19 Ramadan 1431

These days are called "ayyAm al-Darbah," the days of the hit, the blow (of the sword), against Imam `Ali (`a).
Everything is black. It was during the fajr prayer that the attack was carried out, before dawn.
Out of the darkness came a poisoned sword. They say the assailant paid a thousand dirhams for the sword and another thousand to have it impregnated with poison. There are many stories about the attack and its motivation. They come to us out of the darkness of history. The assassin was Ibn Muljam, a Kharajite. It is said that he plotted with others. There is also a story that a woman who hated Imam `Ali because some of her relatives had fallen in battle with him asked Ibn Muljam to kill Ali as a part of her bride price when he proposed to her. He was caught immediately after the attack. It is said that when he was brought to Ali, the Imam ordered the ropes with which he had been bound to be loosened. Ali advised his sons not to seek revenge, but to carry out the execution of the murderer if he, Ali, should die, swiftly and by a single stroke. He forbade the dismembering of the corpse of the murderer, saying that the Prophet had said that even a rabid dog should not be dismembered. This is in Nahj al-Balagha. Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi elaborates on the story to get to its more general point, imagining Imam `Ali (`a) to have said: Take care not to kill him with cruelty or torture, for I once heard your grandfather Muhammad (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) say: "Do not kill even a rabid dog with torture and pain." It is also reported that when he was given milk, Ali ordered that half of it be offered to Ibn Muljam because of his hunger.
What is the point? We should not let gut reactions, inclinations, anger, and such take over. Even when faced with the most horrible crimes, and even if the punishments for those crimes are to be carried out, `Ali (`a) advises his son (in Letter 23 of Nahj al-Balagha):
If I forgive, it is a means of nearness (to Allah) for me, and for you a good deed. Therefore, do forgive! What? Would you not love God to forgive you?
Here is an example for us in Ramadan, as we try to learn to control ourselves so that we may direct our own actions toward what is best.
These are days and nights in which prayers are answered. Last night was the first of the three nights that might be considered Laylat ul-Qadr, the night of great worth, which might also be called the night of destiny, the night in which the future is measured out by divine decree. So, last night I prayed for family members, friends, colleagues, correspondents, as many as I could by name, and others generally, those suffering from flood, earthquake, and other natural disasters, and for all those made miserable by the human institutions, such as war and poverty, and other forms of corruption, that humanity has not been able to tame.