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In the Name of God بسم الله

Strong Shi'i Hadiths on the explicit appointment of Imam Ali (as) by the Prophet (s)

Ayuoobi

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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 

I was engaged in a discussion with a Sunni brother and he requested that I bring forward ahaadith whose chains are strong by our own standards regarding the very explicit appointment of Imam Ali (عليه السلام) by the Prophet (s). What follows is some research I've collected. I have not personally graded these chains nor have I even confirmed their strength; most of these ahaadith are graded by Ayatollah Zanjani, some by Ayatollah Aasif Muhsini or others. At any rate, I request the brothers here to post in the comments if they have anything to say about the chains or the correctness of the sanad evaluation. Note also, that these translations are not mine; anything from Al-Amaali of al-Saduq was done by @Qa'im, may Allah reward him, and most of the ahaadith from Uyoon Akhbar al-Ridha were taken from thaqalayn.net; other translations were found spuriously from various sources.

 

It is worth mentioning that in Bihar al-Anwar there are 528 hadiths in the section "chapters on the texts appointing the Commander of the Faithful (Ali) and on the 12 Imams." The vast majority of these ahaadith, however, have weak chains (as is usually the case with ahaadith generally, even in Sunni books.) For this reason, I have compiled a few ahaadith with stronger chains in which Imam Ali (عليه السلام) is clearly being mentioned as the Prophet's successor in a clear manner so that we can use the plethora of weak ahaadith to show that the meaning indicated in these ahaadith is mutawaatir. The plethora of weak hadiths act as additional proof to raise our confidence to certainty. This is because it is impossible for so many independent chains of narrators to have conspired and agreed upon a lie, throughout different times, locations, etc. The existence of even a single sahih hadith in addition to dozens of independent weak chains pointing to the same meaning means that there is no room for doubt about the correctness of that meaning. This would mean that it is beyond doubt that the general teaching that Imam Ali (عليه السلام) was appointed directly from the Prophet (s) was indeed taught by the Imams, as the Rafidha claim. 

 

1.  

  الأمالی للصدوق ج1، ص 360، ح12 

صحيح

حدثنا جعفر بن محمد بن مسرور قال حدثنا الحسين بن محمد بن عامر عن عمه عن محمد بن أبي عمير عن سليمان بن مهران عن الصادق جعفر بن محمد ع عن أبيه محمد بن علي ع عن أبيه علي بن الحسين ع عن أبيه الحسين بن علي ع عن أبيه علي بن أبي طالب ع قال قال رسول الله ص [ يا علي أنت أخي و أنا أخوك يا علي أنت مني و أنا منك يا علي أنت وصيي و خليفتي و حجة الله على أمتي بعدي لقد سعد من تولاك و شقي من عاداك.]

Ja`far b. Muhammad b. Masrur narrated to us. He said: Al-Husayn b. Muhammad b. `Amer narrated to us from his uncle from Muhammad b. Abi `Umayr from Sulayman b. Mehran from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad (عليه السلام) from his father Muhammad b. `Ali (عليه السلام) from his father `Ali b. al-Husayn (عليه السلام) from his father al-Husayn b. `Ali (عليه السلام) from his father `Ali b. Abi Talib (عليه السلام).

He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: O `Ali! You are my brother and I am your brother. O `Ali! You are from me and I am from you. O `Ali! You are my deputy, my vicegerent, and the Proof of Allah over my Nation after me. Whoever aligns with you will be happy, and whoever opposes you will be wretched.

Grading: Saheeh

2. 

عيون أخبار الرضا (ع) ج2 ص6 ح13

صحیح /


 حَدَّثَنا حَمْزَة بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَحْمَدِ بْنِ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ زَيد بْنِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ الحُسَيْن بْنِ علي بن أَبي طالِب عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ بقم فِي رَجَب سِنَةَ تِسْعَ وَثَلاثِينَ وَثَلاثِمائَةٍ قالَ: حَدَّثَني أَبي عَنْ ياسر الخادِم، عَن أَبي الحَسَن عَلِىِّ بْنِ مُوسَى الرِّضا عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ، عَن أَبيهِ، عَن آبائِهِ، عَن الحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِى عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ قالَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ لِعَلِيٍّ: يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ حُجَّةُ اللَّهِ وَأَنْتَ بَابُ اللَّهِ وَأَنْتَ الطَّرِيقُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَأَنْتَ النَّبَأُ الْعَظِيمُ وَأَنْتَ الصِّرَاطُ الْمُسْتَقِيمُ وَأَنْتَ الْمَثَلُ الأَعْلى.    يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ إِمَامُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَأَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَخَيْرُ الْوَصِيِّينَ وَسَيِّدُ الصِّدِّيقِينَ.    يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ الْفَارُوقُ الأَعْظَمُ وَأَنْتَ الصِّدِّيقُ الأَكْبَرُ.    يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ خَلِيفَتِي عَلَى أُمَّتِي وَأَنْتَ قَاضِي دَيْنِي وَأَنْتَ مُنْجِزُ عِدَاتِي.    يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ الْمَظْلُومُ بَعْدِي يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ الْمُفَارِقُ بَعْدِي يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ الْمَهْجُورُ بَعْدِي. أُشْهِدُ     اللَّهَ تَعَالَى وَمَنْ حَضَرَ مِنْ أُمَّتِي أَنَّ حِزْبَكَ حِزْبِي وَحِزْبِي حِزْبُ اللَّهِ وَأَنَّ حِزْبَ أَعْدَائِكِ حِزْبُ الشَّيْطَانِ.     (`Uyoon Akhbar ar-Rida)|

 

The Messenger of Allah [s] said to Ali [a]:     "O Ali, you are the Proof of Allah   and you are the Gate of Allah   and you are the Path to Allah   and you are the great tiding   and you are straight path   and you are the supreme example!     O Ali, you are Imam of the Muslims and the Commander of the Faithful   and the best of the trustees   and the master of the truthful!     O Ali, you are the great criterion   and you are the great saint!     O Ali, you are my caliph upon my nation after me   and you are the judge in my religion   and you are the one who will fulfill my promises!     O Ali, you will be oppressed after me!   O Ali, you will be abandoned after me!   O Ali, you will be forsaken after me!   I testify to Allah and take those who are present in my community as witnesses that your party is my party and my party is the party of Allah and the party of your enemies is the party of Satan."  

(Translation by @Qa'im)

Grading: Saheeh

 

3. 

