The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) fought with three different groups including pledge-breakers (Nākithīn), deviators from the truth (Qāsiṭīn) and those who have left the faith (Māriqīn). Each of these campaigns illuminates the same spirit of trust in Allah, devotion as well as staying away from the self-centrism and selfishness in the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.); and finally he was martyred in the same way as it is stated about this infallible Imam (P.B.U.H.), “‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) was killed by his justice”. If the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) had not wanted to do justice, if he had wanted to defer to somebody, if he had wanted to prefer his own dignity and position to the goodwill of the Islamic world, he would have been the most successful and powerful Caliph and would not have found any opponent. But the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) is the measure of wrong and right. That is for this very reason that whosoever follows, accepts and acts like the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) is right and whosoever does not accept him is wrong; that is why he has fulfilled the kernel of duty–without the slightest interference of selfishness, personal feelings and interests–and moved in the way he had chosen. The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) has such a personality. For this reason, ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) is indeed the scale of righteousness. This is the life of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.): “And among the people is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of Allah.”, It was not just at his martyrdom, it was not just at his death time that the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) gave his life in the way of Allah; [rather] he constantly gave his life in the way of Allah during his lifetime.
In this period, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) proved that the Islamic principles and values, which emerged in the early era of Islam and the isolation of the then small Muslim community, was also applicable in the era of prosperity, spreading, competence, development and advancements of the Islamic community. It is the very important to pay attention to this very point. The Islamic assets, the Islamic justice, the human dignity, the spirit of jihād, the Islamic construction as well as the codes of ethics and Islamic values were sent down through Divine revelation at the time of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) and were applied by him within the available limits in the then Muslim community. But what was the Islamic community like in the era of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.)? It was only a town (Medina) for up to ten years; a small town with several thousand people. And after they conquered Mecca and Ṭāif, it was a restricted area with very limited assets. Poverty was prevalent and their facilities were few. The Islamic values were established in such an environment.
From the demise of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), twenty-five years passed. During these twenty-five years, the extent of the Islamic country had turned hundred-fold, not two-, three-, or ten-fold. The day the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) assumed the caliphate, a land from the Central Asia to North Africa–i.e. Egypt–was within the sovereign of Islamic State. Of the two superpowers neighboring the Islamic state in the beginning–i.e. Iran and Rome–one was totally annihilated, which was the government of Iran and its territory was under the rule of Islam. And major parts of the Roman territory–including Shām, Palestine, Mosul and other places–were under the jurisdiction of Islam. Such a wide area was under the jurisdiction of Islam so that the wealth was increased; there was no longer poverty, destitution, and scarcity of food; gold was widely common; money became abundant; and tremendous wealth was generated. In this regard, the Islamic country had become rich. Many enjoyed excessive well-being. If we omitted ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) from this period, perhaps history would have judged that the Islamic principles and values of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) were good, but only for the Medina of the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) era, i.e., the same era of the poverty and the smallness of the Islamic community. However, after the Muslim community had expanded and mingled with different civilizations; and a variety of Iranian and Roman cultures and civilizations brought to the lives of people and various nations came under the umbrella of the Islamic community, those principles would have been no longer sufficient and capable of running the country. The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) proved by his practices, lifestyle, and governance throughout these five years that the same glittering principles of the early Islamic era–i.e. monotheism, justice, fairness and equality, the equality among people–were also applicable at the time of a powerful Caliph as the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). This is what has been immortalized in the history. Although this approach had not been practiced after the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.), he proved that if the Islamic ruling, the community managers and Muslim officials made their mind up and were determined and had a firm belief in, they could not only apply the same principles in the era of the expansion of the Islamic state and the emergence of new and various life circumstance but also give people the benefit… It is clear that social justice in a society of ten or fifteen thousand people of Medina was completely different from a society of tens of millions or hundreds of millions at the time of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). The Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) performed these tasks.
