Fada'il Amir al-Mu'minin (book)

Fada'il Amir al-Mu'minin (a)

Author	Ahmad b. Hanbal
Original title	فضائل امیرالمؤمنین علی ابن ابی طالب علیه السلام
Language	Arabic
Subject	Virtues and excellences of Imam Ali (a)
Published	1433/2011-2, Qom
Publisher	Dar al-Tafsir

Faḍāʾil Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a) (Arabic: (فضائل امیرالمؤمنین علی بن ابی طالب (ع) is an Arabic book by Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani (d. 241/855-6), one of the four leaders of Sunni Muslims. The book is one of the first independent books devoted to Imam 'Ali (a). The book includes some hadiths regarding the virtues and excellences of Imam 'Ali (a). It is structured into two parts and five sections regarding Imam 'Ali (a)'s ascetic character, his pedigree, his mother, and his virtues. There are 369 hadiths cited in this book.

Author

Main article: Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani

Abu 'Abd Allah Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal b. Hilal b. Asad b. Idris b. 'Abd Allah al-Shaybani al-Marwazi al-Baghdadi was one of the four leaders of Sunni Muslims and the imam of Hanbalis. He has written numerous books the best-known of which is Musnad Ahmad b. Hanbal —a hadith-collection with over thirty thousand hadiths.

Contents

• The ascetic character of 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a)—this section includes hadiths regarding the practices of 'Ali (a).

• The pedigree of 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a)—the final narration in this section refers to 'Ali (a)'s martyrdom at the age of fifty eight.

• His mother and her pedigree—this section refers to the virtuous character of 'Ali (a)'s mother. The section concludes with a hadith regarding Ali (a)'s mission from the Prophet (s) to convey the al-Bara'a Verse.

• The virtues of Ali (a)—this section begins with a hadith about the love of, and respect for, 'Ali (a), and concludes with a hadith mentioning him as a resident of Heaven.

• Hadiths concerning the virtues of 'Ali (a) narrated by Abu Bakr al-Qati'i (the narrator of the book) from his mentors other than 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad b. Hanbal. This section begins with hadiths according to which the Prophet (s) sent 'Ali (a) to a small army, raising his hand and reciting: O' God, do not let me die until I meet 'Ali again. There is another hadith to the effect that the first person who prayed together with the Prophet (s) was 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a). Another hadith in this section is the well-known hadith al-Ghadir, in which the second Caliph, 'Umar, tells 'Ali (a), "congratulations, O' the son of Abi Talib; you have now become the leader of any believer".

Prints

• In the University of Mecca, attached with Ahmad b. Hanbal's Fada'il al-Sahaba, edited by Wasi Allah b. Muhammad 'Abbas (Al-Risala Institute, 1403/ 1982-3 in two volumes).

• Fada'il Ahl al-Bayt min kitab fada'il al-Sahaba, edited by Muhammad Kazim Mahmudi, The World Forum for the Proximity of the Islamic Schools of Thought, Jumada I 7, 1429/May 13, 2008.

• Edited by Hasan Hamid al-Sayyid in Ahl al-Bayt (a) World Assembly. Moreover, the virtues of Imam 'Ali (a) have been extracted from Musnad Ahmad b. Hanbal by Qawam al-Din Washnawi, which was published by al-Hikma Publications in Qom.

• Edited by Sayyid 'Abd al-'Aziz Tabataba'i, The Institute of Muhaqqiq al-Tabataba'i, 1433/ (2011-2), Qom.

In his introduction to the book, Tabataba'i has dealt with six issues: under the title "the virtue and the excellences" he tries to clarify the concept of virtue, showing that according to the history of Islam, Imam 'Ali (a) was a very virtuous person. He then enumerates 28 great Sunni scholars who have acknowledged the virtues of Imam 'Ali (a). He has then provided a critical biography of Ahmad b. Hanbal, 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad and Abu Bakr al-Qati'i (the two narrators of the book). This print has informative footnotes and technical indices (such as those of the Quranic verses, hadiths in accordance with musnads, hadiths, quotations, persons, tribes, places, events, poems, and topics).

See Also

• Khasa'is Amir al-Mu'minin Ali b. Abi Talib (a)