Ayah's form the Holy Quran praising
Imam Ali ( a.s)
The Glorious
Quran Chapter 2 Verse 207
And among men
there is who sells himself (soul ) seeking the pleasure of God; and verily, God is
affectionate unto His (faithful) servants.
It is held
unanimous by the Scholars of the two Islamic schools, that this verse was revealed for
Imam Ali ( as ), when he readily slept in the bed of the Prophet ( pbuh&f ) , when the
latter to thewill of God had to migrate from Mecca to Medina. The one who would agree to
offer himself instead of the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) who was wanted by the enemy must
essentially have
The safety of
the Prophet ( pbuh&f ) preferred to his own safety
Implicit faith
in the duty of a man to earn the pleasure of the Almighty Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (
pbuh&f ), at any cost, even at the cost of his own life
The courage of
surrendering himself willingly with the utmost peace of mind, to sleep under the swords,
ready to fall upon him
The confidence
and faith in God's protection
And on the
night of Hijrah, Allah the glorious revealed to Jibrail and Mikail I have established
brotherhood between you two and have ordained the life of one longer than the life of the
other. Now, are you willing to make a present of the extra length of life to the other?
But each
prefered the longer life for himself. Then Allah revealed
Why not follow
the example of Ali ibn Abu Talib. I have established brotherhood between him and Muhammad
(pbuh&f). He is now sleeping on the bed of Muhammad in order to save his life by
sacrificing his own. Now descend both of you to the earth and protect him from his
enemies.
Both the angels
descended. Jibrail took up his position near Ali's head and Mikail near his feet.Jibrail
was crying out aloud Excellent. Excellent. O son of Abu Talib! There is none like you.
Allahis making boast of you before the angels.
And it was on
this very occasion that the above verse was revealed.
Tafsir al
Kabir, by Fakhr ad Din al Razi, v 2 p 189 ( for the above narrt )
Hakim al
Mustadrak, v 3 p 4
Ghayatul
Maryam, p 344 -> 345
Tafseer e
Qurtubi, v 3 p 347
Asadul Ghaiba
fe Marifatil As Sahaba, v 4 p 25
Tafseer
Nishapoori ( Allama Nishapori ) , v 1 p 281
Kifyatul Talib,
p 114
Zhakhiar al
Uqba, p 88
Noor ul Absar,
p 86
Imam Ali ( as )
composed about this incident ( poetry )
I staked my
life for the man who was the best of all those
who
circumbulated the Ancient House and the Sacred Stone !
Glorious Quran
Chapter II - Verse 269
He grant the
wisdom to whomsoever He will, and he who have been granted wisdom hath been given abundant
good; and none shall mind it save those endowed with wisdom.
In the above
verse the word "Wisdom" implies the best knowledge seeking to act with fullness
and soundness of one's own conscience. True knowledge is spiritual illumination or divine
guidance worked through the grace of God as and when the necessity occurs. This being the
active result of the constant seeking for it by those who obtained nearness to the All
mighty!
It is held by
many Sunni scholars, that this verse was revealed for Imam Ali ( as ). It is not
surprising that, such a unique gift ( of being granted wisdom ) is inspiration (Ilhaam)
which is conferred upon the purified ones.
References from other Muslim
groups:
Shawahid al
Tanzeel ( Allama Haskani ), v 1 p 106
Al Bidahiya wan
Nihayiah, v 7 p 359 with a tradition from the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f )
Wisdom has been
divided into 10 ( ten ) parts, and 9 (nine) of these are possessed by Ali, and the
remaining has been divided among the rest of the people.
Kanz al Ummal,
v 6 p 154
Asadul Bilagha,
v 4 p 22 and v 1 p 22
Kitabul
Sagheer, p 15
Manaqib
Khawarizmi, p 49
Dhakhair al
Uqba, p 78
Musnad of Ahmed
Hanbal, v 1 pages 140 and 185
Maqtal Hussain,
v 1 p 43
Glorious Quran
Chapter 3 Verse 61
And unto him
who dispute with thee therein after the knowledge hath come unto thee, Say! ( O' Our
Apostle Muhammad!) (Unto them) come ye, let us summon our sons, and (ye summon) your sons,
and (we summon) our women and (ye) your women, and (we summon) ourselves and then let us
invoke the curse of God on the liars!
This verse
refers to the famous event of ' Mubahala ' which took place in the year 10 A.H against the
Christians of Najran. A deputation of 60 Christians of Najran headed by Abdul Masih their
chief monk priest came and discussed with the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) the personality
of Hazrat Isa ( as ). The Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) told them not to deify Jesus for he
was only a mortal created by God, and not God Himself. Then they asked who the father of
Jesus was. By this, they thought that since he was born without a father the Holy Prophet
( pbuh&f ) would helplessly accept Jesus' father being God himself. In reply to this
question was revealed the Verse.
Verily,
similitude of Jesus with God is as the similitude of Adam; He created him out of dust then
said He unto him BE, and he became.