عيون أخبار الرضا (ع)، ج2، ص13، ح30

 صحیح

30 - حَدَّثَنا مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِى ماجِيلوَيْه وَأَحْمَدِ بْنِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ إِبراهِيمِ بْنِ هاشِمٍ وَأَحْمَد بْنِ جَعْفَر الْهَمَذانيّ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ - قالُوا: حَدَّثَنا عَلِىِّ بْنِ إِبراهِيمِ بْنِ هاشِمٍ، عَنْ أَبيهِ، عَنْ مَعبَدٍ عَنِ الحُسَيْنِ بْنِ خالِدٍ عَنِ الرِّضا عَلِىِّ بْنِ مُوسَى، عَنْ أَبيهِ مُوسَى بْنِ جَعْفَر، عَنْ أَبيهِ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّد، عَن أبِيهِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِىٍّ، عَنْ أَبيهِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ الحُسَيْن، عَنْ أَبيهِ الحُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِىٍّ، عَنْ أَبيهِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ أَبي طالِب‏ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلاَمُ قالَ: قالَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ‏ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ: لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ صِدِّيقٌ وَفَارُوقٌ وَصِدِّيقُ هَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ وَفَارُوقُهَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ إِنَّ عَلِيّاً سَفِينَةُ نَجَاتِهَا وَبَابُ حِطَّتِهَا إِنَّهُ يُوشَعُهَا وَشَمْعُونُهَا وَذُو قَرْنَيْهَا مَعَاشِرَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ عَلِيّاً خَلِيفَةُ اللَّهِ وَخَلِيفَتِي عَلَيْكُمْ بَعْدِي وَإِنَّهُ لامِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَخَيْرُ الْوَصِيِّينَ مَنْ نَازَعَهُ فَقَدْ نَازَعَنِي وَمَنْ ظَلَمَهُ فَقَدْ ظَلَمَنِي وَمَنْ غَالَبَهُ فَقَدْ غَالَبَنِي وَمَنْ بَرَّهُ فَقَدْ بَرَّنِي وَمَنْ جَفَاهُ فَقَدْ جَفَانِي وَمَنْ عَادَاهُ فَقَدْ عَادَانِي وَمَنْ وَالاهُ فَقَدْ وَالانِي وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ أَخِي وَوَزِيرِي وَمَخْلُوقٌ مِنْ طِينَتِي وَكُنْتُ أَنَا وَإِيَّاهُ نُوراً وَاحِداً.

 

30-30 Muhammad ibn Ali Majiluwayh, Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashem, and Ahmad ibn Ziyad ibn Ja’far al-Hamadani - may God be pleased with them - narrated that Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashem quoted on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ali ibn Ma’bad, on the authority of Al-Husayn ibn Khalid, on the authority of Al-Ridha’ Ali ibn Musa ((عليه السلام).), on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja’far ((عليه السلام).), on the authority of his father Ja’far ibn Muhammad ((عليه السلام).), on the authority of his

father Muhammad ibn Ali ((عليه السلام).), on the authority of Ali ibn Al-Husayn ((عليه السلام).), on the authority of his father Al-Husayn ibn Ali ((عليه السلام).), on the authority of his father Ali ibn Abi Talib ((عليه السلام).), “God’s Prophet (S) said, There is a companion and one who distinguishes truth from falsehood for every nation. The one for this nation is Ali ibn Abi Talib. He is the ship of salvation. He is its gate of repentance. He is like its Yosha’, Sham’oon, and Thul-Qarnayn. O people! Ali is God’s vicegerent and my Caliph after me. He is the Commander of the Faithful. He is the best of the Trustees. Whoever fights with him has indeed fought with me. Whoever oppresses him has indeed oppressed me. Whoever overcomes him has indeed overcome me. Whoever does him good has indeed done good to me. Whoever mistreats him has indeed mistreated me. Whoever is his enemy is indeed my enemy. Whoever is his friend is indeed my friend, since he is my brother and Vizier. He has been created from the same essence that I have been created from. He and I are but one and the same light.’”

Grading: Saheeh

 

4.

كمال الدين، ج1، ص260، ح6

 / صحیح /

 حدثنا محمد بن علي ماجيلويه قال حدثنا علي بن إبراهيم عن أبيه عن علي بن معبد عن الحسين بن خالد عن علي بن موسى الرضا ع عن أبيه ع عن آبائه ع قال قال رسول الله ص [ من أحب أن يتمسك بديني و يركب سفينة النجاة بعدي فليقتد بعلي بن أبي طالب و ليعاد عدوه و ليوال وليه فإنه وصيي و خليفتي على أمتي في حياتي و بعد وفاتي و هو إمام كل مسلم و أمير كل مؤمن بعدي قوله قولي و أمره أمري و نهيه نهيي و تابعه تابعي و ناصره ناصري و خاذله خاذلي ثم قال عليه السلام من فارق عليا بعدي لم يرني و لم أره يوم القيامة و من خالف عليا حرم الله عليه الجنة و جعل مأواه النار و بئس المصير و من خذل عليا خذله الله يوم يعرض عليه و من نصر عليا نصره الله يوم يلقاه و لقنه حجته عند المساءلة ثم قال عليه السلام الحسن و الحسين إماما أمتي بعد أبيهما و سيدا شباب أهل الجنة و أمهما سيدة نساء العالمين و أبوهما سيد الوصيين و من ولد الحسين تسعة أئمة تاسعهم القائم من ولدي طاعتهم طاعتي و معصيتهم معصيتي - إلى الله أشكو المنكرين لفضلهم و المضيعين لحرمتهم بعدي و كفى بالله ولي ا و ناصرا لعترتي و أئمة أمتي و منتقما من الجاحدين لحقهم و سيعلم الذين ظلموا أي منقلب ينقلبون.]

 

6 - Narrated to us Muhammad bin Ali Majilaway: Narrated to us Ali bin Ibrahim from his father from Ali bin Mabad from Husain bin Khalid from Ali Ibn Musa al-Reza (a.r.) from his father from his forefathers that the Messenger of Allah (S) said:

“Whoever desires to fasten unto my religion and board the ark of salvation after me, must follow Ali Ibn Abi Talib ((عليه السلام).), bear enmity against his enemies and befriend his friends. For sure, he is my successor and my caliph on my followers in my life and after my death. He is the chief of every Muslim and the chief of every believer after me. His saying is my saying, his command is my command, his prohibition is my prohibition, his follower is my follower, his helper is my helper and one who forsakes him has forsaken me.”

Then he continued, “Whoever separates from Ali ((عليه السلام).) after me, shall not see me and I will not see him on the Day of Judgment. Whoever opposes Ali ((عليه السلام).), Allah will make Paradise forbidden for him, his abode will be the Hell-fire, and evil will be his fate. Whoever forsakes Ali ((عليه السلام).), he will be forsaken on the Day of Presentation, and whoever helps Ali ((عليه السلام).) Allah will help him on the day he will meet Him. The Divine Proof (Hujjat) will prompt his answers to him on the day of questioning.”

