The Unique Characteristics of Imam Ali

Within the history of Islam, no other individual after the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had the unique ‎characteristics of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). If the people, rather than God, were to settle on the ‎best and most qualified person as the successor to the Prophet, nobody would have been more ‎suitable than Ali. A few of Ali’s (AS) unique characteristics include:    ‎

‎-    Ali’s pure lineage: Ali (AS), who was the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), ‎is from Bani-Hashim. The Hashimi family within the tribe of Quraysh was famous for its moral virtues and ‎supreme humanistic characteristics. ‏‎ Magnanimity, generosity, courage, and so many other virtues are ‎of famous characteristics of Bani-Hashim. Moreover, each of these virtues at its highest degree exists in ‎his holiness Ali’s (AS) nature[1]. ‎

‎-    The Miraculous Birth: Ali (AS) was the only person in history who was given permission by God to ‎be born in the Holy Kaaba in a miraculous fashion. On his birthday, his mother – Fatimah Bint Asad- ‎went to the “Al-Haram Mosque” when she felt labor pain and came near the wall of Kaaba and ‎asked God for help. An instant later, before the eyes of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Yazeed ibn ‎Taaf, the walls of Kaaba broke open and Fatimah bint Asad, went in. After she entered, the walls ‎closed again and for three days and nights, nobody was able to enter the Kaaba, even from the door. ‎After three days and three nights, on the 13th of Rajab, thirty years passed the ‘Am al-Fil (Year of the ‎Elephant); the wall broke open again, and Fatimah came out together with her infant and said: “I heard a ‎message from the unseen to call my newborn son, Ali”‎[2]

‎-    Brought up by the Prophet: His holiness Ali (AS) did not stay with his parents for long. Since it absolutely was ‎Allah’s will for him to gain more perfection, therefore, the honored Prophet [PBUH] took care of his ‎education from the beginning of his birth‏.‏‎ Thus, Ali, more than any other person, benefited from the ‎Prophet’s exemplary moral characteristics, like honesty, trustworthiness, loving, and chivalry[3].

Taken from “Hidden from the Eyes of the World: Who Are the Shia and What Do They Say?” by Masoud Basiti & Zahra Moradi

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[1] al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (by Ibn Kathir), Volume 2, Page 244; Tarikh Yaqubi, Volume 1, Page 206; Sira an-Nabawiya (by Ibn Hisham), Volume 1, Page 45

[2] Mustadrak al-Sahihain, Hyderabad, India, 1324 SH (1925 AD), Volume 3, Page 483 [Farsi]; Sarh al-Kharida al-Ghaybiyya fi Sharh al-Qasidah al- Ayniyya, Page 15

[3] Sira an-Nabawiya (by Ibn Hisham), Volume 1, Page 262; Tarikh Tabari, Volume 2, Page 313