On The Khilafah Of ‘Ali Over Abu Bakr

2. Hadith Al-Wilayah, Investigating Its Authenticity ====================================================

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H) states about Hadith al-Wilayah:

And similarly his statement “he is the wali of every believer after me”, it is a lie upon the Messenger of Allah.[^1]

The implication of Shaykh’s words is that the hadith is mawdu’. It does not have a single sahih, hasan or even dha’if chain. Rather, each of its chains contains at least one known or suspected liar or hadith fabricator. But, is this submission of Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah true? Is the hadith really mawdu’?

Hadith al-Wilayah is a report from the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi, concerning Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali, ‘alaihi al-salam, in which he declares the latter to be the wali of every believer after him. What does wali mean in the hadith? What did the Prophet intend by saying “after me”? These are questions that need answers – but only if the hadith is first confirmed to be authentic. Since Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah has graded it to be mawdu’, it is therefore necessary to confirm or refute this first before embarking upon any exegetical exercise about its matn (content).

Imam Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi (d. 204 H) records:

Abu Dawud – Ja’far b. Sulayman al-Dhab’i – Yazid al-Rishk – Mutarrif b. ‘Abd Allah b. al-Shikhir – ‘Imran b. Hasin who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, appointed ‘Ali as part of an army expedition. They (his co-soldiers) saw something in him that they hated, and a small band of four people (among them) therefore agreed and vowed to inform the Prophet, peace be upon him, about what ‘Ali did. It was our custom back then that whenever we returned from any journey, we would not go to our families until after visiting the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and looking at him.

So, the small band of four people came (to the Prophet immediately they returned), and one of them stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Have you not seen that ‘Ali did so and so?” So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him. Then, the second stood up and said the same thing. So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him (too). Then the third stood up and said the same thing. So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him (as well). Then the fourth stood up and said the same thing. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “What is it with them and ‘Ali? Verily, ‘Ali is from me and I am from him, and he is the wali of every believer after me.”[^2]

‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) says about this riwayah:

أخرجه ....الطيالسي في " مسنده " (829) .... من طريق جعفر بن سليمان

Al-Tayalisi recorded it in his Musnad (829).... from the route of Ja’far b. Sulayman al-Dhab’i, from Yazid al-Rishk, from Mutarrif, from ‘Imran b. Hasin, may Allah be pleased with him .... And al-Tirmidhi said: “A hadith that is hasan gharib (i.e. with a hasan [good] chain), we do not know it except through the hadith of Ja’far b. Sulayman”. I (al-Albani) say: and he (Ja’far b. Sulayman) is thiqah (trustworthy), from the narrators of (Sahih) Muslim, and so are the rest of its (i.e. the hadith’s**) narrators**. This is why al-Hakim said, “Sahih upon the standard of (Imam) Muslim. And al-Dhahabi concurred with him.[^3]

All the narrators are thiqah (trustworthy), and are relied upon in Sahih Muslim. Imam al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 H) declares the chain to be hasan, while both al-Hakim (d. 403 H) and al-Dhahabi (d. 748 H) grade it as sahih. ‘Allamah al-Albani approvingly cites their consensus opinion, which shows that he too holds the same view about the chain.

Al-Tayalisi further records another chain for the hadith:

Yunus – Abu Dawud – Abu ‘Awanah – Abu Balj – ‘Amr b. Maymun – Ibn ‘Abbas:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali: “You are the wali of every believer after me.”[^4]

‘Allamah al-Albani says about it:

. وأما قوله: "وهو ولي كل مؤمن بعدي " فقد جاء من حديث ابن عباس، فقال الطيالسي (2752) : حدثنا أبو عوانة عن أبي بلج عن عمرو بن ميمون عنه " أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لعلي: " أنت ولي كل مؤمن بعدي ". وأخرجه أحمد (1 / 330 - 331) ومن طريقه الحاكم (3 / 132 - 133) وقال: "

As for his statement “and he is the wali of every believer after me”, it has been narrated in the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas, for al-Tayalisi (2752) said: Abu ‘Awanah – Abu Balj – ‘Amr b. Maymun, from him (i.e. Ibn ‘Abbas), “that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali: ‘You are the wali of every believer after me.’” Ahmad (1/330-331) recorded it, and from his route al-Hakim (3/132-133), and he (al-Hakim) said, “a sahih chain” and al-Dhahabi concurred with him, and it is indeed as both have stated.[^5]

So, Imam al-Hakim[^6], Imam al-Dhahabi^7 and al-Albani again grade this second chain of the hadith to be sahih. Imam al-Busiri also states:

Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali: “You are the wali of every believer after me.”

Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi has recorded it with a sahih chain.[^8]

Closely following al-Tayalisi is Imam Ibn Abi Shaybah (235 H)[^9]. Imam al-Shami (d. 942 H) says:

Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated, and it is sahih, from ‘Imran, may Allah be pleased with him, saying: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “Ali is from me and I am from him, and ‘Ali is the wali of every believer after me.”[^10]

Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 241 H) too has documented the hadith:

‘Abd Allah – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – ‘Abd al-Razzaq and ‘Affan al-Ma’ni – Ja’far b. Sulayman – Yazid al-Rishk – Mutarrif b. ‘Abd Allah – ‘Imran b. Hasin:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, deployed a small army and made ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, their commander. He did something during his journey and they made a covenant. Four of the Sahabah of Muhammad, peace be upon him, made a covenant to report him to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. We, when we returned from any journey, used to start (our return) with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to greet him.

So, they went to him, and one of them stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah, ‘Ali did such-and-such.” So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him. Then the second stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, ‘Ali did such-and-such.” So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him (too). Then the third rose and said, “O Messenger of Allah, ‘Ali did such-and-such.” So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him.

Then the fourth stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, ‘Ali did such-and-such”. So, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, faced him, and his face had changed, and said, “Leave ‘Ali alone! Leave ‘Ali alone! Verily, ‘Ali is from me and I am from him, and he is the wali of every believer after me.”[^11]

Imam al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 H) has a similar riwayah:

Qutaybah – Ja’far b. Sulayman al-Dhab’i – Yazid al-Rishk – Mutarrif b. ‘Abd Allah – ‘Imran b. Hasin:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, deployed an army unit under the command of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib. So, he departed with the army unit and gained a female slave (from the war booty). But, they opposed him over it and four of the Sahabah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, vowed and said, “When we meet the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, we will inform him of what ‘Ali has done”. When Muslims returned from the journey, they used to start (their arrival) with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and would greet him. Then they would go to their various destinations. S

o, when the military unit arrived, they greeted the Prophet, peace be upon him, and one of the four people rose and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Have you not seen that ‘Ali b. Abi Talib did so-and-so?” So, he (the Prophet), peace be upon him, turned away from him. Then the second stood up and said the same thing, and he (the Prophet) turned away from him (too). Then the third stood up and said the same thing. So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him (as well). Then the fourth stood up and said what they (i.e. the other three) said. So, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, turned to him, and anger was visible on his face, and he said, “What do you want from ‘Ali? What do you want from ‘Ali? Verily, ‘Ali is from me and I am from ‘Ali, and he is the wali of every believer after me.”[^12]

Al-Tirmidhi says about it:

This hadith is hasan gharib (i.e. has a hasan chain).^13

Meanwhile, ‘Allamah al-Albani has a simple verdict on the hadith:

Sahih^14

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (d. 852 H) also states:

Al-Tirmidhi records in a narrative with a strong (qawi) chain from ‘Imran b. Hasin: “The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘What do you want from ‘Ali? Verily, ‘Ali is from me and I am from ‘Ali, and he is the wali of every believer after me.’”[^15]

Also commenting on the same hadith, Shaykh Nazir Hamadan says:

Its chain is strong, and al-Tirmidhi (3712) recorded it under al-Manaqib: Chapter on the Merits of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and he declared it hasan. And it is recorded in al-Musnad 4/437, 438.[^16]

The hadith is recorded by Imam Ibn Abi ‘Asim (d. 287 H) as well:

‘Abbas b. al-Walid al-Narsi and Abu Kamil – Ja’far b. Sulayman – Yazid b. al-Rishk – Mutarrif – ‘Imran b. Hasin, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “Ali is from me, and I am from him, and he is the wali of every believer after me.”[^17]

