Judge between me and this sinful, treacherous, deceitful, liar

اقض بيني و بين هذا الكاذب الآثم الغادر الخائن

Judge between me and this sinful, treacherous, deceitful, liar.

This hadith has been narrated by Muslim.

حدثني عبد الله بن محمد بن أسماء الضبعي حدثنا جويرية عن مالك عن الزهري أن مالك بن أوس حدثه قال قال عباس يا أمير المؤمنين اقض بيني و بين هذا الكاذب الآثم الغادر الخائن فقال القوم أجل يا أمير المؤمنين فاقض بينهم و أرحهم فقال مالك بن أوس يخيل إلي أنهم قد كانوا قدموهم لذلك فقال عمر اتئدا أنشدكم بالله الذي بإذنه تقوم السماء و الأرض أتعلمون أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال لا نورث ما تركنا صدقة قالوا نعم ثم أقبل على العباس و علي فقال أنشدكما بالله الذي بإذنه تقوم السماء و الأرض أتعلمان أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال لا نورث ما تركنا صدقة قالا نعم فقال عمر إن الله عز و جل كان خص رسوله صلى الله عليه و سلم بخاصة لم يخصص بها أحدا غيره قال ما أفاء الله على رسوله من أهل القرى فلله و للرسول ما أدري هل قرأ الآية التي قبلها أم لا قال فقسم رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم بينكم أموال بني النضير فوالله ما استأثر عليكم و لا أخذها دونكم حتى بقي هذا المال فكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يأخذ منه نفقة سنة ثم يجعل ما بقي أسوة المال ثم قال أنشدكم بالله الذي بإذنه تقوم السماء و الأرض أتعلمون ذلك قالوا نعم ثم نشد عباسا و عليا بمثل ما نشد به القوم أتعلمان ذلك قالا نعم قال فلما توفي رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال أبو بكر أنا ولي رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فجئتما تطلب ميراثك من ابن أخيك و يطلب هذا ميراث امرأته من أبيها فقال أبو بكر قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ما نورث ما تركنا صدقة فرأيتماه كاذبا آثما غادرا خائنا والله يعلم إنه لصادق بار راشد تابع للحق ثم توفي أبو بكر و أنا ولي رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و ولي أبا بكر فرأيتماني كاذبا آثما غادرا خائنا و الله يعلم إني بار راشد تابع للحق فوليتها ثم جئتني أنت و هذا و أنتما جميع و أمركما واحد فقلتما ادفعها إلينا فقلت إن شئتم دفعتها إليكما على أن عليكما عهد الله أن تعملا فيها بالذي كان يعمل رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فأخذتماها بذلك قال أكذلك قالا نعم ثم جئتماني لأقضي بينكما و لا والله لا أقضي بينكما بغير ذلك حتى تقوم الساعة فإن عجزتما عنها فرداها إلي

‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Asma’ al Dabu’i narrated to me saying that―Juwairiyah narrated to him from―Malik from―al Zuhri that―Malik ibn Aws narrated to him:

‘Abbas said, “O Amir al Mu’minin! Judge between me and this sinful, treacherous, deceitful, liar (referring to ‘Ali).”

The people said, “Yes, O Amir al Mu’minin! Judge between them and relieve them.”

Malik ibn Aws adds, “I could well imagine that they (‘Ali and ‘Abbas) had sent them in advance for this purpose.”

‘Umar said, “Slow down. I ask you in the name of Allah by Whose will the sky and earth stand, do you know that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam declared, ‘We are not inherited from. Whatever we leave is sadaqah.’?” They replied in the affirmative.

He then turned his attention to ‘Abbas and ‘Ali and said, “I ask you in the name of Allah by Whose Will the sky and earth stand, do you know that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam declared, ‘We are not inherited from. Whatever we leave is sadaqah.’?” They replied in the affirmative.

‘Umar then said, “Certainly, Allah―the Mighty and Majestic―favoured Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam exclusively with something He did not favour anyone else besides him with. He declared:

مَّا أَفَاءَ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ رَسُوْلِهِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرىٰ فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُوْلِ

And what Allah restored to His Messenger from the people of the towns – it is for Allah and for the Messenger.[1]”

The narrator submits: “I do not know whether he recited the verse preceding it or not.”

‘Umar continued, “Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam divided the wealth of the Banu al Nadir amongst you. By Allah, he did not favour anyone over you and did not seize it to your exclusion. (After a fair distribution in this way) this property was left over. The Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would meet from its income his annual expenditure, and what remained would be deposited in the Bait-ul-Mal.”

‘Umar then said, “I implore you in Allah by Whose Will the sky and earth stand, are you aware of this fact?”

They replied in the affirmative.

He then took an oath in front of ‘Abbas and ‘Ali just as he swore to the people and asked, “Are you aware of this?”

They too replied in the affirmative.

He continued, “When Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed away, Abu Bakr said, ‘I am the successor of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.’ You both came to him. You (‘Abbas) claimed for your inheritance from your cousin and this one (‘Ali) claimed for his wife’s inheritance from her father. Abu Bakr explained, ‘Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam declared: We are not inherited from. Whatever we leave is sadaqah.’ You considered him a liar, sinner, treacherous, and dishonest; whereas Allah knows that he was truthful, devout, accurate, and following the truth. Thereafter, Abu Bakr passed on. Now I am the successor of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and Abu Bakr. You deemed me a liar, sinner, treacherous, and dishonest; and Allah knows that I am devout, correct, and following the truth. So I undertook its administration. Then you came to me with this man. You were united and your word was unified. You said, ‘Hand it over to us.’ I said, ‘If you wish, I will hand it over to you on condition that you undertake the covenant of Allah that you will administer it just as Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did.’ You took it with this undertaking.”

