As informed by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who had foretold the martyrdom of his cousin, in the fasting month of Ramadhan, Imam Ali (AS) said:

"This ayah was revealed in my honour, and that of my uncle Hamzah, and my cousin Ubaydah ibn al­Hareth ibn Abd al­Muttalib."

He said how the pledge to Allah for achieving martyrdom in the defence of Islam and humanitarian values was attained by the two, that is, Ubaydah in the Battle of Badr and Hamzah in the Battle of Ohad. He then added:

"As for myself, I am awaiting a most painful death, when this (pointing to his beard) shall be drenched from the blood of this (pointing to his head)… and have never changed the least."

Alas, today is that tragic anniversary of the martyrdom of the Commander of the Faithful, the Leader of the Pious, the Emblem of Justice, Imam Ali (AS).

What did Ali do to earn enmity? Who was his real enemy? Which agents did his archenemy procure against him? Why would anyone opt for the eternal fire of hell, to deprive him of his right, to spread lies against him, to harm him, or to take his life?

To find the answers to these questions, on the martyrdom anniversary of the first cousin, ward, son-in-law, and divinely-decreed vicegerent of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), we should zoom in on Mount Noor,near Mecca, where on the 27^th of Rajab, a boy of hardly ten years is all attention to the voices coming in from Cave Hera. He hears his 40-year cousin – son of his long deceased uncle Abdullah – reciting the Revealed Words of the Lord Most High conveyed by Archangel Gabriel. Then from a distance comes the sound of moaning as if someone has everything and become despaired forever. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) emerges from the cave with tidings of his mission as the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger – as conveyed by Gabriel, He then tells his young cousin that the heavy sigh that echoed following the formal entrustment of the universal message of Islam to him, was that of the devil, who has now become totally despaired of misleading the majority of the children of Adam.(Refer to Nahj al-Balagha as well as Sunni sources). Yet Satan was not ready to give up his stratagems. He resolved to mobilize his hordes among the pagan Arabs against Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

When the Prophet assembled the Quraish to publicly announce his message of monotheism by openly testifying to the Oneness of God, and received blank looks from the stupefied gathering, it was the testimony of the mission of Mohammad by the young Ali that sowed the first seeds of satanic sentiments in the hearts of the Arabs against the pre-teen boy. They left the assembly mad with rage that if not for the son of Abu Taleb, the mission of the son of Abdullah would have died there and then. The Meccans used their sons to mock and stone Mohammad, only to be frustrated by the lad Ali, who warded off the boy-assailants – most of whom returned to their homes with black eyes and broken limbs.

Satan, that Archenemy of Truth, now started working overtime to make enmity towards Imam Ali (AS) take roots in the hearts of the polytheist Arab tramps and their sinful sires, whose plots, were nipped in the bud. It was Imam Ali (AS) who thwarted the Arab bid to assassinate the Prophet in Mecca on the Night of Hijra. It was the flashing blade of Imam Ali (AS) that brought victory to Muslims in the wars imposed by the infidels at Badr, Ohad, Hunayn and Khandaq. The last named was a joint venture of the Arabs and Israelis against Islam, while Khaybar was a wholly Israelite venture. Imam Ali (AS) not just excelled on the battlefield with his swordsmanship, but displayed his other merits as well, such as knowledge, wisdom, piety, prudence, courage, and generosity, whenever the situation demanded. Imam Ali (AS) was everwhere; be it the Treaty of Hudaibiyya, he Surrender of Mecca, the conveying of the opening ayahs of Surah Towba at the holy Ka’ba, the giving as alms of his ring while in prayer, and the Mubahela with the Christians of Najran,

