Ali bin Abi Thālib

 

Ali bin Abi Thālib

Ali was born in Mecca, Hejaz region, Arabian Peninsula, on the 13th of Rajab. According to historians, Ali was born 10 years before the start of Muhammad's prophethood, around 599 AD or 600 (estimated). Shia Muslims believe that Ali was born in the Kaaba. Ali's age with the Prophet Muhammad is still disputed until now, some narrations mention a difference of 25 years, some 27 years, some 30 years and even 32 years.

His real name was Haydar bin Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. Haydar, which means Lion , is the hope of the Abu Talib family to have a successor who can be a brave and respected figure among the Quraysh of Mecca. After learning that the newborn cousin was named Haydar , the Prophet SAW called him Ali , which means High (degree in the sight of God).

Early Life

Ali was born from a mother named Fatimah binti Asad, where Asad is the son of Hasyim, thus making Ali, a descendant of Hasyim from the father's and mother's side. The birth of Ali bin Abi Talib brought a lot of entertainment to the Prophet SAW because he did not have a son. The destitution and poverty of Abu Talib's family gave the Prophet SAW with his wife Khadijah the opportunity to raise Ali and make him an adopted son. This is at once to repay the service to Abu Talib who has nurtured the Prophet from his childhood to adulthood, so that since childhood Ali has been with Muhammad.

In foreign (Western) biographies, Ali's relationship to Prophet Muhammad SAW is described as that of John the Baptist (Nabi Yahya) to Jesus (Nabi Isa). In Shi'a narrations and some Sunni narrations, the relationship is described as Prophet Harun to Prophet Moses.

Adolescence

When the Prophet Muhammad SAW received the revelation, old narrations such as Ibn Ishaq explain that Ali was the first man to believe the revelation or the 2nd person to believe after Khadijah, the Prophet's own wife. At this point Ali was about 10 years old.

At a young age after the revelation, Ali learned a lot directly from the Prophet SAW because as a foster child, he had the opportunity to always be close to the Prophet, this continued until he became the Prophet's son-in-law. This is evidence for some Sufis that there are certain lessons on spiritual matters (spirituality in English or the Salaf prefers to call the term 'Ihsan') or what became known as Sufism which the Prophet taught specifically to him but not to the disciples. -students or other friends.

Because if the knowledge of Shari'ah or Islamic religious laws that regulate worship and society, everything that the Prophet received must be conveyed and taught to his people, while spiritual matters can only be given to certain people with their respective capacities.

Direct education from the Prophet to Ali in all aspects of Islamic knowledge, both outward (exterior) or sharia and inner (interior) or Sufism, made Ali a very intelligent, brave and wise young man.

Life in Mecca to Hijra to Medina

Ali was ready to sleep in the Prophet's room to deceive the Quraysh who would thwart the Prophet's migration. He slept showing the effects of the Prophet sleeping until the time came towards morning when they found out that Ali was sleeping, having missed one night's journey by the Prophet who had escaped to Madinah with Abu Bakr.

Life in Medina

Marriage

After the hijrah and living in Medina, Ali was married by the Prophet to his beloved daughter Fatimah az-Zahra. The Prophet considered Ali to be the most accurate in many respects such as the lineage of the same family (Bani Hasyim), the first to believe in Muhammad's prophethood (after Khadijah), who always studied under the Prophet and many other things.

Nickname

When Muhammad looked for Ali his son-in-law, Ali was sleeping. The top of his clothes was exposed and dust littered his back. Seeing this Muhammad sat down and cleaned Ali's back, saying, "Sit down, O Abu Turab , sit down." Turab which means dust or earth in Arabic. The nickname is the nickname that Ali likes the most.

The battle that followed during the time of the Prophet

Badar war

A few moments after the marriage, the war of Badr broke out, the first war in Islamic history. Here Ali really became a hero alongside Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle. The number of Meccan Quraish who died at the hands of Ali is still in dispute, but everyone agrees that he became a field star at a very young age of around 25 years.

Battle of Khandaq

The Battle of Khandaq also witnessed the courage of Ali bin Abi Talib when he fought Amar bin Abdi Wud. With one slash of his sword named dzulfikar, Amar bin Abdi Wud was split into two parts.

Khaibar War

After the Treaty of Hudaibiyah which contained a peace agreement between the Muslims and the Jews, later on the Jews betrayed the agreement until a war broke out against the Jews who were defending in the very strong Khaibar Fort, commonly referred to as the Khaibar War. When the companions were unable to open the fort of Khaibar, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

“Tomorrow, I will hand over the flag to someone who will not run away, he will attack again and again and Allah will grant him victory. Allah and His Messenger love him and he loves Allah and His Messenger.”

