Sunni view of Ali

Template:Short description Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Ali ibn Abi Talib was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ali contributed significantly to Islam in its early years and was likely the first male to accept the teachings of Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, Ali is recognized as a close companion, a foremost authority on the Quran and Islamic law, and the fountainhead of wisdom in Sunni spirituality. When Muhammad died in 632 CE, Ali had his own claims to leadership, perhaps in reference to Muhammad's announcement at the Ghadir Khumm, but he eventually accepted the temporal rule of the first three caliphs in the interest of Muslim unity. During this period, Ali is portrayed in Sunni sources as a trusted advisor of the first three caliphs, while their conflicts with Ali are neutralized or downplayed. Ali himself succeeded to the caliphate in 656 but his rule was immediately challenged by multiple pretenders and he was assassinated in 661.

As the fourth and final Rashidun caliph, Ali is held in a particularly high status in Sunni Islam, although this doctrinal reverence for Ali in Sunni Islam is a recent development for which the prominent traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal is likely to be credited. His hierarchy of companions places Ali below his predecessors but above those companions who fought against him, thus accommodating into Sunni doctrine the opposite sides of a moral conflict that has split the Muslim community ever since. Those prophetic sayings that elevate Ali above other companions have also been reinterpreted by Sunni scholars to uphold the Sunni hierarchy. By contrast, Shia Islam views Ali as the rightful religious and temporal successor of Muhammad and views the predecessors of Ali as usurpers of his rights.

Background

File:Investiture of Ali Edinburgh codex.jpg

The Investiture of Ali at Ghadir Khumm in the fourteenth-century Ilkhanid copy of Chronology of Ancient Nations, illustrated by Ibn al-Kutbi

As the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Ali ibn Abi Talib was likely the first male to profess Islam.Template:Sfn He significantly contributed to Muhammad's cause inside and outside the battlefield.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn After his death in 632 CE, Muhammad was succeeded by Abu Bakr (Template:Reign), Umar (Template:Reign), and Uthman (Template:Reign) in the capacity of caliphs. Uthman was widely accused, among other things,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn of nepotism towards his clan, the Umayyads.Template:Sfn He was subsequently assassinated in 656, after which Ali was elected caliph in Medina. His rule was immediately challenged by Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, who aspired to the caliphate, and by Muhammad's widow Aisha bint Abu Bakr.Template:Sfn Their rebellion was suppressed in the Battle of the Camel in 656. Still, the 657 Battle of Siffin with another pretender, Mu'awiya ibn Abu Sufyan, ended in stalemate and the formation of the Kharijites (Template:Lit), who seceded from Ali's army.Template:Sfn A member of the Kharijites is thought to be responsible for the assassination of Ali in 661, which paved the way for Mu'awiya, who took over the caliphate in 661 and found the dynastic Umayyad caliphate.Template:Sfn

Status of Ali in Sunni Islam

Ali is recognized in Sunni Islam as a close companion,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and Sunni sources contain numerous prophetic sayings (hadiths) in his praise.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali had an excellent knowledge of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, to the point that Ibn Abbas (Template:Died in), a foremost early Muslim exegete, credited all his interpretations to him.Template:Sfn Ali is also the transmitter of hundreds of prophetic hadiths in canonical Sunni sources.Template:Sfn Sunni Islam celebrates Ali for his dedication to the cause of Islam, for his piety,Template:Sfn wisdom, eloquence, courage on battlefield, and magnanimity in victory.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali is moreover the common source of mystical and spiritual currents within both Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Pilgrimage to the shrine of Ali and praying for his intercession in the afterlife remains popular among Sunnis.Template:Sfn However, reverence for Ali in Sunni Islam has declined in recent times with the rise of Wahhabism, a fundamentalist movement within Sunni Islam.Template:Sfn

