Ali
4th Rashidun Caliph (r. 656–661) and first Shia Imam
Ali ibn Abi Talib (Arabic: عليّ بن أبي طالب, romanized: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; c. 600 – 661 CE) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the first Imam in Shia Islam, and the fourth Rashidun caliph, serving from 656 until his assassination in 661. He is a prominent member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa, and a participant in the Event of the mubahala. Born to Abu Talib and Fatima bint Asad, Ali was raised in the house of his cousin Muhammad and was among the first to accept Islam. Both Shia and Sunni sources report that Ali was born inside the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam. Numerous sayings of Muhammad highly praise Ali, including the Hadith of the Position, in which Muhammad compares the position of Ali to himself with the position of Aaron to Moses. Several verses of the Quran have also been interpreted as referring to Ali.
Ali played a pivotal role in the early years of Islam when Muslims were severely persecuted in Mecca. He slept in Muhammad's bed so that the assassins who had gathered outside Muhammad's house would believe that he was still there. This allowed Muhammad to begin his immigration to Medina. The event has been referred to in the Quran, which both Shia and Sunni sources interpret as referring to Ali's willingness to sacrifice himself for Muhammad.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q39619. VIAF identifies the subject as 34436377. The Library of Congress control number is n50039100. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ali” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.