Thereafter he said, “Hasan ((عليه السلام).) and Husain ((عليه السلام).) are the two Imams of my Ummah after their father and the leaders of the youth of Paradise. Their mother is the chief of the women of universe, and their father is the chief of the successors. From the descendants of Husain ((عليه السلام).), there will be nine Imams, and the ninth of them will be the Qaim of my progeny. Their obedience is my obedience and their defiance is my defiance. I will complain to Allah against those who challenge their superiority and deny their sanctity after me. Allah suffices as a Master and as a Helper for my progeny and the Imams of my Ummah, and as an Avenger for those who have denied them their rights.

وَسَيَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا أَيَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبُونَ

And they who act unjustly shall know to what final place of turning they shall turn back.

Grading: Sahih

 

5.

 

عيون أخبار الرضا (ع)،ج۱،ص۲۹۵،ح۵۳

/ موثق

 

48 - حَدَّثَنا مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ بَكْرِ ان النقاش وَأَحْمَدِ بْنِ الحَسَن القَطَّانُ وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَحْمَدِ بْنِ إِبْراهِيم المعاذي وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِبْراهيمِ بْنِ إِسْحاق المكتب قالُوا حَدَّثَنا أَبُو العَبَّاسِ أحْمَد بْنِ‏سَعِيدُ الهَمْدانِيَّ مَوْلى‏ بَنِي هاشِم قالَ: حَدَّثَنا عَلِىِّ بْنِ الحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ فضال، عَن أَبيهِ، عَن أَبي الحَسَن عَلِىِّ بْنِ مُوسَى الرِّضا عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ، عَن أَبيهِ مُوسَى بْنِ جَعْفَر عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ‏عَنْ أَبِيهِ الصَّادِق مُحَمَّد عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ عَن أَبيهِ الباقِر مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِى‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ عَنأَبيهِ زَيْنُ العابِدِينَ عَلِىِّ بْنِ الحُسَيْن‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ، عَن أَبيهِ سَيِّد الشُّهَداءِ الحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِى‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ، عَن أَبيهِ سَيِّد الوَصِيِّين أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنين عَلِىِّ بْنِ أَبِي طالِب‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ قالَ: إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ‏ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ خَطَبَنَا ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ فَقَالَ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّهُ قَدْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكُمْ شَهْرُ اللَّهِ بِالْبَرَكَةِ وَالرَّحْمَةِ وَالْمَغْفِرَةِ شَهْرٌ هُوَعِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَفْضَلُ الشُّهُورِ وَأَيَّامُهُ أَفْضَلُ الأَيَّامِ وَلَيَالِيهِ أَفْضَلُ اللَّيَالِي وَسَاعَاتُهُ أَفْضَلُ السَّاعَاتِ هُوَشَهْرٌ دُعِيتُمْ فِيهِ إِلَى ضِيَافَةِ اللَّهِ وَجُعِلْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ أَهْلِ كَرَامَةِ اللَّهِ أَنْفَاسُكُمْ فِيهِ تَسْبِيحٌ وَنَوْمُكُمْ فِيهِ عِبَادَةٌ وَعَمَلُكُمْ فِيهِ مَقْبُولٌ وَدُعَاؤُكُمْ فِيهِ مُسْتَجَابٌ فَسَلُوا اللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ بِنِيَّاتٍ صَادِقَةٍ وَقُلُوبٍ طَاهِرَةٍ أَنْ يُوَفِّقَكُمْ لِصِيَامِهِ وَتِلاوَةِ كِتَابِهِ فَإِنَّ الشَّقِيَّ مَنْ حُرِمَ غُفْرَانَ اللَّهِ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ الْعَظِيمِ وَاذْكُرُوا بِجُوعِكُمْ وَعَطَشِكُمْ فِيهِ جُوعَ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَعَطَشَهُ وَتَصَدَّقُوا عَلَى فُقَرَائِكُمْ وَمَسَاكِينِكُمْ وَ قِّرُوا كِبَارَكُمْ وَارْحَمُوا صِغَارَكُمْ وَصِلُوا أَرْحَامَكُمْ وَاحْفَظُوا أَلْسِنَتَكُمْ وَغُضُّوا عَمَّا لا يَحِلُّ النَّظَرُ إِلَيْهِ أَبْصَارَكُمْ وَعَمَّا لا يَحِلُّ الاسْتَِماعُ إِلَيْهِ أَسْمَاعَكُمْ وَتَحَنَّنُوا عَلَى أَيْتَامِ النَّاسِ يُتَحَنَّنْ عَلَى أَيْتَامِكُمْ وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَارْفَعُوا إِلَيْهِ أَيْدِيَكُمْ بِالدُّعَاءِ فِي أَوْقَاتِ صَلَوَاتِكُمْ فَإِنَّهَا أَفْضَلُ السَّاعَاتِ يَنْظُرُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِيهَا بِالرَّحْمَةِ إِلَى عِبَادِهِ يُجِيبُهُمْ إِذَا نَاجَوْهُ وَيُلَبِّيهِمْ إِذَا نَادَوْهُ وَيَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُمْ إِذَا دَعَوْهُ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ مَرْهُونَةٌ بِأَعْمَالِكُمْ فَفُكُّوهَا بِاسْتِغْفَارِكُمْ وَظُهُورُكُمْ ثَقِيلَةٌ مِنْ أَوْزَارِكُمْ فَخَفِّفُوا عَنْهَا بِطُولِ سُجُودِكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى ذِكْرُهُ أَقْسَمَ بِعِزَّتِهِ أَنْ لا يُعَذِّبَ الْمُصَلِّينَ وَالسَّاجِدِينَ وَأَنْ لا يُرَوِّعَهُمْ بِالنَّارِ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعالَمِينَ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ مَنْ فَطَّرَ مِنْكُمْ صَائِماً مُؤْمِناً فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ كَانَ لَهُ بِذَلِكَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عِتْقُ رَقَبَةٍ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ لِمَا مَضَى مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِ. قِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ! وَلَيْسَ كُلُّنَـا يَقْـدِرُ عَلَى ذَلِــكَ. فَقَالَ‏ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وآلِهِ: اتَّقُوا النَّارَ وَلَوْ بِشِقِّ تَمْرَةٍ.إتَّقُوا النَّارَ وَلَوْ بِشَرْبَةٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ. أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ مَنْ حَسُنَ مِنْكُمْ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ خُلُقُهُ كَانَ لَهُ جَوَازاً عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ يَوْمَ تَزِلُّ فِيهِ الأَقْدَامُ وَمَنْ خَفَّفَ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ عَمَّا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُهُ خَفَّفَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ حِسَابَهُ وَمَنْ كَفَّ فِيهِ شَرَّهُ كَفَّ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ غَضَبَهُ يَوْمَ يَلْقَاهُ وَمَنْ أَكْرَمَ فِيهِ يَتِيماً أَكْرَمَهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ يَلْقَاهُ وَمَنْ وَصَلَ فِيهِ رَحِمَهُ وَصَلَهُ اللَّهُ بِرَحْمَتِهِ يَوْمَ يَلْقَاهُ وَمَنْ قَطَعَ فِيهِ رَحِمَهُ قَطَعَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ رَحْمَتَهُ يَوْمَ يَلْقَاهُ وَمَنْ تَطَوَّعَ فِيهِ بِصَلاةٍ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَهُ بَرَاءَةً مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَنْ أَدَّى فِيهِ فَرْضاً كَانَ لَهُ ثَوَابُ مَنْ أَدَّى سَبْعِينَ فَرِيضَةً فِيَما سِوَاهُ مِنَ الشُّهُورِ وَمَنْ أَكْثَرَ فِيهِ مِنَ الصَّلاةِ عَلَيَّ ثَقَّلَ اللَّهُ مِيزَانَهُ يَوْمَ تَخِفُّ الْمَوَازِينُ وَمَنْ تَلا فِيهِ آيَةً مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ كَانَ لَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ مَنْ خَتَمَ الْقُرْآنَ فِي غَيْرِهِ مِنَ الشُّهُورِ.أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ أَبْوَابَ الْجِنَانِ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ مُفَتَّحَةٌ فَسَلُوا رَبَّكُمْ أَنْ لا يُغَلِّقَهَا عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَبْوَابَ النِّيرَانِ مُغَلَّقَةٌ فَسَلُوا رَبَّكُمْ أَنْ لا يُفَتِّحَهَا عَلَيْكُمْ وَالشَّيَاطِينَ مَغْلُولَةٌ فَسَلُوا رَبَّكُمْ أَنْ لا يُسَلِّطَهَا عَلَيْكُمْ.قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ: فَقُمْتُ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا أَفْضَلُ الأَعْمَالِ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ؟فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا الْحَسَنِ أَفْضَلُ الأَعْمَالِ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ الْوَرَعُ عَن مَحَارِمِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ. ثُمَّ بَكَى. فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا يُبْكِيكَ؟ فَقَالَ يَا عَلِيُّ أَبْكِي لِمَا يَسْتَحِلُّ مِنْكَ فِي هَذَا الشَّهْرِ. كَأَنِّي بِكَ وَأَنْتَ تُصَلِّي لِرَبِّكَ وَقَدِ انْبَعَثَ أَشْقَى الأَوَّلِينَ شَقِيقُ عَاقِرِ نَاقَةِ ثَمُودَ فَضَرَبَكَ ضَرْبَةً عَلَى قَرْنِكَ فَخَضَبَ مِنْهَا لِحْيَتَكَ.قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَذَلِكَ فِي سَلامَةٍ مِنْ دِينِي؟فَقَالَ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ فِي سَلامَةٍ مِنْ دِينِكَ.ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا عَلِيُّ مَنْ قَتَلَكَ فَقَدْ قَتَلَنِي وَمَنْ أَبْغَضَكَ فَقَدْ أَبْغَضَنِي وَمَنْ سَبَّكَ فَقَدْ سَبَّنِي لأنَّكَ مِنِّي كَنَفْسِي رُوحُكَ مِنْ رُوحِي وَطِينَتُكَ مِنْ طِينَتِي إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى خَلَقَنِي وَإِيَّاكَ وَاصْطَفَانِي وَإِيَّاكَ وَاخْتَارَنِي لِلنُّبُوَّةِ وَاخْتَارَكَ لِلإِمَامَةِ وَمَنْ أَنْكَرَ إِمَامَتَكَ فَقَدْ أَنْكَرَ نُبُوَّتِي.يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ وَصِيِّي وَأَبُو وُلْدِي وَزَوْجُ ابْنَتِي وَخَلِيفَتِي عَلَى أُمَّتِي فِي حَيَاتِي وَبَعْدَ مَوْتِي أَمْرُكَ أَمْرِي وَنَهْيُكَ نَهْيِي أُقْسِمُ بِالَّذِي بَعَثَنِي بِالنُّبُوَّةِ وَجَعَلَنِي خَيْرَ الْبَرِيَّةِ إِنَّكَ لَحُجَّةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ وَأَمِينُهُ عَلَى سِرِّهِ وَخَلِيفَتُهُ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ.

