Sayyidunā Ali’s رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ desire for people to receive their rights

Imam Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Ṭabarī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه relates the following account:

One day, during his reign as the caliph, the fourth Caliph of Islam, Sayyidunā Ali b. Abī Ṭālib رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ went to the marketplace. There, he saw a woman crying.

He asked the reason for her weeping, so she replied, “I am a slave girl, and I purchased some dates for a few dirhams from such and such shopkeeper. However, the dates did not please my master, so he sent them back. Now, the shopkeeper is not willing to take the dates back, which is why I am in a state of anxiety.”

Sayyidunā Ali رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ interceded on behalf of this slave girl before the shopkeeper, saying, “Accept the dates and return this poor slave girl’s dirhams. She is a slave girl and cannot exercise her own will.”

Sayyidunā Ali رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ was very humble. He did not have a large security entourage accompanying him in the way that rulers move around with great protocol these days. He had come to the marketplace like a normal person. Therefore, the date-seller did not recognise him.

When Sayyidunā Ali رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ intervened on behalf of the slave girl, the shopkeeper pushed him. When people witnessed this scene, they said to the shopkeeper, “Do you know who you have pushed?”

He replied, “No, I do not know.”

The people informed him, “This is the leader of the believers, Sayyidunā Ali (رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ).”