Glimpses of Shi'ism in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal

Chapter 12 : Imam ‘ali-’s (‘a) Comparison With Prophet Jesus (‘a)

Ibn Hanbal says:

‘Abdulla-h bin Ahmad has related to us from Abu al-Harth Surayj bin Yunus from Abu Hafs Abba-r from Hakam bin ‘Abd al-Malik from Harth bin Hasi-rah from Abi- Sa-diq from Rabi-‘ah bin Na-jidh from (Imam) ‘Ali- (‘a), who narrates:

The Messenger of Allah (S) told me:

“Fi-ka mathalun min ‘Isa-, abghazathu al-Yahud hatta- bahatu ummahu, wa ahabbathu al-Nasa-ra- hatta- anzaluhu bi al-manzilati allati- laysa bih (You are like Jesus. The Jews hated him so much that they slandered his mother, and the Christians because of their extreme devotion to him placed him in a position which was not his.”

Then (Imam) ‘Ali- (‘a) said:

“Yuhliku fiyya rajula-n, muhibbun mufritun yuqarrizuni- bi ma laysa fiyya, wa mubghizun yahmiluhu shan’a-ni- ‘ala- an yabhatani- (Two persons [groups] are doomed concerning me; the devoted extremist exalting me to what I am not, and the spiteful hater bearing malice towards me and slandering me).[^53]

The annotator of the Musnad considers the isna-d of this hadith as hasan (fair).

Notes:

[^53] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 1376 and also hadith no. 1377 with a slight variation in its text and a different chain of authority (Ahmad Sha-kir).