جعفر طیار

It was Friday 13th of Rajab, thirty years after the Year of the Elephant when Bibi Fatima binte Asad (a.s) gave birth to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s), inside the Holy Kaaba. She remained in the house of Allah for three days.

Then After three days on Rajab 16, the Holy Kaaba split again from the place where Bibi Fatima Binte Asad (a.s) had entered and she stepped out with Imam Ali (a.s) in her hands. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was waiting outside as he had been away on a trip when all this happened.

She told the Prophet (p.b.u.h) that the boy had not taken any milk. The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) gave him the first feed from his mouth and afterward asked his uncle Hazrat AbuTalib (a.s) if he wished to adopt the baby. She also told that while she was inside she kept hearing a voice say,-

“Name this child Ali. The name Ali is an optimistic and cheerful name. It signifies nobility, eminence, and elevation. No one before Ali (a.s) had ever had that name, and no one before him or after him ever had the honor of being born inside the sacred walls of the Holy Kaaba.”

So, the first face that little Imam Ali (a.s) saw in this world was the smiling face of the Apostle of Allah, Muhammad (p.b.u.h). When Imam Ali (a.s) saw the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) he smiled and said: “Assalamo alaika ya RasoolAllah”
(Peace be upon thee O Prophet of Allah).

Thus, it is an undisputed fact that Imam Ali (a.s) was born a Muslim and his first words testified to the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). Imam Ali’s (a.s) first bath after his birth was given by Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h), with a prediction that this child would give him his last bath.

Then Holy Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) recited the Adhan and Iqamah in the ears of the baby. Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb (a.s) accepted no other food than the moisture of the Holy Prophet’s (p.b.u.h) tongue, which he sucked for several days after his birth.

Holy Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) fondled him in his lap in his infancy, chewed his food, and fed Imam Ali (a.s) on it. Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) often made Imam Ali (a.s) sleep by his side, and he also enjoyed the warmth of the Holy Prophet’s (p.b.u.h) body and inhaled the holy fragrance of his breath.

When the lovers of Imam Ali (a.s) go for Hajj, they always remember his birth in the Holy Kaaba and whilst making the Tawaf they feel proud and happy that Imam Ali’s (a.s) name is linked with the House of Allah, and at every circuit, they look towards the wall which had split in two.