Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Tilib 577
than his, even though he had around him people of the Muhgjueen
and An& who had been present at ~ adr."'~~
'Umar described him as "the young man of the middle aged;
he has an ever-asking tongue and a smart mind."149 Tabah ibn
'Ubaydullah said: "I never saw 'Umar ibn al-KhagZb (&) give
precedence to anyone over Ibn 'Abbg~."'~~ Ibn 'Ahhiis (&) stayed
very close to 'Umar (&), as he was keen to ask him questions and
learn from him. Hence he (&) was one of the Companions who
transmitted the most of the Qur'anic commentary and knowledge of
'Umar (&). Some scholars have suggested that most of the
knowledge of fin 'Abbk was acquired from 'Umar (may Allah be
pleased with them al1).lS1 'Umar's care for him helped him to
advance far ahead in knowledge in general and in interpreting the
Qur'an in particular.152 Hence the Makkan school during the era of
the Tibi'oon was honoured by the presence of the scholar of the
Ummah and the interpreter of the Qur'an, Ibn 'Abbgs
At the time of 'Uthm2n (&), Ibn 'AbhL was one of those
who were close to the caliph, and 'Uthmh (&) appointed him to
lead the people on hajj in the year in which he was killed.lS4
Nevertheless, some of those who have been influenced by the
Orientalist school of thought have hied to distort the image of this
scholar of the Ummah by disseminating lies and fabrications about
his life. We should remember that when it comes to the era of the
Rightly Guided Caliphs and the history of the early Islamic period,
the Orientalist school of thought is an extension of the work of the
RZfidi historians and extreme Shia, who fabricated reports and
distorted the biographies of the noble Companions (may AUah be
pleased with them). The Orientalist historians revived these false and
fabricated reports, moulding and shaping them in a modem style
under the slogans of objectivity and academic research. They are all
lies and falsehood, but many researchers, writers and historians have