SHAFAQNA – A man told Imam Ali (AS): O’ Amiral Momeneen inform us about the sedition (Fitnah), have you asked the Prophet of Allah (SWT) about sedition? Imam Ali (AS) replied: When God sent down Ayah 2 of Surah Al-Ankabut which said: “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying: we believe; and that they will not be tested?” I realized that until the Prophet (PBUH) is among us we will not be prone to sedition. I asked the Prophet (PBUH): O’ the Prophet of Allah (SWT), what are this sedition and the test which God has informed you about them? The Prophet (PBUH) replied: O’ Ali (AS), indeed these people will soon be inflicted with sedition and tested with their wealth; and they will think God owes them for their religiousness, and at the same time they expect Divine Mercy, and they think they are safe from God’s Wrath; through false misgivings and desires which cause neglect, they turn Haram into Halal; they consider as Halal the wine for the excuse that it is the extract of the grapes, and consider bribe as gift, and usury as a kind of trade. I asked: O’ the Prophet of Allah (SWT), at that time how should I consider these people’s position? Should I consider them to be in the state of apostasy? Or (in the position of) being inflicted with sedition and being tested? The Prophet (PBUH) replied: In the state of sedition and being tested [1].
[1] Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 156.