When he heard about this incident...

When he heard about this incident, ‘Alī was the first male to accept the Prophet’s (S) invitation and become a Muslim.[^4] When Allah’s Prophet (S) was appointed to the prophetic mission, he did not reveal or expose his mission for a period of three years. In the third year, however, he received orders from Allah to publicly invite the people to Islam. The first few people that the Noble Prophet (S) invited to join the religion of Allah were his kindred. He prepared a feast for them.

During the banquet, he addressed them, “O children of ‘Abd al-Mttalib! Allah has appointed me to lead all mankind, especially you, my kinsfolk. He has given me orders first to warn my family and to tell my relatives not to be disobedient to Allah.” [^5] During that feast, the Noble Prophet (S) repeated this three times but no one, save ‘Alī ( ‘a ) responded to his call. ‘Alī ibn Abū Tālib ( ‘a ) at that time was an adolescent, thirteen years of age. The Prophet (S) stated, “O Alī!

You are my brother and successor. You will be my inheritor and vizier.”[^6] During the course of his worthy life, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib ( ‘a ) always strove for the advancement of Allah’s divine religion.

History recounts a lot of instances of ‘Alī ( ‘a )’s valuable services, but we will cite a few of them here: Risking his life for the Noble Prophet (S) by sleeping in the Prophet’s (S) bed In the fourteenth year of the prophetic mission, the chiefs of the tribe of Quraysh decided and planned to kill Allah’s Prophet (S). In order to achieve this plan, they selected a youth from every tribe and planned to attack and martyr the Noble Prophet (S) during the night.

The Prophet (S), who was aware of their evil intentions, requested ‘Alī ( ‘a ) to sleep in his bed in order to make it possible for Allah’s Prophet (S) to escape out of the city without being noticed by the enemies. ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib ( ‘a ) was twenty three years of age when he responded affirmatively (with his life and soul) to the Noble Prophet’s (S) divine call by sleeping in his bed. Allah’s Prophet (S) secretly left the city and went to a cave called Thawr near Mecca.

During the last part of the night, forty armed men made an attack on the Noble Prophet’s (S) house but were shocked to find themselves confronted with ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib ( ‘a ), who was sleeping in the Prophet’s (S) bed.[^7] The War of Badr The War of Badr was the first battle in the history of Islam between truth and falsehood.