Who Is Imam Ali ?

• Imam Ali was born in the House of Allah, an honour not given to anyone in history.

• Imam Ali was abopted by the Prophet of Allah, and is brought up by him, in his house.

• Imam Ali was the first to accept Islam. And at the first feast for the the Prophet announces Imam Ali as to be his his helper, representitive, and successor.

• Imam Ali was the hero of all Islamic battles

• The Prophet (s) appoints Imam Ali to carry out his duties while he escapes to Medina. Imam Ali risk his life by sleeping on the bed of the prophet.

• The Prophet (s) selects Imam Ali to be the husband of his beloved daughter, while rejecting all others.

• The Prophet (s) calls Imam Ali the Gate to the city of Knowledge. The knowledge of Imam Ali is only second to that of the Prophet, as the prophet proclaims hisself to be the City of Knowledge.

• When the The Prophet (s) arrives at Medina he appoints two brothers between people of Macca and Medina. But for himself he selects Imam Ali.

• At Mubalah, the Prophet (s) selects Imam Ali and his family to give evidence on behalf of Allah and his Prophet.

• The Prophet (s) wishs to purify his Ahlul-Bayt, invites them to enter the cloak.

• At the the battle of al-Khandaq while the Muslim army did not have enough courage to meet the challange of the enemy, Imam Ali along went out there alone. And when he emerged from the enounter with the head of the kafir in his hands the prophet proclaims that "one strike of Ali's sword is better then the prays of his entire ummah".

• At Ghadeer Khum the prophet (s) calls back all those who have gone before and waits for all those who are left behind, he gives his final message to his people and then on top of a stage made from camel saddles he states that "who ever accepts me as his master must also Imam Ali as his master". There after all the leading companions come and congratulate Imam Ali on achieving this status.

This list can continue endlessly, but I just wanted to make the point that in the area of knowledge, bravery, closeness to the prophet there is NO ONE who can compare to Imam Ali. Its a shame that we muslims have not learnt from this Master who the prophet prepared himself. There was never a point where he ran away from his duties. There is only one man in Islam who cried out "ask me what ever you want before you lose me forever", and that was Imam Ali.