Hazrat Ali AS in View of Non-
Muslims religious sayings; and every antagonist
Compiled by: Syed Ghulam Murtuza
Rizvi
Advocate,
(Retired Additional Chief Legal Adviser,
ONGC).
The personality, teachings, eloquence, valor
of Hazrat Ali AS is such that all the scholars
of Arabic Language, history of Islam and
History of Arab felt themselves duty bound
to write about the services and sacrifices of
Hazrat Ali AS. His teachings were relevant
and valuable in the past, are valuable in the
present, and shall remain relevant to the
coming generations.
Some of the views expressed by the Non-
Muslim Scholars of History of Islam,
History of Arab, and Arabic Literature, are
being narrated below so that we may know
about the teachings of Hazrat Ali AS.
1- Edward Gibbon ( 8 May 1737– 16
January 1794) was an English
historian and Member of Parliament.
His most important work, The
History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire, was published in six
volumes between 1776 and 1788.
The book “The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire” is known for the
quality and irony (humor, or light
sarcasm) of its prose, its use of
primary sources, and its open
criticism of organized religion. He
says about Hazrat Ali AS, as under:
“ The zeal and virtue of Ali were never
outstripped (Aage nikal jana) by any
recent proselyte (Nav Motaqid). He
united the qualifications of a poet, a
soldier, and a saint; his wisdom still
1
breathes in a collection of moral and
(Harif), in the combats of the tongue or
of the sword, was subdued by his
eloquence and valour (Shujaat). From
the first hour of his mission to the last
rites of his funeral, the apostle was
never forsaken (Chhodna) by a
generous friend, whom he delighted to
name his brother, his vicegerent, and
the faithful Aaron of a second Moses. ”
1- Sir William Muir, KCSI (27
April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a
Scottish Orientalist, scholar of
Islam, and colonial administrator.
In 1837 he entered into the Bengal
civil service. Muir served as
secretary to the governor of the
North-West Provinces, and as a
member of the Agra Revenue
Board, and during the Mutiny he
was in charge of the intelligence
department there. In 1865 he was
made foreign secretary to the
Indian Government. In 1867 Muir
was knighted (K.C.S.I.), and in
1868 he became lieutenant-
governor of the North Western
Provinces.
During the Orissa famine in 1868
Muir issued an order stating that
(for which he was criticized by
Britishers):
“... every District officer would be
held personally responsible that no deaths
occurred from starvation which could
have been avoided by any exertion or
arrangement on his part or that of his
subordinates”
He says about Hazrat Ali AS as under:
“Endowed with a clear intellect,
warm in affection, and confiding
(Confidence) in friendship, he
was from the boyhood devoted
heart and soul to the Prophet.
Simple, quiet, and unambitious,
when in after days he obtained
the rule of half of the Moslem
world, it was rather thrust upon
him than sought. ”
3-Dr. Henry Stubbe (1632–1676) was an
English physician, writer and scholar.
Stubbe was considered to be the most
noted Latin and Greek scholar of his age,
as well as a great mathematician and
historian. He rejected the theory of Trinity
in Christianity. He praised the Prophet as
an able legislator, admired Muslim
toleration of minorities and defended the
Quranic Law on usury and wine.
He said about Hazrat Ali:
“ He had a contempt of the world, its
glory and pomp, he feared God
much, gave many alms, was just in
all his actions, humble and affable;
of an exceeding quick wit and of
an ingenuity that was not common,
he was exceedingly learned, not in
those sciences that terminate in
speculations but those which
extend to practice.”
4-Philip Khuri Hitti (1886-1978).
He was a Lebanese American
scholar and authority on Arab and
Middle Eastern history, Islam, and
Semitic languages. He almost single-
handedly created the discipline of
2
Arabic Studies in the United States.
Professor of Semitic Languages at
Princeton University. In 1944 before
a U. S. House committee, Hitti gave
testimony in support of the view that
there was no historical justification
for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
He has written many books on Arab
history and Islam.
