Abu Turab: Difference between revisions

'''Abu Turab''' is one of [[Imam Ali]]'s (a) titles which was given to him by [[the Prophet]] (s).

"Abu Turab" is an [[Arabic]] word, which literally means "the father of dust". There are some [[hadith]]s explaining why Imam Ali (a) was titled as Abu Turab.

'Abayat b. Rib'i asked [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]]: why the Prophet (s) gave the title "Abu Turab" to Ali (a)?

He replied: because he (Ali (a)) is the owner of the earth and God's representative among people. The permanency and calmness of the earth is tied to his presence. I heard the Prophet (s) saying: "In the [[Hereafter]], non believer sees the position and the reward of Ali's followers and says: "I wish I were dusty!" [so I was related to Ali (a) and was one of his [[Shi'a]]) and this is what the [[Qur'an]] reads "and the faithless one will say "I wish I were dust" (78-40).

Katwari says: "The first person titled as "Abu Turab" was [[Ali b. Abi Talib]] (a). When the Prophet (s) saw him laying on the ground and saw the dust on his cloths and body, he gently and kindly said to him: "Get up, O Abu Turab!" Ali (a) liked this title the most. After this incident and because of the Prophet (s) it became a special feature for him, because the dust (earth) told him the news of the past and the future to the [[Day of Resurrection]].

In the middle of the month of [[Jumad al-Ula]] in the 2nd year after [[Hijra]] (November 623), the Prophet (s) and a group of his companions left [[Medina]] seeking a caravan of [[Quraysh]] led by [[Abu Sufyan]]. They reached a place named 'Ashira but they did not find the caravan. During their stay in 'Ashira, one day the Prophet (s) encountered Ali (a) and [['Ammar]] while they were asleep on soil and there was dust over Ali's face and head. The Prophet (s) gently and kindly woke them up and said to Ali (a): "O Abu Turab! get up. Do not you want me to tell you who are the most vicious people on earth? One of them is Ihmir (Qadar b. Salif) who killed the she-camel of the prophet [[Salih]] and the other is the one who hits you on the head by sword and dyes your beard with your blood."

[[Umayyad]] Caliphs issued that every speaker in any Muslim city should curse  Ali (a). In this period, the title "Abu Turab" was used as a humiliating title for Imam Ali (a).

It has been narrated that a person came to [[Sahl b. Sa'd]] and said: the governor of Medina is planning to force you curse Ali (a) publicly on pulpit. He said: how should I curse him? he replied: by calling him Abu Turab. Sahl said: by God! the Prophet (s) gave him this title … by God Abu Turab was Ali's best name [title].

Also, it has been narrated from [[Jabir b. Yazid Ju'fi]] that: I complained bout Umayyad and their supporters to [[Imam Sajjad]] (a) and said: they are killing us wherever we go. They are uprooting us. They are cursing our master [[Amir al-Mu'minin]] (a) publicly on pulpits and minarets, in bazaars and alleys. They repudiate Imam Ali to the point that they gather in [[Masjid al-Nabi]] (the mosque of the Prophet (s) in Medina) and curse Ali (a) openly while there is no one perverts them doing so or expresses his disagreement with their action, and, if one of us opposes them, they all attack him and say he is [[Rafidi]] (refuser (of the caliphate of the three first Caliphs)) and Abu Turabi (related to Abu Turab). they take him to their governor and claim that he praised Abu Turab and then beat him up, jail him and finally kill him.