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This Hadith, if accepted as authentic, can go some way to explain the prevalence of narrations attributed to the Ahl al-Bayt in Sunni circles which seem to contradict what our Madhhab would consider to be true. 741. I (al-Kashshi) found in the book of Abi Muhammad Jibril b. Ahmad al-Fariyabi in his own hand-writing: narrated to me Muhammad b. Isa, from Muhammad b. al-Fudhayl al-Kufi, from Abdallah b. Abd al-Rahman, from al-Haytham b. Waqid, from Maymun b. Abdallah who said: A group came to Aba Abdillah عليه السلام from one of the garrison towns while I (i.e. Maymun) was with him, asking him for the Hadith (to narrate to them), so he said to me: do you know anyone from this group? I said: no, he said: then why have they come in to see me? I said: these are people who seek Hadith from everyone, they do not care from whom they take the Hadith. He (al-Sadiq) said to a man from among them: have you heard the Hadith from other than me? He said: yes, he said: so narrate to me some of what you have heard, he said: I have come so as to hear from you, I have not come to narrate to you. He (al-Sadiq) said to another man (who was with them): that one - what prevents him from narrating to me what he has heard? You go ahead and narrate to me that which you have heard, or has the one who narrated to you the Hadith entrusted it to you as a trust - disallowing you to narrate it to anyone? he said: no, he said: so make us hear some of what you have accumulated of knowledge so that we may benefit - If Allah wills. He (the man) said: narrated to us Sufyan al-Thawri from Ja’far b. Muhammad who said: all of the Nabidh (fermented fruit) is Halal except the intoxicating wine, then he kept quiet, so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: increase for us. He said: narrated to us Sufyan from the one who narrated to him from Muhammad b. Ali (al-Baqir) who said: whoever does not wipe over his shoes then he is a partisan of innovation, and whoever does not drink Nabidh then he is an innovator, and whoever does not eat the scale-less fish, and the food of the people of Dhimma (Ahl al-Kitab), and the meat slaughtered by them, then he is misguided, as for Nabidh then Umar drank the Nabidh made of grapes after mixing it with water, and as for wiping over the shoes, then Umar had wiped over them, three times while on journey and once by day and night while not travelling, and as for the meat (slaughtered by the Ahl al-Kitab) then Ali had eaten it and said about it: eat it - for Allah the Exalted has said: “this day is made lawful for you the good things, and the food of those who have been given the book is lawful for you, and your food is lawful to them”, then he kept queit, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: go on. He said: I have narrated to you what I have heard, he said: is this all that you have heard? He said: no, he said: then add for us. He said: narrated to us Amr b. Ubayd from al-Hasan who said: things that people have believed in and accepted, while there is no authentic basis for them in the Book, they include - the punishment in the grave, and the Mizan (weighing scales), and the Hawdh (lake fount), and the intercession, and the Niyyah, that is, a man intends to do good, so he does not go on to do it but he is still rewarded for it, infact, a man is not rewarded except for what he actually does, if good then a good reward, and if bad then an evil recompense. He (Maymun) said: so I laughed out loud because of his narrations, so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام signalled to me, meaning to say: stop so that we can hear, so the man turned to me and said: what makes you laugh? Is the Hadith true or false? I (Maymun) said to him: may Allah set you aright and preserve you, what makes me laugh is the wondrous amazement I have - how have you been able to memorise all these narrations! So he stopped talking. Then Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: continue. He said: narrated to us Sufyan al-Thawri from Muhammad b. al-Munkadir that he saw Ali upon the Minbar of Kufa and he was saying - if I am brought someone who prefers me over Abu Bakr and Umar I will lash him with the Hadd of the slanderer, so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: add for us. He said: narrated to us Sufyan from Ja’far who said: love of Abu Bakr and Umar is faith, and their enmity is disbelief, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: keep going. He said: narrated to us Yunus b. Ubayd from al-Hasan - that Ali delayed in giving the oath of allegiance to Abi Bakr, so al-Atiq (Abu Bakr) said to him: what made you abstain O Ali from the oath of allegiance? By Allah I was tempted to cut off your neck, so Ali said to him: O vicegerent of the messenger of Allah - no reproach, he (Abu Bakr) said: no