Saluni Qabl an Tafqiduni

Priority: c, Quality: c
From wikishia
Saluni Qabl an Tafqiduni
Muhammad al-Mushrifawi's calligraphy of the phrase "Saluni Qabl an Tafqiduni"
Muhammad al-Mushrifawi's calligraphy of the phrase "Saluni Qabl an Tafqiduni"
Issued byImam Ali (a)
NarratorsAbu l-Tufayl al-KinaniAbd Allah b. al-AbbasAsbagh b. NubataSulaym b. Qays al-Hilali
Shi'a sourcesNahj al-balaghaBasa'ir al-darajatKitab Sulaym b. Qays al-HilaliAl-AmaliAl-Irshad
Sunni sourcesAl-Mustadrak 'ala l-sahihaynManaqib Amir al-Mu'mininFara'id al-simtaynTarikh madina Dimashq


Salūnī qabla ʿan tafqidūnī (Arabic: سَلُونِي قَبْلَ أَنْ تَفْقِدُونِي, ask me before you miss me) is a phrase from Imam Ali (a) implying the extent of his knowledge. According to both Shi'a and Sunni sources, Imam Ali (a) has uttered this phrase many times, including in a sermon during which Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas reacted to this phrase by asking Imam Ali (a) about the number of hair strands on his head and face. Imam Ali (a) replied, “There is no hair strand on your head, except that there is a devil sitting at its base.” He also told him that Imam al-Husayn (a) would be martyred by his son, Umar b. Sa'd. This phrase is counted as one of the exclusive virtues of Imam Ali (a), and it was considered proof of his superiority over the other companions of the Prophet (s).

Introduction

Salūnī qabla ʿan tafqidūnī (ask me before you miss me) is a phrase from Imam Ali (a).[1] According to a hadith quoted in the book Yanabi' al-mawadda, Imam Ali (a) has uttered this phrase many times,[2] one of which was in a sermon he delivered after that people pleaded allegiance to him as caliph.[3] Another was among a number of his companions during the period between the Battle of Siffin and Nahrawan.[4]

The same meaning of this phrase has been narrated in other wordings such as, “then you ask me before you miss me,”[5] “ask me of what you want,”[6] “ask me before you do not ask me,”[7] and “ask me.”[8]

Indication of Imam Ali’s Vast Knowledge

Some commentators of Nahj al-Balagha said, this phrase indicates that Imam Ali (a) knew everything. [9]Moreover, Mulla Salih Mazandarani, a Shi'a scholar of the 11th/17th century, stated that some Sunni scholars have considered this phrase to indicate Imam Ali’s (a) vast knowledge.[10]

Explaining the meaning of this phrase, Imam al-Baqir (a) said, “No one possesses any knowledge except that he has taken it from Ali (a). let the people go wherever they want; by God, there is no true knowledge except in here.” Then he pointed to his house.[11]

According to al-'Allama al-Majlisi, Imam al-Baqir (a) meant the house of revelation and prophethood by pointing to his own house.[12] In the narrations, this phrase is followed by various phrases that indicate the extensive knowledge of Imam Ali (a), such as:

  • Indeed, I have knowledge of the former and the latter. I will answer the people of the Torah according to the Torah, the people of Evangel according to the Evangel, and the people of the Qur'an according to the Qur’an.[13]
  • Why do not you ask the one who has the knowledge of calamities, deaths, and genealogies?[14]
  • Indeed, I know the celestial ways better than the earthly ways.[15]
  • By God, I will answer whatever you ask. Ask me from the Qur'an, by God, I am aware of all the verses of the Qur'an, whether they were revealed in day or night, on flat ground or in the mountains.[16]
  • By God, I will answer any questions of yours about the past, present, and future.[17]

Exclusive Virtue of Imam Ali (a)

Ibn Mardawayh, a fourth/tenth century Sunni scholar, says that this phrase demonstrates that Imam Ali (a) was more knowledgeable than the other companions of the Prophet (s).[18] Moreover, Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Juwayni al-Shafi'i, a Sunni scholar (d. 730/1329-30), in his book Fara'id al-simtayn, has counted this phrase as one of the exclusive virtues of Imam Ali (a) that the enemies and opponents of Imam Ali (a) have no choice but to admit it. [19]

Sayyid b. Tawwus maintains that because Imam Ali (a) has said this phrase before the people and his enemies, it is considered a kind of tahaddy (challenging others) in knowledge.[20] On the other hand, rejecting this virtue, Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi[21] and Ibn Taymiyya,[22] a Salafi scholar, believe that Imam Ali (a) has addressed this phrase to people of Kufa who were ignorant people.

