Imam Ali - From Concise History to Timeless Mystery

196 Pages·2020·5.068 MB·English

by  Reza Shah Kazemi

Imam (Ali

FROM CONCISE HISTORY

TO TIMELESS MYSTERY

Reza Shah-Kazemi

THE MATHESON TRUST
For the Study of Comparative Religion
The life of *Ali ibn Abi Talib, fourth caliph of early Islam and revered foun­
tainhead of Shi*ite and Sufi lineages, ‘is both inspirational and controversial:
intrinsically inspirational and extrinsically controversial: These words set the
tone for what is an intricate and penetrating view of the figure of Imam <Ali on
various planes, the spiritual and ethical, the individual, the political and social.
The author draws a unique kind of portrait in which the spiritual undercur­
rents of early Islamic history maybe discerned at play, and where the sanctified
heart of the Imam is revealed as a fulcrum of harmony between diverse and
even divergent tendencies.
This book may be too Shi‘a for some Sunnis, and too Sunni for some Shi‘a,
and it may be too political for some, and too spiritual for others, and so its
main value lies precisely in a higher perspective where it reveals harmony, in
a keen vision of th^ the drive to union, e centre of
historical events as 靡软霉支考貧 ihen. It will have a cat输多冷聲矣t upon the
many, Sunnis and _择 ^ wish to see 4Ali as a 齊私丨 丨海於of unity
in Islam, not as a k makes accessibl為|病Muslims and
—non-Muslims 靡i:jnercy flowing— f■rom攀，-^—paragone

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Reza Shah-Kazemi is an author in the fields of Islamic studies and Com­
parative Religion. He is a Senior Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili : :: {
Studies, London, and has been involved in important interfaith initiatives for ..pr- ji f
the last two decades. His published titles include The Spirit of Tolerance in Is- ;：，ri0- :t
lam and the award-winning Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spiritu- ffV i !(
ality of Imam Ali. His first book, Paths to Transcendence according to Shankara，
Ibn Arabi & Meister Eckhart, was heralded by Professor James Cutsinger as an _
‘irreplaceable, meticulous and far reaching study: and his Common Ground
Between Islam and Buddhism was described as pioneering by the Dalai Lama.
isbn
ill II I

9 781908 092, 82

The principal objective of The Matheson Trust is to
promote the study of comparative religion from the point
of view of the underlying harmony of the great religious
and philosophical traditions of the world. This objective is
being pursued through such means as audio-visual media,
the support and sponsorship of lecture series and conferences,
the creation of a website, collaboration with film production
companies and publishing companies as well as the Trust’s
own series of publications.
The Matheson Monographs cover a wide range of themes
within the field of comparative religion: scriptural exegesis
in different religious traditions; the modalities of spiritual
and contemplative life; in-depth mystical studies of particu­
lar religious traditions; broad comparative analyses taking
in a series of religious forms; studies of traditional arts,
crafts and cosmological science; and contemporary scholarly
expositions of religious philosophy and metaphysics. The
monographs also comprise translations of both classical and
contemporary texts, as well as transcriptions of lectures by,
and interviews with, spiritual and scholarly authorities from
different religious and philosophical traditions.

IMAM *ALI
FROM CONCISE HISTORY TO TIMELESS MYSTERY
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‘For whomever I am the mawla, 4Ali is his mawla•’
PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Imam cAli

From Concise History

to Timeless Mystery

by
Reza Shah-Kazemi

THE MATI-IESON TRUST
For the Study of Comparative Religion
© Reza Shah-Kazemi, 2019
This first edition published by
The Matheson Trust
PO Box 336
56 Gloucester Road
London SW7 4UB, UK
www.themathesontrust.org
ISBN: 978 1 908092 18 2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the Publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
Typeset by the publishers in Baskcrvillc 10 Pro.
Calligraphies on coverand frontispiece
courtesy of Nuria Garcia Masip
www.nuriaart.com
Cover design by Susana Marin.
Contents
Editor’s Preface..................................................................... ix
Introduction.............................................................................. xm
1. The Light of Sanctity and the Veil of History •
Mawla lAli........................................................................... 2
The Beauty of Truth........................................................... 8
The Speaking Qjur’an....................................................... !5
Seeing Through the Lens o^Ta'wil................................ 24
2. In the Footsteps of the Prophet................................... 37
The First Muslim after the Prophet?............................... 40
Hijra....................................................................................... 42
Medina................................................................................... 43
La Fata Ilia (Ali\ No Chivalric Youth But cAli................ .46
Imam cAli and the ‘People of the Prophet’s Household5
(Ahl al-Bayt)....................................................................... .55
The ‘Bequest’ of the Prophet........................................... 66
3. Imam Ali and the Caliphate........................................... 72
The Principle of Zuhd....................................................... 72
‘Ali and His Predecessors in the Caliphate.................... 78
(Ali’s Oath of Allegiance................................................... 82
The Caliphate of Imam ‘Ali............................................... . 88
The Battle of Jamal........................................................... 9°
Mu‘awiya and the Battle of Siffin.................................... •95
Principles of Just Governance........................................ 102
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