Glimpses of Shi'ism in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal

Chapter 5 : Hadith Al-thaqalayn

Ahmad bin Hanbal says:

Aswad bin ‘Amir has related from Abi- Isra-’i-l, i.e. Isma-‘i-l bin Abi- Isha-q Malaie, from ‘Atiyyah from Abi- Sa‘i-d who quotes the Prophet as saying:

“Inni- ta-rikun fi-kum al-thaqalayn, ahaduhuma- akbaru min al-akhar, Kitaballa-h hablun mamdudun min al-sama-’-i ila- al-arz wa ‘itrati- Ahl-i Bayti-, wa annahuma- lan yaftaraqa- hatta- yarida- ‘alayya al-hawz” (I am leaving among you two precious things, one of which is greater than the other. The Book of Allah which is the rope extending from the sky to the earth and my progeny my Ahl al-Bayt. And the two will never part with each other until they return to me at the pool (of kawthar in paradise).[^33]

Notes: [^33] Ibid, vol. 3, p. 14. Hadith al-Thaqalayn has been recorded extensively in the Musnad, e.g. vol. 3, pp. 17, 26 & 59; vol. 4, p. 367; vol. 5, pp. 181, 189, 190.