Following are a few of the mathematical brilliance of Imam
Ali (a.s.), who was the “Gateway of Knowledge”, as per the famous Tradition of
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.).
One day a Jewish man came to Imam Ali (a.s.), thinking that
since Imam Ali (a.s.) thinks he is smart, he would ask a tough question. He
asked; “Let me know a number, that if we
divide it by any number from 1 to 10, the answer will always be a whole number
and not a fraction!”
Imam Ali (a.s.) replied: “Take the number
of days in a year and multiply it with the number of days in a week!”
The Jewish person got astonished; he still did not believe
the Imam (a.s.). So he calculated the answer he was given. To his amazement he
came across the following results:
Number of
days in Arabic Calendar 360
Number of
days in a week 7
Product of
the two numbers 2,520
2,520/1=2,520
2,520/2=1,260
2,520/3=840
2,520/4=630
2,520/5=504
2,520/6=420
2,520/7=360
2,520/8=315
2,520/9=280
2,520/10=252
A person was about to die, and before dying he wrote his
will which read as follows:
“I have 17 camels, and I have three sons.
Divide my camels in such a way that my eldest son gets half of them, the second
one gets one-third of the total and my youngest son gets one-ninth of the total
number of camels. After the man’s death, his relatives read the will and
got perplexed; they wondered how they could divide 17 camels in this way.
Soon they decided that there was only one man in Arabia
who could help them – Imam Ali ibne Abi Talib (a.s.). When they came to the
Imam and narrated the will, the Imam said, “O.K.
I will divide the camels as per the will. I will lend one of my camels to the
total which makes it 18, now let us divide as per the will:
The eldest son gets half of 18 which
comes to 9
The second one gets one-third of 18
which comes to 6
The youngest one gets one-ninth of
18 which comes to 2
Total number of camels to be
distributed 17
Then Imam Ali ibne
Abi Talib (a.s.) said: “Now I will take my camel back”
Two travelers sat together on the way to their destination
to have a meal. One had 5 loaves of bread, the other had 3. A third man passing
by and at the request of the two joined the meal. The travelers cut each loaf
into 3 pieces, and each one ate 8 pieces. At the time of leaving he gave 8 dirham
to them. The two started quarrelling; the 5 loaf man demanded 5 dirham while
the 3 loaf man wanted 4 each. As usual, the problem was referred to the “Mushkil-kusha” Imam Ali (a.s.)
Addressing the man who had 3 loafs,
the Imam (a.s.) said: “You can have only
1 dirham. Total number of loafs were 8 and each was divided into 3 pieces,
therefore, there were 24 pieces available for eating. Your 3 loafs made 9
pieces, out of which you ate 8 pieces, leaving just 1 piece to the third
traveler. Your friend had 5 loafs dividing into 3 pieces made 15 pieces. He ate
8 pieces and gave 7 pieces to the guest. The guest ate 1 piece from you and 7
pieces from your friend. So you should get 1 dirham and your friend should get
7 dirham.
Imam Ali (a.s.) was interrupted while he was delivering a
Sermon from the pulpit by some one who asked, “How do I distribute the inheritance of someone who had died leaving a wife, his parents, and 2 daughters?”
Imam Ali (a.s.) instantly answered: “The wife’s share becomes one-ninth.”
How? This was the result of long analysis.
The wife
takes one-eighth, in view of presence of an inheriting child.
Noble
Qur’an (4:12 )
The
deceased’s father and mother take one-sixth. Noble Qur’an (4:11 )
The two
daughters take two-third of the balance. Noble Qur’an (4:11 )
So the
total will be 1/8+1/6+1/6+2/3 or
3/24+4/24+4/24+16/24=27/24
This means the share becomes less
than 1/8 in view of the increase of the total shares. So the one-eighth, the original share due to wife out of 24 total
shares has become 3 shares out of 27 which are one-ninth.
Imam Ali went through this complex mathematical process in a
second!
Jazakallah.
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