Ali

Ali ibn Abu Talib, 4th Caliph (may Allah be pleased with him), once said, "I would be slave of a person who teaches me a letter" accentuating the importance of knowledge.

His closest male relative was his cousin Ali ibn Abu Talib, the son of Muhammad's uncle.

The twelve Shiite imams are as follows: (1) Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib Al Murtadha (the Satisfied One) (2) Imam Al Hasan Al Mujtabah (the Chosen One), (3) Imam Al Hussein Sayyid Al Shuhudah (the Lord of the Martyrs), (4) Imam Ali Zain Al Abidin (the Jewel of the Believers), (5) Imam Muhammad Al Baqir (the Spreader of Knowledge), (6) Imam Jaafar Al Sadiq (the Truthful One), (7) Imam Musa Al Kazim (the Patient One), (8) Imam Ali Al Ridha (the Accepted One), (9) Imam Muhammad Al Taqi (the Pious One), (10) Imam Ali Al Naqi (the Pure One), (11) Imam Hasan Al Askari (the One with an Army), and (12) Imam Muhammad Al Mahdi (the Rightly-Guided One).

The two branches of Islam were divided in 661 AD following the assassination of the Prophet's son-in-law and political successor Ali Ibn Abu Talib, who was also his cousin.

Ali Ibn Abu Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) is reported to have said that Prophet Muhammad (may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out in the morning with Abu Bakr and Omar and he would return at night with Abu Bakr and Omar.