May 22, 2015
Ali, the “Lion of Allaah,” was once engaged in conflict with a Magian chief, and in the midst of the struggle the Magian spat in his face. Ali, instead of taking vengeance on him, at once dropped his sword, to the Magian’s great astonishment. On his inquiring the reason of such forbearance, Ali informed him that the “Lion of Allaah” did not destroy life for the satisfaction of his own vengeance, but simply to carry out Allaah’s Will, and that whenever he saw just cause, he held his hand even in the midst of the strife, and spared the foe.
The Magian chief, on hearing Ali’s discourse, was so much affected that he embraced Islam, together with all his family, to the number of fifty souls.
(adapted from Masnavi i Ma’navi,
translated by E.H. Whinfield, p. 83 - 84)
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The above story brings us to Ali (‘Alii ibn Abii Taalib), cousin of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and one of his closest Companions (Sahaabah). Tradition holds that, as a young boy, he was the second person to convert to the religion we call Islam, second only to Khadijah, Muhammad’s wife at the time. In many respects, he was like a son to Muhammad, who later married Ali to his daughter Faatimah. Ali became one of the most famous warriors in Arabia, a brave and fierce soldier who was exceptionally strong. As a leader in the Muslim community, he was highly regarded for his piety, generosity, wisdom, impartiality (as a judge), and compassion for others. Thus, he became the fourth Caliph, leader of the Muslim community / nation. He was also a deeply spiritual mystic. Almost all traditional Sufi orders trace their spiritual lineage back to Muhammad through Ali, who received a heart-to-heart transmission of knowing directly from the Prophet. Thus, the title bestowed upon him, “Lion of Allaah,” speaks to his physical, mental, and spiritual strength and courage.
It may seem odd to the modern Western mind that a mystic would be a (political) leader and warrior since these are often juxtaposed to each other. But in traditional Islam, spiritual qualities are explicitly sought for leadership -- especially in the domain of war where, in ancient times, the leader literally led its people to the battlefield and fought beside them.
In the context of war and Islam, the term jihaad often comes up. The word literally means “struggle” or “resisting.” The Prophet Muhammad taught there is a greater and lesser jihaad. The greater, and more important, jihaad is struggle to restrain and conquer one’s own ego (nafs). Only then is one fit to wage and lead others in lesser jihaad against opponents, which can include war. In ancient times, war was not limited to just military engagement: the term includes social, political, legal, and economic tactics engaged in conflicts. Even within the last century, economic sanctions and media propaganda (publishing derogatory information about a country or leader) were seen as explicit acts of war that sometimes led to military conflict. Again, I stress that traditional Islam emphasizes restraint and conquering of one’s own ego before engaging in activities of conflict that seek to restrain or conquer others. And on the scale of lesser jihaad, military action was always reserved to a very last resort. Understanding this, you may begin to see how jihaad plays a role in the above story.
Ali, the “Lion of Allaah,” was once engaged in conflict with a Magian chief. This is a reference to a famous story that highlights the glory of Ali. In the heat of battle, fighting sword to sword, each man was aiming to not just wound, but kill the other. The intimacy of facing another’s deadly aggression is something we don’t always comprehend in today’s age: where many wars (and fights) are fought at a distance and people are less often killed by another’s hand but by the force of powerful weapons such as guns, bombs, etc. Yet within the intimacy of ancient hand-to-hand combat, where you looked a person in the eye before killing or being killed, battles were fought with an etiquette that was uncompromising.
In sword battles, if a person was knocked to the ground or one’s sword was knocked from one’s hand, that person had to stop fighting and willingly surrender one’s life. If a person did not adhere to this etiquette, one’s own army would often kill that person and make excessive amends to the other party to uphold the honor of warfare. There are versions of this battle in which Ali knocked his enemy to the ground, and some say he knocked the sword from his enemy’s hand with a powerful swing. In either case, instead of adhering to etiquette and surrendering, the Magian chief angrily spit in Ali’s face. This would have been read as an attack, no