The Birth of Imam Ali (PBUH) in the Kaaba

1:44:19

2026-07-04

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According to the majority view, Ali b. Abi Talib (a) was born on the 13th of Rajab, eleven years prior to the commencement of Muhammad’s prophetic mission, which corresponds to the date of October 9, 599. An extraordinary occurrence associated with the early life of Ali (a) is the account of his birth taking place within the confines of the Kaaba. The event is recounted in several sources. The esteemed Sunni scholar of hadith, al-Hakim al-Naysābūrī (d. 405/1015), holds the belief that accounts of this event, based on historical and hadith-based reports, were frequently transmitted (mutawātir). Imam Ali’s birth has been the subject of numerous independent writings by scholars of hadith and historians. Prominent scholars such as Abu Mikhnaf (d. 157/774), Abū l-Bakhtarī (d. 200 /816), al-Shaykh al-Ṣadūq (d. 381/991), Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Hamdānī (d. 569/1173-74), and Abū Muḥammad al-ʿAlawī (d. ?) have authored notable works on this subject. Additionally, there have been dedicated works on this issue by various subsequent sources until the contemporary era. In Imami sources of hadiths and certain Sunni sources, there are narrations on the subject from Imam al-Sajjād (a), Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī (d. 78/698), Saʿīd b. al-Jubayr (d. 95/714), ʿĀʾisha, and ʿAbbās b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. According to these accounts, ʿAlī (a) stands as the unique individual to have been born within the walls of the Kaaba.

As per a hadith from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), which was narrated by ʿĀʾisha and ʿAbbās b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib as well, Fāṭima bt. Asad (a) carried ʿAlī (a) in her womb for a duration of nine months. As the intensity of labor grew, she approached the Kaaba. Beseeching Allah by the Kaaba, by Prophet Abraham (a), and by the child she was carrying, Fāṭima bt. Asad (a) implored for relief from her labor. Unexpectedly, a division appeared in one of the walls of the Kaaba, creating an opening for Fāṭima bt. Asad (a) to enter. As she stepped inside, the division closed behind her, concealing her from sight. Despite the attempts of the people to open the door of the Kaaba, their efforts proved futile. Witnessing this extraordinary occurrence, those in the vicinity recognized it as a divine intervention. After three days had passed, Fāṭima bt. Asad (a) emerged from the very same opening of the Kaaba, cradling ʿAlī (a) in her arms. She declared, “Indeed, Allah has chosen me from among His servants and granted me superiority over the women who came before me. Allah had chosen Āsiya bt. Muzāḥim [Pharaoh’s wife who embraced faith in Allah], who worshiped Allah secretly in a place that is not favored by Allah as a place of worship except in cases of emergency. In addition, Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān [Jesus’s mother], was chosen by Allah, who eased her childbirth. In a desert, Mary approached a dry palm tree and caused it to shake, thereby providing her with its fruits [as a source of sustenance]. Verily, Allah chose me and granted me superiority over these two and all previous women. For I gave birth to my child within Allah’s ancient abode [the Kaaba], where I found refuge and experienced the blessings of heavenly fruits.” The Prophet (s) revered the birth of ʿAlī (a) and consistently referred to the year of his birth as the “Year of Goodness (sanat al-khayr)” or the “Year of Blessing (sanat al-baraka).”