ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib
Cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, raised in his household, and the first of the young to accept Islam. Husband of Fāṭima, father of al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, and the fourth of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs.
In brief
- His name
- ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim — a Hāshimī like the Prophet ﷺ, and his paternal cousin.
- His kunya
- Abū al-Ḥasan, and Abū Turāb — the Prophet ﷺ named him so on finding him asleep in the mosque with dust on his side.
- His Islam
- At about ten years old — the first of the young to believe.
- His moments
- He slept in the Prophet’s bed on the night of the migration, carried the banner at Khaybar where the fortress fell at his hands, and witnessed every campaign but Tabūk, where the Prophet ﷺ left him over Medina.
- His caliphate
- From 35 AH to 40 AH — five years, with Kūfa as his capital.
- His death
- Struck in the mosque of Kūfa on his way to the dawn prayer, in 40 AH, aged about sixty-three.
His story
The Prophet ﷺ took him in as a child during years of drought to ease the burden on his uncle Abū Ṭālib, so he grew up in the house of prophethood. On the night of the migration ʿAlī slept in his bed while Quraysh surrounded the house, then stayed behind to return the deposits people had entrusted before following him.
At Khaybar the Prophet ﷺ said: “Tomorrow I shall give the banner to a man who loves God and His Messenger, and whom God and His Messenger love.” He gave it to ʿAlī, whose eyes were sore; he wiped them and they healed, and the fortress was opened. At Tabūk he told him: “Are you not content to stand to me as Aaron stood to Moses, save that there is no prophet after me?”
He was the most learned of the Companions in judgement — ʿUmar said: “ʿAlī is the best judge among us.” His caliphate fell in a strife he never sought, and he died a martyr on his way to prayer.