Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him), took strong action to remove certain religious practices which had developed into common use among people after the previous government.
Reviving the Doctrinal, Mystical, and Moral Dimensions of Religious Duties
In a sermon, Amir al-Muminin describes the month of Ramadan as a month when the gates of heaven are opened and devils are chained.[¹] The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) established the last ten days of Ramadan as a time for people to perform seclusion (itikaf) in mosques and to stay awake during the night.[²] Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him), considered fasting to be the least requirement people must fulfill during this month because he thought that fasting should only be performed when it results in people avoiding all other unlawful activities. [³] [⁴]
Amir al-Muminin , bases his introduction of fasting according to another narration as an important religious practice on Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) words. Wisdom serves as the main legacy of fasting which leads to knowledge and knowledge brings forth certainty. The hadith defines certainty as the ultimate stage of human achievement which brings one closer to God. After death, he enters a state where nothing obstructs his communion with God. At this point, God yearns for him.[⁵]
Imam Ali instructs everyone to pay attention to their physical abilities and their personality and their activities during the Ramadan period. He provides detailed instructions about prayer practices which people should follow during each of the Ramadan nights and days as well as important religious holidays and events which fall in this holy month. [⁶][⁷][⁸] The Imam encourages people to perform acts of repentance and prayer during Ramadan because these practices protect them from suffering while they eliminate their sinful behavior. [⁹]
Combating Bidah
Today, certain religious rituals and practices have become so distorted and deviated that not only scholars but also the general pious populace disassociate themselves from them. The period after his government establishment shows that Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) realized through his actions that particular social and political and cultural and ethnic changes had taken place in Kufa and other Islamic lands because people now possessed ways to promote good and prevent evil behavior. The community functions and seasonal periods saw less reformative action than the rest of the civil system.
Shaikh al-Tusi, in narrating a tradition from Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), states:
“When Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) entered Kufa, he instructed his son al-Hasan (peace be upon him) to forbid the people from performing the supererogatory prayer in congregation (Tarawih) during the month of Ramadan, but the people resisted and cried out, ‘O Umar!’” [10][11]
As can be understood from the people’s protest, the Tarawih prayer was established by Umar ibn al-Khattab and is not based on religious sources.[¹²] Therefore, upon his arrival in Kufa at the beginning of Ramadan, Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him), before any other action, forbade the people from continuing this innovation. Prior to this, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), in dealing with an innovation like the one the second caliph established, had stated:
“Such matters are acts of disobedience. Be aware that every innovation, even in acts of worship, is misguidance, and every misguidance leads to the Fire. A small, easy, and simple practice (sunnah) is better for you than a great, lengthy, and difficult innovation.”[¹³]
