Neither did ‘Ali nor any of the Banu Hashim swear allegiance to him until Fatimah passed away

فلم يبايعه علي حتى ماتت فاطمة و لا أحد من بين هاشم

Neither did ‘Ali nor any of the Banu Hashim swear allegiance to him until Fatimah passed away.

Al Bayhaqi narrated it from al Zuhri without an isnad[1]. He labelled it munqati’. It means that al Zuhri did not mention a sanad for this statement as Hafiz explained in al Fath[2].

He favoured over it the mawsul narration from Sayyidina Abu Sa’id radiya Llahu ‘anhu which confirms that Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu did in fact swear allegiance to Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu a second time, to affirm the initial bay’ah and to remove any suspicions that might have popped up due to the inheritance saga.

Al Bayhaqi says after narrating this hadith:

سمعت محمد بن إسحاق بن خزيمة يقول جاءني مسلم بن الحجاج فسألني عن هذا الحديث فكتبته له في رقعة و قرأت عليه فقال هذا حديث يسوي بدنة فقلت يسوي بدنة بل هو يسوي بدرة

I heard Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuziamah saying, “Muslim ibn al Hajjaj came to me and asked me about this hadith. So I wrote it for him on a piece of paper and read it out to him. Muslim commented: ‘This hadith is worth a badanah (a large sacrificial cow/camel).’

I responded: ‘This hadith is not only equal to a badanah; instead, it is equal to a badarah (a bag that contains 10 000 gold coins).’”^[3]

Just see how Muslim, the author of Sahih Muslim, compliments the narration.

This sahih narration totally debunks the da’if narration.

Al Bayhaqi clarifies:

و قول الزهري في قعود علي عن بيعة أبي بكر رضي الله عنه حتى توفيت فاطمة رضي الله عنها منقطع و حديث أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه في مبايعته إياه حين بويع بيعة العامة بعد السقيفة أصح و لعل الزهري أراد قعوده عنها بعد البيعة ثم نهوضه إليها ثانيا و قيامه بواجباتها والله أعلم

Al Zuhri’s statement regarding ‘Ali’s refusal to pledge allegiance to Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu until Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha passed away is munqati’ (without an isnad). On the other hand, the hadith of Abu Sa’id al Khudri radiya Llahu ‘anhu affirming his swearing of allegiance when the general bay’ah took place after the incident at Saqifah is more authentic. Probably, what al Zuhri meant was that he was inactive after the initial bay’ah but then became active again and resolved to fulfil its demands. And Allah knows best!

I found the narration in Musnad Abi ‘Awanah[4], Musannaf ‘Abdul Razzaq[5], and Tarikh al Tabari[6] from ‘Abdul Razzaq ibn Humam.

Abdul Razzaq ibn Humam

Al Bukhari states, “He errs in some of his reports.”[7]
Al ‘Ijli reports that he is reliable, but had shia tendencies.[8]

The narration comes from the chain of al Dabari from ‘Abdul Razzaq. He is Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al Dabari.

Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al Dabari

Al Dhahabi comments, “He reported munkar ahadith from ‘Abdul Razzaq.”
In fact, he described him as a shameless rafidi.[9]

Ibn al Salah has reservations for the ahadith al Dabari reports from ‘Abdul Razzaq ibn Humam. He attributes its nakarah (repulsiveness) to al Dabari due to the existence of irresolution regarding whether he heard from ‘Abdul Razzaq.[10]

This narration is rejected by al Hakim and al Bayhaqi’s report from Abu Sa’id al Khudri radiya Llahu ‘anhu which has a very sahih isnad.

