Shias, The Holy Prophet and Mawla Ali

Shias have the highest respect for Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his family. Shias consider Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as a fountain head of knowledge, Sayyied ul-Ambiah (leader of all the prophets). A prophet is a prophet, even in his mothers womb. It is not correct to say that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) receive the office of prophet hood in the cave of Al-Hira, because He was a prophet from birth. Jesus was a prophet when he was  days old, he showed men the miracles of god when he was in the arms of his mother, thus it is unacceptable to think that the greatest prophet of all times had to wait for  forty years for his prophethood and to realize that he was a muslim. It would be more appropriate to say that he received his instructions to start his ministry in the cave. Shias say that Prophet Muhammad is far above all creations. He is pious of the pious, a Masoom (sinless). He wouldn't even resort to tark-ul-awla (i.e. miss a recommended act that pleases Allah (SWT) let alone the compulsory ones.) He is an infallible.

In the spiritual state , he (Prophet Muhammad (SAW)) witnessed the rebellion of Azaazil (Shaitan), the creation of Adam (A), the coming of the prophets and the rebellion of mankind all through the ages, until Allah (SWT) willed him to come as the final prophet and take the office of finalizing the religion. In his childhood he knew that he was the Prophet of Allah (SWT) but chose to remained quiet until instructed by Allah. Read face=Tahoma color=#0000ffMuhammad SAW of the Quran for a detailed account of the Prophet.

(Recollect O' Our Apostle Muhammad) When said thy Lord unto the angels: 'Verily I (intend to) appoint a vicegerent in the earth' they said, "Wilt Thou (O' our Lord!) appoint therein one who will cause mischief and shed blood, while we celebrate by Thy praise and hallow Thee alone?" Said (the Lord to the angels) "Verily, I know what ye know not."
Quran 2:30

And (Recollect O' Our Apostle Muhammad) When said Abraham: "My Lord! let me see how Thou enliveth the dead" He said, "What! Dost thou not (then) believe (in it)?" He said " Yea but (I ask Thee for) only that my heart resteth convinced". He said "Take thou four of the birds and make them to incline unto thee, and (cut them into parts) place thou on each mountain a part of them and thereafter call them and they will come unto thee rushing" and know (thou) that God is All-Mighty, All-Wise!"
Quran 2:260

In these and many other verses prophet Muhammad is asked to recollect the incident/memories of the events. One can only recollect the incidents if he is a witness to the events.

To understand this further, - look at the statement of Ali ibn Abi Talib (A). Ali said that he was not taught but rather fed the knowledge by Prophet Muhammad (SAW). This Ali ibn Abi Talib, who in his sermons explains the construct of earth saying that 'the continents are masses of land floating on the ocean and held in place by mountains acting as pegs.' This knowledge was passed to us by Ali ibn abi Talib who claims that he learned all he knew from prophet Muhammad (SAW). Also note that Ali ibn Abi talib explained this construct of the earth come 1400 years ago, while less then 200 years ago, in the west, they were disputed about the shape of the earth, and people were executed by the church in this regards. The knowledge about the continental plates, in the west is un-earthed less then 50 years ago.

This same Ali ibn Abi Talib, in his sermons in the last days of his life, announced to the people, "Ask me before I leave you, and I may tell you all. Ask me for I can tell you of the paths of the heavens more then the path of the earth."

When this is the knowledge imparted by the Ali ibn Abi Talib, the student of Prophet Muhammad - imagine what is the status of that great teacher?

Not only do Shias believe Prophet Muhammad to be perfect, but all the ancestors of prophet Muhammad including Abutalib the uncle of Prophet Muhammad were Muslims following the creed of Prophet Ibrahim (A). Abu Talib accepted Prophet Muhammad as a prophet of God. They never worshiped or even bowed down before any idols. In short all the ancestors of Prophet Muhammad up to Prophet Adam (A) were all Muslims.

Shias believe Ali to be the rightful khalif/Imam after Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Prophet Muhammad during his life time announced this in various ways. The two incidents Dawaat-az-zul-aseera, and Ghadeer al Qumm are the best examples of this. Besides these two Hadith, (Dawaat-az-zul-aseera, and Ghadeer al Qumm) there are many more.

Ali's creation was from Light and his association with the Holy Prophet. From the point of view of light, Amiru'l-Mu'minin occupied the foremost place, as many of your illustrious ulema point out.

Narrated from the Holy Prophet, "I and Ali Bin Abi Talib both were a single light in the presence of Allah 14,000 years before the creation of Adam. When Allah created Adam, he deposited that light in Adam's loins. We remained together as one light until we separated in Abu'l-Muttalib's loins. Then I was endowed with Prophethood and Ali with the caliphate."
(Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal in his Musnad, Mir Seyyed Ali Hamdani Faqih Shafi'i in his Mawaddatu'l-Qurba; Ibn Maghazili Shafi'i in his Manaqib and Muhammad Bin Talha Shafi'i in Matalibu's-Su'ul Fi Manaqib-e-alu'r-Rasul)

Ali's Physical Ancestry follows. So far as Ali's physical creation was concerned, he was evidently of the most exalted rank from both his maternal and paternal side. All of his forefathers back to Adam himself were worshipers of Allah. This light never settled in an impure loins or womb. None of the other companions can make such a claim. The lineage of Ali is as follows:

1. Ali Bin
2. Abu Talib Bin
3. Abdu'l-Muttalib
4. Hashim
5. Abd-e-Manaf
6. Qusai
7. Kilab
8. Murra
9. Ka'b
10. Luwai
11. Ghalib
12. Fehr
13. Malik
14. Nazr
15. Kinana
16. Khazima
17. Madreka
18. Ilyas
19. Muzar
20. Nizar
21. Ma'd
22. Adnan
23. Awwad
24. Al-Yasa'
25. Al-Hamis
26. Bunt
27. Sulayman
28. Haml
29. Qidar
30. Isma'il
31. Ibrahim Khalil-Ullah
32. Ta'rikh
33. Tahur
34. Sharu
35. Abraghu
36. Taligh
37. Abir
38. Shale'
39. Arfakhad
40. Sam
41. Noah
42. Lumuk
43. Mutu Shalkh
44. Akhnukh
45. Yarad
46. Mahla'il
47. Qinan
48. Anush
49. Seth
50. Adam Abu'l-Bashir

Except for the Holy Prophet, no one else had such a brilliant ancestry. Shias Consider Imam Ali to be the brother of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Nafs ur Rasool (Mubahila), Imam al Mutaqeen and the true heir of Prophet (SAW). Read other articles related to the events of Gadeer and Imamat.