So, all friends dream to get the glory. However, it turned out that it was Ali bin Abi Talib who had the honor and was able to destroy the fortress of Khaibar and managed to kill a brave enemy soldier named Marhab and then slashed him with one blow until it split into two parts.

Another war

Almost all the wars he participated in except the Tabuk war because he represented the prophet Muhammad to guard the city of Medina.

After the Prophet died

Until here, almost all parties agree on the history of Ali bin Abi Talib, differences of opinion began to appear when the Prophet Muhammad died. The Shia believe that there is a will (based on the history of Ghadir Khumm) that Ali should become Caliph when the Prophet (SAW) died. But the Sunnis did not agree, so that while Ali and Fatimah were still in a state of grief, the Quraysh agreed to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr.

According to a narration from Al-Ya'qubi in his book Tarikh Volume II mentions an event as follows. On the way back to Madinah after performing the Hajj (Hijjatul-Wada'), in the evening the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, with his entourage arrived at a place near Jifrah known as "GHADIR KHUM." That day is the 18th day of Dzulhijjah. He came out of his tent and then gave a sermon in front of the congregation while holding the hand of Imam Ali Bin Abi Tholib ra. In his sermon, among other things, he said: "Whoever thinks that I am his leader, then Ali is his leader. Ya Allah, guide those who acknowledge his leadership and be enemies of those who hostile to him"

The appointment of Abu Bakr as Caliph was certainly not approved by the family of the Prophet Ahlul Bait and his followers. Several narrations differ in opinion when Ali ibn Abi Talib took the bai'at of Abu Bakr as the successor of the Prophet's Caliph. There are narrations after the Prophet was buried, some a few days after that, the most narrated is that Ali took the oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr after Fatimah died, which is six months after the death of the Prophet in order to prevent divisions in the ummah.

There are those who say that Ali is not worthy to hold the position of Caliph because of his young age, there are also those who say that the Caliphate and prophethood should not be in the hands of the Bani Hasyim.

As a caliph

The assassination of Caliph Uthman bin Affan resulted in outrage throughout the Islamic world, which at that time had spread to Persia and North Africa. The rebels who at that time controlled Medina had no other choice but Ali bin Abi Talib as the caliph, at that time Ali tried to refuse, but Zubair bin Awwam and Talhah bin Ubaidillah forced him, until Ali finally accepted their allegiance. Making Ali the only Caliph who pledged allegiance en masse, because the previous Caliphs were chosen through different means.

As the 4th Caliph who ruled for about 5 years. His reign inherited the chaos that occurred during the reign of the previous Caliph, Uthman bin Affan. For the first time a civil war between Muslims occurred during his reign, the Battle of Basra. 20,000 forces led by Ali against 30,000 forces led by Zubair bin Awwam, Talhah bin Ubaidillah, and Ummul mu'minin Aisyah bint Abu Bakar, the Prophet's wife. The war was won by Ali.

The killing of Caliph Uthman bin Affan which according to various circles at that time could not be resolved because of the slander that had already been widespread and had been hinted (to happen) by the Prophet Muhammad when he was still alive, and was exacerbated by the incitement of dissidents that existed since the time of Uthman. bin Affan, caused divisions among the Muslims, causing the war. Not only did it end there, a prolonged conflict occurred until the end of his reign. The battle of Shiffin which weakened his caliphate also started from this problem.

Ali bin Abi Talib , someone who has expertise in the field of military and war strategy, experienced difficulties in the administration of the state because of the extraordinary chaos left by the previous government. He died at the age of 63 because of the murder by Abdrrahman bin Muljam, a person from the Khawarij (dissident) group while leading the dawn prayer at the Kufa mosque, on the 19th of Ramadan, and Ali breathed his last on the 21st of Ramadan in the year 40 Hijriyah. Ali was buried in secret in Najaf, there are even some narrations that state that he was buried elsewhere.

Ali had eight wives after the death of Fatimah az-Zahra and had a total of 36 children. His two famous sons, born of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah, were Hasan and Husain.

Ali's descendants through Fatimah are known as Syarif or Sayyid, which is an honorary title in Arabic, Sharif means noble and Sayyed means master . As direct descendants of Muhammad, they are respected by both Sunnis and Shiites.

According to history, Ali bin Abi Talib had 36 children consisting of 18 boys and 18 girls. Until now the descendants are still scattered, and are known as Alawiyin or Alawiyah . Until now, the descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib are often called Sayyid.