Today marks the 21st of Ramadan, the solemn day that commemorates the martyrdom of the Amir al-Mu’minin, Mawla-e-Kainat, Imam al-Muttaqin, Asadullah al-Ghalib, al-Murtaza, Shah-e-Wilayat, Ḥaider-e-Karrar, Bab-ul-‘Ilm, Abu Turab, Shahi Mardan, Saqi al-Kawthar, Yadullah, Abu al-Hassan, Mazhar-ul- Ajaib wal Garaib — Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib Allaihi Salam. He was the noble cousin, beloved son-in-law, and one of the earliest and most devoted companions of the Holy Prophet (SAW)—raised in the Prophet’s own household and molded by his blessed example.

In the early hours of the 19th of Ramadan, 40 AH (661 CE), while leading the believers in the Fajr prayer in the mosque of Kufa, this towering pillar of Islam was treacherously struck on the head with a poisoned sword by the Kharijite assassin Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam. The blow was mortal, yet Hazrat Ali (AS) met it with serenity and unwavering faith. Even in his final moments he remained absorbed in the remembrance of his Lord. Two days later, on the 21st of Ramadan, he embraced martyrdom, and his blessed lips uttered words that have echoed through the centuries as a declaration of spiritual triumph: “By the Lord of the Kaʿbah, I have succeeded.”

For the people of faith, shahadah (martyrdom) is not merely death—it is the highest station of honour and nearness to Allah SWT. The Quran itself declares that those who are slain in the path of Allah are not dead but alive with their Lord. Hazrat Ali (AS), whose entire life was spent in devotion, justice, and sacrifice, attained the crown of martyrdom that he had long yearned for. This sacred legacy did not end with him. Many among his noble descendants and the blessed household of the Prophet (SAW)—such as Hassan ibn Ali (AS), Hussain ibn Ali (AS), and countless members of the Ahl al-Bayt throughout history—have followed the same path of sacrifice and steadfastness. Through their courage and devotion, the tradition of striving for truth and accepting martyrdom for the sake of faith has continued across generations, illuminating the spiritual heritage of Islam with the enduring light of sacrifice and unwavering loyalty to Allah SWT.

Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib Allaihi Salam was born around 600 CE in Makkah into the noble Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. His father, Hazrat Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib AS, was the uncle and guardian of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), while his mother Fatimah bint Asad (RA) was among the earliest women to accept Islam.

Historians have recorded that Hazrat Ali (AS) was born inside the Ka’bah, a distinction celebrated in Islamic historical literature.“Kase ra mayassar na shud ien sa’adat : Ba Ka’aba wiladat ba Masjid Shahadat” (No one else was granted this blessed fortune: Birth in the Kaʿbah and martyrdom in the mosque)

During a period of famine in Makkah, the Beloved Prophet (SAW) took young Ali (AS) into his household to ease the burden on his Uncle Hazrat Abu Talib (AS). Thus, Hazrat Ali (AS) grew up directly under the care and guidance of the Holy Prophet (SAW), witnessing his character and moral conduct even before the advent of Islam.

Hazrat Ali (AS) was among the earliest believers in Islam. According to early historical sources such as Ibn Ishaq and Al-Tabari, he accepted Islam while still a young boy, making him the first to embrace the faith. His acceptance occurred shortly after the Prophet (SAW) received the first revelations. When the Prophet was commanded: “And warn your closest relatives.” (Qur’an 26:214), he invited members of the Banu Hashim to Islam. Hazrat Ali (RA), despite his youth, openly supported the Prophet (SAW) and pledged his unwavering loyalty to the new faith.

From that moment onward, he remained among the most devoted companions of the Prophet (SAW) . Hazrat Ali (AS) enjoyed a unique relationship with the Prophet (SAW) as his cousin, son-in-law, and one of his closest companions.

The Prophet (SAW) once expressed this special relationship in a well-known hadith:

“You are to me as Haroon (AS) was to Musa (AS), except that there is no prophet after me.” (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim).

