Ali in Muslim culture

hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Part of a series on
Ali
show Views Sunni view of Ali Shia view of Ali
show Life Birthplace First Fitna Assassination Timeline of Ali's life Alids Event of Ghadir Khumm
show Legacy Nahj al-Balagha Al-Ghadir Qalam-e-Mowla Zulfiqar Imam Ali Mosque Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim
show Perspectives Military career of Ali Ali as Caliph The Fourteen Infallibles Imam (The Twelve Imams) Ali in the Quran
show Burial places Hazrat Ali Mazar Imam Ali Shrine
show Related articles Rashidun Caliph Succession to Muhammad Great Mosque of Kufa
Category  Islam portal
v t

Except for Muhammad, there is no one in Islamic history about whom as much has been written in Islamic languages as Ali.^[1] Ali is widely revered and honored by Muslims. Almost every Sufi order traces its origin to Muhammad through Ali.^[1] Having been one of the first Muslims and foremost Ulema (Islamic scholars), he was extremely knowledgeable in matters of religious belief and Islamic jurisprudence, as well as in the history of the Muslim community. He was known for his bravery and courage. Muslims honor Muhammad, Ali, and other pious Muslims and add pious interjections after their names.

Ali's birthday is celebrated on 13th of Rajab by Shia Muslims to remember their first Imam who was born in the House of Allah/Kaaba. His death is remembered and mourned from the 19 to 21st of Ramadan which is the anniversary of his assassination and martyrdom. The ziyarat of the Tomb of Imam Ali in the Imam Ali Mosque is a usual religious tradition among Shias and Sufis.^{[citation needed]}

At the Ali Masjid in Pakistan is a huge boulder which carries the marks of a hand believed to be that of Ali. In India the Moula-Ali Darga or mortuary was built in the memory of Ali about 15 Kilometers from Secunderabad. There is an annual event that takes place during the month of Moharram and people gather there.^{[citation needed]}

Ali has high position in the mind of Muslims and they made a lot of pictures, poems and myths about him. For example, "Ali Guyam, Ali Juyam" (I call Ali, I seek Ali) is a famous rhyme in Iran.^{[citation needed]} He is the main protagonist in the epic poem Utendi wa Tambuka, dated 1728 - one of the earliest known documents in the Swahili language, which is considered a classic of that culture.^{[citation needed]}

The Gupti Ismaili community also holds that Imam ‘Ali and his descendants through Isma’il b. Ja’far, collectively, are the tenth and final avatāra expected by several South Asian religions, and represent the continuity of divine guidance to humankind. In the view of some Guptis, this is corroborated by the Quranic verse 14:4 which mentions the idea that God had sent a messenger to every land. They understand the avatāras to be these messengers sent by God to their people in the Indian Subcontinent.

The important Ismaili ginān Caution for the Faithful (Moman Chetāmaṇī), a foundational piece of literature for the Guptis of Bhavnagar and composed by Imamshah, alludes to the status of avatāra held by ‘Ali:

“The descendants of ‘Ali and the Prophet continued

Generation upon generation

He who forsakes his veneration to them

Approaches the gates of Hell

Know that he will be considered the worst of the damned

The vision of whose face will be a heinous sin

A soul who shall destroy his own mother and father

A soul that does not recognize the present garb of the avatāra.”^[2]

Poems[]

Sufis have glorified Ali in their works.^[3] For example, Rumi says in Masnavi:

The man spat in Ali's pure face, the pride

of every saint and prophet far and wide

The moon itself prostrates before this face...^[4]

Sufis recite Manqabat Ali in the praise of Ali (Maula Ali), after Hamd and Na`at in their Qawwali.

Footnotes[]

External links[]

• Ali ibn Abi Talib by Ismail K. Poonawala and E. Kohlberg in Encyclopædia Iranica
• Ali, article on Encyclopædia Britannica Online