Where is Ali’s Courage?!

 

Regarding the incident of the burning, Ibn Roozbahan has said, “Had this been true, it would have proven his (Ali’s) incompetence, and he is way above that, for the most incompetent is a man whose house and family are burnt as his wife is inside and he is yet unable to defend them.”^[1]

Someone adopted the same conclusion and said that it was not tasteful for al-Zahra’ (A.S.) to open the door, nor to answer those folks, while Ali (A.S.) was present with her inside the house. Then this same someone tries to stir emotions and excite feelings when he adds to the above the following: “What would people say about him had he done that? Would they say that he is a hero?! Or would they say that he is a coward? So, how can you attribute to Ali (A.S.) the feats of capturing heroes on the battlefield while he does what you yourselves would not have agreed to do?!”

Then he underscores his statement by saying that once in a commemorative majlis held in Dubai, a reciter mentioned this issue. A Sunni man was present there and then and he said to a Shi`a man, “You say that Ali (A.S.) is a courageous hero who gave heroes many a headache; how come he did not defend his wife while she was a trust handed to him by the Messenger of Allah (A.S.)?!” We say the following:

 

FIRST: This talk is not new to us. [Shi`a] Scholars have already responded to it, and so have Zaidi scholars as well. Ibn Hamzah has said, “He (A.S.), the brave man that he was, did not neglect to look into the affairs of the nation, seeking the straightforwardness of the creed, staying aloof from whatever could make things worse.”^[2]

 

SECOND: The same Ibn Hamzah, responding to someone, has also said, “There is no shame on him were he to be overpowered because overpowering is not indicative of what is right or wrong, or what is cowardly. He is an Infallible Imam according to texts of hadith, and he does not behave on impulse or out of anxiety. Rather, he does what he is ordered to. He has enjoined others to be patient, and he took to patience in obedience to the Command of Allah, Glory to Him, and to the order of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) not to be the first to take to anger, nor to lag behind out of cowardice.”^[3]

 

THIRD: Beating al-Zahra’ (A.S.) is not the only incident of its kind in Ali’s long history with those folks. It has been transmitted that Ali (A.S.) himself was exposed to beating, too, but not by Abu Bakr, nor from `Omer, but from someone who was at the time much less prominent and influential, namely `Othman (ibn `Affan). In his book, al-Zubayr ibn Bakar has stated the following:

 

Ali (A.S.) ibn Abi Talib has been quoted as saying, “`Othman ordered that I should have audience with him on a very hot day. I placed my garment on my head and went to see him. I entered, and he was on his bed, a rod in hand, surrounded by rich wealth: two heaps of gold and silver. He said, `Take of this whatever you wish so you may have enough (i.e. buy enough food) to fill your stomach, for you have burnt me.’ I said to him, `You have surely been kind to your kin! If this wealth is an inheritance which you have inherited, or a giver gave it to you personally, or you earned it from a trade deal, I would then be one of two: I may either take of it or simply thank you for your offer [but not accept it], or I may refrain so I may work hard (to earn my living). But if it is a wealth that belongs to Allah, and the Muslims are to partake of it, and so are the orphans and the wayfarers, then by Allah, you have no right to give me any of it, nor do I have any right to take any of it.’ He said, `I, by Allah, insist that you should do what you have refused to do.’ Then he kept hitting me with the rod. By Allah, I did not keep his hand away from me till he had enough. I pulled my garment over my head and went back home. I said, `Allah is between you and me if I enjoined on you to do what is right or prohibited you from doing wrong.’”^[4]