Hazrat Ali (AS) also served as one of the scribes of revelation and participated in many important battles and events in early Islamic history. One of the most striking examples of his devotion occurred during the Hijrah (migration) to Madinah. When the Quraish plotted to assassinate the Prophet (SAW), Hazrat Ali (AS) courageously slept in the Prophet’s ((SAW)) bed, risking his life to allow the Prophet (SAW) to depart safely. He later returned the trusts that people had deposited with the Prophet (SAW) before joining him in Madinah.

Among the greatest honours bestowed upon Hazrat Ali (AS) was his marriage to Syedat-un-Nisa, Hazrat Fatimah al-Zahra (SA), the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet (SAW). The marriage took place in Madinah around 2 AH and was arranged by the Prophet (SAW) himself, reflecting the ideals of simplicity, humility, and deep spiritual devotion.

This blessed union formed a household that became the fountainhead of the Prophetic lineage and piety. From it were born Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) and Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS), who inherited the spiritual and moral legacy of their noble parents and emerged as enduring symbols of faith, sacrifice, and righteousness in Islamic history.

After the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet (SAW) addressed a large gathering at Ghadir Khumm and declared: “Man kuntu mawlahu fa-Aliyyun mawlahu.” (For whoever I am his Mawla, Ali is his Mawla.)

Hazrat Ali (AS) was renowned for his profound knowledge of the Quran and Islamic law. The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said: “Anna Madinatul Ilm wa Aliun Babuha” (I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.)

This statement reflects the widespread recognition of Hazrat Ali (AS) for his unparalleled intellectual stature and profound mastery of the Quran—an excellence echoed in his own famous declaration: “There is no verse of the Quran except that I know when and where it was revealed.”

The reverence for Hazrat Ali (AS) was acknowledged openly by his predecessor Caliphs. Umm al-Mu’minin Hazrat Ayesha (RA) once asked her father Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) why he often gazed at Hazrat Ali (AS) to which he replied: “I heard the Holy Prophet (SAW) say that looking at the face of Ali is an act of worship (Ibadat).”

Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) frequently sought his counsel and is famously reported to have said, “If it were not for Ali, Umar would have been destroyed.”

Likewise, Hazrat Uthman ibn Affan (RA) is reported to have said: “Ali ibn Abi Talib is the most knowledgeable among us regarding what was revealed to the Messenger of Allah.”

The intellectual and spiritual stature of Hazrat Ali (AS) was also acknowledged by the great jurists of Islam. Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), Imam Malik (RA), Imam Shafi‘I (RA), and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RA) all regarded him as one of the foremost authorities in matters of Quranic interpretation, jurisprudence, and wisdom. Many legal principles and ethical insights preserved in classical Islamic literature trace their inspiration to his judgments and sayings.

In the spiritual tradition of Tasawwuf, Hazrat Ali al-Murtaza (AS) is revered as Shah-e-Wilayat (the Sovereign of Sainthood) because the inner spiritual knowledge (ilm e baṭin) of the Holy Prophet (SAW) is believed to have flowed primarily through him. For this reason, the silsilah (spiritual lineage) of most Sufi orders traces its chain to the Prophet (SAW) through Hazrat Ali (AS).

Among the great Sufi masters, Hazrat Shaikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (RA) held Ali al-Murtaza (AS) in the highest spiritual esteem and regarded him as a principal source of wilayah (sainthood). In Futuḥ al-Ghayb and Ghunyat al-Ṭalibin, he praises the lofty rank of the Ahl al-Bayt and portrays Hazrat Ali (AS) as the embodiment of knowledge, courage, asceticism, and spiritual realization. Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani is reported to have said: “In Ali (AS) were united the bravery of heroes, the wisdom of scholars, and the asceticism of the gnostics.” And at another place he said: “The spiritual chain of the Sufis returns to Ali; he is the root of the path of the people of the Way.”

This understanding is echoed by numerous eminent Awliya. The early Sufi authority Hazrat Junaid-e-Baghdad (RA), reflecting on the Prophetic saying, is reported to have said that “the path of spiritual realization begins with knowledge, and its gate is Ali.”

Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA), the great founder of the Chishti Sufi order in the Indian subcontinent, expressed deep reverence for Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). A teaching attributed to Khwaja Ajmeri in Chishti sources states: “Ali is the crown of the friends of God (Awliya), and whoever seeks the path of gnosis must follow the path of Ali.”

