Finding Ali Beyond Claims

Why competing claims, ritual praise, and historical disputes have obscured Imam Ali's ethical and political vision.

- Dabirah Hassan

I have grown up observing deeply contradictory portrayals of Imam Ali among two broad groups.

One group claims to love and revere Ali in a particular manner, while the other appears to distance itself from such expressions.

But both insist that they accept Imam Ali. Amid these conflicting claims, the authentic identity of Imam Ali (AS) has gradually been obscured.

The true stature of Imam Ali has not been preserved with balance. At times, he has been elevated beyond the limits of human reality. At other times, he has been reduced below the rank he rightfully deserves.

This imbalance has prevented us from understanding Imam Ali in accordance with the truth of who he was and what he represented.

Imam Ali himself warns against this distortion in Nahjul Balagha, where he states: "Two groups will be destroyed because of me: a friend who exaggerates in love and an enemy who falls short in justice."

Despite this clear warning, Imam Ali has often been reduced to the subject of sectarian rivalry, treated as though he were merely an inheritance to be claimed in a dispute between two brothers.

Such an approach strips him of his universal moral and intellectual significance. Imam Ali stands far above narrow claims of ownership, lineage, or factional loyalty.

More troubling is the way Imam Ali is frequently presented through inherited interpretations and repetitive narratives.