28-48 Muhammad ibn Bakran an-Naqash, Ahmad ibn Al-Hassan al-Qattan, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Mo’azi and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Mokattib narrated that Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sa’eed al-Hamdani - a servant of the Hashemites - quoted on the authority of Ali ibn Al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Fadhdhal, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abil Hassan Ali ibn Musa Al-Ridha (s), on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja’far (s), on the authority of his father As-Sadiq Ja’far ibn Muhammad (s), on the authority of his father Al-Baqir Muhammad ibn Ali (s), on the authority of his father the Ornament of the Worshippers Ali ibn Al-Hussein (s), on the authority of his father the Master of the Martyrs Al-Hussein ibn Ali (s), on the authority of his father the Master of the Trustees and the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (s) that one day God’s Prophet (s) delivered a sermon and said, “O people! The month of God (Ramadan) has come to you with blessings, mercy, and forgiveness. This is the noblest of the months to God. Its days are the noblest of the days. Its nights are the noblest of the nights. It is the month in which you have been invited to be God’s guests. You have been established as those honored by God in that month. Your breathing in this month is considered to be saying His Glorifications. Your sleeping in it is considered to be His worshipping, your deeds are accepted by Him and your supplications to Him are fulfilled. Then ask God - your Lord - with sincere intentions and pure hearts to help you succeed in His fasting and reciting His Book. Whoever gets deprived of God’s forgiveness in this great month is at a real loss. Remember the thirst and hunger of the Resurrection Day by experiencing this thirst and hunger. Give charity to your poor and indigent ones; respect your elder ones; be kind with the younger ones; visit your relations of kin; watch your tongues; lower your eyes from what your eyes are forbidden to look at; and guard your ears from what your ears are forbidden to hear. Be kind to other people’s orphans so that others may be kind to your orphans. Repent to God for your sins. Raise up your hands towards Him in supplication at the times of saying your prayers. These times are the noblest of the hours during which the Honorable the Exalted God looks upon His servants with Mercy, responds when they make supplications, replies to them when they call Him, and fulfills for them what they ask for. O people! You are tied down by your deeds. Free yourselves with your supplications. Your backs are overburdened with your sins. Make them lighter with extended prostrations. Know that the Sublime God has sworn by His Honor that He will not punish or throw into the Fire those who pray and fall in prostration on the Day on which all the people will rise for the Lord of the Worlds. O people! The reward with the Honorable the Exalted God for whoever provides for the breaking of the fast of any believer in this month is like that of freeing a slave and the forgiveness of all past sins.” The people said, “O Prophet of God! Not all of us are able to do that.” Then the Prophet (s) said, “Fend off the Fire from yourselves (by providing for the breaking of the fast of any believer) - even if it be with a piece of a date. Fend off the Fire from yourselves (by providing for the breaking of the fast of any believer) even if it be with a sip of water. O people! Whoever is good-tempered in this month will easily cross the Bridge on the Day (of Judgment) on which one’s steps are not firm. God will ease the reckoning of whoever takes it easy with those whom his right hand possesses (slaves) in this month. On the Day one meets God, God will withhold His Wrath from whoever controls his wickedness in this month. On the Day one meets God, God will honor whoever honors an orphan in this month. On the Day one meets God, He will shower His Mercy upon whoever maintains family ties in this month. God will deprive from His Mercy whoever breaks off his family ties in this month. God will record freedom from the Fire for whoever says one unit of recommendable prayers. The reward of whoever performs an obligatory deed in this month is seventy times that of one who performs the same deed in other months. The Balance of Deeds of whoever sends blessings upon me a lot will be more positive on the (Judgement) Day on which the Balance of Deeds are negative. The reward of whoever recites one verse of the Quran in this month is like the reward of one who recites the whole Quran in other months. O people! The gates of Paradise are open in this month. Then ask your Lord not to close them on you. And the gates of the Fire are closed. Then ask your Lord not to open them up to you. Satan is chained down. Then ask your Lord not to let him overcome you.” The Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali) (s) said, “I stood up and said, ‘O Prophet of God! What are the noblest of the deeds in this month?’ The Prophet (s) said, “O Abul Hassan (s)! The noblest of the deeds in this month are abstaining from what the Honorable the Exalted God has forbidden.” Then the Prophet (s) cried. I asked him (s), “O Prophet of God! Why did you cry?” The Prophet (s) said, “O Ali! I cried for what will be done to you in this month. It is as if I see you while you are praying to your Lord and the nastiest of those of old or those of later times - as nasty as he who killed the she-camel of Thamud - will stand up and deliver such a blow to your head that your beard will get stained (with blood).” The Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali) (s) said, “O Prophet of God! Will my religion remain intact in this situation?” The Prophet (s) said, “Your religion is intact.” The Prophet (s) then added, “O Ali! Whoever kills you has indeed killed me. Whoever despises you has indeed despised me. Whoever swears at you has indeed sworn at me. This is because you are from me and just like myself. Your spirit is from my spirit. Your clay is from my clay. In fact, the Blessed the Sublime God has created you and me, and appointed you and me. God chose me for the Prophethood and chose you for the Divine Leadership. Whoever denies your Divine Leadership has, in fact, denied my Prophethood. O Ali! You are my Trustee, the father of my grandchildren, the spouse of my daughter, the Caliph over my nation during and after my life. Your orders are just like my orders. Your admonishing is just like my admonishing. I swear by Him who has appointed me to the Prophethood and established me as the best of the people that you are God’s Proof for His creatures, the one entrusted with His Secrets and His Successor over His servants.”

