Treatment of Amir al-Muminin Ali (A.S.) towards a Black

By:
Hojjat al-Islam Hashmi Rafsanjani
Former President of Islamic Republic of Iran
Friday Prayer Sermon 5: (July 6, 1984)
There is an incident of behaviour of Amirul-Mu'minin (Commander of the believers), Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib (A) towards a black. I will cite it as an example, so that you would see what the criterion of Islam is.
As you know well, the Holy Prophet (S), that is, the Holy religion of Islam, regards taqwa of a man as the worth of man, because taqwa is the criterion both for the individuals and the government. That is to say, if the rulers of a society are devoid of taqwa, they cannot observe taqwa worldwide and cannon realize its real value. Taqwa is a criterion for an individual as well as for a society and wherever it exists in a defective form, it shatters the society. In the book entitled: "Bihar ul-Anwar"; it is stated that Imam `All ibn Abi Talib (A) was in the mosque when a black man came to him crying. He sat near the place of trial and close to the Imam (A) and said: "Purify me." The Imam stated: "What has happened that I should purify you?" He said: "I have made a mistake and committed a theft, so execute the Divine penance on me, so that I would not be subjected to torment on the Day of Judgment." (I remember that when in a European country, perhaps France - a few persons had presented themselves before a court as being guilty of charges, a big hue and cry was raised in international press and even in the Iranian newspapers highlighting that the people of France have developed to such an extent that even an offender presents himself to the court. Of course, this is a good point, but the Europeans tell lies. Their own hands are polluted with crimes and they have never confessed their own crimes. They always have a claim on the other party. They engage in committing theft but claim to have a civilization. They well inject this propaganda into the people. In the former regime, those inspired by the West had access to the newspaper, books, and other mass media and they always injected these things into the people, so as to make them humble before Western civilization. But in Islam, we have examples which are much better than this incident in Europe. 1,400 years ago, we had such scenes while now we see that when a Negro is admitted to study at the University of Alabama in America, he is greeted with rotten eggs and tomatoes and is finally expelled from the university).
Imam `Ali (A) asked that black man: "What have you done?" He said: "I have committed a theft." (The hand of a thief should be cut off, but Islam does not like the quick implementation of the Islamic penance. In this regard, we have a sentence which has been accepted as a principle of Islamic jurisprudence in the section of Islamic penance. And all Islamic jurisprudents issue decrees on this basis. The sentence is that: If there is doubt about man's sin, the judge should give the benefit of doubt and use it and should not subject the guilty person to penance). Imam `Ali (A) wanted to somehow weaken the confession of this man, so that he would not be subjected to penance. In our judgments too, this principle must be observed and those judges who are familiar with religious decrees - and many of them are familiar with them - should not have the policy to seek records and find witnesses, so that (Allah (SWT) forbid) they would label someone as a thief or adulterer and subject him to penance. They must take into account the slightest doubt and give up subjecting him to penance.
Imam `Ali (A) stated: "Perhaps you are mistaken and were extremely hungry and it is out of compulsion that you committed the theft." He said: "No sir, it was not out of compulsion. I could have worked and avoided the theft." The Imam said: "Perhaps you stole from an unguarded place"; because the hand of every thief is not cut off unless he has stolen something from a guarded place which makes it necessary that his hand should be cutoff. He said: "No, I stole from a guarded place." Imam `Ali (A) mentioned all possible doubts, but the black man said: "No, I am a thief. Cut off my hand. I insist, so that my torment would not be left for the Hereafter."
The Imam cut off the man's hand in accordance with the Divine decree. This man then picked up his chopped hand and left the mosque. One of the opponents of Amirul-Mu'minin (A), who was a wicked hypocrite and who wanted to use every incident against Imam `Ali (A), saw the episode and thought he could well launch a propaganda against the Imam (A). He followed the black man and said: "Who has cut off your hand in this way?" The black man said: "Follow me, so that I would tell you." The black man took the man along into the crowd. The enemy of the Imam (A) asked the black man once again: "Who has cut off your hand?" The black man started praising Imam `Ali (A) and said:
"I willingly went to the seat of justice and the penance has been executed on me with my own will. And I thank Imam Amirul Mu'minin (A) who executed the Divine penance on me."
In the mosque, Imam `Ali (A) was informed that the black slave was praising him in the crowd. At this time, the Imam (A) uttered a sentence in the presence of Al-Imam Al-Hasan (A): "My son, go and bring your uncle - meaning that black man." The head of the great Islamic government, in a public gathering, introduced a penance black offender who was a real repentant as his brother. Al-Imam Al-Hasan (A) brought the black man. Then Imam `Ali (A) said: "I have cut off your hand and you praise me?" He said: "Sir, you performed your duty and did the best service for me. How could I have answered for this crime of mine during the reckoning process of the Day of Judgment?"
The narration goes on as saying that the Imam (A) pitied the man, placed the fingers of the man back in their place, performed a dua (prayer) and the hand returned to its normal condition (of course, this is not surprising, because the dua of our infallible Imams (A) was granted by Allah (SWT) and they easily did such things but this was not the case in their normal life). This beautiful event which imparts Islamic training, high degree of understanding of a black, and the treatment of the Islamic government towards a black. The ruffian Westerners who now advocate human rights cannot tolerate it. At this juncture of my discussion, I conclude that the worst oppression has, in the last 500 years, befallen the black African race at the hands of the white European race. Right now also, it is continuing in newer forms. What was formerly called slavery is still continuing under the name of "protectorate" with the same acts of robbery and usurpation.
These Europeans do not have the right to claim protection of human rights. Those who say they advocate human rights are indeed lying. When they will accept equal treatment of the black and white races, then we will agree with their saying that they advocate human rights.