Hazrat Ali (R.A.) was born some thirty years after the birth of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alaiha wa Salam). He belonged the most respectable family of Quraish, the Banu Hashim (i.e. Hashmites). His father Hazrat Abu Talib was the real uncle of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alaihi we Salaam) who brought him up after the death of the Holy Prophet’s grandfather. Hazrat Ali’s mother was Fatimah bint Asad, who belonged to Banu Hashim. Hazrat Ali’s patronymic name was “Abul Hasan”. The Holy Prophet gave him another name, “Abu Turab” which was most liked by Hazrat Ali. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa Salaam) took Hazrar Ali in his childhood from his father, Abu Talib, and brought up him like his own son. Hazrat Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa Salaam) choosed the name Ali for the child who born inside Masjid ul Haram, in Mecca one of the most sacred mosque of Muslims .

Hazrat Ali was not just known for his bravery but for his intellectualism. Few of his stories are quoting down here :

Dividing 17 Camels :
A person was about to die, and before dying he wrote his Will which went as follows:

“I have 17 Camels, and I have three sons. Divide my Camels in such a way that my eldest son gets half of them, the second one gets 1/3rd of the total and my youngest son gets 1/9th of the total number of Camels.”

After his death when the relatives read his will they got extremely perplexed and said to each other that how can we divide 17 camels like this.

So after a long hard thought they decided that there was only one man in Arabia who could help them: “Hazrat Ali (RA).”

So they all came to the door of Hazrat Ali (RA) and put forward their problem.

Hazrat Ali (RA) said, “Ok, I will divide the camels as per the man’s will.”

Hazrat Ali (RA) said, “I will lend one of my camels to the total which makes it 18 (17+1=18), now lets divide as per his will.”

The eldest son gets 1/2 of 18 = 9
The second one gets 1/3 of 18 = 6
The youngest gets 1/9 of 18 = 2
Now the total number of camels = 17 (9+6+2=17)

Then Hazrat Ali (RA) said, “Now I will take my Camel back.”


The Five Loaves of Bread
Zarr Bin Hobeish relates this story: Two travelers sat together on the way to their destination to have a meal. One had five loaves of bread. The other had three. A third traveler was passing by and at the request of the two joined in the meal.

The travelers cut each of the loaf of bread in three equal parts. Each of the travelers ate eight broken pieces of the loaf.

At the time of leaving the third traveler took out eight dirhams and gave to the first two men who had offered him the meal, and went away. On receiving the money the two travelers started quarrelling as to who should have how much of the money.

The five-loaf-man demanded five dirhams. The three-loaf-man insisted on dividing the money in two equal parts.

The dispute was brought to Hazrat Ali (RA) (the Caliph of the time in Arabia) to be decided.

Hazrat Ali (RA) requested the three-loaf-man to accept three dirhams, because five-loaf-man has been more than fair to you. The three-loaf-man refused and said that he would take only four dirhams.

At this Hazrat Ali (RA) replied, “You can have only one dirham.” You had eight loaves between yourselves. Each loaf was broken in three parts. Therefore, you had 24 equal parts. Your three loaves made nine parts out of which you have eaten eight portions, leaving just one to the third traveler. Your friend had five loaves which divided into three made fifteen pieces.

He ate eight pieces and gave seven pieces to the guest. As such the guest shared one part from your loaves and seven from those of your friend. So you should get one dirham and your friend should receive seven dirhams.

http://jagonews.com/2012/08/hazrat-a...tellectualism/