Ali ibn Abi Talib

Ali ibn Abi Talib was the cousin and the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, married to Muhammad's daughter Fatima. As a boy Ali, who was much younger than the Prophet, lived in Muhammad's house and was practically adopted by him. At the death of the Prophet the confusion over the succession (al-khilafah, hence the "caliphate") to the leadership was heavily debated. Ali's claims, based on his double relationship to the Prophet, were supported by many. But the leadership was given to Muhammad's father-in law, supported by Muhammad's wife A'isha. After two more successors, Ali ibn Abi Talib was declared caliph. But his rule was brief and when he was assassinated those who seized power began the line of the Umayyad caliphs.

The followers of Ali (the shi'ah of Ali) remained faithful and most did not recognize the Umayyad line. This difference among Muslims regarding the succession was the basis of the foundation of Shi'i Islam which is primarily marked by the belief in the succession descending from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib through the Imams. The Sunni Muslims, on the other hand, were those who followed the Umayyad caliphs (and later caliphs) and failed to recognize the line of Imams as the true leaders of Islam. The split was continued in the brief careers of 'Ali's two sons Hasan and Hussein, who were considered the second and third Imams. With Hussein's murder, the hope of the shi'ah for control over Islam was ended and the schism that developed persists to this day.

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nctive services" and received the Prophet's recognition for his deeds and his service (Tabataba'i 40). In addition, it is pointed out that the Prophet was also very close to Ali's children, his grandsons. He had "dearly loved the two little boys and never tired of playing with them" (Glubb 36). In the matter of early conversion, Ali was the first among those outside the Prophet's immediate family to accept his teachings. In the Shi'ite account, Muhammad was "commanded to invite his closer relatives to come to his religion" and he told them that "whoever would be the first to accept his invitation would become his successor and inheritor" (Tabataba'i 39). Ali was the first to do so and even though the other three early caliphs were also early converts, his conversion was earlier than any other. Yet it was during the time immediately following the death of Muhammad, while the family was preparing for the burial, that the friends of the Prophet made the decision to elect Abu Bakr his successor. Ali, it is claimed, was not aware of any opposition to his succeeding Muhammad and only discovered it when he was presented with the election of Abu Bakr as the final word of Islam's other leaders. To the Shi'ite's the candidacy for t

Category: Philosophy - A