurrence in 622 of the most important episode of this period. Muhammad, knowing that his enemies were plotting to assassinate him, asked ʿAlī to take his place and sleep in his bed; Muhammad then left Mecca secretly with Abū Bakr and reached Medina safely several days later (his arrival marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar). When the plotters entered Muhammad’s house with drawn daggers, they were deeply surprised to find ʿAlī, whom they did not harm. ʿAlī waited for instructions and left sometime later with Muhammad’s family. He arrived safely in Qubā on the outskirts of Yathrib, which soon became known as Mādinat al-Nabi (“City of the Prophet”) or simply Medina, on the instructions of the Prophet. According to some sources, he was one of the first of the Meccan followers of Muhammad to arrive in Medina.
ʿAlī and Islam to the death of Muhammad
ʿAlī was 22 or 23 years old when he migrated to Medina. Shortly after his arrival, the Prophet told ʿAlī that he (the Prophet) had been ordered by God to give his daughter Fāṭimah to ʿAlī in marriage. This union affected the entire history of Islam, for from it were born a daughter, Zaynab—who played a major role during the Umayyad period in claiming the rights of the family of the Prophet after her brother Ḥusayn was killed in Iraq—and two sons, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn. The latter two are the ancestors of those known as sharīf or sayyid (meaning “noble” and “master” respectively)—that is, descendants of the Prophet and thus, in the eyes of some Muslims, legitimate heirs to leadership of the Islamic community. Ḥasan and Ḥusayn also became the second and third imams of the Shiʿah (respectively) after ʿAlī. Although polygyny was permitted, ʿAlī did not marry another woman while Fāṭimah was alive, and his marriage to her possesses a special spiritual significance for all Muslims because it is seen as the marriage between the greatest saintly figures surrounding the Prophet. The Prophet, who visited his daughter nearly every day, became even closer to ʿAlī, once telling him, “You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter.” After Fāṭimah’s death, ʿAlī married other wives and fathered many other children.
During this period ʿAlī was given several important assignments, such as reciting to a large gathering of pilgrims in Mecca in 630 a portion of the Qurʾān that declared that Muhammad and the Islamic community were no longer bound by agreements made earlier with polytheists. One year later ʿAlī was sent to Yemen to spread the teachings of Islam. The Prophet also designated him as one of the scribes who would write down the text of the Qurʾān, which had been revealed to Muhammad during the previous two decades. ʿAlī’s role in the establishment of the written version of the Qurʾān is among the most important of his contributions to Islam.
ʿAlī was also deeply involved in the military defense of the Islamic community, according to both Sunni and Shiʿi sources. The Quraysh sought to destroy the community in Medina in a series of attacks that are known in Islamic history as ghazwah (“raid” or “conquest”). ʿAlī participated in all but one of these battles, and he was commander at the battles of Fadak in 628 and Al-Yamān in 632. He also had the special role of protecting Muhammad at the battles of Uḥud in 625 and Ḥunayn in 630. He fought the leading warrior of the Quraysh, Talḥah ibn Abī Talḥah, who boasted that he would defeat any Muslim sent against him. When Talḥah himself was defeated, he pleaded for mercy from ʿAlī, saying “Karrama Allāhu wajhahu” (“May God illuminate his face with nobility”). This benediction became one of ʿAlī’s titles; used especially by Sunnis, it is usually accompanied by other customary formulae of peace and benediction.
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