Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

454 The oath of allegiance to 'Ali, his characteristics & his way of lqe
Ibn al-Qayyim said, speaking about the wisdom behind the
divine decree allowing evil deeds and sins, that one of the reasons for
this is that: "When Allah (g) wills good for His slave, He causes
him to forget his acts of obedience and erases them from his mind and
from his lips (so that he does not speak about them). But if he
commits a sin, He makes him think about his sin all the time and
forget his good deeds, so that he focuses constantly on his sin, when
he stands up and sits down, when he comes and goes. This is the
essence of mercy concerning him, as one of the early generation said:
'A person may commit a sin and enter paradise because of it, and he
may do a good deed and enter hell because of it.' They said: 'How is
that?' He said: 'He does one wrong thing and keeps thinking of it,
and whenever he remembers it he weeps, feels regret and repents and
asks for forgiveness. He turns to Allah ($) and beseeches Him, and
he humiliates himself before Him and does righteous deeds, so this
becomes a cause of mercy for him. Another person may do a good
deed and keep thinking about it, so he feels proud of it before his
Lord and before people, and he becomes arrogant because of it and
wonders why people do not show respect to him and honour him
because of it, and this continues until it takes its toll on hi and
causes him to enter hell."'475
This is a brief explanation of the words of Amir al-Mu'mineen
'Ali (&): "Self-admiration is a disease of the mind and heart."476
3.7. Ali's concern about setting guidelines for the
marketplace, and various incidents in which
he took a stand in order to correct peopIe
Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali ibn Abi T%b (4) was keen to
check on people's dealings in the marketplace and to force them to do
business in accordance with the laws of Islam. It is proven that 'Ali