The session of the “History and Life” Committee, one of the specialized committees of the International Conference of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), the Supporter of the Great Prophet (p.b.u.h), was held on Tuesday evening, March 9, 2021, at the Imam Khomeini School in Qom.
The chairman of the committee was Ayatollah Muhammad Hadi Yusofi Gharavi, the judge was Hojat al-Islam Muhammad Reza Motahhari, and its secretary was Hojat al-Islam Abbas Jafari Farahani.
In this session Ms. Maryam Kiyani, one of Jamiat al-Zahra seminary students, presented her article entitled: “A study on the character of Aqeel Ibn Abi Talib in historical sources”.
“The article is written using Shiite and Sunni sources. In the first chapter, the personality, family and conversion of Aqeel to Islam are discussed. According to historical sources, Aqeel was not a Muslim before the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. He was captured in one of the wars and released through the mediation of Abbas (the Prophet’s uncle),” she said about the structure of her article.
“Imam Ali's brother spoke frankly. He was an Arab genealogist and a brave man. Imam Ali’s brother spoke frankly. He was an Arab genealogist and a brave man. The explicitness of Aqeel’s speech caused him to defend the legitimacy of the Imam Ali (a.s.) in Muawiyah Palace” the researcher said about the characteristics and features of Aqeel.
“Aqeel was poor. For this reason, he turned to Imam Ali (a.s.) and asked for financial help. Imam Ali (a.s.) gave his right but he was not satisfied and asked for more share from the Bayt al-mal (public treasury). Therefore, Imam Ali close a piece of molten iron to his hand. The rest of the story is narrated in Nahj al-Balaghah,” she continued, saying that Aqeel was among the people who attended the night funeral of Hazrat Zahra.
“In some historical narratives, the character of Aqeel is shown to be negative. But it seems that when Aqeel referred to Muawiyah, he wanted to move in favor of Imam Ali (a.s.). Of course, whether Aqeel met Muawiyah during the life of Imam Ali (a.s.) or not is disputed,” Ms. Kiani also stated.
Historians have exaggerated about the poverty of Abu Talib (a.s.)
“It is true that Aqeel is the son of Hazrat Abu Talib, but it would have been better if the article was related to the conference,” stated Hojat al-Islam Motahhari, criticizing Ms. Kiani’s article.
“This report may have been exaggerated. It is possible that some people did this deliberately to show Abbas’s wealth and introduce him as superior. We should not neglect the role of the Abbasids here. They have done this for political purposes, especially since most of the sources were written during the Abbasid era,” he said, suspicious of highlighting the poverty of Abu Talib (a.s.) and Aqeel by some historians.
