Letter 36
Thul-Hijjah 29, 1329
I Hadith by Ibn ‘Abbas,
1) Refer to what Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi has reported, as stated in a chapter discussing ‘Ali in Isti’ab through the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas who is quoted saying: "The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, has said to ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib: ‘You are next to me alone as thewali of every believer.'"161
II ‘Umran's Hadith,
2) Another authentichadith is narrated by ‘Umran ibn Hasin who says: "The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, deployed an army division under the command of ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib who chose, as his share of thekhums , a slave-girl for himself, and people criticized him. Four men vowed to complain against him to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny.
When they came to the Prophet, one of them stood up and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Have you seen how ‘Ali has done such and such?' The Prophet (pbuh) turned his face away from him. The second stood up and spoke likewise, and the Prophet (pbuh) ignored him, too. The third stood up and repeated what his fellows had previously stated, and he, too, was ignored. The fourth one stood up and stated exactly as had been stated by his fellows.
It was then that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, turned to them with anger in his eyes and said: ‘What do you want of ‘Ali? ‘Ali is of me and I am of him, and only after me is he themawla of all believers.'"162
III Buraydah's Hadith,
3) Also refer to Buraydah'shadith quotedverbatim on page 356 of Vol. 5 of Ahmad's Musnad. He says: "The Messenger of Allah sent two armies to Yemen. One of them was led by ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib (as), and the other by Khalid ibn al-Walid. He instructed them thus: ‘When you combine your forces, let ‘Ali be the ovrall leader.163
But if you disperse, then each one of you is the leader over his own troops.' We then battled Banu Zubayda, and ‘Ali selected one of the captives, a slave-girl, for himself; so, Khalid and I wrote to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, to inform him of the incident. When I came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, and the letter was read for him, I noticed anger in his eyes; therefore, I pleaded to him by saying: ‘This is the place for those who seek refuge; you have sent me with a commander and ordered me to obey him, and I have done just that.' The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: ‘Do not ever plot against ‘Ali, for he is of me and I am of him, and he is yourwali after me.'"164
Al-Nisa'i has quoted the following words of the Prophet (pbuh)verbatim on page 17 of hisAl-Khasa'is al-’Alawiyyah : "O Buraydah! Do not try to make me dislike ‘Ali, for ‘Ali is of me, and I am of him, and he is yourwali after me." Jarir, too, quotes Buraydah's statementverbatim thus: "The Prophet's face became red with anger, and he said: ‘To whomsoever I have beenmawla , ‘Ali is hismawla ;' therefore, I forgot my own anger against ‘Ali and said that I would never speak ill of ‘Ali again."165
Al-Tabrani, too, has quoted thishadith in detail. Among what he narrates is that when Buraydah came from Yemen and entered the mosque, he found a crowd standing by the room of the Prophet (pbuh). Upon seeing him, they stood up to greet him and ask him what news he had brought them. He said: "Good news. Allah has rendered victory upon the Muslims." They asked him: "Then what brought you here?" He answered: "An incident regarding a slave-girl whom ‘Ali chose as his share of the khums, and I have come here to inform the Prophet about it."
They said: "Inform him of it, do inform him, so that he may change his heart about ‘Ali," while the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, was standing overhearing their conversation from within. He, thereupon, came out angrily and said: "What is the matter with those who bear grudge against ‘Ali? Whoever hates ‘Ali hates me, too, and whoever abandons ‘Ali abandons me. ‘Ali is of me and I am of him; he has been created of my own mould, and my own mould is Ibrahim's (Abraham's), and I am even superior to Ibrahim,166 one progeny descending from another, and Allah is all-Hearing, all-Knowing. O Buraydah! Have you not come to know that ‘Ali's share is a lot more than the slave-girl he took, and that he is yourwali after me?"167 - There is no doubt about the authenticity of this hadith, and its narrators are quite nUmarous, and they are all reliable.
IV Hadith Recounting Ten Exclusive Attributes [of ‘Ali],
4) Similar to this narration is what al-Hakim has narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas who cites a particularhadith of weight and significance. In it he counts ten exclusive attributes of ‘Ali, and he quotes the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, addressing ‘Ali thus: "You are thewali of every believer after me."168
V ‘Ali's Hadith,
5) Likewise, in another hadith, he, peace be upon him and his progeny, has said, "O ‘Ali! I have prayed Allah to grant me five wishes concerning you, and He granted me four and denied the fifth." He continues to say: "He has granted me that you are thewali of the believers after me."169
VI Wahab's Hadith,
6) A similarhadith is transmitted by Ibn al-Sakan from Wahab ibn Hamzah and is quoted in Wahab's biography in Isti’ab thus: "I travelled once with ‘Ali and found him to be cold towards me; therefore, I decided to complain bout him to the Prophet upon returning.
So I mentioned him to the Messenger of Allah and I spoke ill of him, whereupon he (pbuh) said: ‘Do not say so about ‘Ali, for he is yourwali after me.'" Al-Tabrani, in his bookAl-Mujma’ al-Kabir , cites Wahab's statement with a minor alteration in its wording thus: "Do not say this about ‘Ali, for he is the most worthy of being your leader after me."170
VII Ibn Abu ‘Asim's Hadith.
7) Ibn Abu ‘Asim has quoted ‘Ali'shadith from the Prophet through a chain of narrators thus: "Do I not have more authority over the believers than they themselves have?" People answered in the affirmative. The Prophet (pbuh) then said: "To whomsoever I have been wali, ‘Ali is his wali;"171 and oursahih books in this regard are mutawatir from the Imams of the Purified Progeny (as).
This much should suffice to prove our point, although ayat al-wilayat alone suffices to support our claim, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, Wassalamo Alaikom.
Sincerely,
Sh