Hadith of truth

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Hadith-i haqq is a famous Hadith in Islam.

It is used by the Shia in arguing in favour of Ali's right to the Succession to Muhammad. The Sunnis also accept it to be truthful (sahih) but interpret it otherwise.

According to the Hadith, Umm Salama is known to have said that Muhammad said:

"Ali is with the Truth (haqq) and the Qur'an, and the Truth and the Qur'an are also with Ali, and they will be inseparable until they come upon me at Kawthar."

al-Bahrani's Ghâyat al-marâm wa-hujjat al-hisâm, p.539, recounts the hadith in fifteen versions from Sunni sources and eleven versions from Shi'a sources.

In some versions of the hadith of the pond of Khumm there is an extra sentence that is he (Muhammad) said:

"Wa dara al-haqq ma'ahu haithu dar", literally: "And the truth (the right path) turns with him (i.e. Ali) wherever way he turns."

Sunni reference: Tafsir al-Kabir, by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, under the commentary of "al-Bismilah"

Similarly in Sahih al-Tirmidhi, it is narrated that:

The Messenger of God said: "O God, have Thy Mercy on Ali. O God, make the right and the truth with Ali in all situations."

Sunni reference: Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p297

[edit] Sunni View

This hadith does not institute a proclamation for succession or leadership. Many other Shabis receives similar recommendations from the Prophet.

[edit] Shi'a view

A Shi'a site elaborates:

In Arabic, linguistically, the wording (balagha) could play tricks on the listener. Logically, truth is absolute and not variable. A person, relative to the truth, could be variable in action.

In this case, the person (i.e. Imam Ali) is placed as the absolute fixed axes around which the event is taking place; such that, if anything changes in the person's decision, the event is the thing that will change its track -- truth in this case!!! Since, such change is not logically reasonable due to the absolute nature of truth, then one can conclude that the two are married and are inseparable. Hence, Ali (AS) stands for truth at all times.

Thus the saying of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) is a metaphoric way to stress Ali's importance and attachment to the truth (right path) such that Ali (AS) and the "right path" are indistinguishable.

Whereas, if we put in the reverse order (i.e. Ali turns with truth...) it would leave room, theoretically, for Ali to make other possible turns, by virtue of Ali being the moving object. This would sound weaker, and would imply the nature of a non-infallible person. [1]