Imam Ali : Khalifa of Rasul-Allah

Part 1 : The Hadith of Manzilat

Part 2 : Hadith of Khalifatyn

Part 3 : The allegiance of Abu Bakr was a mistake!

Welcome to our Blog! Presenting a gift to our Sunni brethren for Ghadeer, In this article, we shall prove that the designated successor of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib and not Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Quhafa. Allah ﷻ says in the Qu’ran :

إِنِّى جَاعِلٌۭ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةًۭ ۖ

‘I am going to make on Earth, a Khalifah’

~Surah al=Baqarah 2:30

Part 1 : The Hadith of Manzilat

1) Allamah Ibn Abi Aasim narrated :

عَنْ أَبِي عَوَانَةَ عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سُلَيْمٍ أَبِي بَلْجٍ عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ  لِعَلِيٍّ أَنْتَ مِنِّي بِمَنْزِلَةِ هَارُونَ مِنْ مُوسَى، إِلَّا أَنَّكَ لَسْتَ نَبِيًّا، إِنَّهُ لَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ أَذْهَبَ إِلَّا وَأَنْتَ خَلِيفَتِي فِي كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي»

Abu Awanah narrated from Yahya Ibn Sulaym Abu Balj on the authority of Amr Ibn Maymoon that Abd-Allah Ibn Abbas narrated :

 Rasul-Allah ﷺ said to Ali : ‘You are to me like Aaron was to Moses, except there is no Prophet after me and it is not appropriate for me to leave except that you are my Khalifa upon every believer after me.’

• Allamah al-Albani said under this narration when grading it :

إسناده حسن ورجاله ثقات رجال الشيخين غير أبي بلج.. قال الحافظ: صدوق ربما أخطأ.

Its chain is Hasan; all of its narrators are the narrators of al-Shaykhayn (Bukhari & Muslim), except Abu Balj, about whom Hafidh ibn Hajr al-Asqalani said: He is truthful and sometimes inclined towards mistake.

~Kitab al-Sunnah 1188

• The Prophet ﷺ positioned Imam Ali to himself as Aaron was to Moses and in the Glorious Qur’an, Aaron was the Khalifa (Successor) of Moses :

وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِأَخِيهِ هَـٰرُونَ ٱخْلُفْنِى فِى قَوْمِى

Moses said to his brother Aaron : ‘Be my Khalifa amongst my people.’

~Surah al-A’raf 7:142

https://quran.com/al-araf/142

• Also, al-Albani called the sanad Hasan but when he realized that the Shia’a use it as evidence for the Imamate of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, He contradicted himself :

ﺃﻣﺎ ﻣﺎ ﻳﺬﻛﺮﻩ اﻟﺸﻴﻌﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺬا اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ ﻭﻏﻴﺮﻩ ﺃﻥ اﻟﻨﺒﻲ ﷺ ﻗﺎﻝ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺇﻧﻪ ﺧﻠﻴﻔﺘﻲ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻌﺪﻱ ﻓﻼ ﻳﺼﺢ ﺑﻮﺟﻪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻮﺟﻮﻩ، ﺑﻞ ﻫﻮ ﻣﻦ ﺃﺑﺎﻃﻴﻠﻬﻢ اﻟﻜﺜﻴﺮﺓ

The Shia’a mention this Hadith that the Prophet ﷺ said about Ali : “He is my Khalifa after me.” This isn’t true rather it’s one of the many falsehoods.

~al-Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah vol 4:344

al-Albani only negated it because we use it as an evidence, other than that the sanad is Sahih as he himself graded it Hasan, let us see the Tahqeem of other Sunni scholars as well.

2) Imam Haakim al-Nishapuri said :

هَذَا حَدِيثٌ صَحِيحُ الْإِسْنَادِ، وَلَمْ يُخَرِّجَاهُ بِهَذِهِ السِّيَاقَةِ

This Hadith is Sahih in it’s chain and they (Bukhari & Muslim) didn’t record this by this chain of transmission. 

• Allamah adh-Dhabhi said in the Talkhees : Sahih (صَحِيحُ)

~Mustadarak ala al-Sahihayn 4652, vol 3:143

3) Allamah Nur ad-Deen al-Haythami said :

رَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ، وَالطَّبَرَانِيُّ فِي الْكَبِيرِ وَالْأَوْسَطِ بِاخْتِصَارٍ، وَرِجَالُ أَحْمَدَ رِجَالُ الصَّحِيحِ غَيْرَ أَبِي بَلْجٍ الْفَزَارِيِّ، وَهُوَ ثِقَةٌ،

This narration was narrated by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal & al-Tabarani in his Mu’jam al-Kabeer & al-Awsat in brief, and the narrators of Musnad Ahmad are the narrators of Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim except Abu Balj al-Fazari who is trustworthy (Thiqah)

~Majmaa’ az-Zawa’id vol 9:120

4) Muhadith of the Era, Ahmad Muhammad Shaakir on the grading of Musnad Ahmad said about this narration : 

It’s chain is Sahih (إسناده صحيح)

~Musnad Ahmad vol 3:333

5) Allamah al-Shawkani said :

