Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) Courageous & Steadfast

Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra): Courageous & Steadfast

The Firsts | Dr. Omar Suleiman

Introduction: The Family of Abu Talib

But let's talk about Ali radiallahu anhu today. So we know who his father is. Who is his father? I just want to see how awake you guys are.

Abu Talib. Good. So his father is Abu Talib.

That would mean his brother's name is? Ja'far. I'm just trying to see if you guys are awake. Yes, he has a brother named Talib.

There is Talib, there is Aqeel, there is Ja'far, and then there is Ali. So Talib is the oldest son of Abu Talib. Does anyone know what Abu Talib's actual name was? What his real name was? His name was Abdi Manaf.

Abdi Manaf, okay? So Abdi Manaf, Abu Talib, obviously because his oldest son was Talib. And it comes down to, as we said, it's Talib, and then it is Aqeel, and then Ja'far, who we're going to have a very special session about at some point, about Ja'far radiallahu anhu. And then finally, Ali radiallahu anhu.

Each one of these brothers was a decade apart from the others. So there are 10 years between, approximately 10 years between each of the brothers as the children of Abu Talib. And actually, something that really stuck out to me was the naming that was chosen for them.

And I'm going to talk about that on Jum'ah insha'Allah. So we have two weeks to really live with this family when we talk about these special people as they existed around the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم What was the name of Ali's mother? Does anybody know? Don't say Um Talib, okay? What was his mother's name? Fatima.

I mentioned that there are very few Khadijas. In fact, I could not find anyone before Khadija radiallahu anha named Khadija. But when it comes to Fatima, there is Fatima, the mother of Ali, Fatima bint Muhammad, the wife of Ali صلى الله عليه وسلم radiallahu anha.

There is Fatima bint Hamza, Fatima bint Shayba. So Aqil also has a wife named Fatima. There are a lot of Fatimas that exist in that time.

Fatima bint Asad: A Special Mother

But the mother of Ali radiallahu anhu, Fatima bint Asad, is so special that I thought about doing a whole lecture about her. But then I said this series is going to get way too long if I do a whole lecture on her and

we're just going to end up having to dig a lot deeper. But she is a first as well.

She is the first Hashemi woman to accept Islam. The first actual person from the family, the first woman from the family of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in terms of his tribe to accept Islam. So unlike Abu Talib, who of course had held out because of the implications of his tribe, Fatima bint Asad radiallahu anha immediately accepted Islam.

So she's considered the first Hashemiya, the first woman from Banu Hashem to accept Islam. Some of the scholars put her as the 10th or 11th person as a whole to accept Islam. So she is one of the first 10 or first 11 to embrace the message of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

She did not hesitate at all. When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم informed her about the message, she immediately believed in the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. And she always knew there was something special about him.

She's also like Umm Ayman, someone that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم referred affectionately to as a mother because she served that role as a mother. Now we know that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to call Abu Talib his father. And Abu Talib would call him his son.

And one of the nicknames of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was يتيم أبي طالب - "Yateem Abu Talib, the orphan of Abu Talib." So there are hadith where he would say, we remember the story in Ash-Sham, where Abu Talib said, this is my son. And the priest said, no, no, no, the young man that's awaited, his father would have passed away.

And then he explained that it's his nephew. But Fatima bint Asad essentially raises the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم particularly from the age of six to the age of 25. The age of six to the age of 25 when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم got married to Khadija radiallahu anha.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم recalled the times of hunger, particularly where Fatima bint Asad used to sacrifice her own food for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and for her children. Remember, Abu Talib's family was struck with extreme poverty. And poverty stayed with that family all the way until Islam.

Okay, into Islam. It never actually left the family of Abu Talib. They were a people that lived in extreme, difficult poverty.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would recall the times that Fatima bint Asad would just have a little bit of food for herself and she would instead choose to distribute that amongst the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and her children. And as we said, she accepted Islam instantly. She even considered making hijrah to Abyssinia with her son Ja'far.

So we'll talk about Ja'far radiallahu anhu again in a future halaqa. But she even considered making that hijrah, migrating to escape the persecution in Mecca. And she especially loved Ja'far out of her kids for a

reason.

