Ali (rta) as the leader of the Arabs

 

1. ‘Ā’ishah (rta)

 

حدثنا أبو العباس محمد بن أحمد المحبوبي ثنا محمد بن معاذ ثنا أبو حفص عمر بن الحسن الراسبي ثنا أبو عوانة عن أبي بشر عن سعيد بن جبير عن عائشة رضي الله عنها أن النبي صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم قال أنا سيد ولد آدم وعلي سيد العرب هذا حديث صحيح الإسناد ولم يخرجاه وفي إسناده عمر بن الحسن وأرجو أنه صدوق ولولا ذلك لحكمت بصحته علي شرط الشيخين وله شاهد من حديث عروة عن عائشة

‘Ā’ishah reported from the Prophet that he said: “I am the leader of the progeny of Adam and ‘Ali is the leader of the Arabs.”1

  Following is the schematic illustration of the isnad of this narrative’s variants:  

  In the first section: ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Abd Rabbih is munkar al-hadith.2 In the second section: No information is available on Abu Muhammad al-Sammak. Following is some of the jarh al-Mizzi records about Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi: Ya‘qub ibn Shaybah says: kathir al-manakir; al-Bukhari says: hadithuhu fihi nazr; al-Nasa’i says: laysa bi thiqah; Ibrahim ibn Ya‘qub al-Juzjani says: radi al-madhhab ghayr thiqah; Fadlak al-Razi says that he has fifty thousand narratives of Muhammad ibn Humayd and would not narrate a word from them; Ishaq ibn Mansur is reported to have sworn that Muhammad ibn Humayd is a liar; Salih ibn Muhammad al-Asadi says that they regard Muhammad ibn Humayd to be blameworthy in whatever he narrates to them; Abu Zur‘ah and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Yusuf ibn Khirash regard him to be a liar; the scholars of Ray are unanimous that he is da‘if fi al-hadith and that he would narrate what he never heard and would take narratives of the people of Basrah and Kufah and would attribute them to Abu Hatim al-Razi and Abu Zur‘ah al-Razi.3 Ibn Hajar says that he is da‘if and that Ibn Ma‘in has a good opinion about him.4 About Ishaq ibn Bishr, al-Dhahabi records: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah regards him to be the only liar he has come across; Musa ibn Harun and Abu Zur‘ah also regard him so. Al-Fallas and others regard him to be matruk; al-Daraqutni regards him to be among those who fabricate narratives.5 Ibn Hibban says that it is not permissible to write his narratives except as a means to express wonder. No information is available on Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Bilal and Ahmad ibn Musa ibn Tahhan. In the third section: Al-Dhahabi says that ‘Umar ibn al-Hasan al-Rasibi is unknown and he thinks that he may have actually concocted this narrative.6 About Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Himani, Ibn al-Jawzi records: Ibn Numayr says that he is a liar and Ahmad says that he openly lies and is yasriq al-hadith; al-Sa‘di says that he is saqit and al-Nasa’i regards him to be da‘if. However, Yahya ibn Ma‘in says that he is trustworthy.7 Nothing is known about ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar al-Fazari and Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Ziyadi. In the fourth section: About Ayyub ibn ‘Utbah al-Yamami (d. 160 AH), al-Mizzi writes: at one instance, Ahmad ibn Hanbal regards him to be da‘if and at another, he regards him to be trustworthy; the following are the opinions of Yahya ibn Ma‘in about him: laysa bi shay’, laysa bi al-qawi’, da‘if , laysa hadithuhu bi shay’ and la ba’sa bihi; ‘Ali ibn al-Madini, Ibrahim ibn Ya‘qub al-Juzjani, ‘Amr ibn ‘Ali, Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ammar and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj regard him to be da‘if while ‘Amr ibn ‘Ali adds that he has a bad memory though he is truthful; al-‘Ijli says yuktabu hadithuhu wa laysa bi al-qawi; al-Bukhari says huwa ‘indahum layyin; al-Nasa’i regards him to be mudtarib al-hadith and da‘if; Ya‘qub ibn Sufyan regards him to be da‘if as well and says that there is no pleasure in his narratives; al-Daraqutni says yutrak and at another instance says can be trusted and is shaykh; Ibn ‘Adi says some of his narratives are munkar but in spite of his du‘f his narratives can be written for corroboration.8 Ibn Hajar regards him to be da‘if.9 Ibn Hibban says that he would make a lot of mistakes and had a very bad memory so much so that his mistakes became excessive.10 Abu Zur‘ah regards him to be da‘if.11 In the fifth section, about al-Husayn ibn ‘Alwan, al-Dhahabi writes: Yahya says that he is a liar and ‘Ali says that he is da‘ifun jiddan; Abu Hatim, al-Nasa’i and al-Daraqutni say that he is matruk al-hadith; Ibn Hibban says that he concocts narratives from Hisham ibn ‘Urwah and others in such a way that it is not permitted to write his narratives except to marvel at.12  