وأخرج أحمد والطبراني في الكبير والأوسط والحاكم وصححه ورجل أحمد ثقات 

Narrated by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal & at-Tabarani in Mu’jam al-Kabeer & al-Awsat and al-Haakim authenticated it and the narrators of Musnad Ahmad are Thiqah (trustworthy)

~Dar al-Sahabah page 216

• The Nawasib diminish the Sanad by saying Abu Balj al-Fazari is weak, we have already quoted the Hadith scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah who authenticated it, let us quote from their books that Abu Balj is Thiqah as Allamah al-Mizzi wrote :

أَبُو ‌بلج الفزاري…..  ، عَن ‌يحيى بْن مَعِين: ثقة. وكذلك قال مُحَمَّد بْن سعد ، والنَّسَائي، والدَّارَقُطنِيّ. وَقَال أبو حاتم : صالح الحديث، لا بأس بِهِ.

Abu Balj al-Fazari. It is narrated that Yahya Ibn Ma’in said : ‘He is Thiqah (trustworthy)’ 

Similar has been said by Muhammad Ibn Sa’ad, al-Nisai’i, and al-Daraqutni. 

Abu Haatim al-Raazi said that : ‘He is Saleh in Hadith and there is no problem in him.’

~Tahdheeb al-Kamal fee Asma al-Rijal vol 33:162-163

Part 2 : Hadith of Khalifatyn

1) Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal narrated :

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أَحْمَدَ الزُّبَيْرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا شَرِيكٌ، عَنِ الرُّكَيْنِ، عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ حَسَّانَ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: ” إِنِّي تَارِكٌ ‌فِيكُمْ ‌خَلِيفَتَيْنِ: كِتَابُ اللهِ وَأَهْلُ بَيْتِي، وَإِنَّهُمَا لَنْ يَتَفَرَّقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ جَمِيعًا

Abu Ahmad al-Zubayri narrated from Shaarik al-Qadhi on the authority of al-Rukayn who narrated from al-Qasim Ibn Hassan that Zayd Ibn Thabit said :

Rasul-Allah ﷺ said : I leave behind you two successors (Khalifatayn), The book of Allah & my Ahl al-Bayt and they shall never seperate from each other until they meet me at the Hawdh together. 

~Musnad Ahmad vol 35:512

• Shaykh Shuayb al-Arnaut said : Hadith is Sahih (حديث صحيح)

2) Allamah Nur ad-Deen al-Haythami said :

رَوَاهُ الطَّبَرَانِيُّ فِي الْكَبِيرِ، وَرِجَالُهُ ثِقَاتٌ.

at-Tabarani narrated it in his Mu’jam al-Kabeer and the narrators are Thiqah (trustworthy)

~Majmaa’ al-Zawa’id vol 1:170

3) Allamah al-Albani called it Sahih (صحيح)

~al-Jami’ al-Sagheer page 482

• Those who criticize the Fadhail and Manaqib of Ahl al-Bayt say this Sanad is weak due to the Tadlis of Shaarik al-Qadhi but he was free from the defect of Tadlis as Hafidh Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani mentioned :

اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ اﺣﺘﻤﻞ اﻻﺋﻤﺔ ﺗﺪﻟﻴﺴﻪ ﻭﺃﺧﺮﺟﻮا ﻟﻪ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺢ ﻻﻣﺎﻣﺘﻪ ﻭﻗﻠﺔ ﺗﺪﻟﻴﺴﻪ

The second category of Mudallis : Narrators whose Hadith is accepted as they did tadlis at a very small extent.

~Tabqat al-Mudalliseen vol 1:13

And then Hafidh Ibn Hajr placed Shaarik al-Qadhi in the second category and said :

ﺷﺮﻳﻚ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻠﻪ اﻟﻨﺨﻌﻲ اﻟﻘﺎﺿﻲ ﻣﺸﻬﻮﺭ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻣﻦ اﻻﺛﺒﺎﺕ……ﻭﻛﺎﻥ ﻳﺘﺒﺮﺃ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﺪﻟﻴﺲ

Shaarik Ibn Abd-Allah al-Qaadhi, He was famous and amongst those who were proven for their Hadith and he was FREE from tadlis.

~Tabqat al-Mudalliseen vol 1:33

Part 3 : The allegiance of Abu Bakr was a mistake!

Umar Ibn al-Khattab said :

فَلاَ يَغْتَرَّنَّ امْرُؤٌ أَنْ يَقُولَ إِنَّمَا كَانَتْ بَيْعَةُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ فَلْتَةً وَتَمَّتْ أَلاَ وَإِنَّهَا قَدْ كَانَتْ كَذَلِكَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ وَقَى شَرَّهَا،

Let no one be deceived by saying that the pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr was a mistake, Indeed, it was a mistake, but Allah protected us against its evil.

~Sahih al-Bukhari 6830

Thank you for reading! This article proved that the caliphate of Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Quhafa was a mistake and the true successor of Rasul-Allah ﷺ as mentioned in the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith is Emir al-Mu’meenin Maula Ali a.s!