Because Ja'far looked like the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . So she loved Ja'far, particularly for his physical resemblance of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. So she had a preference, a soft spot for Ja'far radiallahu anhu.

She suffered during the boycott, as we talked about, the boycott on Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib. Of course that would cause the death of Abu Talib and it would cause the death of Khadijah radiallahu anha. And she also suffered, obviously from the death of her husband, Abu Talib, in those difficult days.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to often, when he would receive something, he would say, divide it amongst the Fatimahs. Okay? So Ali radiallahu anhu would take some of the food and some of the things that would come and he would divide it amongst the Fatimahs in the families. Ali radiallahu anhu says Prophet - كَانَ دَائِمًا يَزُورُهَا وَيُطِيلُ فِي بَيْتِهَا and his mother, he says صلى الله عليه وسلم about the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to go and visit her and he would enjoy her company and sit for a very long time in her home."

And when she passed away, shows you the love of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for this woman. When she was dying, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم came to her home, he removed his own shirt and he wrapped her in his shirt صلى الله عليه وسلم and he sat beside her bed and he made dua for her while she was passing away and she passed away with her eyes on the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهُوَ يَدْعُو لها - while he was making dua for her." What a way to leave this world.

SubhanAllah, wrapped in the shirt of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمstaring at the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, sitting by her bedside, making dua for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive her and to ease her transition. Ali radiallahu anhu said that I remembered the day that Fatima bint Asad was buried, and she's buried in Al-Baqi' Al-Gharqad. So she made the hijrah to Medina and she was buried in Medina.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself jumped in the grave and he cleared the dirt for her. There's a task to get inside the grave and to make sure that there's no obstacles, no hard rocks or anything that would prevent the body. And he cleared the grave for her himself صلى الله عليه وسلم

And then he asked for her body to come into the grave. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم actually received the body of this woman himself صلى الله عليه وسلم and praised her and then led her janazah. So Fatima bint Asad also through her children, there are 46 ahadith narrated from Fatima bint Asad radiallahu anha wa ardaaha.

So this is the mother of Ali. And the reason why I wanted to spend a little bit of time is because you know Abu Talib, but you often don't hear about the mother of Ali radiallahu anhu, Fatima bint Asad, the first of the Hashemi women to accept Islam.

Ali's Birth and Early Years

So Ali radiallahu anhu was born according to Ibn Hajar about 10 years before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم received revelation.

About 10 years before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم received revelation. Talib was the age of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . And then there is Aqil 10 years later, and then there is Ja'far 10 years later, and then there is Ali 10 years later, and then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم received revelation.

Of course as Ali radiallahu anhu was a young boy in his home. And there are a few things that are to be mentioned here. When he was born, I said that we're going to talk about Ali's name on Jum'ah inshallah, because it's special how Abu Talib chose the names of his children.

His mother named him أسد - "Asad. So when you hear the famous narration where Ali radiallahu anhu says, I am the one whose mother named him Haydar or Asad, a lion." He was actually being authentic, this was actually a fact that his mother named him Asad, named him a lion.

But when Abu Talib came back, he didn't like the name. He was on a journey. So he changed his name to علي - "Ali, which means علوّ الشرَفِ - aloo ash-sharaf, which means someone with great nobility."

And subhanallah her intention for him to be named a lion, to be named Asad, was of course realized later on when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would refer to him as أَسَدُ اللهِ - "Asadullah, as the lion of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala," because of the way that he would carry himself in battle. There's also narrations about him being born in the Ka'bah. Now, if he was born in the Ka'bah, he wouldn't be the only one to be born in the Ka'bah.

There's authentic narration about Hakeem ibn Hizam, the nephew of Khadijah, Hakeem ibn Hizam was also born in the Ka'bah. So there are some narrations, as we mentioned, of Ali being born in the Ka'bah as others were.

Ali Comes to Live with the Prophet

Now the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells the story about how Ali came into his house, and this is narrated in At-Tabari and Mujahid, that when they were young, Quraysh was struck by a famine, and it made it very difficult for people with large families, especially those that were especially those that were already in poverty.

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went to Al-Abbas, of course his uncle, and he said to Al-Abbas that Abu Talib is going through a hard time because of all of his children. How about we make things easy for him, and we take two of his children and raise them for him, so that he can focus on getting himself to a financially healthy place. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had just gotten married to Khadijah radiallahu anha shortly before that, so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم's financial circumstances had changed.

