Abu Talib (a.s)

The Believer of the Pharaoh's People

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

And a believing man of Firon's people, who hid his faith, said: What! will you slay a man because he says: My Lord is Allah, and indeed he has brought to you clear arguments from your Lord? And if he be a liar, on him will be his lie, and if he be truthful, there will befall you some of that which he threatens you (with); surely Allah does not guide him who is extravagant, a liar. 40:28

And he, who believed, said: O my people, follow me, I will guide you to the right course; O my people, this life of the world is only a (passing) enjoyment, and surely the hereafter is the abode to settle. Whoever does an evil, he shall not be recompensed (with aught) but the like of it, and whoever does good, whether male of female, and he is a believer, these shall enter the garden, in which they shall be given sustenance without measure.

And, o my people! how is it that I call you to salvation and you call me to the fire? You call on me that I should disbelieve in Allah and associate with Him that of which I have no knowledge, and I call you to the Mighty, the most Forgiving; No doubt that what you call me to has no title to be called to in this world, nor in the hereafter, and that our turning back is to Allah, and that the extravagant are the inmate of the fire; So you shall remember what I say to you, and I entrust my affair to Allah, Surely Allah sees the servants. So Allah protected him from the evil (consequences) of what they planned, and the most evil punishment overtook Firon's people. 40:38-45.

The Holy Quran

DEDICATION

To you; O the Prophet of humanity! To you; O the hero of Islam! (1) To both of you, who are but one soul! To your exaltedness I offer this book, which is the least effort of him, who failed yet to support the religion ... the religion to which you had devoted yourselves ... the religion, to which the history had been unfair ... the religion, which the historians had wronged. To you I offer it hoping to be near to Allah and to you in a day where nothing will be of use except that who comes to Allah with a heart free from evil.

28/8/1374 A.H. 22/4/1995 A.D. Abdullah al-Khunayzi ____________ 1 He means Imam Ali.

FOREWORD

By: Professor Boless Salama

Between al-Qateef (1) and me there is a connection. The cause of it is the epic of (Eid al-Ghadeer), which I have written about Imam Abul Hassan (Ali), and this book is about the father of Imam Ali. I have talked in the epic about the virtue of Abu Talib, the notable sheikh of Quraysh, (2) who secured the Prophet (s) against his enemies and now I am just to preface this book with a swift word talking about the book itself. The author began his book with showing the crimes of the Umayyads and refuting the accusations they ascribed to the Prophet's family. Neither he failed nor his pen became confused. And it was no wonder because whoever took the side of Abu Turab (3) would be powerful. The son of the castle of al-Qateef knew that he was in a fort, against which the enemies were so active but they always were the weak and the fort was steadfast along the time.

It was well-known that the author arranged the accusations in a skilled way and he exaggerated them in order to show their atrocity and to show the ugliness of the lies fabricated against the Prophet's family. In spite of his rush, the enthusiasm of the youth and the leap of his pen, nothing escaped him to follow the sayings of the great historians and the masters of Hadith and eloquence. I think that the preface "At the threshold" was the defending-attacking front. The author thought to gather the fabricated lies, which collapsed easily and to show the

____________ 1 A place in the Arabia 2 Quraysh was the greatest tribe of the Arabia at that time. 3 One of Imam Ali's surnames.

opponent as band of Negro pigmies to let the greatness of Imam Ali shine like the light when the clouds dispelled. As for the chapter following the preface, which was sayings. He was not to be blamed for that because he wanted to pave the way for showing the personality of Imam Ali. He brought this personality out as the axis of Quraysh and it was really so. How nice it would be if he used a language better than the elegant style he used in describing the different scenes of the life of the man (Abu Talib). His eloquence didn't ripen yet like most of the rising youth, but this branch, which grew on a large tree that gave much to the Arabic language, promise to give ripe fruits in the near future inshallah.

The author did well when he showed the personality of Sayyid al-Bat~ha' ibn Shaybatul Hamd (1) and cleared it, then he spread it throughout the chapters of the book and so the virtue of the guardian of the Prophet (s) grew side by side with the growth of the Prophet himself. The orphan (Muhammad) lived under the wing of his uncle (Abu Talib) when child and young. When the sun of the orphan shone, the uncle walked in its light. He was so loyal to his nephew; the son of Abdullah. He strived to sacrifice his money, his sons and himself for the Prophet (s).

