To My Brother

Exploring the universal principles embodied in the teachings of Imam Ali and their significance for contemporary individuals and communities.

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Applying Imam Ali’s wisdom to everyday life

 

Imam Ali (‘a), the most thoughtful mind of humanity as a whole, comprehended masterfully all fields of life, touched on the impressions of human beings all over the stages of their lives, and knew their tendencies and inclinations. Referring to this fact, he (‘a) says,

Even though I have not reached the age which those before me had; yet I looked into their behavior and thought over events of their lives. I walked among their ruins until I was as one of them. In fact, by virtue of those of their affairs that have become known to me, it is as though I have lived with them from the first to the last. I have therefore been able to discern the impure from the clean and the benefit from the harm.

In accordance with his understanding of what makes man happy and what makes him wretched, Imam Ali (‘a), through his instructions that he made to his sons and prominent companions, established his own educational courses that are characterized by targeting at the issues and traits of souls so as to divest them of any wicked feature and to found them on sound bases of non- stop alert and perfect perception, which deter souls from any behavioral deviation.

These courses too, comprise all aspects of life, including the reciprocal behavior and the strong bonds that are required to exist among all human beings. The Imam (‘a) thus declares that man must love for his mates whatever he loves for himself and hate for them whatever he hates for himself. He (‘a) also declares that human beings are always the brothers of each other, even if their religions, faiths, ethnic groups, and colors vary.