wikishia:Featured Article/2018/08
One day a beggar entered al-Masjid al-Nabawi and asked for help; but, no one gave him anything. He raised his hands toward the sky and said, "O God! Witness that I asked for help in the mosque of Your Prophet and no one gave me anything." When he said this, Ali (a) was performing ruku' of his prayer and brought forward his finger which had a ring on. The beggar went near and took the ring off Imam's (a) finger. This event is reported to have happened in the 24 Dhu l-Hijja of 9/630-31 or 10/631-32.
The event has been narrated in Shi'a and Sunni books of hadiths and according to exegetes, al-Wilaya verse was revealed about it. Ring-giving is mentioned among the merits of Imam Ali (a).
Exegetes have considered the event of Imam Ali's (a) ring-giving as the context of the revelation of al-Wilaya verse.
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إِنَّما وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسولُهُ وَالَّذينَ آمَنُوا الَّذينَ يُقيمونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤتونَ الزَّكاةَ وَهُم راكِعونَ
Your guardian is only Allah, His Apostle, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down. |
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| — Quran 5:55 | ||
Many Companions of the Prophet (s) such as Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ammar, Abu Dhar, Anas b. Malik, Abu Rafi', and Miqdad have maintained that al-Wilaya verse had been revealed about Imam 'Ali (a) subsequent to giving away his ring. Imam 'Ali's ring-giving has been brought up in exegeses of the Qur'an and hadith books of both Shiite and Sunni scholars.
It is transmitted from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that the ring weighed four mithqals (seventeen grams) and its stone was a red ruby weighing five mithqals (twenty-one grams). Its price was equal to the tax of Syria (300 camel-bearing parcels of silver and 4 camel-bearing parcels of gold). It belonged to a polytheist who was killed by Imam Ali (a) in a battle. Ali (a) took the ring as a war booty to the Prophet (s) and the Prophet (s) gave it to him as a gift.
Some have raised the question that hearing others during prayer is incompatible with descriptions of the mystical states of Imam Ali (a) during prayer. The question is answered that both Imam Ali's (a) prayer and his giving were for God; thus, there is no contradiction between the two; the same way that the Prophet (s) heard the voice of a crying child and finished the prayer faster than usual. Read More...