Whoever desires to live my life, die my death
Whoever desires to live my life, die my death
من سره أن يحيا حياتي و يموت موتتي و يسكن جنة عدن غرسها ربي فليتوال عليا من بعدي و ليوال وليه و ليقتد بالأئمة من بعدي فإنهم عترتي خلقوا من طينتي رزقوا فهما و علما و ويل للمكذبين بفضلهم من أمتي القاطعين فيهم صلتي لا أنالهم الله شفاعتي
Whoever desires to live my life, die my death, and live in the eternal Jannat my Rabb planted, should befriend ‘Ali and his wali and should emulate the Imams after me for they are my family who were created from my sand and were blessed with understanding and knowledge. Destruction to those who deny their virtue from my ummah, who sever my ties in their respect. May Allah not award them my intercession.
The narration is mawdu’.
أخرجه أبو نعيم من طريق محمد بن جعفر بن عبد الرحيم ثنا أحمد بن محمد بن يزيد بن سليم ثنا عبد الرحمن بن عمران بن أبي ليلى أخو محمد بن عمران ثنا يعقوب بن موسى الهاشمي عن أبي رواد عن إسماعيل بن أمية عن عكرمة عن ابن عباس مرفوعا
Abu Nuaim recorded it from the chain of Muhammad ibn Jafar ibn ‘Abdul Rahim―Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Sulaim narrated to us―’Abdul Rahman ibn ‘Imran ibn Abi Layla the brother of Muhammad ibn ‘Imran narrated to us―Ya’qub ibn Musa al Hashimi narrated to us from―Abu Rawwad from―Ismail ibn Umayyah from―’Ikrimah from―Ibn ‘Abbas who attributed it to Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
This is a very dark isnad. All the narrators before Abu Rawwad are majhul. I have not found anyone writing their biographies. Nonetheless, it appears to me that Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Sulaim is Ibn Muslim al Ansari al Atrabilisi, famously known as Ibn Abi al Hanajir. Ibn Abi Hatim said, “We recorded from him. He was truthful.”[1]
His biography appears in Tarikh Madinat Dimashq[2].
The rests of them are unknown to me. One of them is responsible for fabricating this hadith which is apparently batil and concocted. Sayyidina ‘Ali’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu virtue is recognised and independent of being substantiated with such ludicrous concoctions which the Shia cling on to and blacken their books with ten times the like thereof. They dispute to establish a reality no one today denies, i.e. the virtue and excellence of Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu.
The hadith has been attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas in al Jami’ al Kabir of al Rifa’i.[3]
I then spotted the narration in Tarikh Dimashq from the chain of Abu Nuaim. Ibn ‘Asakir comments thereafter, “This is a munkar hadith. More than one majhul narrator is present.”[4]
Why should it not be munkar when it contains such a wicked curse: May Allah not award them my intercession? The likes of which is not the habit of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and does not allign with his noble character, compassion, and mercy for his ummah. This is yet another hadith which ‘Abdul Hussain al Musawi quotes in his book al Muraja’at from Kanz al ‘Ummal[5] giving the impression that it appears in Musnad Ahmed but turning a blind eye to the tad’if of the author, who followed in the footsteps of al Suyuti.
The book al Muraja’at is replete with fabrications and forgeries. He documents them to dupe the readers into believing them to be authentic. He does not even try to uphold the principles of ‘Ilm al Hadith, not even the principles laid out by his own ilk. His object is not to examine all the narrations concerning the virtues of Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu. Rather, he gathers everything reported about him. Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu just like the other Khulafa’ Rashidin and perfect Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum have reached a lofty rank making them independent of being lauded with praises not founded from Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
Had the Ahlus Sunnah and Shia come to an agreement of laying down the principles of hadith, these would be used to judge narrations when disputes arose and they would rely on the sahih narrations. Had this happened, there would have been hope of bridging the gap and reaching a common understanding in the fundamental issues which we differ in. Harken! Dispute has remained unabated in the fundamentals and principles to the highest degree. So it is impossible to bridge the gap and reach a common understanding with them. In fact, every effort in this direction is a waste of energy. And help is sought only from Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala!
[1] Vol. 1 pg. 73.
[2] Tarikh Madinat Dimashq vol. 2 pg. 113 – 114.
[3] Al Jami’ al Kabir vol. 2 pg. 253.
[4] Tarikh Dimashq vol. 12 pg. 120.q
[5] Kanz al ‘Ummal vol. 6 pg. 155, 217, 218.