ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-Muraja'at Letter 66 Ali is the Prophet's Heir Safar 5, 1330 There is no doubt that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, has left ‘Ali with a legacy of knowledge and wisdom as much as the Almighty permitted His prophets and wasis to inherit, so much so that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said: "I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate; therefore, whoever wishes to attain knowledge, let him approach through the gate."[^1] He, peace be upon him and his progeny, has said: "I am the storehouse of wisdom, and ‘Ali is its door...

‘Ali is the gateway of my knowledge, the one who explains after me the Message with which I have been sent; loving him is indicative of genuine faith, and hating him is hypocrisy." According to Zayd ibn Abu ‘Awfah, he, peace be upon him and his progeny, has addressed ‘Ali thus: "You are my brother and heir;"[^2] whereupon ‘Ali inquired: "And what will you bequeath unto me?" He, peace be upon him and his progeny, answered: "Whatever Prophets before me used to bequeath." In another hadith, he, peace be upon him and his progeny, according to Buraydah, has said: "The heir of my knowledge is ‘Ali."[^3] Refer also to the hadith on the day of warning.

During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, ‘Ali (as) used to say: "By Allah, I am his brother, successor and cousin, and the heir of his knowledge; so, who is more worthy of all this other than myself?"[^4] Once ‘Ali was asked: "How did you come to inherit your cousin rather than your uncle?" He answered: "The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, gathered the descendants of ‘Abdul Muttalib, who were quite a few, and each one of them had such an appetite that would consider tree trunks edible and would drink water though not potable, and he prepared for them a mudd of food (a dry measure approximately Tangier 46.61, about one and three­quarters of a pound); yet they all ate till they were satisfied, while the food looked as if it was not touched.

Then he, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: ‘O descendants of ‘Abdul­Muttalib! I have been sent to you in particular, and to all people in general; so, who among you pledges to be my brother, friend and heir?' Nobody stood; so, I stood, though the youngest among the attendants, but he (pbuh) told me to sit.