The dignity and sanctity of Hadrat Ali-ul-Murtaza (Alaihi Salaat-o-Wassalam) are of such an elevated order that no tongue can fully articulate them and no pen can ever exhaust their description. His station was not earned through worldly striving alone; it was decreed by Almighty Allah before the creation of the heavens, the earth, the Arsh-e-Moallah and every other creation. From the eternal Light (Noor) of His own Divine Being, Almighty Allah brought into existence the Five Holy Personalities — the Panjtan Paak — and Maula Ali (ASWS) is one of those luminous souls who existed at the Arsh in a state of unbroken nearness to Almighty Allah long before the worlds were formed.
The very first mark of his unmatched sanctity is the miracle of his birth inside the Holy Kaaba — a distinction that Almighty Allah has granted to no other human being from the time of Hadrat Adam (Alaihis Salaam) until the Day of Judgement. The House of Almighty Allah, towards which every Muslim turns in Salah, opened its walls only for the mother of Hadrat Ali (ASWS), and closed them permanently thereafter. This single reality — Kaaba as the direction of worship, and Ali (ASWS) as the one born inside it — is by itself an eternal, unarguable proof of his dignity in the sight of Almighty Allah.
His sanctity was further sealed by the pure upbringing granted to him in the blessed lap of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall-Allah-o-Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam). Every breath of his childhood was drawn in the fragrance of Nabuwah, every morsel of food was taken from the same plate as the Beloved of Allah, and every early sajdah was performed behind the Master of both worlds. As a result, Almighty Allah preserved him from every form of shirk, ignorance and jahiliyyah. He never bowed his head before an idol, never uttered a lie, and never took part in any act of impurity — an honour that no other Companion can claim with the same completeness. It is for this reason that history itself was compelled to attach to his blessed name the eternal title “Karram-Allah-Ho Wajhu” — Almighty Allah has ennobled his face — a phrase not routinely used for anyone else.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWAW) himself, in countless authentic narrations, testified to the towering dignity of Maula Ali (ASWS). He declared: “Ana Madinat-ul-Ilm wa Aliyun Baabuha” — I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate. He said: “Ali is from me and I am from Ali.” He said: “O Ali, your position with me is like the position of Haroon with Musa, except that there is no prophet after me.” And at the historic gathering of Khumm-e-Ghadeer, in the presence of more than a hundred and twenty thousand Companions, he raised the blessed hand of Ali (ASWS) and proclaimed to the entire Ummah until the Day of Judgement: “Man Kunto Maula, Fa Haza Aliyun Maula” — Of whomsoever I am the Master, this Ali is also his Master. These are not the words of an ordinary praise; these are the words of the Beloved of Almighty Allah, and every word is a decree.
The Holy Quran itself bears witness to his sanctity. The Ayat-e-Tathir — “Innamaa yureed-Allah-o li yuzhib-a ankum-ur rijs-a Ahl-al-Bayt-i wa yutahhirakum tathira” — declares that Almighty Allah has removed every impurity from the Ahl-e-Bait and purified them with a complete purification, and Maula Ali (ASWS) is among the foremost of that blessed household. The Ayat-e-Wilayat — “Innamaa Waliyyukum-Allah-o wa Rasooluh-o wallazina Aamanu” — was revealed in his honour when he gave his ring in sadaqah while in the state of Ruku’. The Ayat-e-Mubahilah presents him as the “self” (Nafs) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWAW) himself. No other Companion is honoured by so many verses of the Holy Quran with such specificity.
His dignity in the field of knowledge is equally unmatched. He is the fountain from which the greatest scholars, jurists, mufassireen, muhaddisin and, above all, the entire chain of Sufi Awliya-Allah have drawn their spiritual and intellectual light. Almost every silsila of Tasawwuf — Qadariyah, Chishtiyah, Naqshbandiyah, Suharwardiyah, Owaisiyah, Qalandariyah and their branches — traces its spiritual descent back to Maula Ali (ASWS). This is why he is universally acknowledged in the world of Tasawwuf as the Imam of all Awliya-Allah and the Master of the Sufis of every age.
In courage, justice, humility, generosity and worship, Hadrat Ali-ul-Murtaza (Alaihi Salaat-o-Wassalam) stands as the perfect human embodiment of the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWAW). He was the Lion of Almighty Allah on the battlefield and, at the very same time, the softest of hearts towards orphans, widows and the poor. He would carry sacks of food on his own blessed shoulders in the darkness of night to the homes of the needy so that even the recipients would not recognise him. He would weep in the depth of the night in Sajdah before Almighty Allah, and stand like a mountain of steel in front of the enemies of Islam by day. His life is a living tafseer of the Holy Quran and a walking sunnah of the Holy Prophet (SAWAW).
The sanctity of Maula Ali (ASWS) is not confined to the Muslims of any one school or region; it is a universal reality accepted, in one form or another, by every honest heart that has ever studied the history of Islam. Enemies could not diminish it, worldly rulers could not overshadow it, and centuries of political manipulation could not erase it. His light continues to guide seekers of Truth in every corner of the world, and every true Wali of Almighty Allah, in every era, drinks from the ocean of his spiritual station.
For the Owaisi Qadari Qalandari Panjtani Order, and for every sincere lover of the Ahl-e-Bait, the dignity and sanctity of Hadrat Ali-ul-Murtaza (Alaihi Salaat-o-Wassalam) are not matters of debate but articles of the heart. To love him is to love the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWAW); to obey him is to obey Almighty Allah; and to turn away from his blessed status is to turn away from the very light by which the path of Islam is illuminated. May Almighty Allah, for the sake of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWAW) and his Ahl-e-Bait, keep us firm upon the love, obedience and sanctity of Maula Ali-ul-Murtaza (Alaihi Salaat-o-Wassalam) until our last breath. Aameen.