Maqtal Ali li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir
Maqtal Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (The Assassination of the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib) is a monograph by the Baghdadi traditionist Ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 281 AH / 894 CE) documenting the events surrounding the assassination and death of the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib .
Contents and Methodology
The work compiles historical reports and hadiths with their transmission chains (asānīd) concerning the virtues and final days of Ali ibn Abi Talib . It opens with accounts tracing his lineage, maternal background, and the circumstances of his killing in Kufa on the morning of Friday, 17 Ramadan 40 AH, by the Kharijite assassin Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Muradi . The text records variant reports regarding Ali's age at his death—stating he was sixty-three years old, or fifty-some years—and notes his burial in Kufa near the congregational mosque by the governor's palace (Qasr al-Imarah) .
Ibn Abi al-Dunya transmits narratives detailing prophetic forewarnings of Ali's martyrdom, dream visions, Ali's public sermons predicting his fatal strike, the movements of Ibn Muljam prior to the assault, and Ali's instructions to his followers not to execute the prisoner prematurely . It also includes Ali's final counsels to his sons al-Hasan ibn Ali, al-Husayn ibn Ali, and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, and reports that he continuously recited the testimony of faith (lā ilāha illā Allāh) until his death . Among the sources and authorities Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrates from in the text are the historian Muhammad ibn Sa'd, as well as narrations traced through figures such as Maytham al-Tammar and Salih ibn Maytham .
Transmission and Manuscripts
The text has been preserved through the transmission (riwāyah) of al-Husayn ibn Safwan al-Bardha'i . It survives in a unique manuscript copy whose copyist and copying date are unspecified, but which carries two reading certificates (samāʿ) dated 438 AH and 464 AH . The title page of this manuscript includes honorific additions by later scribes describing Ali with phrases such as ʿalayhi al-salām ("peace be upon him") and karrama Allāhu wajhah ("may God ennoble his face") .
Editions
The work has been published in modern editions, including:
- An edition edited by Ibrahim Salih, published by Dar al-Basha'ir in Damascus (1422 AH / 2001 CE) as part of the Nawadir al-Rasa'il series .
- An edition edited by Muhammad Baqir al-Mahmudi, published by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance's publishing house in Tehran .
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