Zulfiqar is the name of Imam Ali’s sword. Imam Ali was Hz. He was Muhammad’s son-in-law, his uncle’s son and one of the Four Great Caliphs. Zulfiqar is a word consisting of the words “zû” meaning “owner” and “fekār” meaning “backbone, knuckle”. It is the only known sword in the world when its shape is shown. Zulfiqar sword has the shape of a two-ended fork. It is believed that one of themrepresents the science and the other one represents the justice.
There are many different rumors about the weight and length of the Zulfiqar sword. The best thing we know about this is that the sword has very different features and dimensions from all other swords. There are 2 two accepted rumors about this sword. One of them is that the sword is taken from heaven for Imam Ali by the angel Gabriel. The Prophet Muhammad invites Ali to his house and gives the Zulfiqar sword to Imam Ali with its scabbard.
Another rumor about the sword is as follows: While the Islamic army is at war, one of the enemy soldiers asks the Prophet Mohammed for a strong soldier to fight him. Prophet Muhammad gives Zulfiqar to Imam Ali because of this request and asks Imam Ali to fight. It is said that this sword was passed down to the Prophet Muhamad from the Egyptians as spoils of war.
It is rumored that Hazrat Ali suffered 70 injuries after Hazrat Muhammad’s tooth was broken at a war. Imam Ali protected the Prophet against the enemies until the moment because Prophet Muhammad said ‘’Help me, Ali”. After this incident, it is rumored that Gabriel angel said “There is no better sword than Zulfiqar, there is no one more brave than Ali.” This phrase, which can be found in many places in Arabic, is as follows. “La fetta illa ali la seyfe illa Zulfiqar”
There are different rumors about the whereabouts of the Zulfiqar sword. Today, there is a sword that is considered to belong to Imam Ali in Topkapi Palace. But it is not Zulfiqar that looks like these two headed fork.