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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Quran And Mourning for Hussain Introduction Islam is a religion of peace, attained through non-coercive total submission to the Will of Allah. It is a faith in which the goal is to attain nearness to Allah through correct worship of Him, for as Allah has stated in the Quran, ‘And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me’ (Surah 51, adh-Dhariyat, verse 56).

However, such peace cannot be attained unless Allah, through His infinite Mercy and Justice, sends us perfect guides to show us the path to Him. This He did in the form of His prophets and their successors. The last prophet was Muhammad (pbuh). He is described in the Quran as a Mercy for the worlds (Surah 21, al-Anbiya verse 107), thus his message is universal, as Islam is a universal faith, for all times and all people.

The Prophet’s declared mission began in 610 CE (Common Era), from which time he began to receive revelation of the Quran through the angel Jibril, until just months before his demise in 632 CE / 11 AH (Al Hijrah). The Prophet never spoke from his own free will but always spoke as Allah willed – ‘Your companion (Muhammad) does not err, nor does he go astray, nor does he speak out of (his own) desire. It is nothing but revelation that is revealed (Surah 53, al-Najm verses 2-4).

Thus a major concern for the Prophet was to leave behind him a guide and leader for his community, who would continue the spiritual, social, moral, economic and political development of his people. However, this onerous task of leadership could only be laid on the shoulders of one chosen by Allah Himself. That chosen successor was Ali ibn Abi Talib (pbuh). Ali was the Prophet’s paternal cousin, and also his son in law.

Ali was merely ten years of age when he declared acceptance of the Prophet’s divine mission according to sunni sources.[^1] Indeed Ali is the only human to have ever been born inside the Kaaba; the first person whose face he looked upon was the Prophet’s.

The Prophet raised Ali in his own home, nurturing his character with his own traits, so much so that eventually when Allah ordered the Prophet to declare his mission publicly to his near kin at the event Dawat al-Dhul Ashirah at the residence of Abu Talib (pbuh), Ali was the first, brimming with love, to again affirm the prophetic mission.