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The following letter is viral on the internet which advocates the noble rule of the fourth caliph of Islam, So is it really coming from UN?

UN LETTER

Sakib Arifin
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skept101
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    From a cursory glance at Wikipedia, it appears that the status of Ali bin Ali Talib is one of the major points of disagreement between the Sunni and Shi'a branches of Islam, so this statement would seem to be extremely fraught with sectarian and political implications. If so, it is hard to believe that former Secretary-General Annan would have made such a statement on his own authority. – Nate Eldredge Aug 04 '14 at 13:27
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    I can't find any reference to this letter on any reasonably reliable site, most results are social media. – Mad Scientist Aug 04 '14 at 13:41
  • [This site](http://playandlearn.org/reader.asp?Type=Articles&fn=225) refers to the letter in conjunction with the 2002 Arab Human Development Report, which appears to have been a real UN-sponsored document. That might be a good starting point for further research. – Nate Eldredge Aug 04 '14 at 13:54
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    To believe that the Secretary General of the UN would make a statement that would inflame and infuriate half the Arab world and the entire non-Muslim world, and utterly discredit himself politically, is well beyond the limits of skepticism. – DJClayworth Aug 04 '14 at 22:50
  • On skimming the aforementioned 2002 Arab Human Development Report, it does quote a few pithy sayings from Ali, but doesn't contain any explicit praise for him. – Nate Eldredge Aug 05 '14 at 05:04
  • I want to qualify my original comment by saying that I am in no way an authority on Islam, and could not say for certain whether the statement attributed to Annan would actually be considered controversial among Muslims. – Nate Eldredge Aug 05 '14 at 05:05
  • @NateEldredge Your comment is correct, and infact the motivation to ask this question, to me this seems to be a clear hoax. As the rule of the fourth caliph was shortlived and marred by civil wars , only the rule of 2nd caliph Umar and Muhammad himself was prominent. By putting honorofics like (A.S) for only one person and not the other i.e Muhammad also makes it a likely fabrication. – skept101 Aug 05 '14 at 05:28
  • Also the letterhead has a photo of Kofi which is not a professional practice. – skept101 Aug 05 '14 at 05:32

1 Answers1

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The source of the text of the above letter originates from a facebook posting by a Shia advocacy organization, which went viral from there. The text in the letter in itself does not appear in any UN archive or documents but this UN report does quote few of the sayings attributed to Ali the fourth caliph of Islam. But nothing claiming he was "fairest" governor in history of mankind and hence most likely this letter is a fabrication which uses publicly available signatures and letterheads of Kofi Annan. From historical evidences we know that only the governance of Muhammad and his 2nd caliph Umar were prominent, prosperous and set examples. The rule of Ali was marred by internal rebellion and uprisings carried over by his previous incumbent Uthman.

Sakib Arifin
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skept101
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  • While trying to answer, I did see that document (and shook my head at the idea that Facebook was a source), but I assumed this text came from someone (Sarah Jaffery) who was merely forwarding on the viral message (probably the image we see above), not a person who started a hoax. – Oddthinking Aug 06 '14 at 06:15
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    "The text in the letter in itself does not appear in any UN archive or documents" How do you know this? – Oddthinking Aug 06 '14 at 06:15
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    @Oddthinking http://search.un.org/search?q=Ali+Bin+Abi+Talib&btnG=Search+UN+Website&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&adv=true&lr=lang_en&num=10&sort=score&Submit2=Search&ulang=en&entqrm=0&ud=1&exclude_apps=1&site= – skept101 Aug 06 '14 at 12:39
  • also the source only refers to 2002 report which clearly does not contain that text . – skept101 Aug 06 '14 at 12:44
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    I do see [a UN press release](https://www.un.org/press/en/1997/19971209.SGSM6419.html) from 1997 where Kofi Annan is quoted as saying that "Imam Ali, the fourth Khalifa after Prophet Muhammed, instructed the governor of Egypt to rule with mercy and tolerance towards all his subjects" to an Iranian audience. I don't see this as evidence of the claim, but I'm guessing it may have inspired it. – Brian Z May 08 '20 at 14:56