Seerah

When Ali offered his prayers he was frequently observed to be in a strange physical condition. When asked to account for the pallor of his face and the way in which his body trembled he replied, "I present myself to the Almighty to render an account of the various obligations that devolve on me and I do not know whether I have discharged them dutifully by protecting the defenceless and aiding the oppressed." His humility before God was one of the reasons why he was regarded as a saint of saints. Another factor which made him exceptionally pious was the important part which he assigned to prayer in his daily life.

One day when the Holy Prophet was sleeping with his head in Ali's lap, the time of "Asr" (afternoon prayers) had passed. Informed by Divine revelation that he had caused Ali to miss his prayers, the Holy Prophet said, "Verily, Ali was busy in the set vice of God and His Apostle. 0 Lord! Command Thy sun not to set yet and to come back into the world again so as to enable Ali to perform his prayers." The Sun re-appeared forthwith until Ali had finished his prayers.

In one of his many battles Ali is said to have been pierced by the head of an arrow, which could not be extracted and which caused him great pain for many months. One day, he was holding communion with God, he went into a state of reverie and on emerging from this trance he found that the head of the arrow had come out of its own accord, through the intercession of Divine Favours.

Because Ali was considered to be the most pious and most holy of all the believers in faith, the people also began to feel that God must have rewarded him by granting him the power to perform miracles. Tales abound of mira culous happenings. A withered tree grew again at Ali's touch; pebbles turned into pieces of gold at his command, so that a believer in faith could find money to pay back a Jewish usurer; Ali was gifted with divine qualities.

Adapted from: "Ali, the Magnificent" by: "Yousuf N. Lalljee"