Hadith 158: O ‘Ali, verily Allah has ordered me to take Abu Bakr as a father, ‘Umar as an advisor, ‘Uthman as a support, and you, O ‘Ali, as an assistant. …
Hadith 157: Verily Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala created the souls two thousand years before He created the physical bodies. Then He placed them under the ‘Arsh (Throne) and ordered them to obey me. The first soul to greet me was the soul of ‘Ali.
February 4, 2019Hadith 159: Whoever loves me should love ‘Ali. And whoever loves ‘Ali should love my daughter Fatimah….
February 4, 2019BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents
Hadith 158
يا علي إن الله أمرني أن أتخذ أبا بكر والدا، وعمر مشيرا، وعثمان سندا، وأنت يا على ظهيرا، أنتم أربعة، قد أخذ الله لكم الميثاق في أم الكتاب لا يحبكم إلا مؤمن تقي، ولا يبغضكم إلا منافق شقي، أنتم خلفاء نبوتي، وعقد ذمتي، وحجتي على أمتي.
O ‘Ali, verily Allah has ordered me to take Abu Bakr as a father, ‘Umar as an advisor, ‘Uthman as a support, and you, O ‘Ali, as an assistant. You four, Allah has taken a covenant with you in Umm al Kitab (i.e. Qurʾan): only a pious believer loves you and only a wretched hypocrite hates you. You are the khulafaʾ of my Prophethood, the leader(s) of my dhimmah (responsibility) and the proof(s) against my Ummah.
This hadith is narrated from ‘Ali and Hudhayfah radiya Llahu ‘anhuma.
The Hadith of ‘Ali
This version of the hadith has the following two chains of transmission:
- Al Khatib narrates — from ‘Abdul Wahhab ibn al Hassan al Dimashqi — Abu al Qasim ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Tamimi al Mu’allim (famously known as al Ghabaghibi) narrated to us — Dirar ibn Sahl al Dirari narrated to me in Baghdad in the house of Dar al Khalanjiyyin in Raʾs al Jisr — al Hassan ibn ‘Arafah narrated to us — Abu Hafs al Abar ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul Rahman narrated to us — from Humaid — from Anas who said that ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib said, “The Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said to me…”[1]
Al Khatib says, “This hadith is very munkar (unacceptable). I only know Dirar ibn Sahl to narrate with this chain of transmission; and from him al Ghabaghibi. Both of them are majhul (unknown).”
The person from whom al Khatib narrated the hadith is unidentified.
Al Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar said< “(The narration of) Dirar ibn Sahl from al Hassan ‘Arafah is a batil (false) report. It is not known who this animal is.”[2]
In another place, al Dhahabi says that Dirar ibn Sahl is majhul (unknown) and that perhaps he is responsible for fabricating this hadith.[3]
- Ibn ‘Asakir narrates this version with a chain of transmission that is saqit (wholly unreliable).[4] It contains the following defects:
- Ibn Mandah says regarding Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmed ibn ‘Umar al Asadi, “He narrates manakir (unacceptable reports) from ‘Abdul Salam ibn Mutahhar.” It remains to be seen who ‘Abdul Salam ibn Mutahhar is.
- Durayd, or Duwayd ibn Mujashi’ is majhul (unknown).
- Ahmed ibn Musa ibn Ishaq al Himar was only deemed a thiqah (reliable) by Ibn Hibban.[5] Ibn Hibban is notorious for deeming unknown narrators as reliable.
The Hadith of Hudhayfah
Ibn ‘Asakir narrates this version of the hadith — from Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ibrahim ibn al Asamm al Bajali al ‘Akkawi — Al Mubajjal ibn Mansur narrated to us — from Yahya ibn ‘Ubaid al Tanafisi — from Fitr ibn Khalifah — from Abu al Tufayl — from Hudhayfah…”[6] This contains a shahid (supporting witness report).
I could not trace Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ibrahim ibn al Asamm al Bajali al ‘Akkawi, al Mubajjal ibn Mansur, and Yahya ibn ‘Ubaid al Tanafisi.
Ibn ‘Iraq says, “There are several narrators in the various chains of transmission for this hadith that I was unable to find a biography about. And Allah knows best.”[7]
Al Suyuti mentions another chain of transmission of this hadith that is narrated by Abu Nuaim.[8] It contains the narrator Abu Ishaq. He is a mudallis[9] (obfuscates when he narrates) and a mukhtalit (commits serious errors).
It also contains the narrator al Kudaymi. He is suspected of lying.
It also contains the narrator ‘Umar ibn Ahmed ibn ‘Ali al Baghdadi. Ibn Tahir al Maqdisi says that he narrates fabricated reports from reliable narrators.
In short, all the chains of transmission are saqitah (wholly unreliable). The hadith is a lie.
[1] Al Khatib: Tarikh Baghdad, 9/345.
[2] Al Dhahabi: Mizan al I’tidal, 2/327; Ibn Hajar: Lisan al Mizan, 3/202.
[3] Al Dhahabi: Talkhis al Mawdu’at, hadith no. 137.
[4] Ibn ‘Asakir: Tarikh Dimashq, 27/47.
[5] Ibn Hibban: Kitab al Thiqat, 8/53.
[6] Ibn ‘Asakir: Tarikh Dimashq, 14/63.
[7] Ibn ‘Iraq: Tanzih al Shari’ah, 1/368.
[8] Al Suyuti: al Laʾali al Masnu’ah, 1/350.
[9] For an explanation of this term, Click Here. [translator’s note]