He says about Hazrat Ali AS
“Valiant in battle, wise in counsel,
eloquent in speech, true to his
friends, magnanimous (Broad
Hearted) to his foes, he became
both the paragon ( IDEAL) of
Muslim nobility and chivalry
(Broad Hearted) (futuwah) and the
Solomon of Arabic tradition,
around whose name poems,
proverbs, sermonettes and
anecdotes innumerable have
clustered.”•[History of the Arabs,
London, 1964, p. 183]
5-Gerald de Gaury (1897 - 1984) A
distinguished soldier and diplomat.
He was a British military officer,
Arabist, explorer, historian and
diplomat. He was the British political
agent in Kuwait in the 1930s. He
wrote several books on Islam and
Arab life. He has said about Hazrat
Ali AS:
“He had been wise in counsel and
brave in battle, true to his friends
and magnanimous to his foes. He
was to be forever the paragon of
Muslim nobility and chivalry.”
[Rulers of Mecca, London, 1951, p.
49]
6-Wilferd Madelung (born 26
December 1930) is a scholar of
Islam. He was born in Germany, His
family moved to the United States in
1947. He studied at Georgetown
University. In 1952, he went to
Egypt and stayed there for a year.
During his stay, the Egyptian
Revolution of 1952, initiated by the
Free Officers, occurred. On leaving
Egypt he went back to Germany. In
1958 he was sent to Iraq by the
German government to work at its
embassy there. Shortly after his
arrival in Baghdad, Brigadier Abd al-
Karim Qasim overthrew the regime
in the bloody military coup known as
the 14 July Revolution. Madelung
stayed in Iraq two more years.
Madelung was Laudian Professor of
Arabic at the University of Oxford
from 1978 to 1998. He has written
extensively on the early history of
Islam, as well as on Islamic sects
such as the Shi'a and the Ismailis. He
has served on the editorial boards of
several academic journals including
the Journal of Arabic and Islamic
Studies. He is currently a senior
research fellow at the Institute for
Ismaili Studies in London.
He has said about Hazrat Ali AS as
under:
"In face of the fake Umayyad
claim to legitimate sovereignty in
Islam as God's Vicegerents on
earth, and in view of Umayyad
treachery, arbitrary and divisive
government, and vindictive
retribution, they came to appreciate
his honesty, his unbending devotion
3
to the reign of Islam, his deep
personal loyalties, his equal
treatment of all his supporters, and
his generosity in forgiving his
defeated enemies." [The succession
to Muhammad: a study of the
early caliphate, Cambridge, 1997,
pp. 309-310]
7-Charles Mills (1788 - 1826)
Leading historical writer of his time,
has stated about Hazrat Ali AS as
under:
“As the chief of the family of
Hashem and as the cousin and son-
in-law of him whom the Arabians
respected …, it is apparently
wonderful that Ali was not raised to
the Caliphate immediately on the
death of Mohammad. To the
advantages of his birth and
marriage was added the friendship
of the Prophet. The son of Abu
Talib was one of the first converts to
Islamism and Mohammad’s favorite
appellation of his was the Aaron of
a second Moses. His talents as an
orator, and his intrepidity as a
warrior, were grateful to a nation in
whose judgment courage was virtue
and eloquence was wisdom.” [An
history of Muhammedanism,
London, 1818, p. 89]
8-Simon Ockley (1678-1720)
Professor of Arabic at the University
of Cambridge and was a British
Orientalist and has said:
.
“One thing particularly deserving to
be noticed is that his mother was
delivered of him at Mecca, in the
very temple itself; which never
happened to anyone else.” [History
of the Saracens, London, 1894, p.
331]
9-Washington Irving (1783-1859).
He was an American author,
essayist, biographer, historian, and
diplomat of the early 19th century.
