Where Would The World Be If We Followed Imam Ali?

So Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, wants us to be conscious and moral. And we know that our morality can never come to fruition, in the fullest sense of the word, until and unless we recognize the proper role models. Because there is an innate nature in us to never be satisfied unless we reach perfection. We know we don't have perfection in ourselves at the moment, but the potential to reach perfection is within us. And Allah helps us to reach perfection, first and foremost by sending role models and representatives who are perfect and protected by Allah from deviation and from wrongdoing. And their message is perfect.

Even Iblis, as we know, mentions this by his own tongue when he says that: I will beguile all of Your creations, mankind, "fa bi 'azzatika laghuyammahu ajma'in" (38:82), I am going to beguile every one of them, "illa 'ibadika ninhum al-Mukhlasin" (38:83), except those purified by you, O Allah, the ones You have protected, chosen to direct mankind. Those I cannot touch. Even Iblis agrees with that.

As you know,Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, is a very controversial figure. He is a very controversial figure because, though within the different schools of thought, we all agree that he is rightly guided. To the lovers of Ahl Al-Bayt, he is beyond that, to the lovers of Ahl Al-Bayt, he is the brother of the Prophet, chosen from the same branch as the Prophet says: "Ana wa 'Ali min shajaratin wahida". 'Ali and I are from one tree. We are of the same Noor.

And thus the family that revolves around the messengers are critical. And Allah, in the Qur'an, in Surat an-Noor, He says: "min shajaratin mubarakatin zeitunatin la sharqiatin wa la gharbia" (24:35). A blessed tree, neither east nor west, it is a blessed chosen tree. So when we talk about Ahl Al-Bayt, when we talk about Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, we are not talking about issues that we have added as salt and pepper and spices to make this whole scenario of a new school of thought. When Allah has made them extraordinary, that even in the challenge of the Christians, Allah has made them extraordinary.

What authority do you and I have to make them ordinary? What authority do you and I have to say it's okay, they are just one of the companions? Sure, they are just one of the family of the Prophet. They were good, but others were also good. How can we blur our role models by mixing the good with the not so good and then claim to reach Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala? Is it possible?

It is a command of Allah in the Qur'an! It is a command of Allah for us to focus, because it is these role models, when you and I focus and obey, believe me, brothers and sisters, I say with a sincere heart, no Karbala would have taken place. No death and treachery on earth would have taken place the way it is now. In fact, it would have been a very rare occasion on earth where the person would kill someone. Rare. This world would have been a paradise.

They say the children of Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, were captured to the point where they were buried between pillars. Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf had a field day killing Ahl Al-Bayt. Mu'awiya and Yazid had a field day attacking Ahl Al-Bayt. That even Imam Hasan say to Mu'awiya that I will agree to not attack you because you are a treacherous leader. He says the condition of the treaty is do not harm the children of 'Ali and his family. Why?

Because the animosity lies there. So Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, is very controversial because he is that link, as we call it, that guards the city of knowledge. That is why the Prophets so eloquently said: "Ana madinatun 'ilm, wa Aliyun babuha. When 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, when they realized that they made mistakes, the people went to his house. After the third Khalifa was tragically killed, people ganged up on him and killed him.

It is a tragic scenario when anyone is killed, I don't care who it is. And they go to the house of Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, and they said, we acknowledge, we acknowledge, we acknowledge. They pulled him out of his house. They dragged him literally. They were so excited that you have to take that position that God has conferred upon you, for we have realized that the Muslim Ummah has degraded in so many ways. And if I know, 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, accepts that, with conditions.

He said, you will obey me the way Allah has commanded: "Uli al-'Amri minkum". They agreed. Sadly, when he comes into power, many forces had already taken their bases in deep formations, one being Mu'awiya. Mu'awiya for 30 years plus had been establishing himself, and taking from the public treasury to build a vast empire. History a little bit, brothers and sisters, the Byzantine Empire, which is Syria today, that empire today when it fell from the Christian hands to the Muslims. The first governor was Mu'awiya's brother, who died very shortly before.

And then right after that, as you know, Mu'awiya takes governorship and never leaves it till it is dead. Never leave that leadership. And remember, the people of Byzantium, the Syrians of the time, had not seen Ahl Al-Bayt. It was foreign to them. They were Christians, and many had converted to Islam either through trade or whatever means. But they were not aware of the true power of Ahl Al-Bayt.