‘Allamah al-Albani comments about it:

Its chain is sahih, its narrators are thiqah (trustworthy), upon the standard of (Imam) Muslim (in his Sahih).^18

Dr. al-Jawabirah also says:

Its chain is sahih. Its narrators are narrators of (Sahih) Muslim.[^19]

Abu Ya’la al-Mawsili (d. 307 H) has equally narrated this version of al-Tirmidhi in his Musnad[^20]. Shaykh Dr. Husayn Asad Salim grades the hadith with these words:

Its narrators are narrators of the Sahih.^21

Imam Ibn Hibban (d. 354 H) has documented the same version in his Sahih[^22]. Shaykh al-Arnaut, the annotator, says about the riwayah:

Its chain is strong.[^23]

Imam Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310 H) narrated this hadith as well. ‘Allamah al-Hindi (d. 975 H) quotes al-Tabari’s version and authentication in his Kanz:

Narrated ‘Imran b. Hasin:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, deployed an army unit and appointed ‘Ali as their commander. Then, they captured war booties, and ‘Ali did something that they hated – and in another version: ‘Ali took a slave-girl from the war booty. So, four of the soldiers vowed that when they would meet the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, they would inform him. It was their custom then that whenever they returned from any journey, they would first visit the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and would greet him and would look at him.

Then they would go to their various destinations. When the army unit arrived, they greeted the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and one of the four (soldiers) stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Have you not seen that ‘Ali took a slave-girl from the war booty?” So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him. Then the second stood up and said the same thing, and he (the Prophet) turned away from him. Then the third stood up and said the same thing. So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him. Then the fourth stood up. So, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, faced him and anger was visible on his face, (the Prophet) and said, “What do you want from ‘Ali? ‘Ali is from me and I am from ‘Ali, and ‘Ali is the wali of every believer after me.”

(Comment) Ibn Jarir (recorded it) and he declared it sahih.[^24]

Al-Hindi himself concurs with al-Tabari:

‘Ali is from me and I am from ‘Ali, and ‘Ali is the wali of every believer after me.

(Comment: narrated by ‘Imran b. Hasin. It is sahih).[^25]

A further report of the hadith is documented by Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal in his Musnad:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad b. Hanbal) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Ibn Numayr – Ajlah al-Kindi – ‘Abd Allah b. Buraydah – his father, Buraydah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, deployed two army units to Yemen. ‘Ali b. Abi Talib was the commander of one of them while Khalid b. al-Walid was that of the other. So, he said, “When you combine your forces, then ‘Ali shall be the overall commander. But when you disperse, then each of you shall be the commander of his own troops.”

We then battled Banu Zayd from the people of Yemen, and we fought, and the Muslims triumphed over the idolaters. We killed the combatants and captured the offspring. ‘Ali chose one of the captives, a slave-girl, for himself. So, Khalid and I wrote jointly to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to inform him of it. When I (later) came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and I handed over the letter, and it was read to him, I saw anger on the face of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

Then, I said, “O Messenger of Allah! This is the place for the refuge-seeker. You sent me with a man (i.e. ‘Ali) and ordered me to obey him, and I did what you sent me with.” Then, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Do not attack ‘Ali, for he is from me and I am from him, and he is your wali after me; and he is from me and I am from him, and he is your wali after me.”[^26]

‘Allamah al-Albani says:

أخرجه أحمد (5 / 356) . قلت: وإسناده حسن

“Do not attack ‘Ali, for he is from me and I am from him, and he is your wali after me, and he is from me and I am from him, and he is your wali after me.”

