Hadith of loving and hating Ali
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- this is a sub-article to Hadith of equality in love and hatred.
Hadith of loving and hating Ali is a famous Hadith in Islam.
It is one of the primary hadiths used by the Shia to justify Ali's right in the Succession of Muhammad. The Sunnis interpret it otherwise.
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[edit] the report
A narration attributed to Zirr reports:
| 'Ali observed: By Him Who split up the seed and created something living, the Apostle (may peace and blessings be upon him) gave me a promise that no one but a believer would love me, and none but a hypocrite would nurse grudge against me. [1] |
A narration attributed to Abu Said al-Khudri reports:
| We recognized the hypocrites by their hatred of Ali" [2] |
A narration reports:
| Hatred of 'Ali is such a thing that no good deeds will benefit, whilst love of 'Ali is such a thing that no bad deeds will harm you". [3] |
[edit] Sunni view
Sunnis, unlike Shias, maintain that all of the companions of the prophet(saw) are to be respected. Sunnis argue that these ahadith, which are teaching against hating the companion Ali stem not from the idea that Ali would succeed Muhammed, but simply from the fact that some Ummayyad Muslims vehemently hated Ali because, a sunnis believe, Ali's actions threatened them. Sunnis argue that because hatred of Ali was so intense, Muhammed was left with no choice but to protest this hatred, possibly for Ali's livlihood. One example of an intention is when Ali decided he wanted to marry another lady, after Fatima. This distressed the prophet and most likely other Muslims followed suit in this distress unti Ali backed out of his wish to marry the other woman as well:
A narration attributed to Al-Miswar bin Makhrama reports:
| Ali demanded the hand of the daughter of Abu Jahl. Fatima heard of this and went to Allah's Apostle saying, "Your people think that you do not become angry for the sake of your daughters as 'Ali is now going to marry the daughter of Abu Jahl. "On that Allah's Apostle got up and after his recitation of Tashah-hud. I heard him saying, "Then after! I married one of my daughters to Abu Al-'As bin Al-Rabi' (the husband of Zainab, the daughter of the Prophet ) before Islam and he proved truthful in whatever he said to me. No doubt, Fatima is a part of me, I hate to see her being troubled. By Allah, the daughter of Allah's Apostle and the daughter of Allah's Enemy cannot be the wives of one man." So 'Ali gave up that engagement. [4] |
An example of Muslims hating Ali for his actions comes from Sahih Bukhari Vol 5 Book 59 Hadith 637
A narration attributed to Buraida reports:
| The Prophet sent 'Ali to Khalid to bring the Khumus (of the booty) and I hated Ali, and 'Ali had taken a bath (after a sexual act with a slave-girl from the Khumus). I said to Khalid, "Don't you see this (i.e. Ali)?" When we reached the Prophet I mentioned that to him. He said, "O Buraida! Do you hate Ali?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Do you hate him, for he deserves more than that from the Khumlus. |
People were jealous of Ali, because although he was a brave warrior of the prophet, he was also one of the first in line for booty. The prophet argued that this is not a just reason to hate Ali because he deserves far more than whatever booty he did in fact get from his battles. The hadith found in this collection just before this one regarding Buraida's hatred further demonstrates Ali's acquiring of booty:
A narration reports:
| Allah's Apostle sent us to Yemen along with Khalid bin Al-Walid. Later on he sent Ali bin Abi Talib in his place. The Prophet said to 'Ali, "Give Khalid's companions the choice of either staying with you (in Yemen) or returning to Medina." I was one of those who stayed with him (i.e. Ali) and got several Awaq (of gold from the war booty. |
[edit] Shia view
Shia's maintain with substantial Quraanic evidence that Ali was the most loved of all the Companions, whose devotion to his faith often left him hungry as he often gave all the food he had to the poor. they argue that some of the companions as mentioned above were envious of the high esteem in which the prophet held Ali calling him his brother and 'prince of the believers'. Muhammed is also quoted in both sunni and shia beliefs as having said "Ali is to me as Aaron was to Moses, but there is no prophet after me"- this is seen by shias to be indication that Ali is the ordained protector of the message, while sunnis take it to mean that Muhammed saw him as a brother. the envious people of medina orchestrated lies against Ali accusing him of sex with a slave girl, the pious Ali would never do such a thing. Muhammed constantly lavished Ali with praise most clearly referring to him as master of all Muslims in his farewell sermon at Ghadir Khum.
Muhammad al-Tijani, a 20th century Shi'a Twelver Islamic scholar states: [5]
| Had Aishah heard the saying of the Messenger of Allah (saw): Loving Ali is believing, and hating him is hypocrisy? [6]. To the extent that some of the Companions used to say, "We recognized the hypocrites by their hatred of Ali." Had Aishah not heard the saying of the Prophet: Whoever accepts me as his master, then Ali is his master? Undoubtedly she heard all that, but she did not like it, and she did not like mentioning his name, and when she learnt of his death she knelt and thanked Allah. [7] |
[edit] See also
[edit] Reference
- ^ http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/001.smt.html#001.0141
- ^ 1. Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p639, Tradition 1086 2. al-Isti'ab, by Ibn Abd al-Barr, v3, p47 - al-Riyad al-Nadirah, by al-Muhibb al-Tabari, v3, p242 http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/creed_of_shia_explained/en/chap4.php
- ^ taken from Ahlul Sunnah book, al-Nasa'ih al-Kaafiyah page 67 http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/creed_of_shia_explained/en/chap4.php
- ^ Sahih Bukhari Vol 5 Book 57 Hadith 76
- ^ Then I was Guided on al-islam.org [1]
- ^ Sahih, Muslim, vol 1 p 48
- ^ Al Tabari, Ibn al Athir, who wrote about the events in the Year of 40 Hijri