The narration of al Hakim is:

حدثنا أبو العباس محمد بن يعقوب ثنا جعفر بن محمد بن شاكر ثنا عفان بن مسلم ثنا وهيب ثنا داود بن أبي هند ثنا أبو نضرة عن أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه قال ثم لما توفي رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قام خطباء الأنصار فجعل الرجل منهم يقول يا معشر المهاجرين إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم كان إذا استعمل رجلا منكم قرن معه رجلا منا فنرى أن يلي هذا الأمر رجلان أحدهما منكم و الآخر منا قال فتتابعت خطباء الأنصار على ذلك فقام زيد بن ثابت فقال إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم كان من المهاجرين و إن الإمام يكون من المهاجرين و نحن أنصاره كما كنا أنصار رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فقام أبو بكر رضي الله عنه فقال جزاكم الله خيرا يا معشر الأنصار و ثبت قائلكم ثم قال أما لو ذلك لما صالحناكم ثم أخذ زيد بن ثابت بيد أبي بكر فقال هذا صاحبكم فبايعوه ثم انطلقوا فلما قعد أبو بكر على المنبر نظر في وجوه القوم فلم ير عليا فسأل عنه فقال ناس من الأنصار فأتوا به فقال أبو بكر بن عم رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و ختنه أردت أن تشق عصا المسلمين فقال لا تثريب يا خليفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فبايعه ثم لم ير الزبير بن العوام فسأل عنه حتى جاؤوا به فقال بن عمة رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و حواريه أردت أن تشق عصا المسلمين فقال مثل قوله لا تثريب يا خليفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فبايعاه

Abu al ‘Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya’qub narrated to us―Jafar ibn Muhammad ibn Shakir narrated to us―’Affan ibn Muslim narrated to us―Wuhayb narrated to us―Dawood ibn Abi Hind narrated to us―Abu Nadrah narrated to us from―Abu Sa’id al Khudri radiya Llahu ‘anhu who reports:

After Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed away, the spokespersons of the Ansar stood up and one of them said, “O gathering of Muhajirin! When Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would appoint a man from you, he would join him with a man from us. So we realise that this matter should be borne by two men, one from you and the other from us.”

The lecturers of the Ansar all agreed with this. Then Zaid ibn Thabit stood up and said, “Undoubtedly, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was from the Muhajirin and the Imam will be from the Muhajirin. We will be his helpers just as we were the helpers of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.”

Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu then stood up and said, “May Allah reward you with goodness, O gathering of Ansar. And your spokesman has spoken the truth.”

He then said, “If that is the matter, we would not have reconciled with you.”

Zaid ibn Thabit radiya Llahu ‘anhu then took hold of Abu Bakr’s hand and said, “This is your man so give bay’ah to him.” They then left.

When Abu Bakr climbed the pulpit, he looked at the faces of the people who were before him. Not finding ‘Ali anywhere among the crowd, he asked about him. Consequently, some men from the Ansar brought him. Abu Bakr said to him: “O cousin and son-in-law of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, do you want to disunite the Muslims?”

‘Ali said: “There is no blame upon you [for what you say], O Khalifah of the Messenger of Allah.” after which he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr.

Abu Bakr did not see Zubair ibn al ‘Awwam so he asked about him. After he was brought, Abu Bakr said: “O cousin and helper of the Messenger of Allah, do you want to be the cause of disunity of the Muslims?”

Zubair responded in a similar way: “There is no blame upon you [for what you say], O Khalifah of the Messenger of Allah.” Thus they both pledged allegiance to him.”

Al Hakim then comments, “This hadith is sahih according to the standards of al Bukhari and Muslim but they have not reported it.”^[11]

سمعت محمد بن إسحاق بن خزيمة يقول جاءني مسلم بن الحجاج فسألني عن هذا الحديث فكتبته له في رقعة و قرأت عليه فقال هذا حديث يسوي بدنة فقلت يسوي بدنة بل هو يسوي بدرة

I heard Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuziamah saying, “Muslim ibn al Hajjaj came to me and asked me about this hadith. So I wrote it for him on a piece of paper and read it out to him. Muslim commented: ‘This hadith is worth a badanah (a large sacrificial cow/camel).’