2. Anas ibn Malik (rta)

حدثنا أحمد قال حدثنا عبيد اللّٰه بن يوسف الجبيري قال حدثنا عمر بن عبد العزيز الدراع قال حدثنا خاقان بن عبد اللّٰه بن اهتم قال حدثنا حميد الطويل عن أنس بن مالك أن رسول الله قال من سيد العرب قالوا أنت يا رسول اللّٰه قال أنا سيد ولد آدم وعلي سيد العرب لم يرو هذا الحديث عن حميد إلا خاقان ولا عن خاقان إلا عمر بن عبد العزيز تفرد به عبيد الله الجبيري

Anas ibn Malik reported that God’s Messenger (sws) asked: “Who is the leader of the Arabs?” People replied: “You O Messenger of God.” He said: “I am the leader of Adam’s progeny and ‘Ali is the leader of the Arabs.”13

  Following is the schematic illustration of the isnad of this narrative:  

  The narrative has the ‘an‘anah of Humayd al-Tawil who is a mudallis.14 No information is available on ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Dari‘  

3. Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (rta)

 حدثنا أبي ثنا محمد بن أحمد بن يزيد ثنا الخليل بن محمد العجلي ثنا أبو بكر الواسطي ثنا عبيد بن العوام عن فطر عن عطية العوفي عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال قال رجل يا رسول اللّٰه أنت سيد العرب قال لا أنا سيد ولد آدم وعلي سيد العرب وإنه لأول من ينفض الغبار عن رأسه يوم القيامة فبكي علي

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri said: “A person said to God’s Messenger: ‘You are the leader of the Arabs.’ He replied: ‘No I am the leader of Adam’s progeny and ‘Ali is the leader of Arabs and he would be the first one from whose head dust would be blown away on the Day of Judgement.’ At this, ‘Ali cried.”15

  Following is the schematic illustration of the isnad of this narrative:  

    About ‘Atiyyah ibn Sa‘d ibn Junadah al-‘Awfi (d. 111 AH), al-Mizzi records: Ahmad ibn Hanbal regards him to be da‘if al-hadith and Hushaym regards his narratives to be da‘if; Yahya ibn Ma‘in says that he is salih; Abu Zur‘ah regards him to be layyin; Abu Hatim says that he is da‘if al-hadith yuktabu hadithuhu; Ibrahim ibn Ya‘qub al-Juzjani says that he is ma’il; al-Nasa’i regards him to be da‘if; Ibn ‘Adi says that in spite of his weakness, his narratives can be written and that he is regarded to be from among the Shiites of Kufah.16 Ibn Hajar says that he is saduq who makes a lot of errors and is a mudallis Shiite. This narrative has his ‘an‘anah.17 No information is available on ‘Ubayd ibn al-‘Awwam and al-Khalil ibn Muhammad ibn Yazid.  

 4. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (rta)

حديث آخر في ذلك انبأنا الحريري قال انبأنا العشاري قال انا الدارقطني قال انا ابو الأسود عبيداللّٰه بن موسي القاضي قال حدثنا عبدالله بن محمد بن يزيد الحنفي قال انا عبدان قال انا خارجة بن مصعب عن ابن جريح عن عطاء عن ابن عباس قال قال رسول اللّٰه صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم انا سيد ولد آدم ولا فخر وعلي سيد العرب قال يحيي خارجة ليس بثقة وقال ابن حبان لا يجوز الاحتجاج به

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas stated: God’s Messenger said: ‘I am the leader of the progeny of Adam and this is nothing to boast about and ‘Ali is the leader of the Arabs.”18

  Following is the schematic illustration of the isnad of this narrative:  