Moulana Jalal al-Din Rumi (RA) expresses profound reverence for Ali ibn Abi Talib in the Masnavi, portraying him as the embodiment of spiritual courage, sincerity, and divine knowledge. In a celebrated long passage regarded as a manqabat in honour of Ali al-Murtaza (AS), Rumi writes:

Az Ali a’moz ikhlas -e- amal : Sher-e Ḥaqq ra dan muṭahhar az daghal

Darr shujaʿat sher-e rabbanisti : Darr muruwat khod ke danad kisti?

(Learn sincerity of action from Ali AS: know the Lion of God who is pure of all deceit; In bravery you are the Lion of God, in generosity, who knows who you are?)

Hazrat Amir-e-Kabeer Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) who played a decisive role in spreading Islam in Kashmir, belonged to the Kubrawiyya order, whose spiritual chain leads back to Hazrat Ali (AS). In his ethical treatise Zakhirat al-Muluk, he cites sayings of Hazrat Ali (AS) on justice, governance, and spiritual discipline, presenting him as the model ruler whose wisdom unites political authority with spiritual insight. In his poetic expression chihil Asrar, he is categorical to say in one of the verses; “Ali humnam ra binger ki juz O’: Ba Allah o Muhammad Rahbarum neest” (O Ali, look upon the one whose name you share—Ali al-Murtaza AS; for apart from him, I have no guide on the path that leads to Allah and Muhammad (SAW).)

Although the Naqshbandi silsila formally traces its chain through Hazrat Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (RA), Hazrat Baha-ud-Din Naqshband (RA) expressed profound reverence for Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), recognizing his supreme station in wilayah (sainthood) and futuwwat (spiritual chivalry). In Naqshbandi thought, Ali AS is a fountainhead of inner spiritual knowledge and virtue. Numerous statements and quatrains attributed to Hazrat Baha-ud-Din in malfuẓat and later compilations reflect this deep veneration, often invoking the tawassul of the Ahl al-Bayt in supplication, such as:

Yā Rabb ba Muḥammad o ʿAli o Zahra : Ya Rabb ba Ḥassan o Ḥussain o Al-e ʿAba;

Az luṭf bar ar ḥajatum dar har do sara : Bi minnat-e makhluq, ya ʿAli al-Aʿla.

(O Lord, by Muhammad (SAW), Ali (AS) and Zahra (SA):

O Lord, by Hassan (AS), Hussain (AS) and the People of the Cloak; Out of Your grace, fulfill my needs in both worlds: Without dependence on creation, O Most Exalted Lord)

Moulana Abdur Rahman Jami (RA), the great Persian Sufi scholar and poet of the Naqshbandi tradition, composed several beautiful verses praising Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). Two verses from one such manqabat reads:

Ali shah-e Ḥaider, imamun kabeera : Ki ba‘d az Nabi shud bashiran naẓira.

Ali aṣfiya ra dalil ast bar ḥaqq : Ali awliya ra waliyun naṣira.

(Ali AS —the sovereign, the lion-hearted Haider—is a great Imam: After the Prophet (SAW) , he became a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; Ali is the proof and guide of the purified ones upon the path of Truth: Ali is the protecting friend and helper of the saints.)

The great Naqshbandi reformer Mujaddid Alf-e-Sani Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (RA) wrote in his Maktubat that although all the Companions possessed spiritual excellence, the central current of wilayat after the Prophet (SAW) was entrusted to Hazrat Ali (AS), through whom the treasures of spiritual realization were transmitted to the Awliya of later generations. Thus, Sufi saints across centuries have regarded Hazrat Ali (AS) not only as a companion and caliph, but as the fountainhead of Islamic spirituality and the crown of sainthood — Shah-e-Wilayat.

This spiritual inheritance also reached the blessed land of Kashmir, where the saints who shaped the religious and moral life of the valley consistently expressed deep reverence for Hazrat Ali al-Murtaza (AS).

