Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

398 The oath of allegiance to 'Ali, his characteristics & his way of life
'Ali's implementation of this principle is the best model. We
have seen his keenness to divide wealth on an equal basis among the
people as soon as it reached him, after deducting from it what was
needed for the expenses of state. He never allowed himself to take
anything from this wealth except as much as he gave to other people.
He gave stipends to his opponents among the Khxijites, just as he
gave to others. (That was before they shed blood and transgressed
against the people.)302 He (&) .. gave to the people equally, following
the example of Abu Batcr (&). He did not give precedence to a
nobleman over a commoner, or to an Arab over a non-Arab.
On one occasion, he gave equal shares of food and money to
two women, one of whom was Arab while the other was not. The
former objected, saying: "By AUah, I am an Arab woman, and this
woman is a non-Arab." 'Ali(4)
replied: "By Allah, I do not see
any reason to give precedence to the offspring of Ism2'eel over the
offspring of Ishiiq with regard to this wealth." Similarly, when he
was asked to give precedence to the noble Arabs and Quraysh over
the freed slaves and non-Arabs, he said: "No, by Allah. If it were my
own wealth, I would divide it equally among the people, so how
about when it is the people's own wealth?"303
It was narrated that Yahya ibn Salamah said: "Ali appointed
'Amr ibn Salamah as governor of Isfahan, and he came bringing its
wealth and some skins containing honey and ghee. Umm Kulthoom
bint 'Ali sent word to 'Amr, asking him for ghee and honey, and he
sent to her a container of honey and a container of ghee. The next day,
'Ali (&) went out and brought the wealth, honey and ghee to be
divided: He counted the vessels and found two missing. He asked
'Am about them, and he did not tell him anything, but he said: 'I shall
bring them for you.' 'Ali (&,)insisted that he should tell him what he
had done with them, so he told him. 'Ali (&) sent word to Umm
Kulthoom. He took the two vessels from her and saw that some was