The Fifth Allegation

Muawiyah Killed Twenty of the Participants of Badr at Siffin

In response to this I say: very few of the Sahabah were present at Siffin. It has even been said that only Khuzaimah ibn Thabit radiya Llahu ‘anhu was present.

Ahmed narrates in al ‘Ilal wa Ma’rifat al Rijal (1/287), Ibn ‘Adi in al Kamil (239) and al Du’afa’ (1/59), al Khallal in al Sunnah (2/465) and al Khatib in his Tarikh (6/113) by way of Umayyah ibn Khalid who said:

It was mentioned to Shu’bah that Abu Shaibah narrates from al Hakam — from ‘Abdur Rahman ibn Abi Layla that he said, “Seventy of the participants of Badr were present at Siffin,” to which he remarked, “by Allah, he has erred! I had revised with Hakam in his own home and we could not name anyone other than Khuzaimah ibn Thabit from the participants of Badr who were present at Siffin.”^{^[1]}

Ahmed narrates in al ‘Ilal wa Ma’rifat al Rijal (1/431) — from Rowh — who said:

Shu’bah related to us, “I had revised with Hakam in his own home and we could not find anyone of the participants at Badr who were present at Siffin other than Khuzaimah ibn Thabit.”

Shu’bah would reject the fact Abu al Haytham ibn Tayyhan was present at Siffin.

Al Dhahabi said:

I say, ‘Ammar and ‘Ali were also present.^{^[2]}

Ibn Kathir said:

It has been said that Sahl ibn Hunayf, from the participants at Badr, was present, as well as Abu Ayub al Ansari. Our teacher, the scholar, Ibn Taymiyyah, has said so in his book al Radd ‘ala al Rafidah.^{^[3]}

What further attests to this is that which has been narrated by Ibn Abi al Dunya in al ‘Uzlah wa l-Infirad (9), Ibn Battah in al Ibanah al Kubra (2/596) and Ibn ‘Abdul Barr in al Tamhid (17/442) by way of Ibn Lahi’ah — from Sayyar ibn ‘Abdur Rahman who said:

Bukayr ibn al Ashajj said to me, “what has your (maternal) uncle done?” I said, “he has remained in his home since such-and-such a time.” He responded, “indeed so many a person from the participants at Badr have remained in their homes after the murder of ‘Uthman and they did not leave except to their graves.”^{^[4]}

Ahmed narrates in al ‘Ilal wa Ma’rifat al Rijal (3/182), al Khallal in al Sunnah (2/446) and Ibn Shabah in Akhbar al Madinah (2286) by way of Isma’il ibn ‘Ulayyah — who said — Ayub related to us from Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said:

The fitnah became fierce and the Sahabah of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam numbered over ten thousand. Not even one hundred participated; nay, they did not even reach thirty in number.

Ibn Taymiyyah states in Minhaj al Sunnah (6/236):

… and this chain is from the most authentic on the face of the earth.

He states further (6/237):

This unambiguous statement indicates the minimal number of participants at Badr who were present (at Siffin). It has been said that Sahl ibn Hunayf and Abu Ayub were present, the opinion of Ibn Sirin is similar and he could not possibly count one hundred.

Ma’mar narrates in his Jami’ (20735) — from Ayub — from Ibn Sirin who said:

The fitnah broke out and the Sahabah of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam numbered over ten thousand; but not even forty of them stood to participate.

Ma’mar said:

Others have stated that two-hundred and forty odd of them stood with him^{^[5]} — ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu — from the participants of Badr, among them Abu Ayub, Sahl ibn Hunayf and ‘Ammar.

Al Hakim narrated it in al Mustadrak (5/627) by way of him (Ma’mar) except that the final comment had been attributed Ibn Sirin; whereas it is actually the statement of Ma’mar ibn Rashid al Basri.

I say that the statement of two-hundred and forty plus, from the participants of Badr being present at Siffin is rejected on account of numerous reasons.

It is not known who said that; and the ascription of it by al Hakim to Ibn Sirin is an oversight since he narrates it by way of Ma’mar. Ma’mar states in his Jami’ that someone other than Ibn Sirin mentioned this.
This contradicts what has been narrated in the reliable reports that very few of the Sahabah, better still the participants at Badr, were present at Siffin. This has been proven from the narrations that were presented earlier.

Siffin was an encounter that very few of the participants at Badr were present for. Ma’mar narrates (20739) and Ahmed in al ‘Ilal wa Ma’rifat al Rijal (4331) by way of Yahya ibn Sa’id, from Ibn al Musayyib who said:

The first fitnah broke out and none of the participants of Badr remained; the second fitnah broke out and there remained none from the participants at Hudaybiyyah. Had there been a third fitnah there would not have been among the people one who used to cook.^{^[6]}

Al Bukhari narrated it (3800) with a mu’allaq chain, endorsing its reliability, by way of al Layth — from Yahya ibn Sa’id with the same chain. He interpreted the first fitnah as the murder of ‘Uthman and the second — the incident at al Harrah.

Ibn Hajar states in al Fath (7/325):

Meaning that — they had passed away since the murder of ‘Uthman; until the second fitnah broke out at al Harrah.

Ibn Shabah narrates in Akhbar al Madinah (2285) by way of Sa’id ibn ‘Amir — who said — Hisham narrated to us — from Muhammad who said:

The fitnah broke out in Madinah and the Sahabah of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam numbered over ten thousand; yet none of them got involved save thirty.

To that extent, the incident of al Jamal was not attended by the Sahabah except a few among them. Ibn Kathir states in al Bidayah wa al Nihayah (11/474):

In both camps there were very few Sahabah.

Ibn Abi Shaibah narrates in his Musannaf (7/538) by way of Ibn ‘Ulayyah, from Mansur ibn ‘Abdur Rahman, from al Sha’bi:

None participated in al Jamal from the Sahabah of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam besides ‘Ali, ‘Ammar, Talhah, and Zubair; and if there were a fifth then I am a liar.^{^[7]}

It has also been narrated by al Khallal in al Sunnah (2/466), and Ahmed in al ‘Ilal (3/45) by way of Sufyan — from Mansur — from al Sha’bi^{^[8]}; and its chain is authentic.

Ibn Kathir states in al Bidayah wa al Nihayah (11/474):

Aisha was present, as was Ibn Zubair, Hassan, Hussain, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, Sahl ibn Hunayf among others.

He stated in Ikhtisar ‘Ulum al Hadith (2/500):

It is said that in both camps there were no more than one hundred Sahabah; and Ahmed said that they were not even thirty.

NEXT⇒ The Sixth Allegation

^{^[1]} The chain of this is sound.

^{^[2]} al Siyar (7/221)

^{^[3]} al Bidayah wa al Nihayah (11/491)

^{^[4]} al Bidayah wa al Nihayah (7/179), In this chain is Ibn Lahi’ah.

^{^[5]} See al Mustadrak of al Hakim (5/627)

^{^[6]} This chain is authentic.

^{^[7]} This chain is authentic.

^{^[8]} See Tarikh Dimashq (42/460)

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