Political views

When Muhammad died in 632, Ali had his own claims to leadership,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn apparently in reference to Muhammad's announcement shortly before his death at the Ghadir Khumm.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali thus opposed the caliphate of Abu Bakr, who was hastily elected in the absence of Ali and the rest of Muhammad's kin.Template:Sfn Perhaps in the interest of the Muslim unity,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali eventually accepted the temporal rule of the first three caliphs,Template:Sfn but without giving up his claims as the designated successor of Muhammad.Template:Sfn In particular, even though Ali may have advised Abu Bakr and Umar on government and religious matters,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn the conflicts between him and the first two caliphs are also well-documented,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn but largely downplayed in Sunni sources,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn in line with their tendency to neutralize the conflicts among companions.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn These conflicts were epitomized during the proceedings of the electoral council in 644, when Ali refused to be bound by the precedence of the first two caliphs.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali was also critical of Uthman,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and in this he was joined by most of the senior companions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In early Sunni sources, Ali is portrayed as a restraining influence on Uthman without directly opposing him.Template:Sfn By contrast, Shia Islam views Ali as the rightful successor of Muhammad and views Ali's predecessors as usurpers of his rights.Template:Sfn

Ali and his three predecessors are acknowledged in Sunni tradition as the Rashidun caliphs,Template:Sfn that is, those Muslim rulers who are thought to have fulfilled the moral, religious, and judicial qualifications for a just rule.Template:Sfn Legal decisions of Ali are thus considered binding in Sunni Islam,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and sayings attributed to Ali are often cited by Sunni scholars to counter Shia positions.Template:Sfn This acceptance of Ali, however, appears to be a late development in Sunni Islam,Template:Sfn probably dating to the ninth century.Template:Sfn Indeed, as far as the Umayyads were concerned, their rule began with Uthman, and Ali was a mere pretender.Template:Sfn Similarly, many proto-Sunnis considered Uthman as the last of the Rashidun caliphs.Template:Sfn By contrast, the Murji'a (Template:Lit) deferred judgment about the early caliphs in the interest of Muslim unity.Template:Sfn Their position was incorporated into Sunni thought by the prominent traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Template:Died in), who created a hierarchy of companions in which Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman are placed immediately above Ali,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn each of the four being the most meritorious person of their time.Template:Sfn Through this hierarchy, Ali was eventually accommodated in Sunni Islam, alongside those companions who fought against him,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn about whom Sunnis are expected to defer judgment,Template:Sfn lest they stoke further unrest and division in the Muslim community.Template:Sfn The Sunni hierarchy of companions is challenged by those prophetic sayings that elevate Ali above others, including, "I am from Ali and Ali is from me," and "Whoever counts me as his patron (), then Ali is his patron." These hadiths have been reinterpreted accordingly. For instance, some Sunni scholars have linked the word to the financial dependence of Ali on Muhammad, who raised the former in his household as a child. Yet other Sunni authors acknowledge the religious prominence of Ali but do not consider that a basis for political succession.Template:Sfn

Sunni praise for Ali

Umar is said to have praised Ali as the "best of judges."Template:Sfn The Mu'tazilite scholar Ibn Abi al-Hadid (Template:Died in) writes in his commentary on that Ali corrected a ruling by Umar for a woman accused of adultery, after which the second caliph said, "Were it not for Ali, Umar would indeed have been destroyed."Template:Sfn Similar sentiments are attributed to Umar in the Sunni and and the Shia .Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Muhammad al-Shafi'i (Template:Died in), founder of one of the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence, commended Ali as "the best imam, the best guide,"Template:Sfn and composed a poem in his praise.Template:Sfn In reference to the statement attributed to Ali, "Ask me about anything till I am among you," Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Template:Died in), founder of another Sunni school, writes that Ali was the only companion who made this claim, thus suggesting that Ali was the only companion who was qualified to make such a claim.Template:Sfn Ibn Hanbal also commented about the caliphate of Ali, "Do you think the caliphate adorned Ali? No, rather it was Ali who adorned the caliphate."Template:Sfn

See also

• Shia view of Ali

Sources

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