Isnad of al-Baghawi

Isnad of al Baghawi

The following narration of Abu al Qasim al Baghawi is found in ‘Abaqat al Anwar (vol. 1 pg. 170). The author of ‘Abaqat has also quoted this from the book Fara’id al Simtayn of al Hamawi.

انبانا القاسم عبد الله بن محمد بن عبد العزيز البغوى انبانا بشر بن الوليد الكندى انبانا محمد بن طلحة عن الاعمش عن عطية عن ابى سعيد الخدرى عن النبى صلى الله عليه و سلم قال تنى اوشك ان ادعى فاجيب و انى تارك فيكم الثقلين كتاب الله عز و جل حبل ممدود من السماء الى الارض وعترتى اهل بيتى وان اللطيف الخبير اخبرنى انهما لن يتفرقا حتى يردا عللى الحوض فانظرو كيف تخلفونى فيهما

Abu al Qasim ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz al Baghawi — Bishr ibn al Walid al Kindi — Muhammad ibn Talhah — al A’mash — ‘Attiyah — from Abu Sa’id that Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

Indeed I will soon be called and I will respond to the call. I am leaving amongst you al Thaqalayn, the Book of Allah—the Most Exalted and Glorious—which is a rope that has been extended from the sky to the earth and my ‘itrah, who are my Ahlul Bayt. The Knower of the finest details and the one who is well aware of everything has informed me that they will never separate until they meet me at the Pond (al Kawthar), therefore be careful how you succeed me with regards to them.

The original source of this narration is the book Fara’id al Simtayn of Hamawi, which we could not lay our hands upon up until now. Allah knows best as to what is the status of this book. Are the narrations therein confined to the authentic ones, or is it a collection of all types of narrations? From the chain that was available to us (the one above), we found ‘Attiyah ibn Sa’d al ‘Aufi al Kufi in the chain. This narrator commits many errors, his narrations are unreliable and he is an infamous Shia. He conceals the name of his teacher in weird ways. He narrates from his teacher Muhammad ibn Sa’ib al Kalbi and thereafter conceals his name by calling him Abu Sa’id. In this way, he spread the narrations of his teacher amongst the masses. We have already mentioned the bulk of the details regarding him under the narration of Tabaqat ibn Sa’d, which you may refer to.

The Shia regard him to be one of the companions of Imam Muhammad al Baqir. This has been clearly mentioned in Jami’ al Ruwat as well as Tanqih al Maqal. Therefore this narration cannot be accepted.

The author of ‘Abaqat also mentioned the narration of Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Rahman al Mukhlis al Dhahabi under the year 393 A.H. The honourable readers are being informed that the narration of Muhammad is no different to this one. It is also quoted from the book Fara’id al Simtayn of Hamawi, which mentions the chain of Abu al Qasim al Baghawi as quoted above. ‘Attiyah al ‘Aufi and company appear in this chain as well. Therefore there is no need to discuss the narration of Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Rahman al Mukhlis al Dhahabi separately. Al Mukhlis al Dhahabi’s narration appears in ‘Abaqat al Anwar (vol. 1 pg. 198). You may refer to it there. Mir Sahib mentioned this isnad of al Mukhlis al Dhahabi separately in order to lengthen his list of sources. It is obvious that he was only concerned about making his book voluminous. He adopted this ploy in many different places.

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