reproach, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: add more. He said: narrated to me Sufyan al-Thawri from al-Hasan that Aba Bakr ordered Khalid b. Walid to cut off the neck of Ali when he makes the Taslim and completes the morning prayer, then he resolved what was between himself and Ali, so he said: O Khalid do not do what I had ordered, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: continue. He said: narrated to me Nuaym b. Abdallah from Ja’far b. Muhammad that he said: Ali wished that he were in the palm groves of Yanbu, shading himself in its shades, eating from its dates, but that he not witness the battles of Jamal nor Nahrawan, and Sufyan also narrated the same to me, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: keep on. He said: narrated to us Abbad from Ja’far b. Muhammad who said: when Ali b. Abi Talib saw the great number of the dead on the day of Jamal he said to his son al-Hasan: O my son I have been destroyed, so al-Hasan said to him: O my father, had I not warned you against coming out to war? So Ali said to him: O my son, I did not expect that the affair would reach to this extent, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: continue. He said: narrated to me Sufyan al-Thawri from Ja’far b. Muhammad that when Ali had finished fighting the people of Siffin he cried over them then he said: may Allah unite between me and them in paradise. He (Maymun) said: so the room constricted on me, and I perspired, and it was as though I was about to come out of my skin (because of my anger), so I wanted to stand and go to him and kick him, then I remembered the signal of Abi Abdillah عليه السلام and stopped myself. Then Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: from which land are you? he said: from the people of Basra, he said: so this person you narrate from and name him Ja’far b. Muhammad - do you know him? he said: no, he said: have you heard anything directly from him? he said: no, he said: so you consider these narrations to be true? He said: yes, he said: when did you hear them? He said: I do not remember, but these are the narrations which are well known among the people of our town for ages, the people do not have any doubt about them, Abu Abdillah said to him: if you were to see this man on whose authority you narrate and he were to say to you - these which you narrate from me are lies - I do not know anything about them and have never narrated them - will you believe him? he said: no, he said: why not? he said: because people have witnessed to having heard them from him, people who - if they were to witness about the manumission of a slave - their witness would be accepted (their testimony is admissible in the court of law). He (al-Sadiq) said: write down: In the name of Allah the beneficent the merciful, narrated to me my father from my grandfather – he (i.e. the man) said: what is your name? he said: why do you ask me about my name - the messenger of Allah said: Allah created the souls two thousand years before the bodies, then he made them to float in the air, so whichever souls familiarized with each other continued to have an affinity in here (on the earth), and whichever of them repulsed each other continued to oppose each other in here, and whoever lies on us the Ahl al-Bayt, Allah will resurrect him on the day of judgement as a blind jew, and if he were to be alive when the Dajjal appeared he would believe in him, and if he were to die before that and not meet him (i.e. Dajjal), he will believe in him in his grave, O slave (i.e. saying this to Maymun) put for me the water, and he signalled to me meaning to say - do not leave. So the group stood and left after having written down the narration they had just heard from him, then he (the Imam) came out while his face was dejected, he said: did you not hear what these people narrate! I said: may Allah set you aright, who are these people and what is this they narrate! He said: the most strange thing I found about their speech was the lies they attributed to me, quoting me in that which I have not ever said nor has anyone heard me saying, and their statement that if he (the man they narrate from i.e. Ja’far b. Muhammad) were to deny these narrations they would not accept that from him, what is wrong with them! May Allah not give them any respite! Then he said: when Ali عليه السلام wished to depart from Basra he stood in its outskirts and said: may Allah curse you, O you who are the most putrid of lands in terms of its soil, and the quickest to decay, and the most severe in being punished, in you is the disease, they said: what is that O commander of the faithful, he said: the belief in free-will, in which there is a fabrication foisted upon Allah, and the enmity against us the Ahl al-Bayt in which is the displeasure of Allah and his prophet, and their lies against us the Ahl al-Bayt, and their legitimizing of lying against us.

