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BIRTH OF ALI
Hazrat All (A.S.) was born in the Holy Kaaba at
Mecca on Friday, the 13th day of Rajab, 600 A.D. Both the Holy
Prophet and Hazrat Ali belonged to the same clan. They were
Hashimites, the clan of Bani Hashim. Muhammad’s father was Abdulla,
and that of Hazrat Ali, Abu Talib. They were brothers and their
father was Abdul Muttalib. Thus the Holy Prophet and Hazrat All
were cousins. Hazrat Ali had two brothers, Ja’far and Aquil.
Hazrat Ali’s mother Fatima was the daughter of
Asad, a famous magnate of the Quraish clan. She was also the aunt
of the Holy Prophet, being the wife of Abu Talib, the Prophet’s
paternal uncle. When she was pregnant, she promised Muhammad to
make over to him whatever child was born to her, be it male or
female. Muhammad, aware of the issue that would be brought forth,
gladly accepted the offer.
Ali’s holy personality began its wonderful
manifestation even during the period of his mother’s pregnancy. At
that time, Muhammad had not yet announced his prophethood, and yet
when he passed before Fatima, who being his aunt was senior to
him, she used to stand up in reverence and respect for him and
somehow something within her never allowed her to turn her face
away from Muhammad as long as he was around.
When people asked her about this peculiar
behavior of hers, she would say that she could not help it, that
some irresistible urge from within made her do so.
Those who wished to test her disbelieved this
statement. So one day they made her sit and they asked two strong
men to hold her down when Muhammad passed by. Then they asked
Muhammad if he would walk in front of her to which he gladly
agreed. As he came in front of her, Fatima began to rise and she
stood erect throwing both men aside. Muhammad who alone was aware
of this mystery, used to smile.
He was keenly awaiting the birth of his cousin
Ali.
During her pregnancy whenever Fatima was alone,
she heard from within her a mysterious whisper that was to the
glorification of God.
To understand the significance and importance
of his place of birth, it is essential to know a little of the
history of the Kaaba.
The first House of God was rebuilt and
renovated at the command of Allah by the Prophet Abraham assisted
by his worthy successor, his son lsmail, under the supervision and
guidance of the Angel Gabriel. The verses of the Holy Quran say
“And remember when Abraham raised the
foundation of the House with Ismail, (Praying) Our Lord! Accept
(this service) from us; verily Thou and Thou (alone) art the
All-hearing and All-knowing.”
Chap. 2-Verse 127.
“And remember when we made the House a resort
for mankind and a sanctuary (saying), Take ye the station of
Abraham a place of prayer (For you); and covenanted with Abraham
and Ismail (saying) purify ye two my House for those who make the
circuit, and for those who prostrate (adoring)”.
Chap. 2-Verse 125.
This verse clearly depicts the purpose of the
Kaaba, namely that it was to be a place of worship and that it was
pure and sacred.
It was to this sacred place, the Holy Kaaba,
that Providence led the mother of Hazrat Ali. She felt weighed
down by intense pain when Ali was due to be born. She knelt to
pray. When she raised her head from her supplication, the wall of
the House split as if by a miracle, to admit her within, and a
portion of the wall returned to its normal position. The Kaaba was
sealed, with Fatima within.
This news spread fast all over Mecca. The keys
of the shrine were brought to unlock the door but all efforts
ended in failure.
On the third day of this happening, with awe
the wonders struck crowds surrounding the Kaaba witnessed the lock
failing of its own accord, and to their surprise Fatima emerged
radiant from the sacred premises, cheerfully holding her now-born
babe in her arms. Muhammad was waiting to receive her and her
newborn child, and the first face that little Ali saw in this
world was the smiling face of the Apostle of Cod, Muhammad, whom
he greeted
“Assalaamo alaika ya Rasoolallah” (Peace be
upon thee 0 Prophet of Allah). Thus it is an undisputed fact that
Ali was born a Muslim, and his first words testified to the
Prophethood of Muhammad. Muhammad lovingly took him into his arms.
Muhammad gave Ali’s first bath after his birth with a prediction
that this bake would give him his last bath. This Prophecy was
fulfilled on the death of the Holy Prophet. The child accepted no
other food other than the moisture of Muhammad’s tongue, which be
sucked for several days after his birth. Muhammad fondled him in
his lap in his infancy, and chewed his food and fed Ali on it; he
often made him sleep by his side, and Ali enjoyed the warmth of
Muhammad’s body and inhaled the holy fragrance of his breath.