So Al-Abbas radiallahu anhu agreed, and Ali radiallahu anhu was literally an infant, so he was just born.

So we're talking about ten years before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم receives prophethood, five years after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم got married to Khadijah. So they go together and they say to Abu Talib, Al-Abbas and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم give us your children so we can make things easy for you, and we'll raise them for you.

So Abu Talib said you can take you can take them so long as you leave me Aqeel. So Abu Talib insisted only on keeping Aqeel with him, and so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went up to Ali radiallahu anhu as a baby, picked him up and embraced him, and he said I'll take him. Al-Abbas radiallahu anhu went to Ja'far Ibn Abu Talib, and he said I will take Ja'far.

So Ja'far, though he was a little older than Ali, as we said about a decade older than Ali, would be raised in the house of Al-Abbas, and Ali would be raised in the house of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Khadijah radiallahu anhu. And for the benefit of Ali, I want you to think about this because Mujahid mentions this as an amazing miracle. It could have happened that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم could have adopted Ali.

He could have officially made him his son, like he did with Zayd. Right? So he made Zayd, Zayd Ibn Muhammad. It also could have been that Khadijah radiallahu anha could have breastfed Ali, which would have made Ali her son.

And Khadijah radiallahu anha had flowing milk, right? There were other children of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that were born at the time of Ali and had Khadijah radiallahu anhu breastfed Ali, then he could never marry Fatima because he would have been the brother of Fatima. Right? He would have been the brother of Fatima. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was protecting this and obviously decreeing this in such a way that this marriage would happen from a very early age, even though it would have been understood and it would have only natural that Khadijah radiallahu anhu would either breastfeed him, being the young child in her house, or the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would officially adopt him.

And there's no actual stated reason why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم never adopted him and why Khadijah radiallahu anha did not breastfeed him, except that it's a miracle from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was planning for him very early on.

Ali's First Exposure to Islam

So he's growing up in the house of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Khadijah as a child of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Khadijah radiallahu anha and he's witnessing everything that we talked about with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Khadijah radiallahu anhu from the perspective of a child. So he sees the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when he comes home, the stress, Khadijah radiallahu anha embracing the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم going to waraqah, obviously the fatrah, he witnesses that

one was doing this ritual with them, so al-Abbas radiallahu anhu said do you know who that is, he said no, he said that's my nephew Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم (وَابْنُ عَمِّهِ عَلِيٌّ - "wa ibn ammihi Ali, and the son of his uncle, so his cousin Ali,") and his wife Khadija, he said my nephew, this is al-Abbas talking to Afif, he says my nephew says that his lord is (رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ - "rabbus samawati wal ard is the lord of the heavens and the earth") and that he's given him a new religion and al-Abbas said I don't know anybody in the world that follows the religion except for those three so Afif said interesting, stated with al-Abbas, he did some of his trade and then later on he would become Muslim, later on Afif al-Kindi would become Muslim once Islam grew, and Afif used to always cry and he would say (يَا لَيْتَنِي كُنْتُ رَابعًا - "I wish I was the fourth, I wish I was the fourth, ya laytani kuntu rabian, I wish I was I should have been the fourth, I should have been the fourth,") right, I had an opportunity in those moments, when it was just the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Ali and Khadija and I could have been that next one, but instead he waited until Islam got a little bit more growth and popularity and then Afif radiallahu anhu would become Muslim as well so it kind of just gives you that instant, if you think about the growth of Islam and you think about this first family, standing there, worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the Ka'bah and al- imam al-Qurtubi rahimahu Allah he likened this to, he said it's like (إبْرَاهِيمٌ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ وَهَاجَرٌ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ - "Ibrahim alayhi salam and Hajar and Ismail,") think about when the Ka'bah was first built and think about the moment of Ibrahim alayhi salam and Ismail alayhi salam and Hajar alayhi salam raising their hands to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then later on the fulfillment of that, it's once again it's a prophet with his wife and with his child, standing in front of that house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala declaring the oneness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and showing their support to that.