    Kharijah ibn Mus‘ab (d. 168 AH) is regarded very weak by authorities. Following is some of the jarh that al-Mizzi has recorded about him: Ahmad ibn Hanbal says about him: la yuktabu hadithuhu and ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal says that his father had stopped him from writing any narrative from him; Authorities have reported the opinions of Yahya ibn Ma‘in on him as: laysa bi shay’, laysa bi thiqah, kadhdhab, da‘if; al-Bukhari says that Ibn Mubarak and Waki‘ have abandoned him (tarakahu); al-Nasa’i says that he is da‘if, laysa bi thiqah and matruk al-hadith; Ibn Sa‘d said that people abstained from his narratives and thus they have abandoned him (tarakuhu); Abu Hatim says that he is mudtarib al-hadith laysa bi qawi yuktabu hadithuhu wa la yuhtajju bihi; Ibn Khirash and al-Hakim say that he is matruk al-hadith; al-Daraqutni regards him to be da‘if.19 Authorities have attributed tadlis to him. Ibn Hajar says that he does tadlis from liars.20 (The narrative under consideration has his ‘an‘anah). Ibn Hibban says that it is not permissible to adduce from him.21  

5. Hasan ibn ‘Ali (rta)

حدثنا محمد بن عثمان بن أبي شيبة ثنا إبراهيم بن إسحاق الصيني ثنا قيس بن الربيع عن ليثٍ عن أبي ليلي عن الحسن بن علي رضي اللّٰه عنه قال قال رسول اللّٰه صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم يا أنس انطلق فادع لي سيد العرب يعني عليا فقالت عائشة رضي اللّٰه عنها ألست سيد العرب قال أنا سيد ولد آدم وعلي سيد العرب فلما جاء علي رضي اللّٰه عنه أرسل رسول اللّٰه صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم إلي الأنصار فأتوه فقال لهم يا معشر الأنصار ألا أدلكم علي ما إن تمسكتم به لن تضلوا بعده قالوا بلي يا رسول اللّٰه قال هذا علي فأحبوه بحبي وكرموه لكرامتي فإن جبريل صلي اللّٰه عليه وسلم أمرني بالذي قلت لكم عن اللّٰه عز وجل

al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali stated: “God’s Messenger said: ‘O Anas! Go and send the leader of the Arabs ie. ‘Ali to me.’ At this, ‘Ā’ishah said: ‘Are you not the leader of the Arabs?’ He replied: ‘I am the leader of Adam’s progeny while ‘Ali is the leader of the Arabs.’ So, when ‘Ali came over, God’s Messenger called over the Ansar.’ Thereupon, they came over to him. So, he said to them: ‘Should I not tell you something which if you hold on to you will never go astray after it.’ They replied: ‘Why not! O Messenger of God.’ He said: ‘This is ‘Ali; love him the way you love me and respect him the way you respect me. This is because Gabriel on behalf of God, the Mighty, the Exalted has asked me to tell you this.’”22

  Following is the schematic illustration of the isnad of this narrative:  

I

    One group of scholars has regarded Layth ibn Abi Sulaym to be suspect. According to Ibn Hibban23 in his last years, he had a bad memory and would not know what he was narrating, would mix-up the chains of narration and make mursal narratives marfu‘ and wrongly attribute reports to sound narrators; Ibn Hibban goes on to add that Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan, Yahya ibn Ma‘in, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi and Ahmad ibn Hanbal have forsaken him. He also adds that in the opinion of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he is da‘if al-hadith jiddan and makes many mistakes. According to al-Nasa’i, he is da‘if.24 Ibn Hajar says that he is saduq, mixes up a lot, is not able to distinguish between his narratives and has been forsaken.25 Al-Mizzi26 records that Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu Zur‘ah regard him to be mudtarib al-hadith and that Ibn Abi Hatim also regards him to be da‘if al-hadith. Ibn Hajar27 records that Yahya ibn Ma‘in calls him to be munkar al-hadith and Ibn Sa‘d and Ya‘qub ibn Shaybah regard him to be da‘if al-hadith. According to al-Daraqutni, Ibrahim ibn Ishaq is matruk al-hadith.28 Qays ibn Rabi‘ (d. 167 AH) is very suspect. Al-Mizzi records: Ahmad ibn Hanbal says that he narrates ahadith munkarah; according to Yahya ibn Ma‘in he is: da‘if, la yuktabu hadithuhu, laysa bi shay’, laysa hadithuhu bi shay’, da‘if al-hadith la yusawi shay’ (all these four opinions of Yahya are reported from different authorities); ‘Amr ibn ‘Ali states that Yahya and ‘Abd al-Rahman would not narrate from him; the latter did initially narrate from him; but then abandoned him; ‘Ali ibn al-Madini regards him to be da‘ifun jiddan; Ibn Numayr reported that scholars of Hadith are of the opinion that his son had altered his narratives; Waki‘ would also regard him as da‘if; Ibrahim al-Juzjani regards him to be saqit; Abu Zur‘ah says fihi lin; Abu Hatim says mahalluhu al-sidq, wa laysa bi qawi, yuktabu hadithuhu wa la yuhtajju bihi; according to al-Nasa’i, he is laysa bi thiqah and another opinion attributed to him is that he is matruk al-hadith; Ya‘qub ibn Shaybah says that according to all his teachers he is saduq, wa kitabuhu salih, wa huwa radi al-hifẓ jiddan, kathir al-khata’ da‘ifun fi rawayatihi.29

