Last Will - Hazarat Ali (AS)

Last Will - Hazarat Ali (AS)

After returning from the Battle of Siffin, Imam ‘Ali (a) gave certain pieces of advice to one of his sons. Some historians consider him to be Imam Hasan (a) while others are of the opinion that he was Muhammad al-Hanafiyya.

He wrote the letter in the form of a will. They deal with almost every aspect of life which goes a long way to make a man successful in life - brave, humane, generous, virtuous and pious.

These exhortations are from a father who realizes the morality of life, who is getting old, who has patiently borne reverses and calamities, who hates inordinate desires and has overcome them, and who is shortly going to pass out of this world, to his son who is young, who has the desire of leading the world to sober ways of thinking and better ways of life, a desire which is rather difficult to be achieved.

A son, who is mortal and is bound by nature to follow the steps of all mortals, is subject to ailments, is surrounded by misfortunes and calamities, has to face oppressions and tyrannies, has often to confront with and sometimes to tolerate hypocrisy, deceit, guile, duplicity and treason and who is to end his life in death, is to bear sufferings, is the heir to a person who is dead and gone and who finally ended his life as a martyr to the animosity of his enemies. (What a prophecy!)

This letter was written nearly 1400 year ago and is applicable and appropriate even nowadays.

أُوصِيكُمَا وَجَمِيعَ وُلْدِي وَأَهْلِي وَمَنْ بَلَغَهُ كِتَابِي بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ، وَنَظْمِ أَمْرِكُمْ، وَصَلَاحِ ذَاتِ بَيْنِكُمْ، فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ جَدَّكُمَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: 

«صَلَاحُ ذَاتِ الْبَيْنِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ عَامَّةِ الصَّلَاةِ وَالصِّيَامِ».

اللَّهَ اللَّهَ فِي الْأَيْتَامِ فَلَا تُغِبُّوا أَفْوَاهَهُمْ وَلَا يَضِيعُوا بِحَضْرَتِكُمْ...

... وَعَلَيْكُمْ بِالتَّوَاصُلِ وَالتَّبَاذُلِ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالتَّدَابُرَ وَالتَّقَاطُعَ.

وَلَا تَتْرُكُوا الْأَمْرَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ فَيُوَلَّى عَلَيْكُمْ شِرَارُكُمْ ثُمَّ تَدْعُونَ فَلَا يُسْتَجَابُ لَكُمْ. 2    

میں تمہیں، اور میرے تمام فرزندوں، اہل و عیال کو، اور ہر اس شخص کو جسے میری یہ وصیت پہنچے، اللہ کا تقویٰ اختیار کرنے، اپنے معاملات کو منظم رکھنے اور اپنے باہمی تعلقات میں صلح و صفائی رکھنے (اپنے اختلافات دور کرنے اور تعلقات مضبوط بنانے) کی وصیت کرتا ہوں، کیونکہ میں نے تمہارے نانا رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم کو فرماتے سنا:

"تمہارے آپس میں صلح صفائی رکھنا عام نماز اور روزوں سے افضل ہے۔"

اور خبردار رہنا آپس میں روگردانی کرنے اور قطع تعلقی کرنے سے۔ اور نیکی کا حکم دینے اور برائی سے روکنے کو ترک نہ کرنا۔ ورنہ تم پر تمہارے بدترین لوگ مسلط ہو جائیں گے، پھر تم دعا کرو گے تو وہ قبول نہیں ہوگی۔

کلمات حضرت علی مرتضیٰ رضی اللہ عنہ

[وصیت ]

"I advise you, and all my children, my relatives, and whosoever receives this message, to be conscious of Allah, to remove your differences, and to strengthen your ties. I heard your grandfather, peace be upon him, say:

"Reconciliation of your differences is more worthy than all prayers and all fasting."
Maintain communication and exchange of opinion among yourselves. Beware of disunity and enmity. Do not desist from promoting good deeds and cautioning against bad ones. Should you do that, the worst among you would be your leaders, and you will call upon Allah without response."

Words of Hazrat Ali Murtaza (R.Z.A)
[In his last will]