Sword of Futuwwa - The Nobility of the Ahl al-Bayt: ep.4 - The Virtue of Imam Ali ع

Ibn Ata’allah says, “Glory be to God, who did not make the proof that indicates who His awliyah [saints] are except to be where you find the proof of God Himself. And God does not guide to the awliyah [saints] except that He will guide that person to Himself.”

This is because they are the abwab al-haq, the Doors to the Real [God]. He will bring you to them because He wants to bring you to Him. The commentators say that if God in His generosity called you to His Door, then do not let Him be the one who sends you away into utter loss due to your lack of adab.

As for the saint, that is Imam 'Ali ع . Imam 'Ali ع is the emblem of spirituality and leader of sacred chivalry and knighthood [futuwwa], the man for whom Rasulallah ﷺ said, "O 'Ali, Allah exalted is He, has adorned you with an adornment which he has never adorned any of His servants with any adornment more beloved to Him than it. It is the adornment of the saints. It is al-zuhd fi ad-dunya, that is, doing without the things of this world. And he made you somebody who is not reliant on anything in the world, and the world does not have any dependence on you. And he bestowed upon you the gift of love for the fuqara (poor ones who alone have God), and he made you to be happy that they are your followers, and that they are happy to have you as their imam."

The path of 'Ali ع is the most difficult path, for it is the path of self-effacement. Imam ‘Ali ع symbolizes the Realized Self who has awakened into the mysteries of Transcendence. According to commentators, Allah revealed a verse in regards to our master, "And among men is he ['Ali ibn Abi Talib] who sells himself to seek the pleasure of God."

The two-pronged sword, dhulfiqar, given by the Prophet ﷺ to ‘Ali ع at the Battle of Badr, is an emblem of the realized Self’s vanquishment of the inner passions of the lower ego. In this way, Imam 'Ali ع represents the abwab al-haq because, as said by the Prophet ﷺ, 'Ali ع is the Gate to the City of Knowledge, which is Rasulallah ﷺ. And so, on the faces of the Ahl al-Bayt, you find the light of God, the Muhammadan Light that inspires hudur [intimate presence] with God.

Sayyidina 'Ali ع himself said, "I was still a young boy when the Prophet ﷺ took me into his care. I used to cling to him and he used to feed me, and when I grew a little older, he neither found me to ever utter a single lie nor try to deceive people. To me, he was like a guiding star, and I used to follow his actions and deeds carefully. I was attached to him like the foal of a camel attached to his mother. He used to place before me the values of high morality, advising me and training me in their careful adherence. Every year, he would spend some days at the mountain in the Cave of Hira, and I used to accompany him, to be with him, and I was his only companion then. None else could meet him there, and I used to see the light of revelation and smell the fragrance of Prophethood upon him. Once the Prophet ﷺ told me, "O 'Ali! You have attained a very eminent station, for you see what I see and you hear what I hear."

For our master, Imam 'Ali ع to be able to see the transcendent light of the unseen, the light of revelation itself, descend upon the heart of the Prophet ﷺ is significant in many ways. One of those ways is highlighted in a saying of the Prophet ﷺ, that "'Ali is from me and I am from 'Ali." 'Ali is the mirror of Rasulallah ﷺ that reflects his very self. And thus, he is the Realized Self, for the self that has died from its own passions lives as a reflection of God's Light in the world.

There is the metaphysical principle, that fundamental law of reality, "you are with the one you love", for the one that you love resides in your heart, defining its very nature. When you love Rasulallah ﷺ, then he is in your heart, and then the heart becomes Muhammadiyyun, that is, it is consumed in the Muhammadan Light, a reality known only to the gnostics as the light of iman [faith]. Indeed, as Imam al-Ghazali said, iman [faith] is a light that God places in the heart. That heart is the Muhammadan Light.

"But Allah would never punish them while you ˹O Muhammad˺ are in their midst. Nor would He ever punish them if they prayed for forgiveness." [8:33]

The scholars say regarding this verse that it is present tense, it is a 'living verse', a living reality of the Believer.

Shaykh Ninowy, who traces his lineage through Imam al-Hasan ع, says that Imam Ali ع holds special significance in our tradition. He is not to be reduced to a mere political leader but rather is regarded as the penultimate master of the spiritual path. He is the gate to the city of knowledge, the entry point to the gnostic light of the Muhammadan reality, and thus it was said that iman [faith in God] is in love of Ali ع while nifaq [hypocrisy] is in hatred of Ali ع. All Sunni-Sufi spiritual orders [turuq] trace their lineages back to Imam 'Ali كرم الله وجهه as their master.