6 of 6 · Ramadan 40 AH · January 661 CE · Kufah, Iraq
'Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه
Martyrdom at Dawn
In Ramadan of 40 AH, as 'Ali went out to lead the dawn prayer in Kufah, a Khariji named 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam struck him on the head with a poisoned sword. He lingered for about two days. The historians report that he told his family to treat his attacker well while he lived, and that if he died, they were to take only one blow for one blow and not to mutilate him. He died at about sixty-three years of age.
His son al-Hasan received the pledge after him, and some months later gave up the caliphate to Mu'awiyah to stop the bloodshed. The Prophet ﷺ had said of him as a child: "This son of mine is a sayyid, and perhaps Allah will make peace through him between two great parties of the Muslims" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2704).
'Ali left behind a legacy of knowledge, justice and devotion: 'Umar said, "The best judge among us is 'Ali" (Sahih al-Bukhari 4481), and 'Ali himself reported that the Prophet ﷺ had promised him that only a believer would love him and only a hypocrite would hate him (Sahih Muslim 78). Sunni Muslims honour him as the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph and a beloved member of the Prophet's ﷺ household; Shi'a Muslims revere him as the first Imam. Both love him.
Even with his killer before him, 'Ali held to justice without excess; love of him and of the Prophet's ﷺ household is part of faith.
If someone wronged you gravely, could you still insist that no more than justice be done to them?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2704 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4481 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 78Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-MulukHistorical report
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-NihayahHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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