The Prophet (S) was leaning on Ali (as) when he touched Ali’s shoulder and said...

The Prophet (S) was leaning on Ali (as) when he touched Ali’s shoulder and said: “O” Ali! you are the first man who believed (in Allah) and you are the first person who accepted Islam.” Then he (S) said: “The example of you unto me is like the example of Aaron unto Moses ”. However, if we impartially examine the above-mentioned tradition, it can be understood from it that Ali (as) had been given all the positions that Aaron had unto Moses (as) and among the Children of Israel, except prophethood.

This meaning mentioned about the Tradition of Rank has been cited in the Sunnite sources such as: Sahih-i-Bukhāri, vol. 6, p. 3; Sahih-i-Muslim, vol. 4, p. 187; Sunan-i-Ibn-i-Mājid, vol. 1, p. 42; Musnad-i-Ahmad-ibn-Hanbal, vol. 1, pp. 173, 175, 177, 179, 182. But the very tradition, ‘the Tradition of Rank’, is widely transmitted with Shi‘ites and it is available in the authentic books of traditions, including: ‘Abaqāt, in book of Muhammad and Ali’.

The tradition of Thaqalayn, by Najmiddin ‘Askary, pp. 105-127; Safinat-ul-Bihār, vol. 21, p. 209; Bihār-ul-’Anwār, vol. 37, p. 254; Kanz-ul-Kirāchi, pp. 282,283; An-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 172; Kashf-ul-Qummah, p. 44; Manāqib, Ibn-Abi-Tālib; Al-Yaghin; Al-Kharā’ij-wal-Jarāyih; Kāmil-ut-Tawārikh, by Ibn-’Athir; At-Tarā’if.

“And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord spoke with him, he said: ‘My Lord, show me (Yourself), that I may look towards You!’ He (Allah) said: ‘Never shall you see Me, but look towards the mountain: if it remains firm in its place, then you will see Me.’ So when his Lord manifested (His) glory to the mountain, He sent it crashing down, and Moses fell down senseless. Then when he recovered, he said: ‘Glory be to You!

I turn to You (repentant), and I am the first of the believers’.”*** The Qur’ānic word /dakkah/ means ‘a level land’, and, therefore, in this verse the text means that the mountain was turned into dust so that it became level as the land. That Divine Power, whatever it was, pounded the mountain into dust. Was it the great atomic power, or the power of waves, or some other mystic power? It is unknown.