I am the city of wisdom and ‘Ali is its door

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I am the city of wisdom and ‘Ali is its door

أنا مدينة الحكمة و علي بابها

I am the city of wisdom and ‘Ali is its door.

Ibn ‘Adi says, “This hadith is mu’dal[1] from al A’mash. Abu al Salt appropriated[2] it from Abu Muawiyah”[3]

The scholars―inter alia Abu Zur’ah―have stated:

كم من خلق افتضحوا بهذا الحديث

How many were disgraced because of this hadith.[4]

I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its door

أنا مدينة العلم و علي بابها

I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its door.

The stance of the ‘ulama’ on this hadith:

Hafiz reported its marfu’ version from Jabir and then declared, “The hadith is munkar.”[5]
Al Albani declared it mawdu’.[6]
Al Qurtubi says, “This hadith is batil (false). Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is the city of knowledge and the Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum are its doors. Probably, it is from the statements reported from Abu Bakr ibn al ‘Arabi. No matter what the case may be, he reports it regarding it as appropriate.”[7]
Al Haythami said, “‘Abdul Salam ibn Salih is present therein who is da’if.”[8]
Al Dhahabi mentioned something that could be suitably used to censure Abu al Salt and then quoted this hadith from him.[9]
It is reported from Matin that this hadith is mawdu’.[10] Moreover, he mentions the lie of Abu al Salt against Abu Ahmed ibn Salamah appropriated it from him.[11] Al Dhahabi describes the narration as batil.[12]
Ibn al Jawzi says, “‘Umar ibn Ismail ibn Mujalid appears in the isna He is matruk (suspected of forgery) and unreliable.”[13]
Ibn ‘Adi states, “This hadith is munkar and mawdu’.”[14] He mentioned it in Tarikh Baghdad[15] without passing any verdict on it.
In Tarikh Baghdad he says, “Abu Jafar said: None of the reliable narrators report this hadith from Abu Abu al Salt reported it but they belied him.”[16]

So why did Khatib al Baghdadi authenticate this hadith?

He reports from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim that Abu al Salt narrates munkar ahadith. He was told, “He reports the hadith of Mujahid from ‘Ali: I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its door.” He responded, “We have not heard of this.” He was told, “Do you censure him for this?” He said, “With regards to this narration, we have not heard of it.”[17]

In fact, Khatib mentioned Yahya ibn Ma’in’s unawareness of the condition of Abu al Salt so he declared the hadith sahih. Thereafter, his condition was revealed to him so he criticised Khatib’s statement meaning that it is not batil since many narrated it from Abu Muawiyah besides him.

At the end Khatib made this statement, “A group of the A’immah have declared Abu al Salt da’if and have criticised him for other than this hadith.”[18]

He then mentioned many statements which indicate that he was a kadhab, deviant, and wayward. Following this, this narration is reported from Yahya ibn Ma’in who criticised it saying that it is a lie and has no basis.[19]

So from where did Khatib decide to authenticate the narration?

It appears in al ‘Ilal wa Ma’rifat al Rijal: Yahya said concerning the narration of Ibn ‘Umar ibn Ismail ibn Mujalid, “He is a liar and an evil man.”[20]

Al ‘Ijluni declares all the narrations wahin (weak).[21]

Abu al Salt (‘Abdul Salam ibn Salih) is present therein. He is extremely da’if. Al Hakim classified him reliable but al Dhahabi contests this explaining that he is not reliable nor safe.[22]

It is reported from three chains from al A’mash, and all are mawdu’. ‘Uthman al Amawi appears in them who is accused of being a liar, hadith fabricator, and Sariq al Hadith[23]. There is another chain from al A’mash which is extremely da’if due to the extreme weakness of Ibn ‘Adi’s Sheikh Ahmed ibn Hafs and the vagueness of Sa’id ibn ‘Uqbah. There are about eleven chains from Abu Muawiyah all of them being either extremely da’if or mawdu’. Ibn al Jawzi has pass the verdict of forgery.[24]

The stance of Hafiz Ibn Hajar in al Lisan:

Hafiz Ibn Hajar says in Lisan al Mizan: “Yahya ibn Bashar al Kindi narrated a batil (false) narration.”

The batil narration according to Hafiz Ibn Hajar is the narration: “I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its door.” Under the biography of Sa’id ibn ‘Uqbah, Hafiz says about this narration of his, “Probably he mixed it up.”[25]

Jafar ibn Muhammad al Faqih rejected Matin who narrated it and declared it mawdu’ saying, “This hadith has many chains in Mustadrak al Hakim. The least that can be said is that the hadith has a basis. So it should not just be labelled as mawdu’.”[26]

When a hadith has a basis, it does not become sahih. Da’if also has a basis. However, mawdu’ is fabricated, a lie.