Grading:

Muwatthaq (Zanjani's rating)

Shaykh Asif al-Mohseni: معتبر - Mashra’at Bihar al-Anwar (2/458)

 

Same hadith with slightly different isnad:

فضائل الأشهر الثلاثة،ج۱،ص۷۷،ح۶۱ / موثق / حدثنا محمد بن إبراهيم بن إسحاق قال حدثنا أحمد بن محمد الهمداني قال حدثنا علي بن الحسن بن علي بن فضال عن أبيه عن أبي الحسن علي بن موسى الرضا ع عن أبيه موسى بن جعفر ع عن أبيه الصادق جعفر بن محمد ع عن أبيه الباقر ع عن أبيه زين العابدين ع عن أبيه سيد الشهداء الحسين بن علي ع عن أبيه سيد الوصيين أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب ع قال إن رسول الله ص خطبنا [ إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله خطبنا ذات يوم…

 

6.

 From: http://www.revivingalislam.com/2010/10/hadeeth-al-thaqalayn-in-sheeah-book.html

حدثنا محمد بن زياد بن جعفر الهمداني رضي الله عنه قال حدثنا علي بن إبراهيم بن هاشم عن أبيه عن محمد بن أبي عمير عن غياث بن إبراهيم عن الصادق جعفر بن محمد عن أبيه محمد بن علي عن أبيه علي بن الحسين عن أبيه الحسين بن علي ع قال سئل أمير المؤمنين ص عن معنى قول رسول الله ص إني مخلف فيكم الثقلين كتاب الله و عترتي من العترة فقال أنا و الحسن و الحسين و الأئمة التسعة من ولد الحسين تاسعهم مهديهم و قائمهم لا يفارقون كتاب الله و لا يفارقهم حتى يردوا على رسول الله ص حوضه

 

Translation:  Ameer al-Mu'mineen was asked  about the Messenger of Allah's (SAWAS) words "I am leaving among you two weighty things, the Book of Allaah (Quran) and my progeny" 'Who is the progeny (`itrah)?'.  So he (Imam `Alee) said I, Hasan, Husayn and the 9 Imams from the children (i.e lineage) of Husain and the 9th from them is Al-Qaa’im and the Mahdee, and they will not separate from the Book of Allaah until they reach Messenger of Allaah at the Hawd (Pond of Kawthar).

 

Source:  Shaykh Sadooq, Kamaal al-Deen, pg. 240-241 Hadith # 64

 

This hadeeth has a great chain and would be graded Hasan Kal-SaHeeH (Hasan like a SaHeeH (hadeeth)), and that is only because of Ibraaheem bin Haashim Al-Qummee. All narrators in the isnaad are thiqaat (pl. thiqah).

 

One correction Muhammad bin Ziyaad bin Ja`far Al-Hamadaanee is actually aHmad bin Ziyaad bin Ja`far Al-Hamadaanee, there seems to be a mistake in the transcription in the hadeeth, but the tabaqah (path) of their narration are the same.