Al-Bukhari records him in his Al-Du‘afa’.30 Ibn al-Jawzi also records him in his Al-Du‘afa’ and also records that al-Daraqutni regarded him to be da‘if al-hadith.31 Ibn Hibban has recorded him in his Al-Majruhin.32

Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah is suspect in the eyes of some authorities. Ibn Hajar33 records that according to ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal he is a liar and Ibn Khirash says that he fabricates narratives. No information is available on Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz and ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn ‘Abbas al-Hashimi. About al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan al-Ashqar, al-Mizzi records: al-Bukhari’s two opinions about him are: fihi naẓar and ‘indahu manakir; Abu Zur‘ah says that he is munkar al-hadith; Abu Hatim says that he is laysa bi qawi.34 Ibn al-Jawzi records that al-Nasa’i and al-Daraqutni say that he is laysa bi al-qawi and al-Azdi regards him to be da‘if; Abu Ma‘mar al-Hudhali says that he is a liar. 35

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1. Al-Hakim, Al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, 133, (no 4625). See also: Ibid., vol. 3, 134, (no. 4626); Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh Madinah Dimashq, vol. 30, 182; Ibid., vol. 42, 304-305; Ibid., vol. 64, 192; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Fada’il al-sahabah, vol. 1, 394, (no. 599); Ibn Maghazali, Manaqib ‘Ali, 283, (no. 158); Ibid., 284, (no. 259).

It may be noted that in the variants of Qays and Taylasah (both recorded by Ibn ‘Asakir), Isma‘il ibn Abi Khalid (as recorded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal) and Salamah ibn Kuhayl (as recorded by Ibn al-Maghazali (no. 158), the words reported are that ‘Ali is the leader of the youth of Arabia as opposed to ‘Ali is the leader of the Arabs as reported by others.

3. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 25, 102-105.

4. Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-tahdhib, 475.

5. Al-Dhahabi, Mizan, vol. 1, 337.

6. Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-mizan, vol. 4, 289.

7. Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Du‘afa’, vol. 3, 197.

8. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 3, 486-488.

8. Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-tahdhib, 118.

10. Ibn Hibban, Al-Majruhin, vol. 1, 169.

11. Ibn Abi Hatim, Al-Jarh wa al-ta‘dil, vol. 2, 252.

12. Al-Dhahabi, Mizan, vol. 2, 298.

11. Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu‘jam al-awsat, vol. 2, 127, (no. 1468). See also: Muhammad ibn Sulayman, Manaqib ‘Ali, vol. 2, 511, (no. 1018).

14. Ibn Hajar, Tabaqat al-mudallisin, 38.

15. Abu Nu‘aym, Tarikh Asbahan, vol. 1, 362. See also: Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh Madinah Dimashq, vol. 42, 305-306.

15. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 20, 147-148.

17. Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-tahdhib, 393.

18. Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-‘Ilal al-mutanahiyah, 1, 215.

19. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 8, 18-21.

20. Ibn Hajar, Tabaqat al-mudallisin, 54; Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-tahdhib, 186.

21. Ibn Hibban, Al-Majruhin, vol. 1, 288.

22. Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu‘jam al-kabir, vol. 3, 88, (no. 2749). See also: Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyah, vol. 1, 63; Ibid., vol. 5, 38.

23. Ibn Hibban, Al-Majruhin, vol. 2, 231.

24. Al-Nasa’i, Al-Du‘afa’, 90.

25. Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-tahdhib, 464.

26. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 24, 285-286.

27. Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 8, 418.

28. Al-Dhahabi, Al-Mughni, vol. 1, 9.

29. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 24, 29-36.

30. Al-Bukhari, Al-Du‘afa’ al-saghir, 95.

31. Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Du‘afa’, vol. 3, 19.

32. Ibn Hibban, Al-Majruhin, vol. 2, 216-219.

33. Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-mizan, vol. 5, 280.

34. Al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal, vol. 6, 368.

35. Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Du‘afa’, vol. 1, 211.