Ahmad (5/356) recorded it. I say: and its chain is hasan.[^27]

Simply put, there are several distinct reliable chains for the hadith from three different Sahabah. As such, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah’s grading of the hadith as mawdu’ is completely baseless and a clear distortion of reality. This is why ‘Allamah al-Albani is so surprised at his action. In his closing remarks about Hadith al-Wilayah, the ‘Allamah wonders:

فمن العجيب حقا أن يتجرأ شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية على إنكار هذا الحديث وتكذيبه في " منهاج السنة " (4 / 104)

Of the truly unbelievable is Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s denial of this hadith, and his calling it a lie in Minhaj al-Sunnah (4/104).[^28]

[^1]: Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Halim b. Taymiyyah al-Harrani, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (Muasassat Qurtubah; 1st edition, 1406 H) [annotator: Dr. Muhammad Rashad Salim], vol. 7, p. 391

[^2]: Abu Dawud Sulayman b. Dawud b. al-Jarud al-Farisi al-Basri al-Tayalisi, Musnad (Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah), p. 111, # 829

[^3]: 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. 261, # 2223

[^4]: Abu Dawud Sulayman b. Dawud b. al-Jarud al-Farisi al-Basri al-Tayalisi, Musnad (Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah), p. 360, # 2752

[^5]: 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. 263, # 2223

[^6]: 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. 143, # 4652

[^8]: Ahmad b. Abi Bakr b. Isma’il al-Busiri, Itihaf al-Khiyarah al-Maharah bi Zawaid al-Masanid al-‘Ashara (Riyadh: Dar al-Watan; 1st edition, 1420 H), vol. 7, p. 184, # 6630

[^9]: ‘Abd Allah b. Muhammad b. Abi Shaybah Ibrahim b. ‘Uthman b. Abi Bakr b. Abi Shaybah al-Kufi al-‘Ubsi, Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah fi al-Ahadith wa al-Athar (Dar al-Fikr; 1st edition, 1409 H) [annotator: Prof. Sa’id al-Laham], vol. 7, p. 504, # 58

[^10]: Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Salihi al-Shami, Subul al-Huda al-Rashad fi Sirah Khayr al-‘Ibad (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1414 H) [annotators: ‘Adil Ahmad ‘Abd al-Mawjud and ‘Ali Muhammad Ma’ud], vol. 11, p. 296

[^11]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 4, p. 437, # 19942

[^12]: Abu ‘Isa Muhammad b. ‘Isa al-Sulami al-Tirmidhi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 5, p. 632, # 3712

[^15]: Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Hajar al-‘Asqalani, al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah; 1st edition, 1415 H) [annotators: Shaykh ‘Adil Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Mawjud and Shaykh ‘Ali Muhammad Ma’udh], vol. 4, p. 468

[^16]: Shams al-Din Muhammad b. Ahmad b. ‘Uthman al-Dhahabi, Siyar A’lam al-Nubala (Beirut: Muasassat al-Risalah; 1413 H) [annotators of the eighth volume: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut and Nazir Hamadan], vol. 8, p. 199, # 36

[^17]: Abu Bakr b. Abi ‘Asim, Ahmad b. ‘Amr b. al-Dhahhak b. Mukhlid al-Shaybani, Kitab al-Sunnah (al-Maktab al-Islami; 1st edition, 1400 H) [annotator: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani], vol. 2, p. 564, # 1187

[^19]: Abu Bakr b. Abi ‘Asim, Ahmad b. ‘Amr b. al-Dhahhak b. Mukhlid al-Shaybani, Kitab al-Sunnah (Dar al-Sami’i li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’) [annotator: Dr. Basim b. Faysal al-Jawabirah], vol. 1, p. 799, # 1221

[^20]: 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. 1, p. 293, # 355

[^22]: Abu Hatim Muhammad b. Hibban b. Ahmad b. Hibban b. Mu’adh b. Ma’bad al-Tamimi al-Darimi al-Busti, Sahih Ibn Hibban bi Tartib Ibn Balban (Beirut: Muasassat al-Risalah; 2nd edition, 1414 H) [annotators: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani and Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 15, pp. 373-374, # 6929

[^23]: Ibid, vo. 15, p. 374, # 6929

[^24]: ‘Ali b. Husam al-Din al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal fi Sunan al-Aqwal wa Af’al (Beirut: Muasassat al-Risalah; 1989 H), vol. 13, p. 122, # 36444

[^25]: Ibid, vol. 11, p. 907, # 32941

[^26]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 356, # 23062

[^27]: 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. 262, # 2223

[^28]: Ibid, vol. 5, p. 264, # 2223