According to some narrations, Imam al-Baqir (a)[23] and Imam al-Sadiq (a)[24] have also said this phrase in some situations. In addition, the phrase “ask me of what you want” has been narrated from the Prophet (s), too.[25] In spite of these hadiths, some Sunni scholars claimed that no one except Imam Ali (a) had uttered this phrase.[26] In some Sunni sources, however, it is mentioned that no one from companions except for Imam Ali (a) has said such a phrase.[27]

False Claims

Muslim scholars have reported that some individuals have uttered this phrase claiming to have such knowledge; however, they were unable to answer the questions they have been asked. Among them was Qatada b. Di'ama, a jurist from Basra who is counted among Tabi'in,[28] and Ibn al-Jawzi, a Hanbali jurist of the 6th/12th century.[29]

In his book al-Ghadir, 'Allama Amini has also mentioned five other names who claimed to have such knowledge by saying this phrase; all of whom were disgraced. [30]According to al-'Allama al-Majlisi and Mulla Salih Mazandarani, other than Imam Ali (a), anyone who has made such a claim was disgraced.[31]

Narrators and Authenticity

The phrase “ask me before you miss me” has been narrated by several narrators such as 'Amir b. Wathila,[32] 'Abd Allah b. al-'Abbas,[33] Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali,[34] Asbagh b. Nubata,[35] and 'Abaya b. Rib'i.[36] Al-Hakim al-Nayshaburi has counted the hadith narrated by 'Amir b. Wathila as sahih (authentic).[37]

Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas's Reaction

According to some sources, after that Imam Ali (a) uttered this sentence in a sermon, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas asked him, “How many hair strands are there on my head and my beard?” In response, Imam Ali (a) swore that the Apostle of God (s) had informed him that Sa'd would ask him such a question. Then Imam Ali (a) told him, “There is no hair on your head and beard, except that there is a devil sitting at its base, and there is a kid in your house (referring to 'Umar b. Sa'd) who will kill my son Husayn (a).”[38] Some have narrated this story about Anas, the (grand) father of Sinan b. Anas, one of the killers of Imam al-Husayn (a).[39]