In order to be fair to the author, we had to acknowledge that he was so skilled in his analysis. What confirmed this was his choosing and analysis of the verses said by Abu Talib that proved his faith, although he (the author) criticized the poets, whom the poetic license led them to say what they didn't want. He pleaded with a saying of one of them: (They may find something beautiful even though it isn't). But the virtue of the poetry appeared in what he chose

____________ 1 Sayyid al-Bat~ha' was a surname of Abu Talib. (Ibn) means the son of. Shaybatul Hamd was a surname of Abdul Muttalib; Abu Talib's father and the Prophet's grandfather.

of the verses of the father of Abu Turab in the chapter of "Ash-Shi'b and as-Saheefa" (1) where Abu Talib said: They hope we give up but they will get nothing, We strike and stab with our sharp swords.

... To the last of his verses, in which the firm faith, the burning heart and the furious sword mixed together. Our friend didn't miss the scientific classification in his book. You would see him detailing the evidences of Abu Talib's virtue during his life, when he was about to die and when he was dead. Then the author talked about what happened after his death. He proved the witness of the Prophet, Imam Ali and the Prophet's family about the faith of Abu Talib.

I thought that if the author had become a lawyer, he would have been among the leading group. He had good qualities of comparing and concluding. He could easily move form the premises to the conclusions and this would make him successful. After all I am not to study and analyze because this is the job of the readers and the critics but just to preface a word about the book. The author could arrive at the aim he approached to; he researched, analyzed, refuted and defended. The many advantages of the book might intercede for the few defects occurred in the wording but the form wouldn't affect the essence. In this book there were many pearls and a few shells.

I think that in saying my opinion about the book I am nearer to fair severity than to flattering. Yes, between me and al-Qateef there is friendship but the truth is worthier to be said.

Boless Salama Beirut 25/2/1376 A.H.

____________ 1 Shi'b means a mountain pass and saheefa means a book, a charter or a covenant, which usually written on a leaf or a piece of leather.

AT THE THRESHOLD

I am now before a man's biography, which the fancies played a great role to distort. The mercenary pens deviated from the way of rightfulness and threw a thick cover over the truth, exactly like what they did to every clear and shiny truth, just to defame and distort this great personality. I am before a man, whose biography left prominent lines in history. He was one of the mujahidin, who stood in the first front. He was one of those, who supported the true principles and supported the prophets and the guides of the humanity.

A man, who supported the straight belief while all the hearts turned aside from him and all the eyes looked askance at him. Those hearts and eyes scattered grudge, quivered with serious enmity, warned of resistance and disobedience to put out this fresh burning torch ... some hands stretched to do away with this (new prophet), whose light had cured the sore-eyes.

But this strong fort (Abu Talib) stood up to them towering, showing his powerfulness and challenging their reckless will. And then they turned back empty-handed. The grudge increased in the hearts against this supporter but it was as the grudge of the horses against the bridles. A man, who watered Islam when it was a seed in a barren land, guarded it against the wind when it was soft and tender and then took care of it when it was young. It grew and became strong. The light spread from it. No enemy could achieve an aim until the loyal guard of this flowing spring left to the better world and until the flowing spring dried.

He was a man, who had a standing in Islam and left a fine impression and an eternal virtue. But the fancies wanted the eyes to be away from him or to look at him with a wrongful look. They tried their best to fabricate lies against him in order to distort the truth and to cover the virtue. The age of the caliphate elapsed and it was full of the virtues of Abu Talib; the great man of Islam. The age recorded the exploits of this man and the benevolent hands of him to give him some of his due.

Then the age of monarchy and tyranny came. This illegal authority wouldn't last except by defaming the hero of Islam, Imam Ali, because the tyrants had extorted the legal right of Ali and his sons and so the biography of his father was one side among others the authority tried the best to destroy thinking that it might destroy the personality of Imam Ali and attempting to turn the people's attention away from the matter of extorting his right of the caliphate.

The rulers began to hire those of the filthy consciences and the opportunist hearts, who didn't know a meaning of a virtue nor an end of vice. They would sell their consciences, break the covenants and promises, change the truth into falsehood, show the falsehood as true and sell their religion for a stolen dinar or an extorted property just to achieve their low intents, to satisfy their filthy consciences and to obtain the contentment of the rulers.

Such people wouldn't be able to live except under the darkness because the bat wouldn't fly during the brightness of the daylight. They wished the night to be so long so that the stage would be free for them alone.

The fancies played the role, changed the course of history and wanted to overthrow the present situation so they exploited the mercenaries to fabricate traditions according to the wishes of the rulers until fabricating traditions became salable in the market of the state at those days. Many fabricators, whose hearts were full of aftermaths of the pre-Islamic age, began their attempts to destroy the religion in order to satisfy the rulers.

This black market was based upon three things; hiding the virtues of Imam Ali, fabricating traditions against him and turning the Quranic verses concerning him to the others and turning the others to him and thirdly ascribing fabricated virtues to the other companions. The (merchant) Mo'awiya (1) encouraged this market to work for the benefit of him. It was the cornerstone of his rule. He followed every means to strengthen his rule especially when he saw the people believe whatever he fabricated for their faith was flickering and the religion didn't reach farther than their tongues. Their old party spirit didn't accept the new religion yet, the fancies were still ready in the chests, the personal hopes prepared to leap and the gold of Mo'awiya reigned in the hearts.