 

Conclusion

There were some other ahaadith I could have included here, but inshaAllah this suffices to prove the point. We have multiple attestations in Shi'i books that the Prophet (s) explicitly and implicitly appointed Imam Ali (عليه السلام) such that this is considered one of the musalaamaat (things taken from granted) within the madhhab. We are therefore certain that the Imams themselves taught this central doctrine. The following questions then emerge:

  1. Why do the majority of Ahlul Sunnah deny that the Imams (عليه السلام) taught this doctrine? Is it really reasonable to deny hundreds of ahaadith as being the lies of the raafidha, while claiming the Imams had no hand in spreading this doctrine?
  2. If one acknowledges that the Imams indeed taught this doctrine, do they believe that the Imams were liars? For example, did Imam al-Ridah or Imam al-Sadiq simply fabricate this view from thin air? Why were they considered to be trustworthy by their contemporaries - indeed their chain of transmission is called the Golden Chain?
  3. Why is it that even in Sunni books, we find indications that Imam Ali (عليه السلام) believed himself to be the rightful caliph after the Prophet? Was Imam Ali (عليه السلام) mistaken?
  4. Why is it that these hundreds of ahaadith from the Shi'i side are not taken as a qareenah (corroborating evidence) as to what the Prophet (s) meant in the many ahaadith found in Sunni books which seem to indicate that the Prophet was appointing Imam Ali (عليه السلام)? Why is there is an insistence that hadith al-thaqalayn meant merely to love the household (not follow them), or that the meaning of "mawlaa" in hadith al-ghadeer does not mean master, when the Ahlul Bayt themselves are clearly saying otherwise?

 

A Clarification: Is this post pointless?

A brother reached out to me asking for some clarification as to the point of this post, as it is a circular argument. I thought I had made it clear in the very first sentence of this post that a Sunni brother requested that I show him a shi'i hadith that:

  1. Is strong by shi'i standards
  2. Goes back to an explicit statement of the Prophet (i.e. it is not Imam al-Sadiq saying the Prophet appointed Imam Ali in his view, but rather Imam al-Sadiq quoting the Prophet, for example.)
  3. It should indicate the appointment of Imam Ali without there being any other reading of the text (unlike in strong sunni versions of hadith al-thaqalayn or hadith al-ghadeer in which there is a debate about what certain words mean etc.)

The reason is because he felt that if the Shia did not have a strong hadith going back to the Prophet (s) in which the appointment of Imam Ali was not crystal clear, our argument fails before it even gets off the ground because, in his words, "succession is not indicated by ambiguous statements from which we must infer what is meant." Upon his request I tried looking through 3 or 4 baabs of al-kaafi only to be disappointed (the hadiths either didn't quote the Prophet directly, or else they did not contain the explicit words that the Sunni brother was looking for, or they were weak by our own standards). I looked online, thinking that surely someone must of done this before me, but in fact I couldn't find anything. I therefore decided to put together what I found in this post for others to benefit, in case they are ever asked this question in the future.

The only inference I actually *do* think is a valid one is that the 500+ ahaadith in Bihar amount to evidence that the followers of the Imams were not the ones who made up the doctrine that Imam Ali was explicitly appointed, but rather that this was what their Imams taught them. In other words, if Sunnis want to call the Raafidha liars, they should start with Imam al-Sadiq rather than Hisham ibn al-Hakam. The reason for this is because even by secular historical standards, the sheer volume of narrations, chains etc that lead back to the Imams with this explicit claim make it hard to believe that dozens of independent individuals fabricated the whole thing. Furthermore, most of the chains go back to one of the known companions of an Imam which means that the burden of proof is on Sunnis to show, in an academic manner, how all of the main companions of Al-Baqir, Al-Sadiq, Al-Kadhim and al-Ridha - who came from multiple locations and throughout the span of decades, conspired to fabricate what the Imams were teaching. They must also show where the Imams denied believing in this specific doctrine (the appointment of Imam Ali), why the Imams were put under house arrest or actual prison if the Khalifa did not believe they were pinning their claim to succession on this doctrine, etc. I don't think any neutral historian can come to the conclusion that the Imams did not actually teach this point of doctrine. At the very least, it puts the burden of proof back on the Sunni who wants to conveniently claim that all of the closest companions of Imams 5-8 happened to teach the exact opposite central doctrine of what those Imams actually taught (which in their view was in fact agreeable with post-Imam Ahmad canonization.) Note: this claim is significantly different than what Shias claim about the companions of the Prophet (s) for reasons I will not get into here.

Do I think this is an argument to end all arguments? No. I don't. It's simply a corroborating piece of evidence that one makes in their overall case. I hope this clarifies the reason behind this post.

 

