Early religious history of Ali ibn Abi Talib
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Shi'a Muslims, a sect of Islam, believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and the ancestor of the Shi'a imams, whom the Shi'a believe to be the divinely ordained spiritual leaders of humankind.
The Shi'a believe that in keeping with Ali's divine mission, he converted to Islam before he had ever taken part in any of the rites of the pre-Islamic Meccan traditional religion, which Muslims regard as polytheism or paganism. Hence the Shi'a say of Ali that his face is honored -- that is, it was never sullied by prostrations before idols.
No Sunni historians or make such claims for Ali. The matter is passed over in complete silence. None of the earliest sources (Muslim chroniclers such as Ibn Ishaq and Tabari) mention such a claim.
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