Hadith al-Wilaya: Difference between revisions

The Shi'a take the word "wali" in this hadith to mean the Imam and the leader, and thus, they appeal to the hadith as evidence for the imamate of 'Ali (a). They believe that this is the literal meaning of the word, "wali", and the word has been used in this meaning by [[Shaykhayn]], some of the [[Sahaba]], some of the [[Tabi'un]] and some Sunni scholars as well. However, Sunni Muslims believe that the word "wali" here is used to mean friend and guardian, which has nothing to do with imamate.

[[Ja'far b. Sulayman]] quoted [['Imran b. Husayn]] that the Prophet Muhammad (s) sent a group of people to an expedition under the commandership of 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a). They gained some booties, and 'Ali (a) distributed the booties among them in a way that they did not like. Four of them decided to report the story to the Prophet (s) and complain about 'Ali's (a) action as soon as they saw him. When they met the Prophet (s), they all told him: "O the messenger of God! Do you know what 'Ali did?" The Prophet (s) angrily said: "what do you want from 'Ali? What do you want from 'Ali? 'Ali is from me and I am from 'Ali, and 'Ali is the wali of every believer after me".<ref>Ibn Abī Shayba, ''al-Muṣannaf'', vol. 8, p. 58; Tiālasī, ''Musnad Abī Dāwūd'', p. 111.</ref>

The Shi'a believe that the hadith concerns the issue of 'Ali's (a) [[imamate]] and [[wilaya]].<ref>Mīlānī, ''Tashyīd al-murājiʿāt'', vol. 3, p. 164.</ref> They take the word, "wali", to mean a supervisor, an [[Imam]], a leader, and a [[caliph]].<ref>Raḥīmī Iṣfahānī, ''Wilāyat wa rahbarī'', vol. 3, p. 119-121.</ref> However, Sunni Muslims believe that the hadith has no implications regarding the caliphate of 'Ali b. Abi Talib, because they claim that the word "wali" literally means a friend and a helper.<ref>Ījī, ''Sharḥ al-mawāqif'', vol. 8, p. 365.</ref> To establish their claim, the Shi'a say that the word "wali" literally means a guardian, a leader, a caliph, an authority, and an Imam, and the word was used in this way in the early years of Islam and after that. They also appeal to the uses of the word "wali" by the [[Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhafa|First Caliph]],<ref>Muslim, ''Saḥīḥ Muslim'', vol. 3, p. 1378; Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 590; Ibn Kathīr. ''Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'', vol. 5, p. 248.</ref> the [['Umar b. Khattab|Second Caliph]],<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 1, p. 590; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 4, p. 214; Ibn Kathīr. ''al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'', vol. 7, p. 79.</ref> the [[Sahaba]],<ref>Ibn Abī Shayba, ''al-Muṣannaf'', vol. 8, p. 58; Ibn Tiymīyya, ''Minhāj al-Sunna'', vol. 7, p. 461.</ref> the [[Tabi'un]],<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 3, p. 122.</ref> and some Sunni scholars<ref>Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol. 5, p. 245.</ref> to mean a caliph and a guardian.

Al-Mubarakfuri claims that the phrase "after me", which is missing from some versions of the hadith, was added to it by some Shiite transmitters. To establish his claim, he appeals to ''Musnad Ibn Hanbal'' in which the hadith is cited with different chains of transmitters, but in none of which, he claims, the phrase, "after me", appears.<ref>Al-Mubārakfurī, ''Tuḥfat al-aḥwadhī'', vol. 10, p. 146-147.</ref> However, [[Ahmad b. Hanbal]] has cited the hadith in his ''Musnad''<ref>Ibn Ḥanbal, ''Masnad'', vol. 4, p. 330; vol. 4, p. 437.</ref> as well as ''Fada'il al-sahaba'' with the phrase, "after me".<ref>Ibn Ḥanbal, ''Faḍāʾil al-Ṣaḥāba'', vol. 2, p. 684.</ref>

Al-Mubarakfuri also claims that the hadith was only transmitted by Ja'far b. Sulayman and Ibn Ajlah al-Kindi, and since they both were Shi'as, their hadiths cannot be accepted. He takes the Shi'a to be heretics and believes that hadiths transmitted by heretics should be rejected.<ref>Al-Mubārakfurī, ''Tuḥfat al-aḥwadhī'', vol. 10, p. 166-167.</ref> However, according to al-Albani, the only criterion for the evaluation of hadiths for Sunni scholars is truthfulness and carefulness in the transmission of hadiths, and a transmitter's religious tendency has nothing to do with accepting or rejecting his hadiths. Thus, al-Bukhari and Muslim have transmitted hadiths from people who were opposed to the Sunni denomination, such as [[Khawarij]] and the Shi'a.<ref>Al-Bānī, ''al-Silsilat al-ṣaḥīḥa'', vol. 5, p. 262.</ref>

Moreover, Ja'far b. Sulayman is a transmitter of hadiths in ''[[Sahih Muslim]]''.<ref>Dhahabī, ''Siyar iʿlām al-nubalāʾ'', vol. 8, p. 200.</ref> Al-Dhahabi referred to him as an "imam" (a leader)<ref>Dhahabī, ''Tārīkh al-Islām'', vol 3, p. 631.</ref> and quoted Yahya b. Mu'in as saying that Ja'far was reliable.<ref>Dhahabī, ''Siyar iʿlām al-nubalāʾ'', vol. 8, p. 198.</ref> Al-Albani believed that Ja'far was a reliable transmitter of hadiths who transmitted reliable hadiths and tended towards [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] without calling other people to his own tendency. He said that the leaders of the religion agreed that if a truthful person was a heretic without calling other people to his views, it would be correct to appeal to his hadiths.<ref>Albānī, ''al-Silsilat al-ṣaḥīḥa'', vol. 5, p. 263.</ref>