I responded: ‘This hadith is not only equal to a badanah; instead, it is equal to a badarah (a bag that contains 10 000 gold coins).’”^[12]

A badarah is something that catches one’s eyesight. It is said: it is complete like the badr (full moon). It is also said: a bag containing 10 000 coins.^[13]

‘Abdullah, the son of Imam Ahmed narrated it in Kitab al Sunnah.^[14] Hafiz Ibn Kathir narrated it and then said:

وهذا إسناد صحيح محفوظ و فيه فائدة جليلة و هي مبايعة علي بن أبي طالب إما في أول يوم أو في اليوم الثاني من الوفاة و هذا حق فإن علي بن أبي طالب لم يفارق الصديق في وقت من الأوقات و لم ينقطع في صلاة من الصلوات خلفه

This chain of narration is both authentic and correctly memorised. And the hadith imparts very important information: On the first or second day of the Nabi’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam demise, Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib pledged allegiance to Sayyidina Abu Bakr. And this is certainly true, for Sayyidina ‘Ali never distanced himself from the close company of Sayyidina Abu Bakr throughout his life and never missed performing a single salah behind him.^[15]

Ibn ‘Asakir documented it as well.^[16]

Caution: someone may object regarding Sayyidah ‘Aisha’s radiya Llahu ‘anha statement reported by al Bukhari that Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu did not give bay’ah initially. The answer to this is that she reported what she knew and she was unaware of the first bay’ah.

The academic rule pronounces that a truthful affirmer is preferred over a truthful negater. But both are honest.

How should we reconcile these two contradictory narrations? On one hand we have Sayyidah ‘Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha denying the initial bay’ah and she is al Siddiqah Umm al Mu’minin daughter of al Siddiq. On the other hand we have Sayyidina Abu Sa’id radiya Llahu ‘anhu a truthful Sahabi who never lied. So the manner of reconciliation is as we have just stated: a truthful affirmer is preferred over a truthful negater. This is due to the fact that the affirmer has more knowledge. And the negater is speaking according to his limited knowledge. So Abu Sa’id radiya Llahu ‘anhu is affirming something Sayyidah ‘Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha was unaware of.

This happened at another juncture to Sayyidah ‘Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha. She denies that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam ever urinated while standing to the extent that she announced:

من حدثك أن رسول الله بال قائما فاتهمه على الكذب

Whoever informs you that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam urinated standing, condemn him of lying.

Whereas the truth is what Muslim reports from Sayyidina Hudhayfah radiya Llahu ‘anhu that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did in fact urinate while standing (due to an injury) as he was present with Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam at the time.

Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu was nursing Sayyidah Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha and was aloof from people, which made many think that he did not swear allegiance at all. Hence, he felt it necessary to swear a second bay’ah to uphold the initial one.

Next⇒ When his Lord appeared to the mountain, he indicated by showing the tip of his baby finger

[1] Al Sunan al Kubra vol. 6 pg. 300

[2] Fath al Bari vol. 7 pg. 495.

[3] Sunan al Bayhaqi vol. 8 pg. 143; Tarikh Dimashq vol. 30 pg. 278.

[4] Musnad Abi ‘Awanah vol. 4 pg. 251.

[5] Musannaf ‘Abdul Razzaq vol. 5 pg. 472.

[6] Tarikh al Tabari vol. 2 pg. 236.

[7] Tartib ‘Ilal al Tirmidhi al Mubir pg. 37.

[8] Al Thiqat pg. 847.

[9] Mizan al I’tidal vol. 2 pg. 273.

[10] Ibid vol. 4 pg. 345.

[11] Al Mustadrak vol. 3 pg. 76; Sunan al Bayhaqi vol. 8 pg. 143.

[12] Sunan al Bayhaqi vol. 8 pg. 143; Tarikh Dimashq vol. 30 pg. 278.

[13] Lisan al ‘Arab.

[14] Kitab al Sunnah vol. 2 pg. 554 Hadith: 1292.

[15] Al Bidayah wa al Nihayah vol. 5 pg. 248.

[16] Tarikh Dimashq vol. 30 pg. 278.

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