Abstract:Ali ibn Abi Talib (599-661 CE) was the first cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad; the fourth of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-khulafa al-rashidun); and the first of the Imams deemed by all Shii Muslims to be appointed by divine mandate. The word Shii itself is derived from the term shiat Ali, which means partisans of Ali. Few figures of nascent Islam had as pervasive and enduring an influence-both symbolic and actual簫-on the unfolding of Islamic thought, culture, and spirituality asImamAli. Referred to by the Prophet as the gate to the city of prophetic science, one of the most noticeable features of his legacy for medie簫val Islam is indeed the range of disciplines – from theology and exegesis to calligraphy and numerology, from law and mysticism to grammar and rhetoric 簫that are regarded as having been foreshadowed byImamAli.
Author
Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi
Founding editor of the Islamic World Report, Reza Shah-Kazemi studied International Relations and Politics at Sussex and Exeter Universities before obtaining his PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Kent in 1994.