The life of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.), from various aspects and in various conditions, is an eternal lesson for all human generations. It is an eternal and unforgettable lesson, either in his individual practices, in personal life, in the niche of prayers, in his supplications, in his asceticism, in his rapture in remembrance of Allah, or in his struggles against carnal desires, Satan, and material motivations. The following sentences uttered by the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) still reverberate in atmosphere of universe and in the ambience of man’s life, “O’ manifestations of the world, attractive beauties and desires that tempt and entrap the strongest of men, go and tempt someone else”.1,2 ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) is too great and strong for these things. Hence, each and every wakeful man finds unforgettable lessons in the life of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) and his communion with Allah and spirituality.
Yet in another aspect, his holy struggle was for holding up the banner of righteousness and justice. When the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) shouldered the responsibility of prophethood, from the very first hour, he found a faithful, committed, and devoted striver on his side, who was in his early adolescence, that is, ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.). The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) did not spare any effort until the last hours of the blissful life of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) in the way of struggle for establishing the Islamic system and safeguarding it. How much struggle he carried out, what dangers he plunged into and how rapt he was in the way of struggle for establishing righteousness and administering justice! When no one dared to remain in the battlefield, he would stay. When no one dared to go to the battlefield, he would go. When difficulties, like heavy mountains, pressed the shoulders of the holy warriors, his stature remained firm and inspired hope in others. For him, the meaning of life was to utilize the God-given facilities, physical and spiritual power and whatever was at his disposal in the way of sublimation and preservation of the truth. Truth was revived through ‘Alī’s (P.B.U.H.) will, arm, and holy struggle.
If such concepts as truth, justice, humanity as well as those concepts which are valuable for the intelligent humans in the world today are alive and become stronger and well-established day by day, it is because of those holy struggles and devotions. Had not it been for people like ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.)–who are rare in the history of mankind–human values would not exist today, attractive titles would not have had any attraction for man, mankind would not have enjoyed any civilization, culture, aspiration, ideals and sublime objectives; and man would have turned into a savage, wild animal. Man is indebted to the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) and great people like him for the preservation of sublime ideas. Those holy struggles have this impact.
Another aspect of Imam ‘Alī’s (P.B.U.H.) life is manifested in the field of governance. When this great and farsighted man finally took over Caliphate and came to power, his performance was such that even if the writers, historians, and artists write and depict for years, they will still have not said much. Imam ‘Alī’s (P.B.U.H.) lifestyle during his rule is a real paradigm. Basically, Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) changed the meaning of governance.
He was the embodiment of Divine governance, the embodiment of the Qur’anic verses among Muslims, the embodiment of absolute justice and the embodiment of the Qur’anic verse, “…are hard against the faithless and merciful amongst themselves.”, He used to bring the poor close to himself–“He was closed to the poor.”,–and paid especial attention to the down-trodden. The eminent figures who had illegally gained prestige through money, force, and other means were worthless to him. Faith, piety, sincerity, jihād, and humanity were valuable in his eyes. On the basis of these values, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) ruled for less than five years. Writers have been writing about the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) for centuries yet they have not been able to write or depict his image properly. The best writers have confessed their inability in this regard.
His greatest characteristic is virtuousness. His Nahj al-Balāgha is the book of virtue and his life is the way of virtue.
This holy verse, “And among the people is he who sells his soul, seeking the pleasure of Allah”, has been revealed about the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) and the interpretation of this verse is ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.). This holy verse says there are people who have sacrificed their life, their being which means the dearest asset that every human has–this precious irreversible and exclusive asset which if you give it away, you will never have it back again–some of these assets, they give them all away to obtain the pleasure of Allah, just for this. “And among the people is he who sells”, he gives, he sells “his soul”,, his life, his being; “Seeking the pleasure of Allah”, there is no other purpose, no worldly aim, no selfish attitudes and motivations just to seek the pleasure of Allah. But in the face of such self-sacrifice and indulgence, Allah certainly does not leave it without a reward, “And Allah is most kind to [His] servants”,; Allah has compassion toward His servants. The perfect example of this [verse] is the Commander of the Faithful–‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.). I will speak about this aspect later.