Washington Irving was born on
April 3, 1783. Well-known as the
“first American man of letters and
the first to earn his living solely by
his pen”. He said about Hazrat Ali
AS:
"He was of the noblest branch of
the noble race of Koreish. He
possessed the three qualities most
prized by Arabs: courage,
eloquence, and munificence (Fazl).
His intrepid spirit had gained him
from the prophet the appellation of
The Lion of God, specimens of his
eloquence remain in some verses
and sayings preserved among the
Arabs; and his munificence was
manifested in sharing among
others, every Friday, what remained
in the treasury. Of his magnanimity,
we have given repeated instances;
his noble scorn of everything false
and mean, and the absence in his
conduct of everything like selfish
intrigue." [Lives of the Successors
of Mahomet, London, 1850, p. 165]
"He was one of the last and
worthiest of the primitive Moslems,
who imbibed his religious
enthusiasm from companionship
with the Prophet himself, and
4
followed to the last the simplicity of
his example. He is honourably
spoken of as the first Caliph who
accorded some protection to Belles-
Lettres. He indulged in the poetic
vein himself, and many of his
maxims and proverbs are preserved,
and have been translated in various
languages. His signet bore this
inscription: 'The kingdom belongs
to God'. One of his sayings shows
the little value he set upon the
transitory glories of this world, 'Life
is but the shadow of a cloud - the
dream of a sleeper'." [Lives of the
Successors of Mahomet, London,
1850, pp. 187-8]
10-Robert Durey Osborn (1835-
1889) Major of the Bengal Staff
Corps. Osborn was born at Agra,
India, on 6 Aug. 1835. His father,
Henry Roche Osborn, entered the
British East India Company's service
in May 1819, and served most of his
time in the 54th Native Infantry, he
died at Ferozepore in 1849. He says
about Hazrat Ali AS:
“With him perished the truest
hearted and best Moslem of whom
Mohammadan history had
preserved the remembrance.”
[Islam Under the Arabs, 1876, p.
120]
11 -George Jordach, (b.1926-
d.2014) was a Lebanese Christian
author and poet, who wrote the well-
known book, Imam 'Ali (a), the
voice of human justice. George
Jordac was born in 1926 from an
Orthodox Christian family in Al-
Jadida town in south of Lebanon. He
finished his primary educations in a
school in this area. He learned about
Nahj al-balagha by his brother Fuad
Jordac (an engineer, philologist, and
poet). When he was 13 years old,
George had memorized much of
Nahj al-balagha and the other two
books. He died on November 5,
2014.
The famous Christian writer from
Egypt in his book Ali (A.S.)
speaker of Human Rights asks the
following questions to the readers
about Hazrat Ali AS:-
a- Do you know any religious
head who gave orders to his
officers in these words,
"People are your brothers
either because of your
religion (followers of Islam)
or are equal to you as they
too are the inhabitants of
this earth like you.
Therefore forgive them and
overlook (their mistakes) as
you expect the same
attitude from your Lord."
b- Have you come across such
a brave fighter in the
history, who loves his own
enemies and wishes to see in
them good human qualities
and who treats them with
kindness. He instructed his
own people not to start the
war till they are attacked
first, and when the enemies
lose the battle by the will of
Allah and are on the run he
orders them not to kill the
fleeing soldiers nor even
5
chase them or attack the
injured soldiers or harass
the women.
c- When his eleven thousand
blood-thirsty enemies
prevented him from
drawing drinking water
from the river so that he
and his soldiers may die of
thirst, and when he
conquers the river after a
bloody fight he invites them
(his enemies) to draw water
just as he and his people
were drawing. He even
allows them to carry with
them as much water as they
like and then says, “A
person who dies fighting for
the cause of Allah will not
be rewarded as much as the
man who forgives his
enemies, and does not take
revenge."
d- Are you aware of any such
intellectual who one
thousand four hundred
years ago fixed such norms
that shattered thousands of
superstitions and who said,
"If a person is hungry then
surely his share has been
grabbed by another
person." Then he says,
"Wherever I have seen
abundant wealth I have
noticed along with it
somebody’s rights
usurped."