Ali's Courage and Devotion

So Ali radiallahu anhu maintained this position of being obviously extremely close, the first child, the first young man to accept Islam and he also remained in poverty so the family of Abu Talib obviously remained in deep poverty and there are so many different stations and virtues but the first one that we'll talk about beyond just being in that close capacity to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in those early days and being in that close capacity of Khadijah radiallahu anha is the day of the Hijrah when the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asked Ali radiallahu anhu to sleep in his bed on the eve of his departure knowing that there was a plot to kill him and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asks Ali to sleep in the bed and to take his place now there were seven tribes that conspired to kill the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the idea was if all seven of them had blood on their hands then they wouldn't be able to particularly target one of them for the murder of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم so it would do away with that fitna of tribalism it wouldn't start a tribal warfare because it was so many tribes that would be implicated in the murder of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم left Ali radiallahu anhu there and he could have the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم obviously had foreknowledge he could have just left and not put anyone there and they would have simply burst into the house and they would have found nobody now having Ali radiallahu anhu there gives some sort of a presence in the house so they could

see the body of someone there in the bed of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when they're waiting and Ali radiallahu anhu had no hesitation whatsoever to take his place not only that Ali radiallahu anhu sleeping in the bed knowing that seven people are about to come in there and what are they going to do if they even take the time to uncover and to see that it's not the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم they'll probably kill him anyway at this point now they're killing people regularly right they're persecuting the Muslims regularly so they'll probably kill him anyway Abu Talib is dead who's going to take his revenge it comes from a poor family at this point they'd probably kill him anyway Ali radiallahu anhu said that that night I slept like I'd never slept before he was snoring slept nice and calm peacefully knowing that it's only a matter of time before they break into the house and they kill him or they try to kill him Ali radiallahu anhu was in complete tawakkul in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu said that (وَاللهِ - "wallahi he freed every part of his body from hellfire by putting it all on the line for the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that night sleeping in the bed of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم knowing that they're plotting outside to bust in and to attack him") absolutely no hesitation absolutely no fear complete courage all alone knowing that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is with him and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is with Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu in the cave and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala obviously settles their hearts (أَنزَلَ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّكِينَةَ - "anzal alayhimu s-sakina Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala descends tranquility upon them") and he also descends tranquility onto the heart of Ali radiallahu anhu as he did on Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiallahu anhu in the presence of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم so they bust into the house they uncover him and then they see it's not the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم they're disgusted, Ali radiallahu anhu just gets up and walks away they didn't kill him and he's completely fine and so this was a way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala raising his rank but then look at the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told Ali radiallahu anhu to return all of the amanat the trust of the people before he makes the hijrah before he migrates these people are trying to kill the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and this is the moment where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has left Medina the prophet صلی الله عليه وسلم could have said you know what, if Abu Jahl wants to kill me I'm keeping his watch I could keep their stuff they knew that even as they're trying to kill him that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would still have the honesty to maintain their belongings and not to do away with them and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم entrusts Ali radiallahu anhu right after they came in, almost killed him he tells him to spend some time and to go and to return all of the amanat, the trust that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was holding Ali radiallahu anhu said then I made the hijrah and he said (وَاللهِ - "wallahi I had no companion and I had no camel") Ali walking from Mecca to Medina with absolutely nobody and nothing imagine making that journey in the desert by yourself and they were so poor he said I didn't have a camel, I was too poor to afford a camel or a horse gave away all of the amanat of the people and he said that as I was making the journey from Mecca to Medina, he says that it was so hot in the daytime that he made a strategic decision that he would sleep in the daytime and then he'd wake up at night and then Ali radiallahu anhu would try to make up as much of the journey by himself in the desert at night to avoid dealing with the heat of the sun and the dehydration of making that journey and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was waiting for Ali radiallahu anhu in Quba' and the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم would go

out and look for Ali radiallahu anhu he was the last one to make it because I was all by myself on my foot, the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم left me there, so the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is waiting at Quba' making dua' for his safety and then the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم sees him when he comes into Quba' and he embraces Ali radiallahu anhu and inducts him into this new system in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah.