قال أبو عمرو الكشي: قال يحيى بن عبد الحميد الحماني في كتابه المؤلف في إثبات إمامة أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام: قلت لشريك: إن أقواما يزعمون أن جعفر بن محمد ضعيف في الحديث! فقال: أخبرك القصة كان جعفر بن محمد رجلا صالحا مسلما ورعا، فاكتنفه قوم جهال يدخلون عليه، ويخرجون من عنده، ويقولون: حدثنا جعفر بن محمد، ويحدثون بأحاديث كلها منكرات كذب موضوعة على جعفر، يستأكلون الناس بذلك، ويأخذون منهم الدراهم، فكانوا يأتون من ذلك بكل منكر، وسمعت العوام بذلك منهم، فمنهم من هلك ومنهم من أنكر، وهؤلاء مثل المفضل بن عمر، وبنان، وعمرو النبطي وغيرهم، ذكروا أن جعفرا حدثهم أن معرفة الامام تكفي من الصوم والصلاة، وحدثهم عن أبيه عن جده، وأنه حدثهم قبل يوم القيامة، وأن عليا عليه السلام في السحاب يطير مع الريح، وأنه كان يتكلم بعد الموت، وأنه كان يتحرك على المغتسل، وأن إله السماء وإله الأرض الامام، فجعلوا لله شريكا، جهال، ضلال، والله ما قال جعفر شيئا من هذا قط، كان جعفر أتقى لله، وأورع من ذلك، فسمع الناس ذلك فضعفوه، ولو رأيت جعفرا لعلمت أنه واحد الناس Abu Amr al-Kashshi said: Yahya b. Abd al-Hamid al-Himani said in his book written with the purpose of proving the Imama of the commander of the faithful عليه السلام : I asked Sharīk: “(Why is it that) groups of people maintain Ja‘far b. Muḥammad is weak in ḥadīth ?” Sharīk replied: “I will tell you the situation. Ja‘far b. Muḥammad was a righteous man and a GOD fearing Muslim. Then a group of foolish-ignorant persons [qawm juhhāl] surrounded him frequenting his home and leaving his presence, and saying “Ja‘far b. Muḥammad narrated to us.” They narrated traditions all of them objectionable [munkarāt]—lies, forgeries imputed to Ja‘far!—in order to exploit people for their own advantage and take their dirhams, and to this end they brought forth all kinds of objectionable traditions. Thereupon the public [al-‘awāmm] heard these from them, and some were brought to ruin (by accepting them), while others disclaimed them. These (ignorami) were the likes of al-Mufaḍḍal b. ‘Umar and Bunān [b. Sam‘ān] and ‘Amr al-Nabaṭī [‘Ammār al-Sābāṭī ?] and others. They stated that Ja‘far narrated to them that recognition of the imām suffices to spare one from fasting and prayer; and that he narrated to them from his father [Bāqir], from his grandfather [i.e. ‘Alī] who informed them about (events that will occur) before the Resurrection; and that ‘Alī is in the clouds flying with the wind, and that he used to speak after death, and moved as he was being washed (for burial); and that god in heaven while god on earth is the imām—so these errant/misguided fools appointed a partner for GOD! By GOD, Ja‘far never said anything like this at all! Ja‘far was more GOD mindful and GOD revering than that. So when the people (narrating traditions) heard these things, they deemed him ‘weak’ (and forsook transmitting his narrations). If you had seen Ja‘far, you would have known that he was truly unparalleled among his peers [wāḥid al-nās].” NOTES: There is no doubt that this business of ascribing falsities to the Aimma (esp. by Kufan Ghulat vis-a-vis al-Sadiq) occurred, and this is well documented in our sources, but Sharik’s analysis is peurile in that it does not account for the authentic strand of the Imamiyya (the legalistic school that we would consider the forebears of the later Ithna-Ashariyya) which has not only preserved al-Sadiq’s defense against the Ghulat but also his dis-association from them. Figures like Bunan are censured as accursed in our Rijal works for claiming divinity for the Aimma, and other objectionable beliefs like incarnation and transmigration of souls. Sharik seems not to be able to account for what we would consider the true torch-bearers of the al-Sadiq school, people like Zurara and Muhammad b. Muslim and others. The Sunni scholars have a real blind-spot about who the real players in the Imami movement of the time were, they rather concentrate on the more controversial figures who have been rightfully sidelined – more about this later. Looking at the kinds of false beliefs that Sharik mentions, none of these are held by contemporary Imamis, showing that the authentic strand was successful in preserving the true message for the most part.

