Clear Texts Recounting Ten of Imam Ali’s Exclusive Merits

Clear Texts Recounting Ten of Imam Ali's Exclusive Merits

1) Suffices you, besides the hadith of the Household, what Imam Ahmed has indicated in Vol. 1 of his book Al-Mustadrak, and al-Thahbi in his Concise, who both admit its authenticity, as well as other authors of the sunan from generally accepted avenues. They all quote `Umer ibn Maymun saying: "I was sitting once in the company of Ibn `Abbas when nine men came to him and said `O Ibn `Abbas! Either come to debate with us, or tell these folks that you prefer a private debate.' He had not lost his eye-sight yet. He said: `I rather debate with you.' So they started talking, but I was not sure exactly what they were talking about. Then he stood up and angrily said: `They are debating about a man who has ten merits nobody else ever had. They are arguing about a man whom the holy Prophet (pbuh) has said, `I shall dispatch a man whom Allah shall never humiliate, one who loves Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) and who is loved by both,' so each one of them thought to him such an honour belonged. The holy Prophet (pbuh) inquired about `Ali. When the latter came unto him, with his eyes swelling in ailment, he (pbuh) blew in his eyes, shook the standard thrice and gave it to him. `Ali came back victorious with Safiyya bint Huyay [al-Akhtab] among his captives.'" Ibn `Abbas proceeded to say, "Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sent someone with surat al-Tawbah, but he had to send `Ali after him to discharge the responsibility, saying: `Nobody can discharge it except a man who is of me, and I am of him.'" Ibn `Abbas also said, "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh), with `Ali sitting beside him, asked his cousins once: `Who among you elects to be my wali in this life and the life hereafter?' They all declined, but `Ali said: `I would like to be your wali in this life and the life to come,' whereupon he (pbuh) responded by saying: `You are, indeed, my wali in this life and the life hereafter.'" Ibn `Abbas continues to say that `Ali was the first person to accept Islam after Khadija, and that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) took his own robe and put it over `Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn, then recited the verse saying: "Allah wishes to remove all abomination from you, O Ahl al-Bayt [people of my household] and purify you with a perfect purification (Qur'an, 33:33)." He has also said: "`Ali bought his own soul. He put on the Prophet's garment and slept in his bed when the infidels sought to murder him," till he says: "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) went on Tabuk expedition accompanied by many people. `Ali asked him: `May I join you?' The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) refused, whereupon `Ali wept. The Prophet (pbuh) then asked him: `Does it not please you that your status to me is similar to that of Aaron's to Moses, except there is no Prophet after me? It is not proper for me to leave this place before assigning you as my vicegerent.' The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has also said the following to him: `You are the wali of every believing man and woman.'" Ibn `Abbas has said: "The Messenger of Allah closed down all doors leading to his mosque except that of `Ali who used to enter the mosque on his way out even while in the state of janaba. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has also said: `Whoever accepts me as the wali, let him/her take `Ali as the wali, too.'" As a matter of fact, al-Hakim, having counted the sources from which he quoted this hadith, comments by saying, "This is an authentic hadith according to isnad, yet both shaykhs did not narrate it this way." Al-Thahbi has quoted it in his Talkhis and described it as an authentic hadith. 2) Clear and irrefutable proofs highlight the fact that `Ali was the Prophet's vicegerent. Have you noticed how the Prophet (pbuh) has named him wali in this life and the life to come, thus favouring him over all his kin, and how he regarded his status to himself as similar to that of Aaron to Moses, without any exception other than Prophethood, and exception which reflects generality? You also know that what distinguished Aaron from Moses was mostly his being the vizier of his brother, his de facto participation in his brother's Message, his vicegerency, and the enforcement by Moses of people's obedience to Aaron as his statement, to which references is included in the Holy Qur'an (20:29-32), and which clearly says: "And let my brother Aaron, from among my household, be my vizier, to support me and take part in my affair," and his statement: "Be my own representative among my people; reform them, and do not follow the path of corrupters (Qur'an 7:142)," and the Almighty's response: "O Moses! Granted is your prayer (Qur'an 20:36)." According to this text, `Ali is the Prophet's vicegerent among his people, his vizier among his kin, his partner in his undertaking - not in Prophethood - his successor, the best among his people, and the most worthy of their leadership alive or dead. They owed him obedience during the Prophet's lifetime as the Prophet's vizier, just as Aaron's people had to obey Aaron during the lifetime of Moses. Whoever becomes familiar with the status hadith will immediately consider its deep implications without casting any doubt at the gist of its context. