The Battle of Badr was a first realization of this and the Battle of Uhud followed it. In the latter, victory was almost turned into defeat and the Prophet was wounded in it so that it was thought that he had been killed. The believers broke up. However, Ali, by his heroism, achieved the final victory and with it the famous call of Gabriel was heard: "There is no sword except Dhu al-Fiqar. There is no young man except Ali."

Other battles followed these two battles, the most famous of them is the Battle of the Trench, which is also called the Battle of the Allies because in it all the groups and parties with their different tendencies and tribes united to attack the Message which was advancing among the people. It resulted in force and a great victory for Islam.

The Battle of Khyber took place in the Jewish fortress town famous for its solid gate, which Ali pulled down with the strength of his arm. The conquest of this town was the beginning of the conquest of the important towns in Arabia which started now to fall, one by one, before the advancing might . . . until the conquest of Islam, in the name of the Message, prevailed in all quarters of the Arabian Peninsula.

In all these battles, merit went first to the Emigrants because they were the first to answer the call of the Prophet in his emigration. Then it went to the Ansar who received a return for their support.

The most famous of the first Emigrants is Ali b. Abi Talib. Many of them made a great contribution to facilitating the conquest and bringing about victory. However, Ali b. Abi Talib was surely the one most loved in the heart of the Prophet. He was his adopted son, his companion, his adviser, his constant lieutenant, his brother . . . the husband of his daughter, the dearest of people to him, Fatima the fair. Through Fatima he was the father of al-Hassan and al-Husayn and the descendants of the Prophet were to be limited to her progeny.

Ali is the first of the believers, the strongest defender, the bravest warrior, the most resolute attacker and the most penetrating investigator of the truth. The Prophet has referred to this with such statements as:

"O God, be a friend to whoever befriends Ali and an enemy to whoever is his enemy."

"Ali is from me and I am from Ali."

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