Ali in Medina

Ali radiallahu anhu said when I got to Madinah the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم paired me off he was doing (مؤاخاة - "mu'akha, he was doing brotherhood,") he paired me off with (سَهْلُ بْنُ حُنَيْفٍ - "Sahal ibn Hunayf radiallahu anhu Sahal ibn Hunayf") was from the Aus tribe and he's one of the people that was an archer that supported the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in Badr and in Uhud, very close person to Ali radiallahu anhu, would actually live all the way to the khilafah of Ali radiallahu anhu and become one of Ali's amirs he would actually become one of his generals in Kufa in Iraq and pass away and Ali would pray janazah on him now what about the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم making him a brother to him there's some narrations that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when he did the mu'akha he made Ali his brother and we'll actually see that next week in one of the authentic narrations where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentions that in the capacity of the marriage to Fatima it doesn't seem to be a contradiction so there's some that would say the narrations are not necessarily authentic but doesn't seem to necessarily be a contradiction since there is actually an authentic narration where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم called him his brother that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم still symbolically called him his brother as he paired the muhajireen and the ansar and referred to him as such when he brought him there and there's no doubt that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم saw Ali or he treated Ali radiallahu anhu more like a brother than he did a son so even though there are 30 years between the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Ali ibn Abi Talib you see the relationship between the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Ali radiallahu anhu very much so like that of a brother the joking of Ali with the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is a beautiful narration, Ali radiallahu anhu again he's lived in poverty his whole life and when Fatima radiallahu anhu married him they still lived in poverty their whole lives and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم's house was one of poverty and Ali radiallahu anhu said that I used to take up these odd jobs between supporting the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in battle and being in his companionship Ali radiallahu anhu was a contractor you need someone to pick something up, you need someone to build something so he'd take these jobs with his hands and one day he said I worked the whole day for this woman and she paid me in(تمر - "tamr, so she paid me in 12 dates,") subhanallah how these people would work, no minimum wage in Medina you get 12 dates for working the whole day, doing hard work in the heat, so he said when I got the 12 dates I knew that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was hungrier than I was right, the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to go out at night looking for food sometimes so he said I took the 12 dates to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, sat with him he said I took 6 for myself I put 6 in front of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and then we ate the dates and he said the sahaba came and they gathered around us he said when the sahaba came I pushed my 6 date seeds in front of the

prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم so he had 12 date seeds in front of him and I said to the sahaba, look at rasulallah صلى الله عليه وسلمhe eats and he leaves me hungry that's the type of jokes, that's the approachability of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم responded and he says, look at Ali when he eats his dates he swallows his seeds so the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم reciprocates his jokes and this was the type of relationship that they had Ali's favorite name was (أَبُو تُراب - "Abu Turab, the father of dust") because that was the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم's nickname for him, Abu Turab and it was endearing to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and even in his own personal life, you see the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would seek nasihah would seek advice from Ali radiallahu anhu despite the large age gap and despite the fact that he would become his son-in-law not just like his own son that he raised but also would become his son-in-law when he marries Fatima after the battle of Badr in Al Medina which we'll talk about inshallah next week.

Virtues and Authentic Narrations

So what are some of the other virtues there are some of these ahadith that are so beautiful and I'm only going to focus on the authentic ones it's very hard to sift through when you're looking through the riwayat about Ali radiallahu anhu because you have some that from the perspective of the sunnah are exaggerated and some that are you know, depreciating but it was Imam Ahmed rahimahullah who said that there is no sahabi of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who had more narrations about him than Ali radiallahu anhu so the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم praising him talking about his love for him and that does not take from the maqam of Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu or from the khulafa from our perspective we'll get to that later on inshallah we don't see a contradiction between these two the authentic hadith where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said (مَنْ كُنْتُ مَوْلَاهُ فَعَلِيٌّ مَوْلَاهُ - "man kuntu mawlahu fa ali mawlahu, whoever takes me as a sincere,") you know when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about the mu'mineen and the mu'minats being (أَوْلِيَاء - "awliya to one another being close, loved ones to one another the believing men and the believing women") and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Allah is the (ولي - "wali of those who believe") the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says whoever takes me as a (مؤلّی - mawla then Ali radiallahu anhu is his mawla") (Tirmidhi hadith 3713) and the munafiqun they used to they got jealous obviously of the relationship that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had with Ali and this is something that's widely narrated and so when the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went to Tabuk realized the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would leave Ali radiallahu anhu behind to do some things at times and this was not to take away from him this was in praise of him, so just like he left him behind in Mecca that's not him leaving Ali behind because he doesn't care about him, it's because Ali radiallahu anhu has very particular qualities of trustworthiness he's the representative of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم someone that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم loves dearly and Ali radiallahu anhu was a warrior too and a warrior hates to be anywhere but in battle so you have all these stories of every single battle of Ali radiallahu anhu taking on people that everyone else was afraid of the pre-battle duels that would take place, Ali radiallahu anhu going forward with Hamza radiallahu anhu fighting before the battle so when