Notes

  1. Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt , p. 266-268, 296-299; Ibn Qūlawayh, Kāmil al-zīyārāt, p. 74; Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 133, 341-344; Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, p. 280; Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī, al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, p. 383; Khwārizmī, al-Manāqib, p. 91; Juwaynī, Farāʾid al-samṭayn, vol. 1, p. 340, 341; Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 2, p. 286; vol. 6, p. 136; vol. 7, p. 57; vol. 10, p. 14; vol. 13, p. 101.
  2. Qundūzī, Yanābīʿ al-mawadat, vol. 1, p. 222.
  3. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 34, 35, 330.
  4. Hilālī, Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays, p. 2, p. 802, 941.
  5. Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, p. 137.
  6. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 399; Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt , p. 12.
  7. Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī, al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, p. 506.
  8. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 1107; Ṭabarī, Dhakhāʾir al-ʿuqbā, vol. 1, p. 399, 400; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh-i damishq, vol. 27, p. 100; vol. 42, p. 398; vol. 44, p. 335, 397; Khwārizmī, al-Manāqib, p. 94; Ḥākim al-Ḥaskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 40- 42, 45.
  9. Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-kāfī, vol. 5, p. 192; Khoeī, Minhāj al-barāʿa, vol. 2, p. 402; vol. 11, p. 172.
  10. Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-kāfī, vol. 5, p. 192.
  11. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 399; Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt , p. 12.
  12. Majlisī, Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl, vol. 4, p. 308.
  13. Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 341.
  14. Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt , p. 266- 268.
  15. Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, p. 280.
  16. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 1107; Ṭabarī, Dhakhāʾir al-ʿuqbā, vol. 1, p. 399, 400; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh-i damishq, vol. 27, p. 100; vol. 42, p. 398; Ḥākim al-Ḥaskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 42.
  17. Ibn Qūlawayh, Kāmil al-zīyārāt, p. 74; Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 133, 134; Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 330, 331.
  18. Ibn Mardawayh Iṣfahāni, Manāqib ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, p. 86, 87.
  19. Juwaynī, Farāʾid al-samṭayn, vol. 1, p. 340.
  20. Ibn Ṭāwūs, al-Taraʾif, vol. 2, p. 510.
  21. Dhahabī, al-Muntaqā, p. 342.
  22. Ibn Taymīyya, Minhāj al-sunna, vol. 8, p. 56, 57.
  23. Ibn Ḥayyūn al-Tamīmīyy, al-Nuʿmān b. Muḥammad. Sharh al-akhbar, vol. 3, p. 292.
  24. Nuʿmānī, Kitāb al-Ghayba, p. 87; Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 3, p. 828; Qundūzī, Yanābīʿ al-mawadat, vol. 1, p. 222.
  25. Nayshābūrī, Muslim b. Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 4, p. 1834.
  26. Ibn al-Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, vol. 3, p. 597; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 1103; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh-i damishq, vol. 42, p. 399; Ḥākim al-Ḥaskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 50; Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 7, p. 46.
  27. Ibn Ḥanbal, Faḍāʾīl al-ṣaḥāba, vol. 2, p. 646; Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 2, p. 361; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh-i damishq, vol. 42, p. 399; Khwārizmī, al-Manāqib, p. 90, 91.
  28. Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 3, p. 355, 356; Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-kāfī, vol. 5, p. 192.
  29. Nabāṭī Bayāḍī, al-Ṣiraṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 1, p. 218.
  30. Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 6, p. 275, 276.
  31. Majlisī, Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl, vol. 4, p. 308; Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-kāfī, vol. 5, p. 192; vol. 6, p. 400.
  32. Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī, al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, p. 383; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 1107; Ṭabarī, Dhakhāʾir al-ʿuqbā, vol. 1, p. 399; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh-i damishq, vol. 17, p. 335.
  33. Qundūzī, Yanābīʿ al-mawadat, vol. 1, p. 224.
  34. Hilālī, Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays, p. 2, p. 802, 941.
  35. Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 133, 341.
  36. Qundūzī, Yanābīʿ al-mawadat, vol. 1, p. 222; Ṣaffār, Baṣāʾir al-darajāt , p. 266.
  37. Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī, al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, p. 383, 506.
  38. Ibn Qūlawayh, Kāmil al-zīyārāt, p. 74; Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 133, 134; Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 330, 331.
  39. Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 2, p. 286; Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-kāfī, vol. 5, p. 192; vol. 6, p. 400.

