Ali once lay in Muhammad's bed as a decoy for would-be assassins
When a plot against Muhammad was uncovered in 622, his young cousin Ali stayed behind and slept in his bed so the killers would think the prophet was still home. The escape to Medina that followed marks the start of the Islamic calendar. Ali later became the fourth caliph and, for Shia Muslims, the first Imam.
Ali ibn Abi Talib was born around 600 to Abu Talib, a leading figure of the Banu Hashim clan of Quraysh, and Fatima bint Asad. Both Sunni and Shia sources say he was born inside the Kaaba. Abu Talib had raised the orphaned Muhammad; when Abu Talib later fell into poverty, Muhammad and his wealthy wife Khadija took Ali into their home at about age five.
Around eleven, Ali was among the very first to embrace Islam, and the earliest sources place him ahead of Abu Bakr, though the order is debated. At a family feast roughly three years into Muhammad's mission, the fourteen-year-old was the only relative to pledge support. After the flight to Medina, Muhammad chose Ali as his brother in the pairing of believers and gave him his daughter Fatima in marriage. Ali fought in nearly all of Muhammad's battles and acted as his secretary and deputy.
He criticised the third caliph, Uthman, over accusations of nepotism, yet mediated repeatedly between him and his opponents. After Uthman was killed, Medina's people and the companions pledged allegiance to Ali in 656. Two revolts followed: one led by Talha, Zubayr and Aisha ended at the Battle of the Camel that year, and Mu'awiya's challenge stalled at Siffin in 657, where an arbitration split Ali's own forces. He was assassinated in 661.
Ali is honoured for courage, honesty, generosity and even-handed treatment of people, and is seen as the model of chivalry. Sunnis regard him as the last of the rightly guided caliphs; Shia Muslims see him as Muhammad's rightful successor. His shrine in Najaf, Iraq, is for Shia believers the holiest site after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, and the collection of his words, Nahj al-Balagha, ranks among the great works of Arabic literature.
Source: Ali
