The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) Praises the Great Virtues of Imam Ali (A.S.)

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) praises the great virtues of Imam Ali (A.S.) in many of his sayings. The most important of them are
1. “Ali would appear to the dwellers of paradise as a morning star.” (Sawai’q Muhari’qa)
2. Addressing his daughter, Fatima, the Holy Prophet said, “O thou daughter of mine! Of all the creatures in this world, God has selected two persons, one of them is your father and the other is your husband.” (lzalat-al-Khulafa)
3. “Whosoever wants to make his life and death like that of mine and is desirous of entering heaven, it behooves him to befriend Ali because he would neither let his friends be ejected from paradise nor allow them to enter there in ignorance.” (Tarikh-al-Khulafa)
4. Addressing his companion Omar, the Holy Prophet said, “O thou Omar! Should you behold that Ali is on one side and the rest of the world on the other, surely it will be incumbent on you that you should follow Ali because he would never lead any one to the path of destruction and will never relinquish the path of right.” (Jamia-ul-Saghir Sayuti)
5. The Holy Prophet in one of his Khutbas said, “God has so much exalted my brother Ali that his numerous virtues could not be counted easily: whosoever from amongst you narrated one of his excellences, God will forgive his past and future sins; and whosoever will record one of his excellences, the angels will bless him as long as his writing remains; whosoever will read about his virtues with eyes, the sins of the eye will be forgiven to him. Beware! That man is not steadfast in faith who does not love Ali and does not shun his enemies.
Ibn-e-Hajar Makki in Sawaiq-e-Muhariqa reports that Abubakr once said:
“It would be difficult indeed for any one to pass over the bridge of ‘Sirat’, on the Day of Judgment without getting a permit from Ali, because this is what I have heard from the Holy Prophet.”
Omar related that once the Holy Prophet said, “If the faith of the inhabitants of the seven worlds be put on one side of the scale, and that of Ali alone on the other side, verily Ali’s side will weigh heavier.”
Imam Shafai’s famous verse: “Ali will judge mankind and allot them either paradise or hell. He was the leader of men and Jinns, the true Testator of the Holy Prophet. If the followers of Ali are ‘Raffizhes’ (the heterogeneous sect of Shias) verily I am one of that sect. Ali at the time of the breaking of the symbols in the Kaaba put his feet on that shoulder where God had put His hand on the ‘Night of Meraj’ and verily Ali was that man into whose eyes shone the light of God.”
Once, Imam Ahmad asked his father, Imam Hanbal, who was superior, Muawiya or Ali, to which query Imam Hanbal replied, “Ali had numerous enemies and all of them tried to find fault with him but they searched in vain and could not find any flaw in him. At long last they joined hands with Muawiya and declared war on Ali. When they failed to defeat him by fair means they took to treacherous and deceitful courses to harm him.”
Ibn Athir says, “Ali was the first Caliph whose parents were pure Hashimites and who was so judicial minded that he could not put up with the dishonesty even if his friends or relatives were to indulge in it and was so much engrossed in piety that at the time of his marriage with Fatima, he did not possess anything save a camel skin, which he converted into a bed sheet at night. The Prophet in his sayings has not extolled any of his companions as much as he has Ali. Surely Ali never spoke a lie in his life time.”
Some one asked the Umayyad Caliph, Omar bin Abdul Aziz (717-20 A.D.) whom he considered the most pious man in the world, to which query he replied, “Ali excelled mankind in piety. Not only this, but he tried zealously to reform his friends, associates, acquaintances and all those who came in contact with him.”
Ibn Masud used to say that throughout Arabia there was no more impartial judge than Ali.
Abu Saeed Khudiri held that he could easily detect a hypocrite by his enmity towards Ali.
Abdullah Ibn Abbas used to say, “Should schism seep into Islam, it would be the bounden duty of the believers to attach themselves fast to Ali (i.e. his teachings) and the Quran for I have heard the Prophet say, ‘Ali was the first to believe in me, he will be the first to meet me in Paradise and will be the greatest discriminator of truth from falsehood, he is the leader of all the believers, he is the ‘Sadiq-i-Akbar’ (the great truthful one) and is that door (of faith) the entry through which will lead to Paradise.”

CLOSING OF THE DOORS OPENING INSIDE THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE
Later on, some companions of the Prophet also built their houses close to the Mosque with doors opening into the courtyards. Sometime afterwards, while they were leisurely sitting in the Mosque, a voice was heard:
“Ye people! Close your doors opening into the Mosque.” The people were struck with wonder to hear the voice, but they sat dumb without stirring to carry out the Command, till they heard again the injunction to close the doors on pain of Divine Wrath. Terrified at this warning, they all approached the Prophet, who was in his apartment. Ali also came out of his apartment, which was adjacent to the Prophet’s rooms since the day of Fatima’s marriage with him. He stood by the Prophet when he ordered that all the doors opening into the Mosque, excepting that of Ali and his own, should be closed. People began to murmur. The Prophet was angry at their attitude and addressed them thus: “Verily, God ordered His apostle Moses to build a holy Mosque, and he allowed Moses, Aaron and the two sons of Aaron, viz. Shabbar and Shabbir, to live therein. I was likewise ordered to construct a holy mosque wherein myself and my brother All and his two sons, Hasan and Husain are allowed to live. Verily, I do only what I am ordered to do. I never undertake to act on my own wish. Certainly I have not ordered of my own accord to close your doors or to let All’s door open. it is God who granted All an abode in the Holy Mosque.” Consequently, the companions, whose houses skirted the quadrangle of the Mosque, closed their doors.
It is recorded on the authority of Sa’d, that the Apostle of God said to Ali “It is not lawful for any to be in the Mosque while under the obligation of performing a thorough ablution except for me and for thee,” Major Jarret’s translation of Suyuti’s His. p. 175.
Omar b. Al-Khattab said “Verily, Ali has been endowed with three qualities, of which had I but one, it would be more precious to me than were I given high bred camels.” It was asked of him what they were? He replied “His marriage with Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet; his remaining in the Mosque while that is permitted to him which is not lawful for me; and carrying the Standard’ on the day of Khaibar.” Major Jarret’s translation of Suyuti’s His. p. 175. Tirmizi Mishkath 463, Nasai page 9, Riazunnazarah Vol. II page 192, Ibn-.e-Maghazili and Kanzul-Urnmal page 29.