Ali bin Abi Talib (600– 661 CE) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet of Islam. The majority of Muslims declared Ali ibn Abu Talib to be the fourth Caliph and the Muslim community accepted his Caliphate.

In his lifetime, the Prophet of Islam specially selected two people for this purpose of training. One was Ali, and the other was Aisha, the Prophet’s wife. He provided both of them the opportunity to be in his company when they were at a young age itself, and thereby they received training and obtained what is called wisdom in the Quran (2:129). This objective of training in wisdom can be achieved only at a young age. The method that the Prophet adopted to keep Ali in his company when the latter was still young, was by becoming his guardian.

Sitting in the company of the Prophet, he learned wisdom that he imparted to others. Consider, for instance, this saying of Ali: ‘The value of a person lies in what he excels in.’ This point is not found in these same words in any Hadith of the Prophet. This is a piece of wisdom that Ali derived as a result of being in the company of the Prophet. This wisdom can be expressed as follows: ‘The value of a person lies in his excellence.’