Imam Ali - Father of the Orphans part2
GLesson 3: Caring includes play-time
Not only did Imam Ali make sure that orphaned were fed and clothed well, but he went out of his way to play with them. One narration describes how Imam Ali visited the home of a widow and her orphans with a bag full of ingredients, and prepared a meal for them.
When the children finished eating, Imam Ali “began to hop around the room (by mimicking a lamb) and bleating, making them laugh.” Qanbar, Imam Ali’s helper who had accompanied him, asked him later on, “Your carrying the food on your back was for earning rewards, but I did not know the reason for your hopping around the room and baaing!’”, to which Imam Ali replied, “I liked to leave them while they were satiated and laughing, and I found no other way for making them laugh than how I did.’
This teaches us the importance of play in every child’s life, including orphaned children. Just as Imam Ali did not want to leave the orphans with full bellies only but with smiles on their faces, so too should we strive to care for the orphaned children of our times beyond merely satisfying their need for food and shelter.
Lesson 4: A sense of responsibility for their well-being
Imam Ali’s behaviour towards orphaned children as narrated to us through traditions demonstrates his feeling of duty towards their well-being. He did not consider his care for them as a charitable act. In one narration, Imam Ali comes across a woman carrying a goatskin of water on her shoulder and carries it off her to her house. He then learns that she is a widow of a soldier with orphaned children. This leaves him in great distress and he returns with bags of food.
When helping the woman light a fire, Imam Ali chides himself saying, “O Ali! This is the punishment of the one who neglects the widows and the orphans.” When the woman later apologises for failing to recognise him, he replies, “I am ashamed of you, since I did neglect you.”
This teaches us that we are all collectively responsible for the well-being of orphaned children. In an age where charitable acts of kindness are sometimes publicised for ‘likes’ and ‘shares’, we ought to remind ourselves that any care we offer to orphaned children is only responding to our call of duty to protect and care for them.
Lesson 5: Leaving the care of the orphaned in your legacy
Imam Ali instructed those around him to care for the orphaned during his lifetime as well as when approaching his death. During Imam Ali’s period of caliphate, he appointed Malik al-Ashtar as the governor of Egypt. His written instructions to Malik al-Ashtar included a call to take upon himself the upkeep of the orphans. Before his death, he instructed the care of orphaned children in his will. He wrote to his eldest son, Imam al-Hasan: “Fear Allah in the matter of orphans. Do not allow them to starve and they should not be ruined in your presence.”
We can learn from Imam Ali to leave the care of orphaned children in the legacy we leave behind in this life. Whether it is through including them in our will too, through passing on this sense of responsibility to the next generation, and through ensuring we care for orphaned children during our lifetime, we can strive to respond to the call for duty that our beloved Imam Ali left for us.