Edited by Ayuoobi

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      The funny thing though is that the people with the hobbies may not necessarily be doing them to achieve happiness, it just happens as a by-product. In contrast, the people who switch on the television are chasing after happiness and yet when they find it, it’s likely to be more transient than for those people who just happened upon it.
      There are two types of people today, those who create content and those who consume it. I think the creators are happier than the consumers.
      And where there is an effort in achieving happy I think there is also the likelihood of satiety, the feeling of fulfillment and the need to do something else. In contrast, where the consumption of happiness is easy, where it is simply bought and passively consumed, the lack of satiety means that overconsumption is possible.  We see some people watching inordinate amounts of television, we see increasing levels of obesity and rising levels of debt as people eat and buy themselves happy.
      Happy about what?
      I remember playing with car racing sets as a kid. It was never a satisfactory experience. One car in the set would always be intrinsically faster than the other, you could predict who would win the race depending on what car they had.
      There was clearly a difference between what those, admittedly cheap, sets could deliver and what my expectations were. Expectations that are higher than what we can realistically receive will always end in disappointment. Happy people have their expectations met or exceeded. But setting expectations that are too low may lead to people serially taking advantage of you since you never complain.
      What’s the solution here?
      It’s a question of differentiating between what matters and what does not. And even, more importantly, it’s a matter of assessing whether the people we are dealing with can actually deliver what they promise.
      Too often we are willing to suspend disbelief, take people at their word and believe their promises. They patently cannot deliver, but we refuse to believe that, sometimes this is because of our own ignorance or greed. The possible gain seems so attractive that we fall for the lie. Conmen do this all the time. Often what is at stake is either money or love because in both areas we really find it difficult to behave rationally. The Nigerian 419 scam goes for people who believe that you can get large sums of money easily and men from various developing countries make promises of love to older, richer single white women in the West via the internet, which usually involves a trip to the local branch of western union. These are extreme examples, but it happens to a lesser extent for different products and services all the time.
      Then there’s the issue of differentiating between what matters and what does not. Life is too short, you cannot complain about everything. Indeed, it may well be the case that you took someone at their word, perhaps even knowing that they could not and would not deliver everything that they promised, but you knew deep down that this did not really matter, but you were confident that what you really were interested in would actually be delivered.
      In my opinion, this marks the difference between two types of people who go on the hajj. The knowledgeable ones know what constitutes for a good hajj, where you were guided correctly by the alim with you and where the requirements were fulfilled correctly. These people also know what questions to ask different hajj organisers in order to ensure that their expectations about the fulfilment of their obligations are met. They can hear the promises about the hotel, but they know deep down that whether or not these are fulfilled, does not really matter.
      On the other hand, there are people who may not really know what their religious obligations are. These are the people who lose focus and are the ones who are unhappy about not getting enough food at Mina, the waiting around and the quality of the hotel. Not only are they unhappy but they are unhappy about the wrong things and perhaps even happy at the wrong things as well!
      Reconfiguring happy then, is a matter of being clear what we should be happy about, ensuring that we get that and not worrying when other promises that people make are not delivered.
      The disappointment of loss
       Too often people set expectations about what it is that will make them happy that is either unachievable or costly in a variety of other ways. The trick perhaps is to focus on what we can directly achieve by ourselves with the minimum of resources. It’s being able to do what is costless better than before and deriving satisfaction from it. And the only costless activity, over which we have complete control, in my opinion, is prayer.
       At the same time, it’s not a matter of eschewing or rejecting what the world has to offer. Rather it’s the ability to be happy if you have the material goods but not disappointed if you don’t. It’s being able to walk away dispassionately in the face of material loss. I'll deal with the latter issue in this post.
      Equanimity in the face of loss takes practice.
      The practice comes from giving charity. Each time we do it, we cut our bonds from the material, so that when losses occur as a result of circumstances over which we have no control they affect us less and we do not suffer unhappiness.
      Psychologically humans hate incurring losses. It’s part of our DNA. Nobel prize winning research has shown this. We do all sorts of crazy things in order to avoid losses. Give someone the option of paying $1.30 for a gallon of gas and receiving a $0.10 rebate if they pay by cash or instead paying $1.20 by credit card and incurring a $0.20 surcharge and they’ll always go for the $1.30 option. The cash buyers will do it for obvious reasons and the people paying by credit card will do it as well because paying the $1.30 as a default option is far less psychologically painful than seeing a base price of $1.20 and then realising that choosing to pay by credit card will involve incurring an additional $0.20.
      There have been a number of other studies along similar lines, all demonstrating that we will often engage in irrational actions to avoid losses. I’ve previously linked to a lecture given by Robert Shiller at Princeton where he refers to people taking out (really bad value) insurance policies for individual flights in order not to incur a loss.
      Another often quoted example in this area is to do with how much value we attach to things we own. Experiments show that if people own something they’ll ascribe a higher value to it than other people who do not. 
      Giving to charity then or detaching ourselves from what we own, is difficult for humans. It is part of the human condition. And yet IIRC the Qur’an mentions charity every time it mentions prayer.
      I think it works in a number of different ways. I’ve outlined one and another that comes to mind is my view that the Qur’an is recognising that wherever someone has gains (on which charity can be paid), they will invariably at some point suffer a loss. When people who have had gains give some of them away as charity when the invariable losses do happen, they will, at least, have the comfort in knowing that while they had it, they spent it on assets for the akhira.
      Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
       A discussion about achievements in life or the lack of them in the Thoughts threads reminded me of this.
       We often think about what we could have done, would have done or should have done. This can become a maudlin exercise full of regrets and unhappy thoughts.
       Often such thinking can lead to issues about what we’ll do now to address this and I wonder whether the options discussed are always advisable.
       Just because we did not do a certain degree 15 years ago, does that mean we’ll be any better off or happier doing it now? The world when the decision was taken not to do the degree or when the opportunity was missed, was a different world to the one we are in now. The benefits of that degree may well have changed. The costs of doing it now may well be different to what they would have been in the past, so the value of the whole exercise may be different as well.
       In hankering after what could have been and in trying to get it back we could be losing focus on what else we could be achieving now in the time that we have left that may offer greater value.
       The whole process of looking backwards is one that assumes we are now older than we were before. As we get older the reduction in the time that we have left becomes more acute – the focus now really has to be on what really matters.
       So as we get older the very process of worrying about previously missed material gains and losses may actually compound the problem rather than make it better. The goals have to be different now.
       The benefit that age brings is that older people can compare the achievements and mistakes of people that they have known over a long period of time. Young people cannot do this. They can be told about it, but personal experience often has more resonance.
       Older people can see where their peers started, what they did in terms of materialistic and spiritual activities and observe where they have ended up. That longitudinal perspective is one whose benefit you don’t have if you are young.
        In the final calculation when you start attending the funerals of people you have known for a long-time, you realise how futile material achievements are, especially at the margins. If an individual has acquired enough material success to have been self-sustaining (including any family) surely any assessments of success and failure over the life led thus far need to be in terms of spiritual and moral mistakes and future rectifications?
      Thought of in this way, reflections about the past become an intensely productive, positive and indeed happy activity. Because whatever happened in the past that enabled us to arrive at a destination where there is a realisation (niyat) that rectification is necessary, surely that has been a positive result? 
      These are the only changes that I can think of which are not rendered irrelevant by changing circumstances in the same way as the ones I mentioned at the start of this post.
    • Haji 2003
      Flowering of religions
      By Haji 2003 in Contemporania
         4
      Summary
      Since the inception of Islam, there had been various sects competing for prominence; many had died out, and the two major ones were Twelver Shia and the Sunni fiqh.
      Then suddenly, from the start of the 19th century to the end of that century, we have the emergence of Ahmadiyya, the renewal of Ismailism and the creation of a new faith entirely, Baha ism. Go back a hundred years, and we can add Wahhabism to this list. I identify a common thread amongst all these new religions in this post.
      Four religions in a couple of hundred years ... and three Knights
      That's an unusually fertile period of spiritual spontaneity by any measure. Or is the explanation for such flowering of faith more mundane and perhaps guided by vested foreign interests or even stimulated by them? Because what marked that period, from the ones that preceded it was the growing recognition by countries from outside the middle eastern region that it was an important geographical location in itself and also for its proximity to the wealth of India. That latter point is important because there is little disagreement that British foreign policy towards the middle east paid due cognisance to the views and interests of the Government of India - of course, that is a pre-independence Government, so wholly controlled by Britain.
      Wahhabism
      Abdul Wahhab developed what is commonly referred to as an austere interpretation of Islam, one that denounces the rituals and beliefs that he felt had accreted over the centuries. There is a rich vein of (conspiracy) theories, easily found on the internet, that in his travel to Iraq in the early 18th century, he could have come across British agents (specifically a 'Mr Hempher'). Certainly, the British East India Company had been well established at that time, and a British consulate had been established in Iraq in 1802. Less widely commented on is the fact that the famous Danish/German explorer Carsten Niebuhr travelled to Arabia in 1761.
      But leaving conspiracy theories aside, it's possible to develop an argument about foreign involvement based on far less controversial ideas. Britain may not have been a midwife to Wahhabism, but I think people of all geo-political persuasions would agree that Britain was a helpful nanny.
      The person with whom the British did have extensive dealings was Ibn Saud, who had entered into a pact with Abdul Wahhab in 1744. British sources said he persistently approached Britain for support and was generally rebuffed. Saud was a political leader who continued to promote the Wahhabi philosophy after the death of its founder. Saud was no cleric. But he was shrewd enough to mould the ideology as the basis for providing a motivation for conquest and a glue that would hold his fighters together. British records show that he took responsibility for hiring and firing clerics based on his political agenda.
      My source for this and some other information about Wahhabism that is presented here is a PhD dissertation submitted to King's College London in 2002 by Hassan Syed Abedin, titled "Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and the great game in Arabia, 1896-1946".
      Ibn Saud (who would in due course be given the British title 'Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire') was ultimately successful in his goal of receiving support from Britain in 1914 when Britain needed to have someone distracting the Ottomans so that they could devote fewer resources to World War I taking place in Europe.
      Prior to that, it's argued that Ibn Saud had spent considerable efforts in achieving a status similar to the one held by Mubarak Al Sabah, the emir of Kuwait. This ideal status would have meant that Sauds and their territories would have been subjects of the Ottoman empire, but who would be given the protection of the British.
      This version of events does not look very good for Ibn Saud, presenting him as someone who is willing to do business with non-Muslims in order to undermine a Muslim ruler, and he'd serve a useful role in helping Britain with the following objective:
      Crewe private telegram to Hardinge, Viceroy of India, November 12,1914, cited in Busch Britain, India and the Arabs: 1914-1921, p. 62.
      Ismailis
      Further, east we find the rise of the modern-day Nizari Ismailis, whose Aga Khan in the mid-19th century created a new role for himself in providing services to the British Empire (Aga Khan I would receive an annual British pension of £20,000 per year). Mihir Bose (a noted writer on the subject) says that the Aga Khan had to plead his case for some time before the British took him seriously since they wanted to be sure that they were backing a local ally who'd present them with better value than the alternatives. His grandson Aga Khan III would be bestowed the title of 'Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India'. Their esoteric faith was totally at odds with the one promulgated by Wahhab, but regardless of that difference served a useful purpose.
      Regardless of the support he gave, the British were aware of the hypocrisy of his religious position:
      Sir Charles Napier to Governor-General of India, Earl of Ellenborough, 1843
      The period around the 1840s is interesting for the following reason, as the following letter makes clear:
      Purohit, T. (2012) The Aga Khan Case (religion and identity in colonial India). Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
      The writer of the letter is Major Henry Rawlinson, the military officer who worked for the commission in Persia from 1834 to 1838 and subsequently served as a political agent in Qandahar. So the British were interested in there being dislocation in Iran at around this time because of a perceived threat to their interests in Afghanistan.
      This makes the genesis and development of the third religion covered here all the more interesting.
      Bahai'ism
      In roughly the same period, the mid-nineteenth century, we also see the rise of the Bahai faith in Iran. Mirza Ali Mohammad was born in 1820 and was executed in 1850. A focus of his attention was economic inequality in Iran. There were clear political implications, as  noted by the middle eastern commentator Juan Cole:
      The socio-economic aspect of Bab's teachings are also explained here:
      Mansoor Moaddel (1986) The Shi'i Ulama and the State in Iran. Theory and Society, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Jul., 1986), pp. 519-556. This extract: p526.
      This socio-religio-poliitcal impact of a new faith did not go unnoticed by the colonial powers of the time and gained ground as a result of their support as a means of destabilising the Qajar dynasty. Like Ibn Saud, Abdul Baha, eldest son of the Baha'u'llah, would also be awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, ostensibly for his work in alleviating famine.
       
