فنرى أنه أراد بقوله هذا نفسه - يعني أني أدعو إلى الحق حتى...

فنرى أنه أراد بقوله هذا نفسه - يعني أني أدعو إلى الحق حتى أضرب على رأسي ضربتين يكون فيهما قتلي. I have only chosen this explanation instead of the first due to a hadith from ‘Ali himself. It (the hadith ), in my view, explains it to us. And that is, he (‘Ali) mentioned Dhu al-Qarnayn and said, “He called his people to the worship of Allah, and they struck him on his qarn twice . And among you is an example of him ”.

So, we see that he (‘Ali) was referring to himself with this statement of his – he meant: I will call to the Truth until I will be struck on my head twice. My death will be in them.”[^9] The status of ‘Ali as a “likeness” of Dhu al-Qarnayn creates many parallels between them both – especially in terms of al-raj’ah and da’wah . However, here, we are only concerned with the da’wah aspects of their similarities. Therefore: i. Dhu al-Qarnayn was not a prophet. So, ‘Ali too was not a prophet. ii.

Dhu al-Qarnayn sought the guidance of Allah, and He guided him. So, ‘Ali too sought the guidance of Allah, and He guided him too. iii. Dhu al-Qarnayn was “sent” to his people by Allah. So, ‘Ali too was “sent” to this Ummah by Allah. Meanwhile, apart from Amir al-Muminin, several other non-prophets, after Muhammad, have been “sent” to our Ummah . Imam Abu Dawud (d.

275 H) records this clear hadith confirming that: حدثنا سليمان بن داود المهري أخبرنا ابن وهب أخبرني سعيد بن أبي أيوب عن شراحيل بن يزيد المعافري عن أبي علقمة عن أبي هريرة فيما أعلم عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال " إن الله يبعث لهذه الأمة على رأس كل مائة سنة من يجدد لها دينها " Sulayman b. Dawud al-Mahri – Ibn Wahb – Sa’id b. Abi Ayub – Sharahil b.

Yazid al-Ma’afiri – Abu ‘Alqamah – Abu Hurayrah: From what I learnt from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, he said, “Verily, Allah APPOINTS FOR this Ummah , at the head of every one hundred years, someone who renews its religion for it.”[^10] ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) says: صحيح Sahih ^11 Imam al-Hakim (d.

403 H) also has this one, which is even clearer: حدثنا أبو العباس محمد بن يعقوب ثنا الربيع بن سليمان بن كامل المرادي ثنا عبد الله بن وهب أخبرني سعيد بن أبي أيوب عن شرحبيل بن يزيد عن أبي علقمة عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه ولا أعلمه إلا عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : إن الله يبعث إلى هذه الأمة على رأس كل مائة سنة من يجدد لها دينها Abu al-‘Abbas Muhammad b. Ya’qub – al-Rabi’ b. Sulayman b. Kamil al-Muradi – ‘Abd Allah b. Wahb – Sa’id b. Abi Ayub – Sharahil b.