Hazrat Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi (RA) composed numerous manaqib in praise of Hazrat Ali (AS). From one such manqabat. the following two verses draws upon the renowned hadith of the Prophet (SAW):

Awliya o Asfiya ra Sarwar o Moula Ali : Wali Mun Wala Aliyan, A’adi Mun A’ada Ali

Haq Ayan az Mustafa o Mustafa az Murtaza : Bayi Bismillah Nabi o nuqta e a’an ba Ali

(For the saints and the purified ones, the master and leader is Ali AS : Whoever befriends me befriends Ali, and whoever opposes me opposes Ali; The Truth is manifest through Mustafa (SAW), and Mustafa (SAW), through Murtaza (AS): The Prophet (SAW) is the ‘Ba’ of Bismillah, and Ali (AS) is the dot beneath it.)

Hazrat Baba Dawood Khaki RA, in his esteemed biography of his Murshid Hazrat Shaikh Hamzah Makhdoom RA, devotes extensive attention to Hazrat Ali (AS) including following two verses;

En mashaikh ra musalsal andar irshad o adab: Ta Nabi Allah waseela Murtaza Haider shud ast

Gam nabayad khurd mara rozi hasher az tashnagi : manbai en silsila chun Saqie Kouthar shud ast

(These spiritual masters remain linked in an unbroken chain of guidance and discipline: For the Messenger of Allah (SAW) has made Murtaza Haider AS the means (wasilah) of this path; Need not fear thirst on the Day of Resurrection:

For the fountainhead of this chain is he who would be the Cup-bearer of Kawthar.)

Hazrat Shaikh Akmal-ud-Din Mirza Mohammad Kamil (RA), in his Masnawi Bahar-ul-Irfan and other writings has often mentioned Ali al-Murtaza (AS) and his guidance. In one of such verses he says; Murtaza shah-e wilayat chun barin takht nishast: Gasht bar rah-e imamat hadi o ustadam.

(When Murtaza AS, the King of Spiritual Sainthood, ascended this throne: he became my guide and teacher upon the path of Imamate.)

Allama Iqbal has extensively written on Hazrat Ali (AS) and Ahl ul Bayt. Some of his verses below highlight two dimensions of Hazrat Ali (AS), the outward valor in defense of truth and the inward spiritual mastery over the ego.

Muslim-e-Awwal, Shah-e-Mardān, Ali: ‘Ishq rā sarmāyah-e īmān, Ali

Murtazā kaz tigh-e O’ ḥaqq roshan ast : Bu-Turab az fatḥ-e iqlim-e tan ast

Sher-e Ḥaq ein khak ra taskhir kard: Ein gil-e tarik ra iksir kard

(The first and foremost Muslim, the King of the brave—Ali: For faith itself, the true capital is love, and its exemplar is Ali; Murtaza, by whose sword the truth was made manifest: Abu Turab, who conquered the kingdom of the self; The Lion of God conquered this earthly realm: And turned this dark clay into pure elixir.)

All the above references are drawn from Sunni sources. Among our Shia brethren, however, the love and devotion for Hazrat Ali (AS) and the Ahl al-Bayt occupy an even more central place in religious thought and spiritual life. Sunnis too hold Hazrat Ali al-Murtaza (AS) in the highest reverence—as one of the greatest companions of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and a shining embodiment of knowledge, courage, justice, and piety. For centuries, Muslims across traditions have drawn inspiration from his life as a model of unwavering faith, moral courage, and fairness to all, including people of other faiths. The references above are but a glimpse of the vast devotion expressed by scholars, saints, and seekers through the ages.

On this day of Shahadah, as the Ummah reflects on his life and legacy, it is fitting that we rise above divisions that have long separated us. His life remains a beacon of justice, humility, wisdom, and steadfast commitment to truth. Let the Ummah gather around these timeless virtues, leaving aside needless polemics and disputes, and allow the example of Hazrat Ali al-Murtaza (AS) to guide our hearts and actions.

If we strive to live by the principles that defined his life—truthfulness, justice, compassion, courage, and humility—we honor not only his blessed memory but also the enduring moral legacy of the Holy Prophet (SAW) For the legacy of Ali al-Murtaza (AS) is not a point of division, but a radiant light under which the entire Ummah can stand united in faith, justice, and devotion to Allah.

Shakeel Qalander, prominent business leader and a civil society animator.

© Greater Kashmir