The desperate Iblis made sure that the Arab pagans who now professed Islam, although lip service only, and joined the company of the Prophet while hypocrites at heart, would keep their enmity of Imam Ali (AS) firmly embedded in their hearts. The climax of their enmity towards the Most Virtuous Believer –Saleh al-Mominoun to use the words of the holy Qur’an – was sealed on 18^th Zilhijja in the year 10 AH at the historic assembly of Ghadeer-Khom, where on God’s express commandment the Prophet publicly proclaimed Imam Ali (AS) as his vicegerent. Two months and ten days after this event when the Prophet left the mortal world, the former pagans now turned hypocrites, lost no time in depriving Imam Ali (AS) of his right of political leadership by seizing the caliphate. Next they attacked his house to force him to swear allegiance to their rule, and in the process smashed down the burning door of his house upon his wife, the Prophet’s Impeccable Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her).  They spurned the Imam’s compiling of the holy Qur’an for the first time in book-form as per the order of revelation of the ayahs, and for a quarter of a century kept him away from the political affairs of the so-called Islamic state.     In 35 AH, when the Muslim masses, fed up with the corruption and anarchy of the caliphs, begged Imam Ali (AS) to take up the reigns of the caliphate, and he reluctantly took up political rule on condition to abide only by the holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah and Seerah, the satanic enemies indulged in open warfare against him.

The Battles of Jamal, Siffeen, and Nahrawan by the pledge-breakers, the seditionists, and the renegades, are outside the scope of this brief radio programme. In short, the pledge made to God by Imam Ali (AS) decades ago was fulfilled on the 21^st of Ramadhan as his soul flew towards the ethereal heavens, following the fatal blow on the head that he had received from the poisoned sword of the Satanic Ibn Muljam on the 19^th of Ramadhan, while engrossed in the Morning Prayer in the Mosque of Kufa. Although with his martyrdom the government of social justice ended and tyrants took power, the ideal has remained to keep alive the hopes of humanity. It means that the devil and the devilish elements, despite their destructive ways, are destined for the final defeat. It is God’s promise that the earth will eventually be inherited by Imam Mahdi (AS), the direct descendent of Imam Ali (AS) who will reappear to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice. Here, we present you a poem by Iran’s English language poet, Dr. Hassan Najafi in honour of the One and Only Commander of the Faithful (AS).

Son of Abu Taleb

Grandson of Abdul-Muttaleb

He is the “Bismillah’s B”,

God named him Ali,

Qur’an calls him the Straight Path

For his friends God’s mercy, for his foes God’s wrath,

Ali is the faith’s face

And his love the faith’s base,

Qur’an: He is the Nafs (self) of the Prophet

Gives alms while in prayers in state of genuflect,

Husband of the Immaculate Zahra

A distinction, the ultimate omega,

Father of Youths of Paradise Hasan and Husain

Give me a parallel in this domain.

Prophet: You are the Caliph after me

What Aaron to Moses, you to me

Ali is with truth, truth with Ali

Turns truth wherever turns Ali

The Prophet’s divinely-designated Vicar

There is no sword like his Zu’l-Feqar

At Ghadir on proclamation of his vicegerency,

God perfected faith and completed His Bounty

The Prophet: O’ God; help him who helps Ali

And vilify his enemy,

All the battles you fought, you won

It is a long list if to refer one by one

Your Wilaya is a divine mandate

Whosoever refuses it, hell is his fate.

Immediately after death one sees you

Life is a mist curtails the view.

You at the Fountain of Kowthar

In that heat to the believers you serve water.

Your Wilaya is the pass,

To cross the Sirat towards Paradise’s green grass

At the gate of heaven you,

Full authority God has given you.

You know God’s pleasure

You are His secrets’ treasure.

You are the Scale –

Faith’s Barometer, as angels hail,

Lo, how ugly the sin to kill such a man

Ibn Muljam thus earned the eternal damn,

Ali was born in the sacred Ka’ba,

And martyred in the Mosque of Kufa,

Such a distinction never attained by any

It was the lot of Ali and Ali only.

You are the lock of eternity

Your name is its key.

At your name locks open

Paradise needs your love’s token,

Graves are more anxious

‘Turab’ (dust) for ‘Abu Turab’ (father of dust) is desirous.

We weep on you

Reward of worship our due.