Those of the black aims and bad fancies followed this way because they found that it satisfied their greed. The opportunist Mo'awiya found them as a tractable mount so he put those heavy loads upon their backs. They obeyed whatever he wanted and when he didn't want, they themselves tried to flatter him.

He wrote to his governors: (We will never forgive anyone, who narrates something about the virtues of Abu Turab or any of his family). (2) The orators hurried to respond. They began to curse Ali (s) on every minbar throughout the state. They declared their quittance from him and began to defame him and his family. The minbars, upon which Imam Ali was cursed, were more than seventy thousand ones. The public responded to the orators and believed

____________ 1 Mo'awiya was the first caliph of the Umayyads. 2 Refer to Sharh Nahjol Balagha, vol.3 p.15.

them. You may estimate how many men sitting before each minbar of those seventy thousands and how many women and children were behind each one of those men, who certainly would listen to his sayings as he listened to the orator's sayings. Their flesh would grow with those fabrications and their blood would flow in the veins with them.

Then Mo'awiya wrote to his governors: (Don't accept any witness of the followers of Ali or his family) (1) to tighten the grip around the Shia, to disgrace them and to let them be liable to the oppressions of their enemies and to be a target for their arrows. Then Mo'awiya assigned great gifts and high positions for whomever narrated traditions ascribing virtues to Othman and his companions.

Once again he wrote to his governors: (Criticizing Othman increased and spread in every country and every side. When this book reaches you, invite people to narrate traditions talking about the virtues of the companions and the first caliphs. Don't let any tradition narrated by any Muslim about the virtues of Abu Turab unless you fabricated same virtues to be ascribed to the companions. This will make me delighted and will refute the virtues of Abu Turab and will be harder to them (the Shia) than to mention the virtues and favors of Othman). (2)

As soon as the book reached the hearings, the imaginations flew to invent news and to create traditions, some of which ascribed untrue virtues to the companions and the others defamed Ali (s) and this was the main aim of the fabricated traditions.

We are not in need of saying or referring to the value of this muchness of traditions whether those that ascribed untrue virtues to the companions or those that defamed

____________ 1 Sharh Nahjol Balagha, vol.3 p.15. 2 Ibid

Ali (s). They were full of excessiveness, ridiculous ignorance, deadly grudge and malicious enmity. Neither these traditions nor those had any value and they wouldn't resist the hammer of criticism for a moment. They were born illegally and built upon a base of salt so as soon as moisture reached it, it melted.

But the situation of the ruling authority at that time and the decrees issued by the (merchant) Mo'awiya were the active cause of activating this market, whose goods didn't face any recession. Mo'awiya looked forward to gain target (material) benefits from this market at the expense of the religious and moral principles. Those fabricated traditions were lectured from upon the minbars and were given to the teachers to be learnt by the children, who memorized them as they memorized the verses of the holy Quran or better.

Hence those traditions became more spreading, more current and more effective and on the other side the profit would be more inclusive that each of the factory keeper, the exporter and the importer would get his share according to the commercial language. So the creator of the tradition, the speaker, the teacher and whoever surrounded them would share in the profit.

The (great merchant) Mo'awiya wrote to his governors throughout the state: (See if it is proved that someone loves Ali then you are to remove his name from the register of the treasury and to omit his livelihood). (1) He wasn't satisfied with this severe pursuit, flagrant challenge and this economical war until he wrote another book saying: (You are to torture whomever you accuse of supporting those people (Ali and his family) and to tear down his house). (2) And thus he passed the blockade much more than ____________ 1 Sharh Nahjol Balagha, vol.3 p.16. 2 Ibid

before. He threatened every one showing a bit of love to this man and his family. Merely showing a bit of affection to these people by anyone would make that one face a bitter war. He would never be forgiven. He would be liable to every kind of aggression. His name would be omitted from the register of the divan. He would be prevented from his livelihood. He wouldn't be equal to the other people. He had no right of option. He didn't have to think with his mind. He would have to be unfree puppet driven without will or thinking. He would live without dignity or sense of honor, surrounded with danger, waiting for torture or for his house to be demolished upon his head at any moment.

Mo'awiya wouldn't be satisfied with issuing those unjust orders, which killed the social justice, but he chose the ones, who would carry out those unjust orders. He appointed his illegitimate brother Ziyad bin Abeeh (1) as the governor of Iraq to increase the pressure against the Shia because Ziyad knew them well for he had been near them before the grudge reigned in his heart. (2)

____________ 1 In Arabic (bin) means (son of) and (abeeh) means (his father) Ziyad was called the son of his father because he was illegitimate child. Later on he was ascribed to Abu Sufyan (Mo'awiya's father).

