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- Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: عَلِي ابْن أَﺑِﻲ طَالِب, 599 – 661 ACE) was an early Islamic leader. Ali is revered by Sunni Muslims as the fourth Rightly Guided Caliphs, and as a foremost religious authority on the Qur'an and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Shi'a Muslims consider him the First Imam appointed by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the first rightful caliph. Ali was the cousin of Muhammad, and after marriage to Fatimah he also became Muhammad's son-in-law. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatimah bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was one of the first believers in Islam at the age of 12, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam. Ali had four children with Muhammad's daughter Fatimah: Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum. His other well-known sons were Abbas ibn Ali, born to Umm al-Banin Fatimah bint Hizam, and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, from Khawla al-Hanafiyya, another wife from the central Arabian tribe of Banu Hanifa, whom Ali had also married after Fatimah's death. Hasan, born in 625, is the second Shia Imam and he also assumed the role of caliph for several months after Ali's death. In the year AH 50 he died after being poisoned by a member of his own household named Jada who, according to historians, had been motivated by Mu'awiyah. Husayn, born in 626, was the third Shia Imam, whom Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah persecuted severely. On the tenth day of Muharram, of the year 680, Husayn lined up before the army of the caliph Yazid with his small band of followers and nearly all of them were killed in the Battle of Karbala. The anniversary of his death is called the Day of Ashura and it is a day of mourning and religious observance for Shia Muslims. In this battle some of Ali's other sons were killed. Al-Tabari has mentioned their names in his history: Abbas ibn Ali, the holder of Husayn's standard, Ja'far, Abdullah and Uthman, the four sons born to Umm al-Banin; Abu Bakr (also known as "Muhammad al-Asghar or Muhammad the Younger"). There is, however, some doubt as to whether the last died in the battle. Some historians have added the names of Ali's other sons who were killed at Karbala, including Ibrahim, Umar and Abdullah ibn Al-Asqar. His daughter Zaynab—who was in Karbala—was captured by Yazid's army and later played a great role in revealing what happened to Husayn and his followers. Ali's descendants by Fatimah are known as sharifs, sayeds or sayyids. These are honorific titles in Arabic, sharif meaning 'noble' and sayed or sayyid meaning 'lord' or 'sir'. As Muhammad's descendants, they are respected by both Sunnis and Shi'ites. Both of his sons by Umama bint Zaynab, that is Hilal and 'Awn, died in Iran, with the latter having been martyred in a battle against Qays ibn Murrah (the governor of Khorasan), and the former dying naturally. Ali's descendants through his son Abbas are known as Alvi Awans. Today, most of them reside in modern-day Arab world. They are descendants of Qutb Shah who is a direct descendant of Ali, and his lineage is traced as Qutb Shah (Awn) ibn Yaala ibn Hamza ibn Tayyar ibn Qasim ibn Ali ibn Ja'far ibn Hamza ibn al-Hasan ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib. The Isaaq clan-family in Somaliland and Ethiopia claims descendant to Ali through its forefather Sheikh Ishaaq. (en)
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