Past eventOther · The Lantern of the Path · Session 24

The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali

Wednesday, 7 May 2025

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Imamah, Part 4 He waited roughly twenty-five years to take up the leadership he had already been given at Ghadir Khumm — then held it for less than five. This session sets out the theological architecture of Imamah — infallibility, divinely granted knowledge, moral perfection, and descent from the Prophet's household — and places Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, at its centre. His life is read across four eras: roughly twenty-five years of restraint after the Prophet's death; a caliphate of four years and nine months treated as the benchmark for just Islamic government; twenty years of regrouping; and almost two centuries of sustained pressure that followed. The session grounds his character in specific moments rather than praise: his acceptance of Islam at around nine or ten, sleeping in the Prophet's bed on the night assassins surrounded the house so the Prophet could escape to Madinah, and his final breath on the twenty-first of Ramadan, three days after he was struck while at prayer. If Imam Ali knew his stand against injustice would not fully succeed in his lifetime, why did the obligation to act remain unchanged? What the evening covers What Shia theology actually requires of an Imam. Infallibility, God-given knowledge, moral perfection and lineage — treated as functional conditions, not honorific titles. Twenty-five years of restraint, five years of rule. How Imam Ali's long patience and his brief caliphate are read as two expressions of one principle, not a contradiction. The night he slept in another man's bed. The events of Laylat al-Mabit, and the Qur'anic verse tied to it. Four eras, 250 years. The framework laid out here for reading the entire span of Imamah.

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اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِأَنَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدَ وَحْدَكَ لا شَرِيكَ لَكَ وَ أَنَّكَ وَاحِدٌ أَحَدٌ صَمَدٌ لَمْ تَلِدْ وَ لَمْ تُولَدْ وَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَكَ كُفُوا أَحَدٌ وَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُكَ وَ رَسُولُكَ صَلَوَاتُكَ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ يَا مَنْ هُوَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ فِي شَأْنٍ كَمَا كَانَ مِنْ شَأْنِكَ أَنْ تَفَضَّلْتَ عَلَيَّ بِأَنْ جَعَلْتَنِي مِنْ أَهْلِ إِجَابَتِكَ وَ أَهْلِ دِينِكَ وَ أَهْلِ دَعْوَتِكَ وَ وَفَّقْتَنِي لِذَلِكَ فِي مُبْتَدَإِ خَلْقِي تَفَضُّلاً مِنْكَ وَ كَرَماً وَ جُوداً ثُمَّ أَرْدَفْتَ الْفَضْلَ فَضْلا وَ الْجُودَ جُوداً وَ الْكَرَمَ كَرَماً رَأْفَةً مِنْكَ وَ رَحْمَةً إِلَى أَنْ جَدَّدْتَ ذَلِكَ الْعَهْدَ لِي تَجْدِيداً بَعْدَ تَجْدِيدِكَ خَلْقِي وَ كُنْتُ نَسْياً مَنْسِيّاً نَاسِياً سَاهِياً غَافِلا فَأَتْمَمْتَ نِعْمَتَكَ بِأَنْ ذَكَّرْتَنِي ذَلِكَ وَ مَنَنْتَ بِهِ عَلَيَّ وَ هَدَيْتَنِي لَهُ فَلْيَكُنْ مِنْ شَأْنِكَ يَا إِلَهِي وَ سَيِّدِي وَ مَوْلايَ أَنْ تُتِمَّ لِي ذَلِكَ وَ لا تَسْلُبَنِيهِ حَتَّى تَتَوَفَّانِي عَلَى ذَلِكَ وَ أَنْتَ عَنِّي رَاضٍ فَإِنَّكَ أَحَقُّ الْمُنْعِمِينَ أَنْ تُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَكَ عَلَيَّ ،

O Allah, I ask You by the right that praise belongs solely to You. You are One, having no partner. You are the Unique, the Single, the Self-Sufficient. You have not begotten nor were You begotten, and You are the One who has no equal. And Muhammad is Your servant and Your Messenger—may Your blessings be upon him and his family. O He who every day is engaged in a matter! As it was befitting of Your station, You bestowed Your grace upon me by making me among the people of Your acceptance, Your religion, and Your call. And at the beginning of my creation, out of Your grace, generosity, and munificence, You granted me success in these matters. Then, out of Your compassion and mercy, You followed that grace with yet another grace, that munificence with yet another munificence, and that generosity with yet another generosity, until You renewed that covenant for me after my re-creation, while I was in complete forgetfulness—heedless, negligent, and unaware. Then You completed Your blessing upon me by reminding me of that covenant, and You bestowed Your favor upon me through it, and You guided me to it. So let it be of Your station, O my God, my Master, and my Lord, that You complete it for me and not take it away from me, until You take me from this world upon it while You are pleased with me. Surely You are the most worthy of those who bestow blessings to complete Your blessing upon me.

Mafatih al-Jinan, Acts of the Year, Salat for the Day of Eid al-Ghadir, Line 1