the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went to Tabuk he left Ali behind in Medina to take care of the women and the children that were left behind in Medina and some of the munafiqun, they started to make fun of Ali to say to him that this was a sign that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was putting him aside so this started to annoy Ali radiallahu anhu because he started to think about it he said, you know, is this some sort of you know, degradation am I being lowered in my status because the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم left me behind so when the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم came back he noticed Ali radiallahu anhu was bothered by what seemed to be a demotion of sorts in the ranks and he said to him to Ali radiallahu anhu (أَمَا تَرْضَى أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنِّي بِمَنْزِلَةِ هَارُونَ مِنْ مُوسَى إِلَّا أَنَّهُ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِي - "amma tarda an takuna minni bimanzilati haroon min moosa aren't you satisfied oh Ali that you are to me like haroon was to moosa except there is no nabi after me there is no prophet after me") (Bukhari hadith 4416) okay, what does that mean when (مُوسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - "moosa alayhi wasalam left who did he put in charge of the people هارون - haroon right,") and this was a sign that (هَارُونُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - "haroon alayhi wasalam was on the same wavelength as him right,") so he is leaving behind Ali radiallahu anhu in charge of that area in medina not because he is taking away from him but that is the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم talking him up and saying this is the same thing like when (مُوسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام - moosa alayhi wasalam put haroon in charge when he went to mount sinai") Abu Saeed radiallahu anhu says this is authentic and sahih muslim that we knew the hypocrites in the time of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم by their hatred of Ali radiallahu anhu and Ali radiallahu anhu used to say also an authentic hadith he used to say that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told me that (لَا يُحِبُّنِي إِلَّا مُؤْمِنٌ وَلَا يُبْغِضُنِي إِلَّا مُنَافِقٌ - "no one except a mu'min would love me and no one except a hypocrite would hate me that only a mu'min loves Ali radiallahu anhu and only a hypocrite would hate him,") (Muslim hadith 78) imam muslim includes this right after the hadith (آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ بُغْضُ الْأَنْصَارِ وَآيَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ حُبُّ الْأَنْصَارِ - "ayatul munafiq bughd al ansar wa ayatul mu'min hub al ansar where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that the sign of a believer is their love for the ansar and the sign of a hypocrite is their hatred of the ansar") and then specifically the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم specified Ali radiallahu anhu with that type of love there is also the narration of khaybar where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the battle of khaybar said that (لَأُعْطِيَنَّ هَذِهِ الرَّايَةَ غَدًا رَجُلًا يُحِبُّ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيُحِبُّهُ اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ - tomorrow I'm going to give the banner to someone who loves Allah and his messenger and who is beloved to Allah and his messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم") (Bukhari hadith (4210) and (عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ - "umar bin khattab radiallahu anhu said I never wanted so badly a position of leadership than that day") and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم kept the people waiting and then the next morning the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم called Ali radiallahu anhu he called for Ali and Ali radiallahu anhu had an issue with his eyes where he couldn't even see so the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم took some of his saliva and he applied it to the eyes of Ali radiallahu anhu and Ali could see once again and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave him the banner and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted him victory on his hands so that was also one of the moments where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم really gave Ali radiallahu anhu a special type of love in those moments there's an authentic hadith where a man said to (سَلْمَانُ الْفَارِسِيُّ - "Salman al Farsi radiallahu anhu how extreme is your love for Ali radiallahu anhu") and he said I heard the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم say (مَنْ أَحَبَّهُ أَحَبَّنِي وَمَنْ أَبْغَضَهُ أَبْغَضَنِي - "whoever