He confirmed, “Is this not the case?”

They replied, “Yes.”

He said, “Now you come to me to judge between you two. No. By Allah, I will not judge between you with something else until the Day of Judgement. If you are unable to administer it, hand it back to me.”[2]

Observations on the hadith:

If Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu belief was that Sayyidina ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhu was a treacherous, deceitful, liar then why would he approach him to judge between himself and ‘Abbas radiya Llahu ‘anhu? This is yet another picture of contradiction which Shi’ism paints.

How is it possible for Sayyidina ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhu to possess these abominable qualities according to Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu yet the latter marries his daughter to the former? This is a clear implicit and indirect criticism against Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib radiya Llahu ‘anhu. Whoever is happy to wed his daughter to a man with such qualities in none the better.

Moreover, Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu pledging allegiance to a treacherous, deceitful, liar makes him unfit to be a leader for people. When he was unable to lead his own household, then how on earth can he befitting to protect the ummah?

We have many evidences and indications to falsify the falseness of those who wish to give improper and inappropriate meanings to the texts.

Had it been true that Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu considered Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu a liar and dishonest they why did he pledge allegiance to a man with such base qualities?
Had it been true that Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu considered Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu a liar and dishonest then Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu would be wrong and after all he is human. This is because Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu cited as proof against Sayyidah Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha a hadith which the general Rawafid have authenticated. The hadith reads:

و إن الأنبياء لم يورثوا درهما و لا دينارا و لكن ورثوا العلم

The Ambiya’ do not leave silver and gold coins in inheritance. But they only leave knowledge behind.

Therefore, the Rawafid due to this become deceits, liars, treacherous, and sinners. Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu acknowledged this when he said:

و كنا نرى لقرابتنا من رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم نصيبا حتى فاضت عينا أبي بكر فلما تكلم أبو بكر قال والذي نفسي بيده لقرابة رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم أحب إلي أن أصل من قرابتي و أما الذي شجر بيني و بينكم من هذه الأموال فلم آل فيها عن الخير و لم أترك أمرا رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يصنعه فيها إلا صنعته

“We thought that due to our relationship with Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam we would have a share (in the khilafah).”

He spoke until Abu Bakr’s tears streamed down Abu Bakr’s cheeks .

When Abu Bakr spoke he said, “By the Being in Whose hands lies my life, maintaining family ties with the family members of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is dearer to me than maintaining ties with my own kith and kin. Whatever transpired between me and you regarding this wealth, I neither steered away from goodness nor did I abandon something I saw Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam doing except that I carried out the same.”

Do you consider in your viewpoints on the Sahabah Allah’s praise for the Muhajirin—and ‘Umar is among them—and His praise for the participants of Bay’at al Ridwan—and ‘Umar is among them? Are you not the ones who declare vehemently that whatever contradicts the Qur’an should be thrown in the trash? The testimony of Allah enjoys precedence over the testimony of Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu according to your creed.
Sayyidina ‘Ali marrying his daughter, Umm Kulthum, to ‘Umar ibn al Khattab radiya Llahu ‘anhum, pledging allegiance to him, and considering the name of ‘Umar a good omen (by naming his children with this name) will remain as proofs against you in this world and the next.
Whoever considers Sayyidina ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhu a liar and dishonest will not marry his daughter to him. Will you be pleased to marry your daughters to someone who has such evil qualities? Has your intelligence left you? Have you found any of your seniors marrying their daughters to Christians or Jews?
Sayyidina ‘Umar told Sayyidina ‘Abbas about Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhum, “You considered him a liar, sinner, treacherous, and dishonest.” This is an ilzam (counter argument) against Sayyidina ‘Abbas radiya Llahu ‘anhu who used these words for Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu calling him a liar, sinner, treacherous, and dishonest. Thus he is using Sayyidina ‘Abbas’s words against him so as to say if you are calling ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu dishonest then it would mean you consider myself and Abu Bakr dishonsest as well”

If you say that this explains Sayyidina ‘Ali’s belief about Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhuma. The hadith emphatically declares the former’s acknowledgement of the correctness of Rasulullah’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam statement, “We are not inherited from.” He replied in the affirmative to this but did not say yes when asked about Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu.

Your narrations emphasise that Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu inherited from Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam the Qur’an and Sunnah, not kingdom nor anything else.

Al Saduq relates a narration with a chain to Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn Awfa radiya Llahu ‘anhu who says:

آخى رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم بين أصحابه و ترك عليا فقال له آخيت بين أصحابك و تركتني فقال والذي نفسي بيده ما أبقيتك إلا لنفسي أنت أخي و وصيي و وارثي قال و ما أرث منك يا رسول الله قال ما أورث النبيون قبلي كتاب ربهم و سنة نبيهم

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam contracted bonds of brotherhood between his Companions and left ‘Ali. ‘Ali submitted, “You made bonds of brotherhood between your Companions and left me out?”

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “By the Being in Whose hands lies my life, I did not leave you except for myself. You are my brother, my wasi, and my heir.”

“And what will I inherit from you, O Messenger of Allah,” enquired ‘Ali.

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam responded, “What was inherited from the Messengers before me: the Book of their Rabb and the Sunnah of their nabi.”[3]

There is nothing in the hadith besides a counter reply to Sayyidina ‘Abbas radiya Llahu ‘anhu for accusing Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu of deception, lying, and treachery. If Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu was like this, then Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu is the same and if Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu was not like this then Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu is the same.

Next⇒ Terminate your bay’ah with me for I have a Shaitan who seizes me

[1] Surah al Hashr: 7.

[2] Sahih Muslim Hadith: 1757.

[3] Al Saduq: al Amali 346; al Tabataba’i: Tafsir al Mizan vol. 8 pg. 117; al Mahuzi: Kitab al Arba’in pg. 236.

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