Look at the life of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). Since his childhood, since the time he was nine or thirteen years old, he believed in the prophethood of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) and found this truth consciously and deliberately, and held it tightly, from that moment until the moment he gave his life for Allah in the niche of prayers at the dawn of the nineteenth day of Ramadan and met his Lord happily, satisfied and with great joy. During this nearly fifty years, or fifty two or three years, from ten to sixty-three years old, you see there is a continuous line in the life of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) and it is the line of sacrifice and selflessness; In all these cases during the fifty-year history of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.), you can see the sign of sacrifice which from the beginning to end it is indeed a life lesson for us. And we, you and I, who talk about ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.), seek ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) and are famous in the world for bearing the love of ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) in our hearts, we should learn from the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.); To love ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) is not sufficient, to know the virtues of ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) is not sufficient, there were those who admit the virtues of ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.) in their hearts, perhaps even more than us who are a thousand and four hundred years away from that time, the same people or some of them loved ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) as an innocence and pious man at their hearts but their behavior was different. Because they do not have this characteristic, this sacrifice, this abandonment of selfishness, this not working for self. They were still caught in their “self”. The advantage of ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) was that he was not caught in his “self”. “Self” was never important to him. What was important to him was the duty, the aim, striving in the way of Allah and for Allah.
The very first time that the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) believed in the prophethood of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) at his early childhood, everyone harassed and ridiculed him in Mecca. Imagine a city whose people resorted to violence, were not civilized and peaceful, were violent and conflictive, were rough, fought over the smallest issues and very biased toward the same false beliefs; in a society like this, such a message was raised by a great man who took everything of this society into question: its beliefs, its etiquettes, and its traditions. Well, it is natural that everyone would oppose him and different strata opposed him; the masses of people also opposed the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.). Defending and joining such a man and such a message wholeheartedly demanded self-sacrifice; the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) took the first step in [this] self-sacrifice.
Thirteen years, in the hardest times, ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.) stood up beside the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.). Then when those thirteen years of suffering were about to come to an end–it was true that the migration of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) from Mecca was a migration forced and compelled under the pressure of Quraysh and Meccans but it had a bright future; [when] everyone knew that this migration was the introduction of later success and victories–and just where a movement was about to enter a period of comfort and dignity from a period of distress, at this very time when everyone sought to arrive sooner [in Medina] in order to get better social positions and find a [better] status, in this very moment, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) was getting ready to sleep in place of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), in the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) bed, in that dark and shadowy night so that the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) could leave his house and the city. In that very night, the death of the person, who slept in that bed, was almost certain. It was not like that as you and I know about the incident, that the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) was not martyred in that incident, everyone knew this too on the time. Nay, the issue is that [everyone knew that] someone was supposed definitely to be killed on a dark night at a certain point. [Some] said that someone should be in this man’s place so that he could leave here and that if the spies looked at, they felt someone was there. Who would agree to do this? This sacrifice of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) is an extremely important incident, but the time of this sacrifice adds to its importance. When was the time? The minute the Muslims’ distress were about to come to an end; [the minute] they were going to form a government, [the minute] they were going to be at ease, [the minute] the people of Medina–i.e. Yathrib-believed in the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) and expected his [arrival], everybody knew these. At this very moment, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) made his sacrifice; there should certainly be no personal motivation in a person for making such a big move.
After entering Medina, the endless wars and campaigns of the newly established government of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) began. Battles and wars were permanent and so was the characteristic of such government. Before the Battle of Badr, the clashes, and struggles were started and continued until the last day of the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) life-these [last] ten years. During these ten years, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) had several dozen wars and conflicts with the infidels, all kinds and cults of the infidels. In all these times, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) was present as the vanguard, as the most devoted and dedicated to the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), which the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) himself had admitted and the history revealed in all these dangerous stages and scenes. “I supported him with my life on occasions when even the brave turned away and feet remained behind.”, The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) stood [by the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.)] in all these severe times. It was not important for him that there might be danger. Some may think that it is good for us to save our lives now so that we would be helpful later on for Islam. The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) never deceived himself with such excuses and indeed the Commander of the Faithful’s (P.B.U.H.) high esteem was not easily deceived. ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) was present at all of these dangerous stages in the front lines.
