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Ali bin Abi Thalib mathematical Brilliance

   Imam Ali bin Abi Thalib (karramallahu wajhah) was endowed with a quick, sharp, incisive, mathematical mind. Here are a few interesting stories in which Imam Ali's mathematical brilliance revealed itself.

Whole Number and not a Fraction

One Day a Jewish person came to Imam Ali (krw), thinking that since Imam Ali thinks he is too smart, I'll ask him such a tough question that he won't be able to answer it and I'll have the chance to embarrass him in front of all the Arabs.

He asked "Imam Ali, tell me a number, that if we divide it by any number from 1-10 the answer will always come in the form of a whole number and not as a fraction."

Imam Ali (krw.) looked back at him and said, "Take the number of days in a year and multiply it with the number of days in a week and you will have your answer."

The Jewish person got astonished but as he was a polytheist (Mushrik), he still didn't believe Imam Ali (krw.). He calculated the answer Imam Ali (krw.) gave him.

To his amazement he came across the following results:
- The number of Days in a Year = 360 (in Arab)
- The Number of Days in a Week = 7
- The product of the two numbers = 360x7=2520

Now...

2520 ÷ 1 = 2520
2520 ÷ 2 = 1260
2520 ÷ 3 = 840
2520 ÷ 4 = 630
2520 ÷ 5 = 504
2520 ÷ 6 = 420
2520 ÷ 7 = 360
2520 ÷ 8 = 315
2520 ÷ 9 = 280
2520 ÷ 10= 252

The Five Loaves of Bread

Zarr Bin Hobeish relates this story: Two travelers sat together on the way to their destination to have a meal. One had five loaves of bread. The other had three. A third traveler was passing by and at the request of the two joined in the meal. The travelers cut each of the loaf of bread in three equal parts. Each of the travelers ate eight broken pieces of the loaf.

At the time of leaving the third traveler took out eight dirhams and gave to the first two men who had offered him the meal, and went away. On receiving the money the two travelers started quarrelling as to who should have how much of the money. The five-loaf-man demanded five dirhams. The three-loaf-man insisted on dividing the money in two equal parts (4 dirhams each).

The dispute was brought to Imam Ali (krw.) (the Caliph of the time in Arabia) to be decided.

Imam Ali (krw.) requested the three-loaf-man to accept three dirhams, because five-loaf-man has been more than fair to you. The three-loaf-man refused and said that he would take only four dirhams.
At this Imam Ali (krw.) replied, "You can have only one dirham. You had eight loaves between yourselves. Each loaf was broken in three parts. Therefore, you had 24 equal parts. 8x3=24

Your 3 loaves made 9 parts out of which you have eaten 8 portions, leaving just 1 piece to the third traveler. (3x3)-8=1
Your friend had 5 loaves which divided into 3 made 15 pieces. He ate 8 pieces and gave 7 pieces to the guest.(5x3)-8=7

As such the guest shared 1 part from your loaves and 7 from those of your friend. So you should get one dirham and your friend should receive seven dirhams."

Dividing Inheritance (Warits)

What is a wife's share?
Imam Ali (krw) was once interrupted while he was delivering a sermon from the pulpit by someone who asked him how to distribute the inheritance of someone who had died leaving a wife, his parents and two daughters. The Imam instantly answered:

"The wife's share becomes one ninth."

How?

This answer is in fact the result of a long analysis with a number of steps. Ordinarily, we have to decide on the original share of each of these heirs, in the following way:

The wife takes one eighth, in view of the presence of an inheriting child. [Holy Quran 4:12]
The deceased's father and mother take one sixth each. [Holy Quran 4:11]
The two daughters take two thirds of the inheritance. [Holy Quran 4:11]

So the total will be: 1/8 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 2/3 = 3/24 + 4/24 + 4/24 + 16/24 = 27/24

This means the share becomes less than 1/8 in view of the increase of the total of the shares which are so fixed and prescribed. So the one eighth, the original share due to the wife out of twenty-four total shares, has become three shares out of a total of twenty-seven, which is one ninth.

Imam Ali's mind went through this complex mathematical process in a second!

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Mathematik Dalam Solat

"Berapa lamakah kita solat dalam sehari semalam? Jika setiap rakaat kita anggarkan dua minit, maka dalam sehari-semalam jumlahnya ada 34 minit.

Maksudnya?

Dalam sehari hanya kita menggunakan sebanyak 2.4 % dari 1440 minit (60*24). Dalam seminggu, bererti ada 238 minit atau 3.96 jam. Dalam sebulan, lama kita bersolat sebanyak 952 minit atau 15.86 jam. Dan setahun, ada 11,424 minit atau 190.4 jam, yang sama dengan 7.93 hari.

Jika rata-rata usia hidup manusia selama 60 tahun, dan dikurangkan dengan 10 tahun masa awal akil baligh (dewasa), maka hanya 50 tahun seseorang melaksanakan solat dalam hidupnya. Itu bermakna, sepanjang hidupnya kita melaksanakan solat fardlu selama 571,200 minit atau lebih kuranf 9.520 jam, atau 396.7 hari (1.1 tahun).

Bayangkan, selama hidup, kita hanya meruangkan masauntuk solat fardhu selama 1.1 tahun, atau dalam satu tahun hanya 7.93 hari, atau dalam satu hari hanya 34 minit. Dari sini terlihat betapa jauhnya perbandingan ketaatan kita kepada Allah SWT dengan nikmat yang diberikan-Nya kepada kita dengan nikmat usia.

Maka sangat malang, apabila ada orang yang tidak melaksanakan solat kerana alasan tidak ada masa,tak sempat atau sibuk. Padahal, jika kita jujur terhadap diri sendiri, kita boleh lama-lama berbual di telefon, di depan komputer, jalan-jalan, menonton TV,melepak dan lain-lainnya.

Ingatlah, Abu Zubair menceritakan bahawa dia mendengar Jabir bin Abdullah berkata,

”Aku pernah mendengar Rasulullah SAW bersabda, ‘Antara seseorang dengan kemusyrikan dan kekafiran itu terdapat perbuatan meninggalkan solat’.” (HR Muslim).

Oleh kerana itu, jangan pernah merasa puas dan berbangga diri dengan ibadah yang telah kita laksanakan. Sebab boleh jadi ibadah kita, terutama solat, tidak akan bermakna apa-apa apabila amalan itu kita kerjakan dengan tidak ikhlas. Apalagi berharap surga. Allah menyindir orang yang demikian dengan pendusta agama. (QS Al-Maun [107]: 1-7).

Jadi, jangan hanya berangan masuk syurga dengan selembar tiket solat fardhu.

Silakan menjaring rahmat Allah dengan membuat banyak amal soleh. Berinfak,solat sunat,membaca Al-Quran, zakat, puasa, haji, berbaik dengan jiran,menyambung silaturahim, mengurus keluarga, belajar, menderma anak yatim, tidak membuang sampah sembarangan, bahkan hanya tersenyum kepada kawan pun termasuk amal soleh. Wallahualam.