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has made this very clear when he said: "It is not proper for me to leave this place before assigning you as my vicegerent." It is a clear text regarding his succession; nay, it even suggests that had the Prophet (pbuh) left without doing so, he would have done something he was not supposed to have done. This is so only because he was commanded by the Almighty to assign him as his own successor according to the meaning of the verse saying "O Messenger! Convey that which has been revealed unto you from your Lord, and if you do not do it, then you have not conveyed His Message at all (Qur'an 5:67)." Anyone who examines the phrase "then you have not conveyed His Message at all," then examines the Prophet's statement: "It is not proper for me to leave this place before assigning you as my vicegerent," will find them both aiming at the same conclusion, as is quite obvious. We should also not forget the Prophet's hadith saying: "You are the wali of every believer after me." It is a clear reference to the fact that he is the Prophet's wali and the one who takes his place, as al-Kumait, may Allah have mercy on his soul, has implied when he said: "A great Vicegerent, a fountain-head of piety, an educator!" And peace be with you.

Among Its Sources: the Prophet's Visit to Umm Salim 1) One of its sources is the discourse of the Prophet (pbuh) with Umm Salim,[1] a woman of lengthy achievements, a woman of wisdom who enjoyed a special prestigious status with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) due to being among the foremost in accepting Islam, and because of her sincerity, contributions, and sacrifices in the cause of Islam. The Prophet (pbuh) used to visit her and talk to her at her own house. One day, he said to her: "O Umm Salim (mother of Salim)! `Ali's flesh is of mine, and his blood is of my own; he is to me like Aaron to Moses."[2] It is obvious that this hadith is only an excerpt of his lengthy hadith which is stated for the purpose of conveying the truth and providing advice for the sake of Allah in order to highlight the status of his vicegerent, the one who would take his own place (of responsibility) once he is gone, and it cannot be confined to the Battle of Tabuk. 2) A similar hadith was made in the case of Hamzah's daughter in whose regard `Ali, Ja`fer and Zayd disputed. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said then: "O `Ali! You are to me like Aaron to Moses, etc." 3) Another incident occurred when Abu Bakr, `Umer, and Abu `Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah were in the company of the Prophet (pbuh) who was leaning on `Ali. The Prophet (pbuh) patted `Ali's shoulder and said: "O `Ali! You are the strongest among the believers in faith, the first (man) to embrace Islam, and your status to me is similar to that of Aaron to Moses."[3] 4) The ahadith narrated during the First Fraternity also include this text. These were made in Mecca prior to the migration, when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) consummated brotherhood among the emigrants in particular. 5) On the occasion of the Second Fraternity, while in Medina, five months after the migration, the Prophet (pbuh) made fraternity between the emigrants (Muhajirun) and the supporters (Ansar). In both events, he (pbuh) chose `Ali as his brother,[4] thus preferring him over all others, saying to him: "You are to me like Aaron to Moses except there will be no Prophet after me." Narrations in this regard are consecutively reported. Refer to what others state about the First Fraternity such as the hadith narrated by Zayd ibn Abu `Awfah. Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal has included it in his book Manaqib `Ali, Ibn `Asakir in his Tarikh,[5] al-Baghwi and al-Tabrani in their Mujma`s, al-Barudi in his Al-Ma`rifa, by Ibn `Adi[6] and others. The hadith under discussion is quite lengthy, and it contains guidelines about how to establish brotherhood. It ends with: "`Ali said: `O Messenger of Allah! My soul has expired, and my spine has been broken, having seen what you have done for your companions while leaving me alone. If this is a sign of your anger with me, then I complain only to you and beg your pardon.' The Messenger of Allah said: `I swear by the One Who sent me to convey the truth about Him, I have not spared you except for my own self. You are to me like Aaron to Moses, except there will be no Prophet after me. You are my Brother, heir and companion.' `Ali (as) asked him: `What shall I inherit from you?' He (pbuh) answered: `Whatever Prophets before me left for those who inherited them: the Book of their Lord, and the Sunnah of their Prophet. You will be my companion in my house in Paradise together with my daughter Fatima. You are my Brother and Companion.' Then he, peace be upon him and his progeny, recited the verse: `They are brethren seated conveniently facing each other,'" referring to the brethren whose hearts Allah has joined in affection who look at each other with sincere compassion. Refer also to the events of the Second Fraternity. Al-Tabrani, in his Al-Tafsir Al-Kabir, quotes Ibn `Abbas reporting one hadith stating that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to `Ali (as): "Are you angry because I have established brotherhood between the Ansar and the Muhajirun and have not selected a brother for you from among them? Are you not pleased that your status to me is like that of Aaron to Moses, except there will be no Prophet after me?"[7] 6) The same hadith was also said when the companions' doors overlooking the Prophet's mosque in Medina were ordered closed except that of `Ali. Jabir ibn `Abdullah quotes the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, saying: "O `Ali! It is permissible for you to do at this mosque whatever is permissible for me, and you are to me like Aaron to Moses, except there will be no Prophet after me." Huthayfah ibn `Asid al-Ghifari has said that the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, once delivered a khutba on the occasion of closing those doors in which he said: "There are some men who have disliked that I got them out of the mosque while keeping `Ali. Allah, the Dear and Mighty, inspired to Moses and his brother to reside with their people in Egypt and make their homes a qibla and say their prayers," till he said: "`Ali to me is like Aaron to Moses. He is my Brother, and none of you is allowed to cohabit therein other than he." The sources of this hadith are numerous, and they cannot all be counted in a brief letter like this, yet I hope that what I have stated here suffices to falsify the claim that the status hadith is confined only to the Battle of Tabuk. How much can such a claim weigh in the light of abundance of sources of this hadith? 7) Anyone who is familiar with the biography of the Prophet (pbuh) will find him, peace be upon him and his progeny, describing `Ali and Aaron as the two bright stars arranged alike, neither one differing from the other. This by itself is a testimony to the generality of status of this hadith, yet the generality of the status is what comes to mind regardless of any pretext, as we have explained above, and peace be with you. Reference: [1] She is daughter of Milhan ibn Khalid al-Ansari and sister of Haram ibn Milhan. Her father and brother were martyred in the company of the Prophet (pbuh). She possessed a great deal of accomplishment and wisdom. She narrated a few ahadith of the Prophet (pbuh), and she is quoted by her son Anas, in addition to Ibn `Abbas, Zayd ibn Thabit, Abu Salamah ibn `Abdul-Rahman, and by others. She is considered to be in the first row of those who accepted and supported the Islamic faith, and she herself was a caller to Islam. During the pre-Islamic period of jahiliyya, she was in love with Malik ibn al-Nadar from whom she conceived her son Anas ibn Malik. At the dawn of Islam, she was among the foremost to embrace it, and she invited her husband Malik to believe in Allah and His Messenger, but he refused; so, she deserted him, and he in his rage moved to Syria where he died as a kafir. She advised her son, who was then ten years old, to serve the Prophet (pbuh), and the Prophet (pbuh) accepted his service in order to please her. Many Arab men of prestige sought her hand, but she always used to say: "I shall not get married except when Anas reaches manhood;" so, Anas always used to say: "May Allah reward my mother, for she took very good care of me." Due to her own influence, Abu Talhah al-Ansari became Muslim. He sought her hand when he was still kafir, but she refused to marry him unless he embraced Islam; so, he accepted her invitation to embrace the new faith, and his dowery to her was his own acceptance of Islam. She conceived a son by him, but the baby fell sick and died; so, she said: "Nobody should mention his death to his father before me." When her husband came home and inquired about his son, she said: "He is in most content;" so he thought that she meant their son was asleep. She served him his dinner, then she put on her best clothes and perfume, and he went to bed