Every individual who has contributed to the moral and ethical sphere of human life has placed above everything else the five universally acknowledge values truth, justice, liberty, sympathy and understanding.
All these five values are well integrated, there is actually no conflict between them. Their complete and ideal integration, however, is possible only through the medium of an outstanding mind, and exemplary character and a great personality. Such are the qualities we should look for when we study the life and achievement of any historical personality. And such a one was Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
Hazrat Ali, the cousin of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), was brought up and educated by the Prophet himself. Thus the spirit of Islam had become a part of his mental and emotional development. In the words of Taha Husain “the close relationship of Ali Ibn Abi Talib to the Holy Prophet is more evident then anything I can or need to dilate upon or clarify further and his position in the sight of the Prophet was so distinguished that there is hardly any room for doubt in this regard. The affection of Abu Talib for the Prophet is well known and his stand by his (Prophet’s) side in the cause of the Prophet and his religion and against the Qureish is widely acknowledged.
Abu Talib had taken the Prophet under his care and guardianship during the latter’s boyhood: (in the same way) the Holy Prophet had taken Ali under his own care during his (Ali’s) boyhood when Abu Talib (Ali’s father and the Prophet’s uncle) having a large number of children, was faced with financial hardship. So when the Prophet went out to proclaim his message Ali was just a boy under his care. “Ali submitted to the teachings Islam while he was only nine (or eleven) years old and he remained all along under the care of the Prophet and was brought up by him and Ummul-Mominin Khudijah. He is distinguished among the first and foremost adherents (of Islam) by the fact that his upbringing and mental emotional development were purely Islamic. His other distinction is that he grew up in the house which was the place of revelation in its most precise sense”.
The parallel development of an individual and religion and significant consequences for human history in general and Muslim history in particular. Moreover, the interconnection of Islam and this particular individual was also unique in the society in which they grew together. It was this unique interconnection which decided the role that Ali ibn Abi Talib played when the social- political groups took shape and clashed within the framework of the Arab Muslim society at later stages of historical developments and social changes. It was due to this uniqueness of disposition and character that the leadership of the progressive group of which Salman, Abu –Dar and Ammar Ibn-Yasir were prominent fell to Hazrat Ali’s lot. It was also due to this uniqueness of birth and development that Ali’s following in the footprints of the Prophet, never acceded to the demands of the conservative group of his social order. Hazrat Ali’s political stand never compromised the principles in cooperating with the five universally permanent human values: truth, justice, liberty, sympathy and understanding. This was not surprising since close and prolonged contact with the Prophet had developed in him that profound realization which is a prerequisite of social insight and moral responsibility. The strength of his character successfully integrated the human values in the texture of a well coordinated human personality. He well understood the needs of political expediency but he also realized the urgency of moral and ethical precepts and examples which, he thought, were of a higher value in human society.
Nahjal Balagha gives us some idea of how the concepts of truth and justice were formulated in his mind and what close relationship they had with each other. Truth, being a highly abstract concept was integrated with the absolutely practical concept of justice and they both reinforced one another. From these concepts followed his other statements in regard to the seeking of knowledge through actual facts and without any bias, prejudice or preconceived notions that only go to impede the pace of scientific investigation of facts and truth. He says, “he who tries to overthrow truth is himself over-thrown”. “People are hostile towards what they are ignorant of”.
“Knowledge is irrevocably related to actions and practice and, therefore, he who has knowledge will put in into effect in his actions and practice; knowledge calls forth action and practice, if action and practice are in accordance with knowledge it persists, otherwise it is not retained”.
Such statements of Hazrat Ali as “No poor man has hungered but a rich man has profited thereby” and “Never have I seen abundant wealth but its side there was a right denied” are only a few examples of his constant preaching through words and acts, for the establishment of a greater and still greater degree of social justice. His sermons and sayings on human rights can be found in Nahjal Balagha and his letter to his governors, particularly his written and clear proof of what he desired in the form of human sympathy and understanding on the part of the rich and powerful.
Letter to Son: Hazrat Ali’s letter to his eldest sons, Hasan ibn Ali, in the year 37 (657) is known as a precious epistle on morality.
He says,
“I advise you, O my son, to fear God, and to stick to His commands, to fill up your heart with His remembrance and to clutch firmly at His rope: for which link for connection if you clasp it is more trustworthy than the link between you and your work? Review your act with admonition and kill it (i.e. the desires) by piety and abstinence, strengthen it with firm and unwarning belief (Yaqin) and brighten it up with wisdom (Hikma), subjugate it by constant remembrance of death.
Hazrat Ali’s advice on sympathy and understanding.
“O my son, make your own self a balance (mizan) between yourself and others and like for others what you like for yourself and dislike for them what you dislike for yourself. Do not be unjust to others, just as you would not like to be treated unjustly, and do kindness (to others) as you would like kindness to be done to yourself. Consider that thing to be bad for your own self which you consider to be had for others. Do not say what you do not know, or even if you know it is not sufficient enough. And do not say what you would not like to be said to you”.
Had he been spared for a few more years the Arab-Muslim society of that age would have taken a definite direction in its development and progress towards the attainment of the five universally permanent human values; truth, justice, liberty, sympathy and understanding.
The Writer is a research scholar of the Nahj-al-Balagha and writes on its relevance to the contemporary issues. t_turabi@hotmail.com