When the
Christians did not agree to this line of reasoning, then this verse was revealed enjoining
upon the Prophet (pbuh&f ) to call the Christians to Mubahala. To this the Christians
agreed and they wanted to return to their place and would have the Mubahala the next day.
Early next
morning the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) sent Salman al Faresi ( May Allah be well pleased
with him ) to the open place, fixed outside the city for the historic event, to erect a
small shelter for himself and those he intended to take along with him for the contest. On
the opposite side appeared the Christian priests, while at the appointed hour the
Christians witnessed the Holy Prophet (pbuh&f ) entering the field with Imam Hussain (
as ) in his lap, Imam Hasan ( as ) holding his finger, and walking beside him, Lady Fatima
(as) and followed by Imam Ali al Murtaza ( as ). The Prophet ( as ) on reaching the
appointed spot stationed himself with his daughter, her two sons and her husband, raising
his hands towards the heaven said: Lord these are the People of my House
The Chief Monk
on knowing that the baby in the lap of the Prophet (pbuh&f) was his young grandson,
Imam Hussain (as), the child walking holding the Prophet's ( pbuh&f ) hand was his
first grandson, Imam Hasan ( as ), the Lady behind him was daughter, his only surviving
issue was Fatima ( as ) the mother of the two children and the one who followed the Lady
was his son in law, the husband of Fatima ( as ), addressed the huge crowd of the people
who had gathered on the spot, and addressed them saying
By God, I see the
faces which, if they pray to God for mountains to move from their places, the mountains
will immediately move!
O believers in
the Jesus of Nazareth, I will tell you the truth that should ye fail to enter into some
agreement with Muhammad and if these souls whom Muhammad has brought with him, curse you,
ye will be wiped out of existence to the last day of the life of the earth!
The people
readily agreed to the advice counseled by their Leader. They beseeched the Holy Prophet (
pbuh&f ) to give up the idea of the agreed Mubahala and requested for themselves to be
allowed to continue their faith, offering to pay ' Jizya '.
Al Tabari,
Commentary of the Quran, v 2 p 192 -> 193
This historic
event of a unique triumph of Islam is taken by the Shias as a religious thanksgiving
festival of the triumph against falsehood. Some of the significance of this event are as
follows:
This event
unquestionably establishes the truth about the spiritual purity of the Ahl al Bayt
It proves
beyond any doubt as to who are the members of the house of the Prophet ( pbuh&f )
The seriousness
and the solemnity of the occasion demands absolute purity, spiritual as well as physical
in the individuals to serve in the fateful occasion for the Holy Prophet to present them
to God as the best one of His creation to be heard in the prayers of Truth!
Sunni references:
Ghayatul
Maryam, p 300
Sahih Muslim, v
4 p 1285 ( English Edition), the tradition is as follows:
...( The third
occasion is this ) when the following verse was revealed : Let us summon our children and
your children. Allah's messenger (pbuh&f) called Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Hussain and
said : O Allah, these are my family ...
Glorious Quran
Chapter 3 Verse 103
And hold ye
fast by the cord of God All together and be not divided ( among yourselves ) ...
Some Sunni scholars and commentators agree that the above verse
reflects on the Ahl al Bayt. Here are some references
Thalabi records
on his Commentary Tafsir al Kabir from Aban ibn Tabligh that he heard Imam Jafer as Sadiq
( as ) say:
We are the Rope
of Allah about whom Allah has said: Hold fast to the Rope of Allah ...
Shafi'i is
reported by Abu Bakr ibn Shabah al Din in Rishfaht al Sadi to have said:
When I saw
People carried off
Their departure
to the sea of error and ignorance
In the name of
Allah I boarded the ship of Salvation
That is the Ahl
al Bayt of Mustafa, the Seal of Prophecy
And I caught
hold of the Rope of Allah, that is their Love
As He commanded
us to hold fast to the Rope!
A tradition
from the Holy prophet ( pbuh&f )
I will soon be
called away and will have to depart from you, but I leave among you Two ( 2 ) weighty
things, the Book of Allah and my descendants. The Book of Allah is like a rope which
extends from the heavens to the earth, and my descendants are my people of the house ( my
Ahl al Bayt ). The Subtle and the Aware tells me that the two ( 2 ) shall never part
company until they come to me at the Pool. So take care how you treat them after me.
As recorded in
Musnad of Ahmed
Hanbal, v 3 p 17
Musnad of Ahmed
Hanbal, v 3 p 26
Sahih of al
Tirmizi, tradition no. 874
Kanz al Ummal,
v 1 p 47, tradition no. 945 ( for the above hadeeth )
Ghayatul
Maryam, p 242
Yanibul
Muwaddah, p 118 -> 119
Sawaiq al
Muhriqah, v 1 chapter 11
Safinatul
Biharij ( Recorded by Allama Qummi from Allama Zamakhsari ) p 193
There is a lot
more information than what you find above, however, the above is only a summary.