The Questions of the Jew from Imam Ali

The Prophet (MGB) has passed away.’ The two Jewish men praised God for hearing the news of the death of the Prophet. Then they asked, ‘Each Prophet (MGB) has a Trustee whom is in charge of religious duties after him. Which one of you is his Trustee?’ The Emigrants (Muhajerin) and their Helpers (Ansar) all faced Abu Bakr and said, ‘He is his Trustee.’ The Jewish men told Abu Bakr, ‘We will ask you some questions which should be asked from the Trustees. Please respond to them if you are the Trustee.’ Abu Bakr said, ‘Fine. Go ahead and ask. God willing I will respond.’ One ofthem asked, ‘What are you and I considered to be before the Honorable the Exalted God? What is the living creature which was placed in another living creature without there being any ties of kinship between them? Which grave was the one which took what it contained on a trip? From where does the Sun rise? To where does the Sun set? Where was that place upon which the Sun shone only once and never again? Where is Paradise? Where is Hell? Does your God carry loads or does He become loaded? To which direction does your God face? Who are the two things that are always present? What are the two things that are always absent? What are the two things which cannot both be at once? Who is the one? Who are the two? What are the three? What are the four? What are the five? What are the six? What are the seven? What are the eight? What are the nine? What are the ten? What are the eleven? What are the twelve? What are the twenty? What are the thirty? What are the forty? What are the fifty? What are the sixty? What are the seventy? What are the eighty? What are the ninety? What are the one-hundred?’”Ibn Abbas added, “Abu Bakr could not answer. We became frightened that the people might turn away from the religion. I went to see Ali ibn Abi Talib (MGB) and told him, ‘O Ali! Some of the Jewish chiefs have come to Medina. They met Abu Bakr and asked him some questions, but Abu Bakr was unable to respond.’ Ali (MGB) smiled and said, ‘This is the day which the Prophet of God (MGB) had foretold.’ Then Ali (MGB) walked ahead of me just as the Prophet (MGB) did and sat in the Prophet’s place. He requested the two Jewish men, ‘Come to me and present to me the questions which you asked this old man.’ The two Jews asked, ‘Who are you?’ He (MGB) replied, ‘I am Ali Ibn Abi Talib - the brother of the Prophet (MGB), the husband of Fatimah, the father of Hassan and Hussein, the Prophet’s Trustee in all issues, and the one who knows all of the Prophet’s secrets.’ One of the two Jews asked, ‘What are you and I considered to be before the Honorable the Exalted God?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘I have been a believer since I have known myself, and you have been an unbeliever since you have known yourself. I do not know about your destiny in the future.’

26-2 The Jew asked, ‘What is the living creature which was placed in another living creature without there being any ties of kinship between them?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It was the Prophet Jonah (‘Yunus) who was eaten up by a large whale.’The Jew asked, ‘Which grave was the one which took what it contained on a trip?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It was the large whale which moved around at sea when Jonah was in its stomach.’The Jew asked, ‘From where does the Sun rise?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘From between the two horns of Satan?’The Jew asked, ‘To where does the Sun set?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It sets in a hot spring. My friend, i.e. God’s Prophet (MGB) told me not to pray at the times of sunrise or sunset when it is below the size of one or two spears.’The Jew asked, ‘Where was that place upon which the Sun shone only once and never again?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It was in the depth of the sea which God split up for the Children of Israel to pass (when they were escaping from Egypt being chased by Pharaoh, and where Pharaoh and his soldiers were drowned.)’The Jew asked, ‘Does your God bear things or is He carried?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘My God bears everything and nothing has the endurance to bear the greatness of His load.’The Jew asked, ‘Then what is meant by the following words of the Honorable the Exalted God, ‘And the angels will be on its sides, and eight will, that Day, bear the Throne of thy Lord above them.’’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘Don’t you know that whatever exists in the heavens and the Earth and in between them and under the Earth belongs to God. Everything is established upon the Earth and the Earth is established upon God’s Power and it is indeed His Power which bears everything.’The Jew asked, ‘Where is Paradise? Where is Hell?’ Ali (MGB) replied ‘Paradise is in the heavens and Hell is on the Earth.’The Jew asked, ‘To which direction does your God face?’ Ali ibn Abi Talib told me (Ibn Abbas), ‘O Ibn Abbas! Bring some wood and make a fire.’ I brought some wood and kindled it. Ali (MGB) put some wood on the fire. Then he (MGB) asked the Jew, ‘To which direction does this fire face?’ The Jew said, ‘It doesn’t face any specific direction.’ Ali (MGB) said, ‘This is similar to the case of the Honorable the Exalted God. To Him belong both the East and the West. To every direction you look, God is there.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the two things that are always present?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the heavens and the Earth which never disappear.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the two things that are always absent?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are life and death which no one can ever see.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the two things which cannot both be at once?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are day and night.’The Jew asked, ‘Who is the one?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘The Honorable the Exalted God.’The Jew asked, ‘Who are the two?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘Adam and Eve.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the three?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘The Christians have ascribed lies to the Honorable the Exalted God and said, ‘Allah is one of three in a Trinity… ’ But God has no companions or sons.’The Jew asked, ‘ What are the four?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the Quran, the Zabur (Psalms of David), the Torah and the Bible.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the five?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the five obligatory prayers.’The Jew asked, ‘ What are the six?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the six days during which God created the heavens, the Earth and whatever lies in between.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the seven?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the seven gates of Hell which are identical.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the eight?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the eight gates of Paradise.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the nine?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are nine men (of the Thamud clan) who made mischief in the land, and would not reform.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the ten?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the 10 days of a third of a month.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the eleven?’ Ali ((MGB) replied, ‘They refer to the ‘eleven stars’ about which Joseph told his father as we read in the Holy Quran, ‘Behold! Joseph said to his father, ‘O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!’’9The Jew asked, ‘What are the twelve?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘They are the twelve months in a year.’The Jew asked, ‘ What are the twenty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘That refers to the twenty Dirhams with which Joseph was exchanged.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the thirty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘Those are the thirty days of fasting in the month of Ramazan which is obligatory for every believer unless he is ill or on a journey.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the forty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘It refers to the term of communion of Moses with his Lord which was thirty nights, and was completed with ten more to become forty nights.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the fifty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘This refers to the appointment of Noah to his people which was for a thousand years less fifty.’The Jew asked, ‘What are the sixty?’ Ali (MGB) replied, ‘This refers to the ‘sixty days of consecutively fasting’ or the ‘feeding of sixty indigent ones’ (for Zihar) that the Honorable the Exalted God has established as the expiation of men who divorce their wives by calling them their mothers (Zihar) before they can touch each other.’