2 I didn't expect to find a saying of a man of letters living in the twentieth century where he thought that he had got rid of the dregs of that odious dark age with all what it had of selling the conscience and distorting the truth like the the saying of Hassan as-Sandoobi. It seems that there are many persons, who still live with the dregs of that dark history and try to spread its poisons among the people.

Hassan as-Sandoobi in his book Sharh al-Bayan wet-Tebyeen, vol.1 p.204 when talking about Ziyad says this malicious and repugnant saying: "I don't think that it would defame his thinking, virtues and deeds ... because Mo'awiya acknowledged that he was his brother from Abu Sufyan and nothing would be more important for man than to be certain about his lineage." If we had time to comment on this false saying, we would uncover what destruction, misleading, fabrication and distortion of the principles of Islam and humanity these little words had. It objected the tradition of the Prophet (s) when saying: "The new-born baby is to be ascribed to its mother and it is prohibited to ascribe it to the adulterer). It encouraged joining the illegitimate child to the adulterer and it didn't consider seceding from the legal imam as a sin or a guilt ...! Yes, all these bad doing proved the good thinking, the virtue and the excellent deeds of Ziyad ... what disgrace!

What a difference between this Sandoobi and aj-Jahidh was when talking about the disgrace of ascribing Ziyad to Abu Sufyan as his father. This considered it as virtue and excellence of Ziyad and that excluded Mo'awiya, when he joined Ziyad to his father, from the dissolute to join him to the unbelievers depending upon true evidences in a word we will mention soon when discussing the lie of (Aam aj-Jama'a; the year of the unity).

My wonder and surprise about this repugnant saying of as-Sandoobi dwindled after steps of reading his explantion. I stopped surprisedly before his comment, which blackened seven lines in p.183-184, vol.2. It was a black stain in his explanation when he defended the Abadites (a sect of the Kharijites) opposing all the true traditions mentioned in all of the Sahihs (the books of Hadith) and agreed upon by all the Muslims. The Prophet (s) said when referring to the Kharijites: "They renegade like the arrow going out of the game animal". But this Sandoobi said about them: "They are the best of the Muslims. They detest the heresies, which are so far from the true religion and hence some of the Muslims accuse them of being inflexible and that they don't comply with the civilized progress. In fact they are accused of what they are free from." Do you see how this man accused all the Muslims falsely whereas they just followed what the Prophet (s) had said about those people, whom as-Sandoobi defended?

He wasn't satisfied with this. He added: "I was deceived by the sayings of their opponents about them and I used the same accusations in some of the footnotes in the first volume of my book but then the truth appeared. I knew that they (the Kharijites) were among the best of the Muslims, who depended -in all their worships and dealings- upon the Quran and the Sunna. Don't care Mo'awiya used every means to sell and buy these goods. He was that opportunist dealer, who didn't leave any opportunity unless he would exploit it for his private interest selfishly.

Bribes, gifts and positions were insignificant prices to buy with them many consciences put forward in that black market! So it was easy for him to conclude a deal every day to buy a conscience, to sell a covenant and to do away with a belief.

____________ for aj-Jahidh's opinion about them because they were, before, opponents of the Mu'tazilites (a sect of the Muslims). May Allah be pleased with all of the Muslims." He prayed Allah to be pleased with those, who renegaded Islam and he considered them as being devoted to the Sunna. I don't know what he will say about what was mentioned in the Prophet's tradition, which was agreed upon among all the Muslims, about those people. How did he gather between this and his beseeching Allah to be pleased with all of the Muslims if the Kharijites, after they renegaded Islam, were among the Muslims? The Muslims, except those who contradicted the true Sunna, were certain of what the Prophet (s) had said about the Kharijites and they didn't consider them but as the Prophet (s) had considered them. They were but apostates. Their prayers were but whistling and clapping.

They read the Quran but it didn't reach their clavicles as the Prophet (s) had described them. They were a great image of cunning religious hypocrisy which deceived the naive like this inexperienced Sandoobi! I noticed a Kharijite tendency in him before I quoted his footnote here. Whenever he talked about one of the Kharijites, he filled his speech with praise, tribute and commendation but, on the contrary, when he wanted to talk about someone having a Shiite tendency,

he abridged -if he didn't ignore him or criticized him- as possible as he could whatever personality that one had except for what he was obliged to mention unwillingly. The main cause behind his situation concerning Ziyad, the Kharijites and the Shia was because there was something in his heart towards Imam Ali... It was not but a fruit from the seed of Mo'awiya to resist Imam Ali in order to control the Muslims' affairs.