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Ali ibn Abi Talib (ca 599-661 CE) was a prominent figure in early Islamic history. He had been taken into his cousin Muhammad's household as a child, and was one of the first converts to Islam when he was only ten years old. Later, he married Muhammad's daughter Fatima Zahra and fathered Muhammad's two grandsons. He was one of Muhammad's trusted lieutenants.
Shi'a Muslims believe that Ali was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and the first of the Shi'a imams whom the Shi'a believe to be the divinely ordained spiritual leaders of humankind.
Many sources, including all Shi'a ones, record that Ali was the first and only person born inside the Kaaba in the city of Mecca. The tradition states that Ali's mother was at the wall of the Kaaba when it parted, and she entered, to emerge three days later holding the infant Ali in her arms. Numerous sources contend that he was born beside the Kaaba, but not inside the area apparent upon entering through the door, as it was filled with idols. According to the tradition, Ali did not open his eyes until his cousin Muhammad approached. Muhammad took the baby in his hands, put his tongue inside Ali's mouth in an act representing the passing of knowledge, and when the baby sucked on the saliva of this man, he opened his eyes. This is why Muhammad was the first person whom Ali saw as a newborn. Muhammad asked Fatima Binte Asad if she had a name picked out for the child. She informed him that while she was inside, 'being cared for by the beings of heaven who assisted in the effortless delivery of the child', she was told by a majestic voice that this child has been named Ali, meaning "the exalted one".12
According to one Shi'a website, Shi'a Muslims who perform the umrah or hajj pilgrimages must pay special devotions to the corner of the Kaaba that cracked open for Ali's mother. This corner is called the mustajar.
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Sources
There is no mention of any such event in the earliest Islamic histories, the works of Ibn Ishaq, Tabari, Waqidi, and Ibn Sa'd. Nor do any of the collections of oral traditions (hadith) accepted by Sunni Muslims mention this event. Shi'a websites that list sources include the following, which seem to be the earliest sources for the narration:
- the Mustadrak of Hakim al-Nishaburi, said to have been composed after 1002 CE
- a large history of the world written by Masudi, who died in 956 CE
Sunni views
Sunni scholars regard the Mustadrak as an unreliable hadith collection. [1].
Some Sunni scholars credit a tradition found in Sahih Muslim, which states that Hakim ibn Hizam, a rich Meccan convert to Islam, was born in the Kaaba.
- A hadith like this has been transmitted on the authority of Hakim b. Hizam (Imam Muslim) said: Hakim b. Hizam was born inside the Ka'ba and lived for one hundred and twenty years. (Sahih Muslim, Book 10, Number 3662) [2]
This claim is advanced at one Sunni website, [3], where it is pointedly stated that Hakim ibn Hizam was the only person ever to be born in the Kaaba.
Academic views
None of the major academic sources for early Islamic history mention this tradition, even to refute it.
Footnotes
External links
Shi'a
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 14 November 2008, at 04:21.
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