IMAM ALI (AS)'S KNOWLEDGE

As it has been stated in earlier article, more than 300 verses of Holy Qur’an have been revealed in praise of Imam Ali (AS), some of these are reproduced below:

1. Sura Ar-Ra’d verse 43 “ And those who disbelieve say “You are not a messenger” say O Muhammad, Sufficient is Allah as witness between me and you, (and the witness of) whoever has the knowledge of the Scripture”
2. Sura An-Nisa verse 59 “O You who believed, obey Allah, obey the Messenger and those in authority among you”
3. Sura Al-A’Raf verse 48 “And the companions of the Elevation will call to men (within Hell) whom they recognize by their mark, saying “ Of no avail to you was your gathering and (the fact ) that you were arrogant”
4. Sura Fatir verse 32 “Then we caused to inherit the Book those we have chosen...”

The Holy Prophet (P) said

1. I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.
2. Ali is the most knowledgeable and wise person.
3. Ali is the most judicious person.
4. Whoever wants to see knowledge of Adam, acumen of Noah, piety of Yahya, dread of Musa should look at Ali.
5. Ali will fight for the interpretation of Qur’an as I fought on the revelation.

Imam Ali (AS) has said:

1. I know the true nature of every thing.
2. Ask me about anything on the earth or the skies.(he was the only man in history to have given such a challenge)

Islamic learning rotates on the pivot of his intellect. There was no branch of science which was either founded by him or had a big part in its foundation. He had left deep marks on social sciences. From spiritual point of view, there is a hadees that the Prophet (P) and Imam Ali (AS) were made of one light (noor) long before Adam was created.  This universe was created in front of them hence they knew the nature of every thing. Further more, the Prophet (P) had given his sacred tongue in the mouth of infant Ali in Kabaa, hence it was the effect of the prophetic saliva that all types of knowledge were transmitted to him. As a sample we can narrate few incidents of his matchless intellect and divine knowledge:

Abdullah bin Abbas was in his presence when he explained in detail the meaning and significance of alphabet ‘Ba’ in the verse Bismillah Hirrahmanir Rahim. Near the time of dawn, he said that he could write the explanations of ‘Ba’ which could be so enormous as to form the load of 70 camels!

He said that he was thoroughly familiar with each and every verse of Holy Qur’an, when and where and for whom it was revealed.

He said that the Holy Prophet (P) taught him one thousand parts of knowledge and he revealed one thousand parts from each part.

According to Ibine Abbas, the famous narrator of hadees, that Allah created ten parts of knowledge and awarded nine parts to Ali (AS) and one part to every one and even in that Ali’s share dominated.

A person asked him if he had seen Allah to which he replied that he had seen by Gnostic eyes. He said that if he had time he would render decisions for Christians from Bible, for Jews from Torah.

According to Jundab bin Abdullah, he was fighting along with Imam Ali (AS) during the Battle of Nahravan, when Imam Ali said that only ten enemy’s soldiers will be left alive and rest of them will be killed and only nine of his companions will be martyred. Jundab said after the battle was over he counted and found that Imam Ali (AS)’s forecast was accurate.

Once a very pious man named Muzar asked Imam Ali (AS)

1. Who was the masculine born without parents? Imam replied “Adam”
2. Who was the feminine born without parents?   Imam replied “ Eve”
3. Who was that masculine born without father?  Imam replied “ Jesus”
4. Who was the prophet who was neither from men nor Jinn nor angel? Imam    replied “the crow who taught Qaabeel to bury his brother Haabeel”
5. Which was the grave which roamed around with its inmate? Imam replied “ The fish which carried Prophet Younus for three days”
6. Which was that animal who warned its companions? Imam replied “ The ant which warned about Prophet Suleiman’s approaching army”
7. Which was the body which ate but did not drink? Imam replied “ the baton of Prophet Musa which swallowed the magician’s snakes”
8. Which is that land on which sun shined only once? Imam relied “ River Nile which gave way for Prophet Musa and his followers”
9. Which was the stone that gave birth to a living thing? Imam replied “ Female camel of Prophet Saleh”
10. Who was the woman who gave birth in three hours? Imam replied “ Lady Miriam who was pregnant in one hour, one hour in labor pain , one hour in delivery”
11. What are the two moving things which will not be stationery? Imam replied “Sun and the Moon”
12. Who are the two friends who will never be enemies? Imam replied “ Body and the soul”
13. Who are the two enemies who will never be friends? Imam replied “ Life & death”
14. What is a thing (shay)? Imam replied “ Faithful”
15. What is nothing (la shay)? Imam replied “ Disbeliever”
16. What is the most beautiful thing? Imam replied “ Face of a human being”
17. What is the ugliest thing? Imam replied “ A body without head”
18. What is the first thing made in the womb? “ Imam replied “ Finger used in reciting Kalema”
19. What is the thing which falls last in the grave? Imam replied “End of spinal cord”

During the period of the second caliph, there was a case in which two women gave birth to a boy and a girl. The girl’s mother switched her baby with the boy of another woman. When the matter was brought to the caliph, he could not resolve it and requested Imam Ali (AS) to help. Imam Ali (AS) asked to bring weights and a bottle and both women to fill the bottle with their milk. He gave the boy to the woman whose milk was heavier and the girl to the woman whose milk was lighter.

During the period of the first caliph, the Caesar of Rome sent huge gifts to the Prophet (P) when he had already expired. When the matter was communicated back to him he sent three questions and said that whoever replied it correctly must be the vicegerent of the Prophet (P) and the gifts should be given to him. Questions were: What is that thing which is not for God? What is that thing which is not with God? What is that thing which is not known to God? The caliph was angry by the nature of questions and requested Imam Ali (AS) to help. He said the thing which is not for God is his partner. The thing which is not with God is their belief that Jesus was son of God while God does not have any son. Lastly, the thing which is not known to God is oppression. After listening to Imam Ali (AS), the ambassador of Rome recited kalema, became a Muslim and delivered the royal gifts to him.