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Acceptance of Islam


See also: Identity of the first male Muslim

The second period of Ali's life begins in 610 when he declared Islam at age 10 and ends with the Hijra of Muhammad to Medina in 622.[1] When Muhammad reported that he had received a divine revelation, Ali, then only about ten years old, believed him and professed to Islam.[1][4][6][7] According to Ibn Ishaq and some other authorities, Ali was the first male to embrace Islam. Tabari adds other traditions making the similar claim of being the first Muslim in relation to Zayd or Abu Bakr.[19] Some historians and scholars believe Ali's conversion is not worthy enough to consider him the first male Muslim because he was a child at the time.[20]



Shi'a doctrine asserts that in keeping with Ali's divine mission, he accepted Islam before he took part in any pre-Islamic Meccan traditional religion rites, regarded by Muslims as polytheistic (see shirk) or paganistic. Hence the Shi'a say of Ali that his face is honored — that is, it was never sullied by prostrations before idols.[6] The Sunnis also use the honorific Karam Allahu Wajhahu, which means "God's Favor upon his Face."




The reason his acceptance is often not called a conversion, is because he was never an idol worshiper like the people of Mecca. He was known to have broken idols in the mold of Abraham and asked people why they worshiped something they made themselves. Ali's grandfather, it is acknowledged without controversy, along with some members of the Banu Hashim clan, were Hanifs, followers of a monotheistic belief system, prior to the coming of Islam