نصر بن الصباح و هو غال، قال حدثني إسحاق بن محمد البصري و هو متهم، قال حدثنا أحمد بن هلال، عن علي بن أسباط، عن العلاء، عن محمد بن حكيم، قال : ذكر عند أبي جعفر (عليه السلام) سلمان، فقال ذلك سلمان المحمدي، إن سلمان منا أهل البيت، إنه كان يقول للناس هربتم من القرآن إلى الأحاديث، وجدتم كتابا دقيقا حوسبتم فيه على النقير و القطمير و الفتيل و حبة خردل فضاق ذلك عليكم و هربتم إلى الأحاديث التي اتسعت عليكم 42. Nasr b. al-Sabah – and he is a Ghali – said: narrated to me Ishaq b. Muhammad al-Basri – and he is accused – narrated to us Ahmad b. Hilal from Ali b. Asbat from al-Ala from Muhammad b. Hukaym who said: Salman was mentioned in the presence of Abi Ja’far عليه السلام, so he said: that is Salman al-Muhammadi, Salman is from us the Ahlulbayt, he used to say to the people: you have fled from the Qur’an to the narrations (Hadith), you found an intricate (exacting) book, you have been measured in it upon the standards of the Naqir, and the Qitmir, and the Fatil, and the Khardal seed, so that became too constricting (burdening) for you (i.e. left you no room to play with), and you fled to the narrations which widened up (accommodated) you. NOTES: Naqir, Qitmir and Fatil all refer to properties found in a date stone, they are used as examples by the divine voice because the Arabs were well versed with dates. As for the Qitmir Allah says: وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْ قِطْمِيرٍ “And those whom you call upon apart from him do not own even a Qitmir”(35:13) It is the thin membrane over the date stone. And Allah says: قُلْ مَتَاعُ الدُّنْيَا قَلِيلٌ وَالآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِمَنِ اتَّقَى وَلا تُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلا “Say: the wares of the worldly life are few, and the hereafter is better - for the one who is conscious, and you will not be dealt with unjustly even as much as a Fatil” (4:77) And in another verse: فَمَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَأُولَئِكَ يَقْرَءُونَ كِتَابَهُمْ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا “Then whomever is given his record in his right hand - those will read their records, and injustice will not be done to them, even as much as a Fatil” (17:71) It is the thread in the long slit of a date-stone And Allah says: وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ وَلا يُظْلَمُونَ نَقِيرًا “And whoever does of righteous deeds – being male or female – and he is a believer - then these will enter the garden and they will not be wronged even as much as a Naqir” (4:124) It is a speck (spot) on the back of a date-stone And Allah says: وَنَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا ۖ وَإِنْ كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا “And We shall place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul shall be treated unjustly in anyway. And even if it be the weight of a Khardal seed We shall bring it forth” (21:47) It is a mustard (seed). Addendum: I think I may have also just won the award for the wackiest title in Shiachat history.