UN Charter of Human Rights of
1948 gives the following rights to
all human beings:
1. We Are All Born Free & Equal,
and should be treated equally.
2. Don’t Discriminate.
3. The Right to Life.
4. No Slavery.
5. No Torture.
6. You Have Rights No Matter
Where You Go.
7. We’re All Equal Before the
Law.
8. Your Human Rights
Protected by Law.
9. No Unfair Detainment.
10. The Right to Trial.
11. We’re Always Innocent Till
Proven Guilty.
12. The Right to Privacy.
13. Freedom to Move in our own
country
14. The Right to Seek a Safe Place
to Live. If we are frightened of
being badly treated in our own
country, we all have the right to
run away to another country to be
safe.
15. Right to a Nationality. We all
have the right to belong to a
country.
George Jordac, In his book “The
Voice of Human Justice (Sautu'l
'Adalati'l Insaniyah)” (Translated by
M Fazel Haq Published by
Ansariyan Publications – Qom) has
compared the UN Charter of Human
Rights and the rules laid down by
Hazrat Ali on human rights, and has
found the following four differences
which are very material and
important to understand the great
personality of Hazarat Ali AS. He
has said as under:
“We may say briefly that from the
point of view of their purport there
Are
is no difference between the rules
laid down by Ali regarding human
rights and the charter of the
United Nations. If any minor
difference is observed, apparently
it is due to changes which have
taken place in the terminology
during the course of time, and is
not basic or in principle.
There is no chapter in the charter
of the U.N. which is not running
parallel to the rules laid down by
Ali. In fact better and more useful
things are found in the instructions
given by him.
In my opinion the difference
between the two sets of rules is due
to the following four reasons:
6
Firstly the charter of the United
Nations was drafted by thousands
of intellectuals belonging to almost
all the countries of the world
whereas the Alavi rules were
enunciated by only one person viz.
Ali son of Abu Talib.
Secondly Ali arrived in this world
fourteen hundred years ago.
Thirdly those who drafted the U.N.
charter or in fact collected the
requisite material for it indulged
in too much extravagant talk and
self-praise and boasted that world
was indebted to them on this
account. On the contrary Ali
showed humility before God and
was modest before the people. He
did not seek greatness or
superiority. He always prayed to
God and also wished the people
that his acts of commissions and
omissions might be overlooked.
The fourth reason for the
difference which is more
important than the three
enumerated above is that many
nations, out of those which
participated in the U.N.
Declaration of Human Rights and
endorsed it, violated this
declaration and started armed
conflicts to nullify and destroy it,
but wherever Ali placed his foot,
and whenever he said anything, or
unsheathed his sword, he did so to
destroy tyranny and oppression
and leveled the ground to march
forward on the path of truth and
justice. So much so that he met his
martyrdom in defense of human
rights although during his lifetime
7
he had already been martyred
thousands of times.”
12-United Nations on Imam Ali
Ibn Abi Talib
The UNDP in its 2002 Arab Human
Development Report, distributed
around the world, listed six sayings
of Imam Ali (AS) about ideal rules
of governance. The Committee of
Human Rights in New York under
the chairmanship of the Secretary
General Kofi Annan issued in 2002
A.D., this historic resolution:
"The Caliph Ali Bin Abi Talib is
considered the fairest governor
who appeared during human
history (After the Prophet
Mohammad)".
UN Declaration document is
consisting of 160 pages in English.
World Organization for Human
Rights has called the rulers of the
world to follow the example of
Hazrat Ali AS. These rules are sound
and humanitarian method in ruling
and reveal the spirit of social justice
and peace. It includes consultation
between the ruler and the ruled,
speaking out against corruption and
other wrong doings, ensuring justice
to all, and achieving domestic
development.