with her. The next day she said to him: "Pray for your son's soul." Abu Talha narrated this story to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) who said to him: "Allah blessed you last night." She continues to say that he (pbuh) invoked Allah to provide me with what I wanted and even more. In that same night, she conceived `Abdullah ibn Abu Talha upon whom Allah showered His blessings. He is the father of Ishaq ibn `Abdullah ibn Abu Talha, the faqih, and his brothers were ten; each one of them was a man of knowledge. Umm Salim used to participate in the Prophet's military campaigns. On the Day of Uhud, she had a dagger to stab any infidel who would come near her. She rendered Islam a great service, and I do not know any woman besides her whom the Prophet (pbuh) used to visit in her own house and she would offer him a present. She was aware of the status of his progeny, knowledgeable of their rights... May Allah shower His choicest mercy on her. [2] This hadith, I mean Umm Salim's, is number 2554 of the ones numbered in Kanz al-`Ummal as narrated on page 154 of its sixth volume. It also exists in Muntakhab al-Kanz; so, refer to the last line of the footnote on page 31 of Volume 5 of Ahmed's Musnad, where you will find it verbatim. [3] This is quoted by al-Hasan ibn Badr, al-Hakim in his chapter on kunyat, al-Shirazi in his chapter on surnames, volume six, and by Ibn al-Najjar. It is hadith 6029 and also 6032 of the ones numbered in Kanz al-`Ummal, page 395. [4] Discussing the biography of `Ali (as) in his Isti`ab, Ibn `Abd al-Birr describes him thus: "He made brotherhood with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, among the immigrants, then between the immigrants and the supporters. In each of these instances, he (pbuh) said to `Ali (as): `You are my brother in this life and the life hereafter,' then he made brotherhood between himself and `Ali (as)." The details are in the books of traditions and history. For the details of the first brotherhood, refer to page 26, Vol. 2, of Al-Sira al-Halabiyya, and in the second brotherhood on page 120, Vol. 2, also of Al-Sira al-Halabiyya, where you will find how the Prophet (pbuh) favoured `Ali (as) in both occasions over everyone else. In Al-Sira al-Dahlaniyya, the details of the circumstances of the first brotherhood and those of the second are similar to what is published in Al-Sira al-Halabiyya. The author also stated that the second brotherhood took place five months after the migration. [5] This is quoted from Ahmed and Ibn `Asakir by a group of trusted authorities such as al-Muttaqi al-Hindi; so, refer to hadith 918 of his Kanz al-`Ummal at the beginning of page 40 of its fifth volume. It is also quoted on page 390, Vol. 6, from Ahmed's book Manaqib `Ali, numbering it hadith 4972. [6] This is quoted from these Imams by a group of trusted authorities such as al-Muttaqi al-Hindi at the beginning of page 41, Vol. 5, of of his Kanz al-`Ummal, numbering it hadith 919. [7] This is quoted by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi in his Kanz al-`Ummal and Al-Muntakhab; so, refer to the Muntakhab's footnote on page 31 of its fifth volume regarding Ahmed's Musnad, and you will find it verbatim just as we have quoted it here. It is not difficult to sift the gist of the phrase "You have angered `Ali (as)" and comprehend the meanings of companionship, compassion, and the love of a compassionate and kind father to his son. If you wonder how `Ali had some doubts in the second time he was left behind, although in the first time he had some doubt, too, then he found out that the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, had kept him there just for himself, and why he did not consider the second incident in the light of the first. The answer is that the second incident could not be compared with the first one, for the first was regarding the immigrants in particular; so, the comparison did not forbid the prophet (pbuh) from creating brotherhood with `Ali (as), contrary to the second which was between the immigrants and the supporters. One immigrant in the second instance may be joined in brotherhood to a supporter, and vice versa. Since the prophet and the wasi were both immigrants, the assumption in the second instance was that they should not be brothers; so, `Ali thought that his brother would be a supporter, just like others by way of comparison. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did not create brotherhood between him and any of the supporters, some doubt entertained his mind, but Allah and His Messenger insisted on favouring him, and so it was: he and the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) became brothers, contrary to the common norm of practice among all the immigrants and supporters at that time and place.

Reference: Al-Muraja'at

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