      Shahvar, S. (2018) ‘Oppression of Religious Minority Groups in Times of Great Upheaval in Late Qajar Iran: The 1892 Persecution of Jews and Baha’is of Jewish Origin in Hamadan Based on Two Newly Discovered Letters’, The Jewish quarterly review. University of Pennsylvania Press, 108(2), pp. 225–251.
       
      Ahmadiyya
       
      Going further east, we find the third innovation in the Muslim religion towards the end of the 19th century and one that would lead to charges of being the creation of a new religion entirely. The Ahmadis would destabilise Muslims in the Indian sub-continent. Their support for the British in India is expressed in their texts:
      There is a reason for this approach; unlike the established religions of the Indian sub-continent, the leader of this new religion needed legitimacy. By acquiescing to the needs of the invaders, he sought to achieve that. For the established religions doing the same would have been challenging because they would have lost the legitimacy of their many existing followers; the new religion with far fewer followers had much less to lose in this respect but potentially a great deal more to gain. 
      Conclusion
      I am not saying that the British went into the middle east with the prior notion of introducing new faiths. However, it is reasonable to say that in an environment where there were new powers in the region, for someone starting a new faith, the potential for a symbiotic relationship with these new arrivals was obvious. 
      For the invaders, these new religions provided a ready-made supportive constituency with which to challenge the established order, whether it be the Ottomans, the Qajars or the established religious order in India.
    • Haji 2003
      Prophet Nuh (عليه السلام) an early social entrepreneur
      By Haji 2003 in Contemporania
         0
      Putting 2 and 2 together
      I have some knowledge of what social entrepreneurship is and like most of you I have read the story of Prophet Nuh ((عليه السلام).) in the Qur'an and Bible. At this point, I would start googling like crazy to build up the argument, but I decided to take a short-cut and asked chatgpt the following question:
      Can Noah and his construction of the ark be considered a form of social entrepreneurship?
       
      Now there are aspects of social entrepreneurship that are important that chatgpt has missed out, and to be honest they are pretty crucial to the link between his story and the concept of social entrepreneurship and I'll add them later. So I asked chatGPT:
      How does social entrepreneurship differ from entrepreneurship?
       
      This is taking us in the right direction. Looking at each of the above bullets in turn: 
      Prophet Nuh ((عليه السلام).) was focusing on social change (saving people from sin) and obviously had an environmental goal in mind (overcoming the dangers posed by the flood).  Social entrepreneurs target marginalised groups and Prophet Nuh ((عليه السلام).) was going for people who were sinners. The new product he had created was the ark His metric for success was the number of people saved.  

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