Ismail ibn Muhammad Abi Harun al Jibrini al Filastini.

Ibn Hibban said, “He would appropriate ahadith.”
He reported a fabrication which has the words, “Abu Bakr is your minister and khalifah after you.”
Ibn al Jawzi said, “His statement: kadhab has only been reported from Ibn Ta So ponder over the justice of the Ahlus Sunnah. Had they not cared about the authenticity of a sanad and been prejudice, they would have authenticated this sanad.”[27]

Ismail ibn ‘Ali al Muthanna

He is described as a kadhab (great liar).[28]

Ahmed ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Yazid al Haythami

He is described as a kadhab and fabricator.[29]

Ahmed ibn Salamah

He is from Ku He narrated in Jurjan from Abu Muawiyah al Darir.
Ibn Hibban says, “He would appropriate ahadith.”[30]

Hafiz’s stance on it in Tahdhib al Tahdhib:

The biography of ‘Abdul Salam ibn Salih ibn Ayub:

It is reported from al Marwazi that he has many munkar narrations and this hadith was listed among those. Hafiz says, “This is what they impugn him for.”[31]

The biography of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib:

Hafiz narrated this hadith in the passive voice saying: It has been narrated.[32]

The biography of ‘Umar ibn Ismail ibn Mujalid:

Hafiz quotes: Abu Zur’ah says, “Abu Muawiyah’s hadith from―al A’mash from―Mujahid from―Ibn ‘Abbas: ‘I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its door,’ how many have been humiliated by it.”[33]

The scholars―inter alia Abu Zur’ah―have stated:

كم من خلق افتضحوا بهذا الحديث

How many were disgraced because of this hadith.^{^[34]}

Next⇒ You are my brother in the world and the Hereafter

[1] Mu’dal: The isnad of a narration which has two or more links missing in succession. (Sharh Nukhbat al Fikr pg. 86.)

[2] The term used here is Saraqa, which literally means he stole it. Sariqat al hadith is a phenomenon in hadith transmission whereby a hadith is known to have been narrated through one narrator only—most often weak or severely impugned. A fraudster then narrates the same narration from the initial source—omitting the weak narrator—to give the impression that he had heard it directly. This is a very specific form of hadith forgery, involving not the complete fabrication of a hadith, but rather the fabrication of a co-narration.

[3] Al Kamil fi al Du’afa’ vol. 5 pg. 177; Lisan al Mizan vol. 4 pg. 144.

[4] Tahdhib al Tahdhib vol. 7 pg. 374; Tahdhib al Kamal vol. 21 pg. 277; Su’alat al Bardha’i vol. 1 pg. 591.

[5] Lisan al Mizan vol. 1 pg. 197.

[6] Silsilat al Ahadith al Da’ifah vol. 6 pg. 518 Hadith: 2955.

[7] Tafsir al Qurtubi vol. 9 pg. 220.

[8] Majma’ al Zawa’id vol. 9 pg. 114.

[9] Siyar vol. 11 pg. 447.

[10] Mizan al I’tidal vol. 2 pg. 145.

[11] Mizan al I’tidal vol. 5 pg. 220.

[12] Ibid vol. 7 pg. 165.

[13] Al Du’afa’ wa al Matrukun vol. 2 pg. 205.

[14] Al Kamil fi al Du’afa’ vol. 1 pg. 192.

[15] Tarikh Baghdad vol. 2 pg. 377, vol. 4 pg. 348.

[16] Ibid vol. 7 pg. 172.

[17] Ibid vol. 11 pg. 48.

[18] Tarikh Baghdad vol. 11 pg. 50.

[19] Ibid vol. 11 pg. 58.

[20] Al ‘Ilal wa Ma’rifat al Rijal vol. 3 pg. 9.

[21] Kashf al Khifa’ vol. 1 pg. 236.

[22] Al Mustadrak vol. 3 pg. 126.

[23] See previous footnote explaining the implication of the term.

[24] Al Mawdu’at vol. 1 pg. 351.

[25] Lisan al Mizan vol. 3 pg. 47 – 48 Biography: 142.

[26] Ibid vol. 2 pg. 155 Biography: 155.

[27] Ibid vol. 1 pg. 482 Biography: 1342.

[28] Ibid vol. 1 pg. 471 Biography: 1316.

[29] Ibid vol. 1 pg. 211 Biography: 513.

[30] Ibid vol. 1 pg. 190 Biography: 574.

[31] Tahdhib al Tahdhib vol. 6 pg. 319 – 320.

[32] Ibid vol. 7 pg. 337.

[33] Ibid vol. 7 pg. 427.

[34] Tahdhib al Tahdhib vol. 7 pg. 374; Tahdhib al Kamal vol. 21 pg. 277; Su’alat al Bardha’i vol. 1 pg. 591.

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