No Companion's life has been more contested, more mythologized, or more used for other people's arguments than 'Ali ibn Abi Talib's رضي الله عنه. That is precisely why a work of this scale exists.
The Scope
The set runs chronologically across 1,322 hardback pages: his noble birth and early acceptance of Islam as a boy, his life in Makkah, the Hijrah, his role alongside the Prophet ﷺ in the campaigns and in teaching, and then the trials, the governance and the martyrdom of his caliphate.
Dr. As-Sallabi examines his spiritual qualities, his jurisprudential insight and his manner of leadership, and then places each in the political and social context of the Rashidun era — which is the step that turns a devotional account into a historical one.
The Difficult Chapters
The internal conflicts of his caliphate are covered in detail, most notably the Battle of the Camel and the Battle of Siffin. These are the events that generate the most heat and the least careful reading, and they are handled with authenticated reports rather than the polemical accounts that circulate on all sides.
The author also responds directly to later distortions — the material attributed to this period that was written centuries afterwards for purposes of its own.
Its Outlook
Written with a careful Ahlus Sunnah approach: relying on authenticated reports, highlighting the virtues of the Prophet's ﷺ household as the texts establish them, and correcting what was added later. The result is both devotional and scholarly, which is a difficult combination on this subject and the reason to prefer this treatment.
Related Reading
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