Islam Guidance

21st of Ramadan Martyrdom of Imam Ali (A.S) English Majlis
By: Hajj Mohammad Taleb

Aerial view of the Shrine of the Commander of the Faithful (A.S) in the nights of destiny - Najaf - 2017

From the second half of 658, MUAWIYA, the governor of Syria, had been steadily escalating violence against the dominions of Ali. Some of his inroads reached Ain-at-Tamar and Anbar, only 170 miles north of Kufa. The men of Kufa were so unwilling to fight against the Syrians that Ali found it impossible to take effective punitive action. Muawiya himself led a raid right across the Jazira from Raqqa to Mosul, and met no resistance anywhere. At last, Ali declared in the mosque of Kufa that he would leave the city with the few of his faithful followers in an attempt to halt the Syrian aggression against Iraq, even if it cost him his life. This threat awakened the citizens of Kufa to the specter of being left leaderless if Ali was killed fighting against the Syrians. They were stung into action and they began to mobilize for defense.
The battle of Siffin had been the first trial of strength between Ali and Muawiya. Militarily, the battle had been a near-victory for Ali, but politically, it had become a stalemate. After some time, it began to appear that Ali would take up the challenge of Muawiya. But just then Ali was assassinated in the mosque of Kufa, and the second trial of strength never took place.
According to the historical accounts some of which are quite plausible, three Kharijis met in Kufa (some say in Mecca) to hatch a conspiracy. Each of them volunteered to kill each of the three leading political figures of the Dar-ul-Islam – Ali, Muawiya and Amr bin Aas. By killing them, it is alleged; they hoped to put an end to civil wars in Islam, and to restore peace to the Muslim umma.
One of the three conspirators was a certain Abdur Rahman bin Muljam. He stayed in Kufa to kill Ali, and the other two went to Syria and Egypt to kill Muawiya and Amr bin Aas. The plans of the would-be assassins of Muawiya and Amr bin Aas, according to the stories in circulation, went awry, and they were captured and were executed.
The Kharijis had been defeated at Nehrwan, and most of them had perished in the battle but a few had escaped. Abdur Rahman bin Muljam was one of those who had escaped. He was consumed with the desire to kill Ali, and was in quest of an opportunity to do so. By a coincidence, he met a Khariji woman, one Qattama, whose father and brothers had also been killed in Nehrwan, and she too had nursed an undying hatred of Ali.
Abdur Rahman fell in love with Qattama, and proposed marriage to her. She told him that the price of her hand was the head of Ali ibn Abi Talib. This only strengthened Abdur Rahman in his resolution. He promised his inamorata the moon if she asked for it, but she said that nothing was of interest to her if she could not get the head of Ali ibn Abi Talib!
Abdur Rahman bin Muljam carefully worked out his plans to kill Ali. A few other trusted Kharijis also volunteered their services to him, and together they rehearsed the assassination. Abdur Rahman bin Muljam took one extra precaution – he put his sword in deadly poison, and let it soak in it for three days.
On the morning of the 19th of Ramadan of the year 40 A.H., Ali came into the Great Mosque of Kufa, and called Adhan (the call to prayer). He took his place in the alcove, and moments later, the worshippers began to arrive. They stood behind him in serried ranks, and the prayer began. Standing in the front row, with other worshippers, were Abdur Rahman bin Muljam and his confederates. They were watching Ali's movements. In the folds of their cloaks, they were carrying swords burnished to a high sheen, and soaked in poison.
Just when Ali touched the ground with his forehead for Prostration (sajda), Abdur Rahman bin Muljam stepped out of his row, and crept into the alcove. And just when Ali lifted his head from the ground, ibn Muljam struck the fatal blow at his forehead with such deadly force that it split open.
Blood squirted from Ali's forehead in several jets, and he exclaimed:
"By the Lord of the Kaaba, I am successful!"
("Fuztu wa rabbil Ka'ba")

Source: Imam Ali Network

Once on the eve of Ramadan, towards the end of a memorable sermon on the blessings of the month of fasting, the Prophet burst into tears. Asked by his dear cousin and son-in-law, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (A.S), the reason for his weeping, the Almighty’s Last Messenger to mankind, replied:
"O Ali, I weep for that which will befall you in this month. (Imagining myself) to be in your place when you will be praying to your Lord, and the most wicked person of all times, like the one who chopped off the feet of the camel of Thamoud (that was the divine proof of Prophet Saleh's mission), will strike you on your head and your beard will be dyed by it (blood)."
"O Ali whoever kills you has (in fact) killed me, whoever annoys you has annoyed me and whoever slanders you has slandered me, because you are to me like my soul. Your spirit is my spirit and your nature is my nature. Surely, Allah the Praised and the Glorious created me then you, chose me then you. Selected me for Prophet Hood and selected you for Imamate. And whoever denies your Imamate has (in fact) denied my Prophet Hood. O Ali, you are my legatee and father of my (grand) children, and husband of my daughter, and my Caliph (vicegerent) over my ummah both in my lifetime and after my death. Your bidding is my bidding, and your forbidding is my forbidding. I swear by the Power that granted me Prophet Hood and made me the most excellent of creation, you are the Hujjat-Allah (Proof of Allah) over His creatures, and His Trustee over mysteries and His Caliph over His creatures.”
What the Prophet had predicted occurred over three decades later on the 21st of Ramadan in Iraq. The Imam of the Pious, on being struck the fatal blow in the Grand Mosque of Kufa while engrossed in the morning prayer of 19th Ramadan in the year 40 AH expressed that immortal phrase: By the Lord of the Ka’ba I have succeeded.”
And what a grand success did the Icon of Justice achieve! Till this day, Imam Ali (A.S), whose ideal administration of justice has yet to be emulated, is remembered as the Martyr for the Cause of Freedom and Liberties. As the most nearest and dearest person to the Prophet, he had stood beside his cousin through every thick and thin, frustrating the bloodcurdling plots of the hypocrites in order to free human societies from the fetters of ignorance, superstition and polytheism.
In short, Imam Ali (A.S) was the supreme example of social justice the world has ever seen. Even non-Muslim scholars have praised his dynamic personality. The Christian scholar George Jordaq has written a series of excellent books titled: Imam Ali (A.S) and Socrates; Imam Ali and Aristotle; Imam Ali and the French Revolution; and Imam Ali the Voice of Human Justice. Jordaq has shown that Imam Ali (A.S) excels all comparisons, and the freedom and liberties that he enshrined are still beyond the reach of human societies despite the bragging of democracy and human rights by western governments, whose practice is nothing but outright hypocrisy.
We thus pay our sincere tribute to this Icon of Justice, whose model government has been the source of inspiration in every age and era for those striving for justice in society. We pray to God to hasten the reappearance of the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (A.S) to cleanse the world of all vestiges of corruption and oppression by establishing the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

Derived From: Shia.es

The holy shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq, hosted pilgrims during the night of the martyrdom anniversary of the first Shia Imam (A.S).

The pilgrims gathered in the holy city to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (A.S), who was martyred on the 21st day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan around 14 centuries ago.

According to the Najaf police statement, the number of Iraqi pilgrims who visited the city estimated at 3,500,000.