The UNDP quoted the following
sayings of Imam Ali (AS) in its 2002
Arab Human Development Report
about knowledge and work of Imam
Ali bin abi Taleb: (556-619 A.D.) in
Box 5.6 and Box 7.3 of its report.
(Source: Ali bin abi Taleb, Nahj Al-
Balagha, Interpreted by Imam
Muhammad Abdu, Vol. 1, Dar-Al-
Balagha, Beirut, 2nd edition, 19)
 No vessel is limitless, except
for the vessel of knowledge,
which forever expands.
 If God were to humiliate a
human being, He would
deny him knowledge.
 No wealth equals the mind,
no poverty equals
ignorance, no heritage
equals culture, and no sup-
port is greater than advice.
 Wisdom is the believer’s
quest, to be sought
everywhere, even among
the deceitful.
 A person is worth what he
excels at.
 No wealth can profit you
more than the mind, no
isolation can be more
desolate than conceit, no
policy can be wiser than
prudence, no generosity can
be better than decency, no
heritage can be more
bountiful than culture, no
guidance can be truer than
inspiration, no enterprise
can be more successful than
goodness, and no honour
can surpass knowledge.
 Knowledge is superior to
wealth. Knowledge guards
you, whereas you guard
wealth. Wealth de-creases
with expenditure, whereas
knowledge mul-tiplies with
dissemination. A good
material deed vanishes as
8
the material resources
behind it vanish, whereas to
knowledge we are indebted
forever. Thanks to
knowledge, you command
people’s respect during
your lifetime and kind
memory after your death.
Knowledge rules over
wealth. Those who treasure
wealth perish while they are
still alive, whereas scholars
live forever; they only
disappear in physical
image, but in hearts, their
memories are enshrined.
 Knowledge is the twin of
action. He who is
knowledgeable must act.
Knowledge calls upon
action; if answered, it will
stay; otherwise, it will
depart.
The Box 7.3 of the UN Declaration
document deals with the rules of
Governance given by Imam Ali bin
abi Taleb:
1. "He who has appointed himself
an Imam (ruler) of the people must
begin by teaching himself before
teaching others. His teaching of
others must be first by setting an
example rather than with his
words, for he who begins by
teaching and educating himself is
more worthy of respect than he
who teaches and educates others."
2. "Your concern with developing
the land should be greater than
your concern for collecting taxes,
for the latter can only be obtained
by developing; whereas he who
seeks revenue without
development destroys the country
and the people."
3. "Seek the company of the
learned and the wise in search of
solving the problems of your
country and the righteousness of
your people."
4. "No good can come out in
keeping silent to the government
or in speaking out of ignorance."
5. "The righteous are men of
virtue, whose logic is
straightforward, whose dress is
unostentatious, whose path is
modest, whose actions are many
and who are undeterred by
difficulties."
these are but few."
The above views expressed by the
few of Non-Muslim scholars are
very material to present era. It tells
about the real teachings of Islam by
one of the great teachers and
follower of Islam. The teachings of
Hazrat Ali AS are universal in
nature, and not limited to any
geographical area or only to
Muslims.
In the end I would like to mention
the Urdu couplet of Kunwar
Mahinder Singh Bedi:
“Hum Salamat Hain Zamane
Mein To Insha Allah,
Tujhko ek Qaum Ki Jageet Na
Honey Denge.”
************

6. "Choose the best among your

people to administer justice among
them. Choose someone who does
not easily give up, who is unruffled
by enmities, someone who will not
persist in wrong doings, who will
not hesitate to pursue right once he
knows it, someone whose heart
knows no greed, who will not be
satisfied with a minimum of
explanation without seeking the
maximum of understanding, who
will be the most steadfast when
doubt is cast, who will be the least
impatient in correcting the
opponent, the most patient in
pursuing the truth, the most stern
in meting out judgment, someone
who is unaffected by flattery and
not swayed by temptation and