Why Imam Ali (as) was named Abu Tarab

Chapter (113) : To be called Abu Tarab, though one already has another Kunyah name

باب التَّكَنِّي بِأَبِي تُرَابٍ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ لَهُ كُنْيَةٌ أُخْرَى

كتاب الأدب

Good Manners and Form (Al-Adab)

حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدُ بْنُ مَخْلَدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو حَازِمٍ، عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ إِنْ كَانَتْ أَحَبَّ أَسْمَاءِ عَلِيٍّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ إِلَيْهِ لأَبُو تُرَابٍ، وَإِنْ كَانَ لَيَفْرَحُ أَنْ يُدْعَى بِهَا، وَمَا سَمَّاهُ أَبُو تُرَابٍ إِلاَّ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم غَاضَبَ يَوْمًا فَاطِمَةَ فَخَرَجَ فَاضْطَجَعَ إِلَى الْجِدَارِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ، فَجَاءَهُ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَتْبَعُهُ، فَقَالَ هُوَ ذَا مُضْطَجِعٌ فِي الْجِدَارِ فَجَاءَهُ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَامْتَلأَ ظَهْرُهُ تُرَابًا، فَجَعَلَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَمْسَحُ التُّرَابَ عَنْ ظَهْرِهِ يَقُولُ ‏ “‏ اجْلِسْ يَا أَبَا تُرَابٍ ‏”‏‏.‏ …

Abu Tarab Raja al-Zahiri was born in 1923 in what was then the British Raj to a family of Arab descent. Through their family tree, Zahiri’s parents could trace their original roots back to Umar, the second caliph of Islam and of the Rashidun Caliphate, and thus the Banu Adi clan of the Quraysh tribe.

Zahiri traveled extensively in pursuit of Islamic manuscripts, which he often copied by hand due to lack of resources. During his younger years, he visited Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. He eventually ended up in Egypt, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at Al-Azhar University, and was also a student of fellow Hadith specialist Ahmad Muhammad Shakir. Later, Zahiri settled down in Saudi Arabia at the behest of first King of Saudi Arabia Ibn Saud, who requested that Zahiri teach Muslim theology in Mecca’s Masjid al-Haram, the holiest site in Islam. Zahiri’s best known student was Abu Abd al-Rahman Ibn Aqil al-Zahiri, who shared Zahiri’s pen name due to their adherence to the Zahirite school of Islamic law. Zahiri also had a friendship with fellow foreigner in Saudi Arabia, Abdallah Bin Bayyah.
Zahiri died on Saturday morning, the 21st of Safar in 1423 Hijri, corresponding to May 4, 2002 Gregorian. While in his private library, Zahiri complained of paralysis in his feet to an aide. Prevented from pronouncing the Muslim testimony of faith due to aphasia, Zahiri died on his bed pointing toward the sky instead. He was buried in Mecca’s historic Jannatul Mualla cemetery the next morning.
Works
Zahiri authored roughly fifty published works. Although he was fluent in Persian and Urdu and conversational in multiple Languages of India, most of his written work was in Arabic.
Biographical
ʻAbd al-Karīm ibn ʻAbd Allāh ʻAbd al-Karīm, Abū Tarab al-Ẓāhirī, 1343–1423 H/1923–2002 M : ṣafaḥāt min ḥayātih — wa-taʼammulāt fī adabih. …