References

  • Amīnī, ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Ghadīr fī al-kitāb wa al-sunna wa al-ʾadab. Qom: Markaz al-Ghadīr li-l-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya, 1416 AH.
  • Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad. Al-Muntaqā min minhāj al-Iʿtidāl fī naqḍ ahl rafḍ wa al-iʿtizāl. Edited by: Muḥibb al-dīn Khaṭīb, [nd], [np].
  • Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. al-Aḥmad al-. Tārīkh al-Islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa l-aʿlām. Edited by Bashār ʿAwād Maʿrūf. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 2003.
  • Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Al-Mustadrak ʿala l-ṣaḥīḥayn. Edited by Musṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1411 AH.
  • Ḥākim al-Ḥaskānī, ʿUbayd Allāh b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Shawāhid al-tanzīl li-qawāʿid al-tafḍīl. Tehran: Sāzmān-i Chāp wa Intishārāt-i Wizārat-i Irshād-i Islāmī, 1411 AH.
  • Hilālī, Sulaym b. Qays. Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī. 1st edition. Edited by Muḥammad Anṣārī Zanjānī. Qom: Al-Ḥadī, 1405 AH.
  • Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
  • Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Hibat Allāh. Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. Qom: Maktabat Ayatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 1404 AH.
  • Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat al-ṣaḥāba. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1409 AH.
  • Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. Ḥasan. Tārīkh-i damishq. Edited by ʿAmr-i b. Gharāma al-ʿAmrawī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1415 AH/ 1995.
  • Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Faḍāʾīl al-ṣaḥāba. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbbās Waṣī Allah. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Risāla, 1403 AH.
  • Ibn Ḥayyūn al-Tamīmīyy, al-Nuʿmān b. Muḥammad. Sharh al-akhbar. Edited by Muhammad Husayn Husayni Jalali. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī Tābiʿat li Jamāʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1409 AH.
  • Ibn Mardawayh Iṣfahāni, Ahmad b. Mūsā. Manāqib ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. Edited by ʿAbd al-Razzāq Muḥammad Ḥusayn Ḥirz al-Dīn. second edition. Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1424 AH.
  • Ibn Qūlawayh, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad. Kāmil al-zīyārāt. Edited by ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn Amīnī. Najaf: Dār al-Murtaḍawīyya, 1356 Sh.
  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Al-Taraʾif fī maʿrifat madhāhib al-ṭawāʾif. 1st edition. Edited by ʿAlī Āshūr. Qom: Nashr-i Khayyām, 1400 AH.
  • Ibn Taymīyya, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm. Minhāj al-sunna al-nabawīyya fī naqd kalām al-shīʿa al-qadarīyya. Edited by Muḥammad Rashād Sālim. Riyadh: Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad b. Saʿūd al-Islāmīyya, 1406 AH/1986.
  • Juwaynī, Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad al-. Farāʾid al-samṭayn fī fadāʾil al-murtaḍā wa al-batūl wa al-sibṭayn wa al-aʾimma min dhurrīyatihim (a). Edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Maḥmūdī. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Maḥmūdī, 1400 AH.
  • Khoeī, Mīrzā Ḥabīb Allāh l-. Minhāj al-barāʿa fī Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Tehran: Maktaba al-Islāmīyya, 1400 AH.
  • Khwārizmī, Muwaffaq b. Aḥmad al-. Al-Manāqib. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Nashr-i Islāmī, [nd].
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī & Muḥammad Ākhūndī. fourth edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl. Second edition. Edited by Rasūlī Maḥallātī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1404 AH.
  • Māzandarānī, Muḥammad Sāliḥ b. Ahmad. Sharḥ al-kāfī (Uṣūl wa rawḍa. Edited by Abdu l-Ḥassan Shaʿrānī. 1st edition. Tehran: Maktaba al-Islāmīyya, 1382 AH.
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād fī maʿrifat ḥujaj Allāh ʿalā l-ʿibād. 1st edition. Qom: Kungira-yi Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1413 AH.
  • Nabāṭī Bayāḍī, ʿAlī b. Yunus. Al-Ṣiraṭ al-mustaqīm ila mustaḥaqi al-taqdīm. Edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Bihbūdī. Tehran: Maktabat al-Murtaḍawīyya, 1384.
  • Nayshābūrī, Muslim b. Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Edited by Muḥammad fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī . Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
  • Nuʿmānī, Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-. Kitāb al-Ghayba. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. 1st edition. Tehran: Nashr-i Ṣadūq, 1397 AH.
  • Qundūzī, Sulaymān b. Ibrāhīm. Yanābīʿ al-mawadat li-dhi l-qurbā. Qom: Dār al-uswa, [nd].
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. sixth edition. Tehran: Kitābchī, 1376 Sh.
  • Ṣaffār, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Baṣāʾir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil-i Āl-i Muḥammad. Edited by Muḥsin Kūchabāghī. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī, 1404 AH.
  • Sayyid Raḍī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ. 1st edition. Qom: Hijrat, 1404 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Dhakhāʾir al-ʿuqbā fī manāqib dhawi al-qurbā. 1st edition. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1428 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Rijāl. Edited by Jawād Qayyūmī al-Iṣfahānī. third edition. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1373 Sh.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Tafsīr al-kashshāf. third edition. edited by: Muṣṭafā Ḥusayn Aḥmad. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.