Thus Mu'awya systematically kept them in the dark, and created all kinds of false ideas against Ahl Al-Bayt, which culminates in Ashura that after Imam Husayn, alayhi as-salam, is martyred. When Imam Zayn al-'Abidin and Zaynab, alayha as-salam, enter the city of Sham, which is known as Syria, when they enter it, people were mocking at them, mocking them, that it is good God has killed you, o you recalcitrant people who are disobeying the caliph of the time. Not realizing that the ones that they killed, were the blood and the Prophet himself. Not realizing that.

And that is why the power of the revolution of Karbala was so strong that when Imam Zayn al-'Abidin enters the city of Sham, and Imam Zayn al-'Abidin climbs the pulpit for the first time, he addresses himself as to who he really is. The people of Syria begin to realize what a mistake they have made. Understand, this was Mu'awya.

Tonight, we commemorate the Shahada of Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, on these grounds. On the grounds of Hikmah, on the grounds of justice. That while he is the Khalifa, when somebody, a Christian man, takes his shield, Imam doesn't taunt him. He says, I am the Khalifa, you have stolen my shield. Give it back to me and I will behead you. No. He goes into court and the judge addresses the Christian man by his first name. And then he calls Imam 'Ali by his title, higher status. And Imam is annoyed. And the judge says, you are already annoyed. He said, how dare you have given me a higher status before you have passed the judgment, before you have heard the argument. How did you confer upon me greater status?

Will you find just people like this in the world today? That the minute we get a little authority, we want to abuse it? Do you think Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, can be compared on this earth like this? That is why Allah says: "anfusana wa anfusakum" (3:61), that when he goes to the great, when he goes to the masjid and he becomes Shahid, that stroke should strike our hearts, that I need this man as my role model, for if I am ever going to come to his perfection, to the love of the Prophet, because he is my reflector of the Prophet. As the Prophet said: " Wa as-shamsi wa adh-dhuhaha" (91:1); "wa al-qamari idha talaha"(91:2); by the sun, and its brilliance, and the moon which follows it. He says, I am that sun. And the moon that follows me is 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib and the remaining eleven Imams who will reflect me when I am not there. What a personality!

I have had personalities who say when they go to Is Haram, there is an energy there that's second to none other than the prophets. Really? Tonight we must reflect on him, not only as a personality, but as a person to say, what can I do to bring unity in my community? What can I do to be a good father? What can I do to be a good brother and a sister? Allah says, "Maintain unity" (3:103).

I will give you a quick story before I end. When Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam's Khilafa was taken, a man of the Jewish faith comes to him and says to him that, you see, the Prophet just died and you guys are already disputing about the authority. So he starts taunting Imam 'Ali. Now what could Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, done? If he was not a wise man? He would have taken advantage of that and said, yeah, these guys have done an injustice to me because we are all so willing to complain to anybody when our rights are taken.

Look at Imam 'Ali alayhi as-salam's Tawakkul 'ala Allah wa fafa bi 'Llahi wakilah! That he has nothing but trust to Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala. And look how he replies, as a lesson for you and me, that as Muslims in this society, do not allow Sunni Shi'a differences to divide us. Please. Never. When I see my brothers of different schools of thought, I see them nothing but as my Muslim brothers. What does Imam 'Ali reply to this Jewish man? He says to him, your forefathers, when they were freed from Egypt and your leader Moses went up to the mountain, their feet had not even dried of the saltwater, and they were already worshiping an idol. We Muslims have not gone there. We are united in the Ka'ba. We are united in God. We are united in the Prophet. We are united in the Qur'an.

We must unite as a Muslim Umma, and on a larger scale with our Christian and Jewish brethren. We must and, Subhana Allah. Even in these communities, there are Christian pastors and priests who help the Muslims. And there are rabbis who support the cause of the Muslims, just like the Muslims who support the cause of the Christians and the Jews. We come together. We understand our differences, but we understand our differences, and we understand our goals in life is to maintain unity for the love of Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala.

So this discussion is for this reason. And tonight, when we commemorate his tragic sacrifice for the cause of Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, this should be the lesson of our lives. For Imam 'Ali went to the altar of death, in Sujud, in a message to teach us a lesson. And if we don't follow this lesson, then our love for Imam 'Ali, alayhi as-salam, is out of focus, and it won't bring us benefit. It will harm us. It will harm us, for sure.