He said: ‘Has not Allah killed ‘Ali?

He said: ‘Has not Allah killed ‘Ali?’ I said: ‘I had a brother called ‘Ali al-Akbar who was older than me and was killed by the people.’ He said: ‘Nay, Allah killed him.’ I said: ‘Allah takes the souls at the time their death.” [Qur’an, 39:42]. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani has related the above incident in al-Maqatil (pg.80; Najaf edition) also. Al-Ya’qubi (2:233; Najaf edition) also refers to ‘Ali bin al-Husayn as al-akbar and to Imam al-Sajjad (as) as al-asghar.

And so has been done by al-Mas’udi in Muruj al-Dhahab (3:71) and by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Tadhkirah (pg.225). Al-Mufid mentions ‘Ali bin al-Husayn in al-Irshad (pg.238) but without referring to him as al-akbar. [^2]: Al-Tabari: In the 6th year of Hijrah ‘Urwah bin Mas’ud fled from the Banu Thaqif in Taif and went to Makkah. There he came in alliance with the Quraish, together with his…