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Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA)

علي بن أبي طالب

c. 600 CE - 40 AH / 661 CE; caliph 35-40 AH

The Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, husband of Fatimah and father of Hasan and Husayn, among the first to accept Islam and one of the ten promised Paradise. He was the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph and was assassinated by a Kharijite in 40 AH.

Biography

Ali, son of Abu Talib, was raised in the Prophet's household and was among the first to accept Islam as a boy. On the night of the Hijra he slept in the Prophet's bed. He married Fatimah (2 AH) and fought at Badr, Uhud, the Trench and Khaybar, where the Prophet ﷺ gave him the banner, saying it would go to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and whom Allah and His Messenger love (Sahih Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). When left in Madinah during Tabuk, he was told 'You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me' (Sahih Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). At Ghadir Khumm the Prophet ﷺ urged care for his Ahl al-Bayt (Sahih Muslim, Zayd ibn Arqam) and said 'Whoever I am his mawla, Ali is his mawla' (Jami' al-Tirmidhi, graded authentic). He is included in Hadith al-Kisa (Sahih Muslim) and the Mubahalah (3:61; Sahih Muslim).

He served as adviser to the first three caliphs and became caliph after Uthman's assassination (35 AH). His caliphate saw the Battle of the Camel (36 AH), Siffin (37 AH) against Mu'awiyah's army, the arbitration, and the emergence of the Khawarij, whom he defeated at Nahrawan (38 AH). The Prophet ﷺ had said that Ammar would be killed by 'the rebellious group' (Sahih Bukhari 447); Ammar was killed fighting on Ali's side at Siffin, which Sunni scholars widely cite to hold that Ali was in the right. He was struck by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam in Kufa and died in Ramadan 40 AH.

Besides Hasan and Husayn (from Fatimah), his children include Zaynab and Umm Kulthum (from Fatimah) and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, among others. After Fatimah's death he married Umamah bint Zaynab, the Prophet's granddaughter.

Sources & explanation

۞ Qur'an

33:33 3:61

Links open quran.com.

📜 Hadith verified on sunnah.com

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3707 Sahih

    The Prophet ﷺ said to Ali: 'Are you not pleased to be to me as Harun was to Musa?'

  • Sahih Muslim 2404a Sahih

    Sahih Muslim: 'You are to me in the position of Harun to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me.'

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3702 Sahih

    At Khaybar: 'Tomorrow I will give the flag to a man through whom Allah will grant victory' — it was given to Ali (narrated by Sahl ibn Sa'd).

  • Sahih Muslim 78 Sahih

    Ali said: the unlettered Prophet ﷺ assured me that none but a believer would love me and none but a hypocrite would hate me.

  • Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3713 Sahih (Darussalam)

    'Whomever I am his mawla, Ali is his mawla.'

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 441 Sahih

    The Prophet ﷺ found Ali sleeping in the mosque covered in dust and called him 'Abu Turab'.

  • Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3205 Sahih (Darussalam)

    The verse of purification (33:33) was revealed in Umm Salamah's house; the Prophet ﷺ covered Fatimah, Hasan, Husayn and Ali with a cloak.

  • Sahih Muslim 2424 Sahih

    Hadith al-Kisa': the Prophet ﷺ took Hasan, Husayn, Fatimah and Ali under his cloak and recited 33:33.

  • Sahih Muslim 2404d Sahih

    Mu'awiyah asked Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas what prevented him from reviling Abu Turab (Ali); Sa'd cited three sayings of the Prophet ﷺ: the Harun-Musa hadith, the Khaybar banner, and the Mubahalah, when he gathered Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn saying 'O Allah, these are my family'.

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3671 Sahih

    Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah asked his father Ali who was best after the Prophet ﷺ; Ali said Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, and called himself just one of the Muslims.

  • Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3747 Sahih (Darussalam)

    The Ten promised Paradise (al-'Ashara al-Mubashsharah) named in one hadith narrated by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf.

  • Sunan Abi Dawud 4649 Sahih (Al-Albani)

    Sa'id ibn Zayd testified that the Prophet ﷺ named ten people in Paradise.

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 447 Sahih

    While building the Prophet's mosque: 'May Allah have mercy on 'Ammar; the rebel (aggressor) group will kill him. He invites them to Paradise and they invite him to the Fire.' (narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri)

💬 Explanation Mirza view verified

Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's perspective

Methodological note (not a direct quote): Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's widely known approach is to build narratives primarily on the Quran and Sahih Hadith, to set aside Israiliyat (Judeo-Christian lore absorbed into later tafsir) and weak or fabricated narrations, and to avoid sectarian framing. Applied to this node: Widely reported position (stated in his public lectures and research papers): Ali was on the truth (haq) in the Battles of the Camel and Siffin, based on the Ammar hadith (Sahih Bukhari 447) and related Sahih narrations, while the companions on the other side are not cursed; love of Ali and the Ahl al-Bayt is presented alongside love of all Companions. Exact wording should still be confirmed against the lectures.

Verified from the auto-transcript of 6zhjdo3CoFk (2 Nov 2014): Mirza calls Ali's three wars (Camel, Siffin, Nahrawan) the practical tafsir of Quran 49:9, cites the Sahih Muslim hadith that the Khawarij would be fought by the group 'closest to the truth' and says this means Ali was the one on the truth, not that both sides were. Also supported by titles of v0QZlRL8-uY and 21ZJBKl0FkE. Machine transcript; paraphrased.

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Further references

  • Sahih Bukhari 447
  • Sahih Bukhari & Muslim (Khaybar banner; 'as Harun to Musa')
  • Sahih Muslim (Zayd ibn Arqam, Ghadir Khumm)
  • Jami' al-Tirmidhi ('man kuntu mawlahu')
  • Sahih Muslim (Hadith al-Kisa)

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