Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.)'s only aim of life was to earn the eternal pleasure of Allah (SWT) in everything that he (A.S.) said and did in this life. In his praise, Holy Quran says: "And among men is he who sells his NAFS (self) in exchange for the pleasure of Allah..." (2:207) According to Ghazali and all the Shia commentators, this verse was revealed in praise of Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) on the night of Hijrah when he volunteered to sleep in the bed of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). And in order to achieve this aim, he (A.S.) adopted such strong principles which either strongly attracted people towards him or strongly repelled people against him, as narrated in the following story.

Love of a friend / companion towards Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.)

There was a friend / companion of Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.), a good and believing man, who unfortunately fell into error, and who had to be punished. Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) cut off the fingers of his right hand. The man took hold of his cut hand, with the blood dripping from it, with his left hand and went away. He was then instigated by a seditious Kharijite, who wanted to take advantage of the course of events for his own party and against Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.), so he came up to the companion of Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) with an utter of compassion and said:

Who cut your fingers off?

The Chief of the Prophet's successors, he said, the leader of the untainted ones at the Resurrection, the most righteous among the believers, Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Imam of Right Guidance, cut of the fingers of my right hand... the first to reach the Gardens of Felicity, the hero of the brave, the avenger against the promoters of ignorance, the giver of zakat (Charity)... the leader on the right and the perfect path, the speaker of what is true and appropriate, the Champion of Makkah, the steadfast exceller.

Poor you! Said the Kharijite, he cut of your fingers, and you extol him thus!

Why should I not extol him, replied the companion, now that his friendship is mixed with my flesh and blood? I swear by God that he did not cut off my fingers except with a right that God has established.

Such was the love, attraction and the affection of the companion for Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.).

Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) said: If I cut a faithful Muslim into pieces to make him hate me, he will not turn into my enemy and if I give all the wealth of this world to a hypocrite to make him my friend he will not befriend me. It is so because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) has said: "O Ali! No faithful Muslim will ever be your enemy and no hypocrite will ever be your friend."

How many of us in this life would resort to Justice even if it was against ourselves? Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) says, "One who exhibits fairness on his part, Allah (SWT) shall increase him in glory". (Jame al-Sadaat)

Terminologically, injustice is to put a thing in an inappropriate place. Polytheism, hence, is grave injustice, because it is replaced with monotheism.

When it came to justice, Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) never bothered about himself. Shu'bi narrates the following incident which occurred during the Khalifah of Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.).

He says, I once entered the vast open ground of Kufa. I witnessed that Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) was standing besides two containers which were filled with gold and silver coins. A huge crowd had gathered around him. Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) had a whip in his hand for preventing the people from hampering the distribution of money. Then Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) began distributing the money until nothing remained for himself and returned home empty-handed.

I returned home and said to my father: "I witnessed a very strange act today but I failed to comprehend if this person's action was good or bad because he never retained anything for himself". When asked about the person, I said, "Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.)" and told him everything that had transpired. Upon hearing Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.)'s fairness, my father began to cry and said, "My son! You have witnessed the most excellent person from amongst the people".

Aqueel arrived as a guest at the Government House in the days of the Caliphate of his brother, Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.). Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) made a sign to his elder son Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba (A.S.) to offer a garment to his uncle. Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba (A.S.) presented to him a robe and a cloak. The night came; the weather was warm. They were sitting on roof-top having amiable talks. It was time for dinner. Aqueel considered himself to be the guest of the Absolute ruler of the Muslim world and expected an extraordinarily colorful and rich dinner. But to his surprise it was the most ordinary and simple one. He said: "Is this all the food?"

Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.): "Isn't it a God's gift? I heartily thank Almighty God that he has bestowed me with this gift".

Aqueel: "Then I should better tell you my needs at once, and be on my way soon. I am in debt. Please order to pay off my debt as soon as possible; and also help your poor brother as much as you can, so that I return to my place relieved of my burdens."

"How much is your debt?"

"One hundred thousand Dirham."

"Oh! One hundred thousand Dirham! So large? I am sorry, brother. I don't have so much money to give you, but wait till the time comes for the disbursement of stipends. I shall withdraw my personal share and give from it to you, thus fulfilling my duty of cooperation and brotherhood towards you. If my family and children were not in need of their own expenses, I would have given you my entire share."

"What! Should I wait till the payment of stipends? You have the State Treasury (Baitul Mal) in your hand and still you are asking me to wait till the time of disbursement and then only you will give me from your personal share! You can withdraw any amount you want from the State Treasury. So, why are you making me wait till then? Besides, what is your total share from it? Even if you give me your entire share, how far will it relieve me of my trouble?"

"I am surprised to hear your proposal. What concern it does ? is of you or me whether there is money in the State Treasury (Baitul Mal) or not? We are just like any other Muslims. True, you are my brother and I must help you as much as possible, but from my personal money, not from the State Treasury."

The argument continued and Aqueel pleaded with Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) in various ways. He continued to insist that Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) should give him from state treasury (Baitul Mal). The place where they were sitting overlooked the market of Kufa, and they could see the cash-boxes of the shop-keepers. Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) said, "If you still insist and are not ready to listen to me, then I have got another proposal for you. If you follow it you can repay all your loan and still have plenty of money left."

Imam as-Sadiq (A.S.) said: Justice is more delicious than honey, softer than butter, and more sweet-smelling than musk.

"What is that?"

"Down over there are cash-boxes. As soon as the market is closed and nobody is there, go down and break open the boxes. And take whatever you want."

"Whose boxes are they?"

"They belong to the people of this market. They keep their cash in them."

"Strange! You are telling me to steal the money of poor people who have earned it with their hard labor and have gone home leaving it there trusting in God?"

"Then why are you urging me to open the boxes of the State Treasury (Baitul Mal) for you? Whom does it belong to? This also belongs to the same people who are asleep in their houses carefree and in comforts. All right, I have another suggestion. Follow it if you like."

"What's that?"

"If you are ready then pick up your sword and so will I. The old city of Hirah is not far from here. There are leading merchants and wealthy people there. We make a surprise attack on one of them during night and bring out enormous wealth with us."

"Brother, I haven't come here for theft and robbery that you are suggesting these things to me. I am only asking you to instruct the officials of the State Treasury (Baitul Mal) to give me the money which is in your power, so that I may repay my debt."

"Suppose that we steal the property of an individual, isn't it better that stealing from the property of millions of Muslims? How is it that taking the property of an individual with sword is robbery, and usurping the property of the general public is not? You are under the impression that robbery only means attacking some individual and taking his property by force. The worst type of robbery is the same thing which you are proposing to me to do now."

Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) had an older brother called Aqeel. He was getting some financial aid from the State Treasury (Baitul Mal) because of his poverty. He thought that he was not getting enough money from the State Treasury (Baitul Mal), so one day he invited his brother Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.) Caliph (Khalifah) of the time for lunch.

After eating, Aqeel explained to his brother and said, "Look my brother, the aid that I am getting from the State Treasury (Baitul Mal) is not sufficient. Could you please increase little bit more so that I can live little bit comfortably?"

Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.): If what you say is true, then how could you afford to invite for lunch today?

Aqeel: I saved bit by bit for a few days and then I invited you.

Hadhrat Ali Murtaza (A.S.): This means that you are still getting that little bit extra from which you could save. So really speaking, that extras should be cut off and given to someone more needy.

Aqeel: Oh no, please don't do that. I will try to survive on what I get and won't complain any more.