The superstitious Arabs of those times held
that every person as he came into the world was touched by the
devil, and that was why newborn babies cried at birth. Since Ali
was born in the sanctuary of God, to which the devil had no
access, he did not cry at birth but was found smiling. Thus God
had interposed a veil between the evil spirits and the child who
was to grow up to exalt His Holy Name. Ali has been described as
having been round liken priceless pearl in the shell of the Kaaba,
or a sword in the sheath of Allah’s House, or as a lamp found in
Allah’s abode shedding light all around.
The sanctified birth of Ali, as that of Prophet
Muhammad, was foretold in the scriptures, when God said to
Abraham, who asked for a blessing on lshmael: “And as far Ishmael,
I have heard thee: behold I have blessed him, and will make him
fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly, twelve princes shall
he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” (Genesis 17 :20).
‘The felicitous Prophecy in Genesis 17:20 about
the advent oft prophet is said to point to the appearance of
Muhammad and Ali. While the ‘Twelve Princes’ of the Mosaic
Scriptures are held to be none other than the twelve Holy Imams.
Hazrat Ali’s birth inside the Kaaba is unique.
This is the only known occasion on which a child was born within
the precincts of the holy place ever since its foundation
thousands of years ago.
When Ali was about five years of age, Muhammad
took him away from his uncle Abu Talib to bring him up as his own
child. Thus from his earliest days, Ali came directly under the
tutelage of the Apostle of God, to share his high ethics and
morals. Ali was ever ready to run the risk of his own life for
Muhammad at times of danger and he was affectionately attached to
him with unswerving faithfulness. The cousins were so fond of each
other that they lived together till death parted them.
As Hazrat Ali says: “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 which follows its mother.
Each day an aspect of his character would beam out of his noble
soul and I would accept it and follow it as a command.”
Ten years in the company of Muhammad had kept
him so close and inseparable that he was one with him a character,
knowledge, self-sacrifice, forbearance, bravery, kindness,
generosity, oratory and eloquence. From his very infancy, he
prostrated himself before God along with the Holy Prophet, as he
himself said, “I was the first to pray to God along with the Holy
Prophet.”
According to Ibne-e-Maja page 12, Raizunnazarah
Vol. II page 158, Usdul Ghulia Vol. IV page 1, and Izalathul Khofa
page 252, All used to say “I have prayed to God along with the
Holy Prophet seven years before any other person did.”
The First Believers: Ibn Abbas, Anas. Zaid bin
Aqram, Salman Farsi, and others have said, “Indeed it was Ali who
was the first to declare his Islam, and some say that there is a
consensus for this!” Major Jarret’s translation of Suyuti’s
History of the Caliphs page 171.
The illustrious Ali was thus the first to
readily embrace Islam and testified to Muhammad being the Apostle
of God.
Muhammad used to say the three men viz.,
Ezekiel, Habib Najjar and Ali, who came forward first to bear
testimony to the faith of their Prophets, Moses, Jesus, and
himself respectively, were acknowledged as ‘Siddiq. Ali repudiated
the claim of any other to this epithet5..
Often did the Holy Prophet go into the depths
of the solitary desert around Mecca with his wife Khadija and his
young cousin and disciple, Ali, so that they might together offer
their thanks to their God for His manifold blessings.
Once they were surprised in this attitude of
prayer by Abu Talib, the father of Ali, who said unto Muhammad “0
son of my brother, what is this religion that thou art following?”
Ahmad Hanbal in his Manaqib; Nasal in his
Khasaes; Hakim in his Mustadrak.
Ibn Athir.
“It is the religion of God, of His angles, of
His Prophets and of our ancestor Abraham”, “God has sent me to His
servants to direct them towards the truth”.
Then turning to Ali, his son, the Abu Talib
enquired what his religion was. “O Father”, answered Ali, “I
believe in God and his Prophet and go with him.”
“Well my son,” said Abu Talib, He will not
call thee to aught save what is good, wherefore thou art free to
cleave unto him”.
The first occasion where the Holy Prophet
Nominated Hazrat Ali as his vicegerent was Dawat-e-Asheera.
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