O young fellow! Please describe Muhammad for me as if I am looking at him myself so that I may believe in him.’ The Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) cried and said, ‘O Jew! You have renewed my sorrow. My friend Muhammad - the Prophet of God - was a large-foreheaded man; with joined brows; black eyes; smooth cheeks; a cute nose; tiny lips; dense beard; shiny teeth; with a silver color neck; and a line of hair from the throat down to his belly button like a camphor branch with no hair elsewhere. He was neither too tall nor too short. When he walked his light encompassed everyone around him: he walked firmly as if he was climbing a hill or going down a hill; He had round heels, delicate feet and a thin waist. His turban was As-Sahab; his sword Dhul Fiqar ; his mule was Doldol ; his donkey was Ya’fur; his camel was Kaswa; his horse was Lizaz; and his staff was al-Mamshuq. He (MGB) was the kindest person with other people. He (MGB) was the most gentle person with other people. The seal of Prophethood was placed between his two shoulders. There were two lines written on that seal. The first line read, ‘There is no god but God’ and the second line read, ‘Muhammad is the Prophet of God. Well. Dear Jewish fellow! These were his characteristics.’ The two Jewish men said, ‘We bear witness that there is no god but God; Muhammad is the Prophet of God; and you are the Trustee of Muhammad.’ They became true Muslims and became companions of Ali (MGB). They were with him (MGB) until the Battle of Jamal when they accompanied Ali (MGB) to Basra. One of them was killed there and the other one survived until he accompanied Ali (MGB) in the Battle of Siffin and was killed in that battle.”

Prophet (MGB) had passed away. They went to see Abu Bakr and said, ‘We had come here to see your Prophet and ask him a few questions. However, we realized that he has passed away.’ Abu Bakr asked them, ‘What are your questions?’ They said, ‘Please let us know what does one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety and one-hundred refer to?’ Abu Bakr told them, ‘I do not have the answer to these questions. Go to see Ali ibn Abi Talib.’ The Jews went to see Ali (MGB) and told him what had happened while they held the Torah open in their hand. The Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) asked them, ‘Will you accept Islam if I give you the answer to these questions?’They replied, ‘Yes.’ Ali (MGB) said, ‘One refers to God who is only One and He doesn’t have any partners. Two refers to what the Honorable the Exalted God said in the following verse, ‘Take not (for worship) two gods, for He is just One God.’ Three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine refer to what the Honorable the Exalted God has said in His Book in the Chapter Al-Kahf as follow, ‘(Some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say thou: ‘My Lord knoweth best their number; It is but few that know their (real case).’ Enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear, nor consult any of them about (the affair of) the Sleepers.’And nine refers to what the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘There were in the city nine men of a family, who made mischief in the land, and would not reform.’And ten refers to what the Honorable the Exalted God said (regarding fasting in case one cannot afford an offering for Hajj), ‘…making ten days in all.”And twenty refers to what the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two-hundred,’Thirty and forty refer to what the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘We appointed for Moses thirty nights, and completed (the period) with ten (more), thus was completed the term (of communion) with his Lord, forty nights…’Fifty refers to what the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘The angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty-thousand years:’Sixty refers to ’sixty days of consecutively fasting’ or the ‘feeding of sixty indigent ones’ that the Honorable the Exalted God has established as the expiation for men who divorce their wives by calling them mothers (Zihar), before they can touch each other as the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘But if any is unable to do so, he should feed sixty indigent ones…’Seventy refers to the seventy persons which Moses chose from amongst his family to take to the place of meeting his Lord as the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘And Moses chose seventy of his people for Our place of meeting…’Eighty refers to the punishment for unduly accusing women of adultery as the Honorable the Exalted God says in His Book, ‘And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes;…’Ninety refers to the story of the two disputant brothers who went to seek his judgement regarding their ewes as the Honorable the Exalted God said in His Book, ‘This man is my brother, He has nine and ninety ewes,…’And one-hundred refers to the punishment for adultery or fornication as the Honorable the Exalted God said in His Book, ‘The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes:…’ ”