On The Khilafah Of ‘Ali Over Abu Bakr

14. Hadith Al-Qital, the Prophet’s Defence of Amir Al-Muminin =============================================================

The Messenger, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi, had predicted the occurence of ‘Ali’s wars before his departure. He also gave clear hints about the true nature and purpose of those wars. Let us have a look at his words. Imam Abu Ya’la (d. 307 H) records:

‘Uthman – Jarir – al-A’mash – Isma’il b. Raja – his father – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Verily, among you is he who will fight for the implementation of the Qur’an as I fought for its revelation.” So, Abu Bakr said, “Am I the one, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “No”. ‘Umar said, “Am I the one, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “No. Rather, he is the one repairing the shoe”. And he had given his shoe to ‘Ali which he was repairing.[^1]

Shaykh Dr. Asad says:

Its chain is sahih^2

Imam al-Haythami (d. 807 H) also comments about the hadith:

Abu Ya’la recorded it, and its narrators are narrators of the Sahih[^3]

So, Imam ‘Ali’s wars were for the Qur’an. Yet, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah claims that he was not fighting for Islam! Apparently, the Shaykh is very unfair in his damning accusation against ‘Ali, ‘alaihi al-salam, that the latter only fought for power. Amir al-Muminin was fighting for the Book of Allah while his opponents were fighting against it. Interestingly, the Prophet specifically made it clear that neither Abu Bakr, nor ‘Umar or ‘Uthman, ever fought for the Qur’an. This is an extremely crucial point concerning the legitimacy of their khilafah, and their wars! It is not possible for a true khalifah to fight wars that are not for the Qur’an. As such, one may safely conclude that Allah and His Messenger never accepted the legitimacy of the khilafah and wars of the trio.

Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H) also records:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Husayn b. Muhammad – Fatr – Isma’il b. Raja al-Zubaydi – his father – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:

We were sitting, expecting the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Then he came to us from one of the rooms of his wives. So, we stood with him, and his shoe broke. Therefore, he asked ‘Ali to stay behind to repair it. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, departed and we departed with him. Then, he stood waiting for him (i.e. ‘Ali), and we stood with him.

So, he said, “Verily, among you is he who will fight for the implementation of this Qur’an as I fought for its revelation. So, we became curious. Among us were Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. But, he (the Prophet) said, “No (to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar). Rather, he is the one repairing the shoe.” We went (to him) to give him the glad news. But, it was as though he had heard it (before).[^4]

Shaykh al-Arnaut says:

It is a sahih hadith, and this chain is hasan.^5

‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) comments about the exact same hadith:

The hadith is sahih. There is NO doubt about it.[^6]

Imam Ahmad further records:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Waki’ – Fatr – Isma’il b. Raja – his father – Abu Sa’id:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Verily, among you is he who will fight for its implementation as I fought for its revelation.” So, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar stood up, and he said, “No. Rather, he is the one repairing the shoes”. And ‘Ali was repairing his shoes.[^7]

Shaykh al-Arnaut comments:

It is sahih, and this chain is hasan^8

Imam al-Hakim (d. 403 H) caps it:

Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. ‘Ali al-Shaybani – Ahmad b. Hazim b. Abi Gharzah – Abu Ghassan – ‘Abd al-Salam b. Harb – al-A’mash – Isma’il b. Raja – his father – Abu Sa’id, may Allah be pleased with him, AND Ibn Abi Gharzah – ‘Abd Allah b. Musa – Fatr b. Khalifah – Isma’il b. Raja – his father – Abu Sa’id, may Allah be pleased with him:

We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, when his shoe broke. So, he left ‘Ali behind to repair it, and walked a little. Then he said, “Verily, among you is he who will fight for the implementation of the Qur’an as I fought for his revelation.” The people became curious about it and among them were Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both. Abu Bakr said, “Am I the one?”. He said, “No”. ‘Umar said, “Am I the one?” He said, “No. Rather, he is the one repairing the shoe, ‘Ali.” So, we went to him, and we gave him the good news. But he did not raise his head due to it, as if he had already heard it from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.[^9]

Al-Hakim comments:

This hadith is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs.^10

Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 H) agrees:

(Sahih) upon the standard of al-Bukhari and Muslim^11

[^1]: Abu Ya’la Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Muthanna al-Mawsili al-Tamimi, Musnad (Damascus: Dar al-Mamun li al-Turath; 1st edition, 1404 H) [annotator: Dr. Husayn Salim Asad], vol. 2, p. 341, # 1086

[^3]: Nur al-Din ‘Ali b. Abi Bakr al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawaid (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr; 1412 H), vol. 5, p. 338, # 8950

[^4]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 3, p. 82, # 11790

[^6]: Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. al-Hajj Nuh b. Tajati b. Adam al-Ashqudri al-Albani, Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah wa Shayhun min Fiqhihah wa Fawaidihah (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ma’arif li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’; 1st edition, 1415 H), vol. 5, p. 640, # 2487

[^7]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 3, p. 33, # 11307

[^9]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihayn (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1411 H) [annotator: Mustafa ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Ata], vol. 3, p. 132, # 4621