A Comprehensive Compilation of Reliable Narrations

[Sumerian]

I am a little confusrd brother, so the top bit is about Jabir ibn Abdillah, the rest is about Al-Ju'fi? Or?

[Islamic Salvation]

11 hours ago, E.L King said:

I am a little confusrd brother, so the top bit is about Jabir ibn Abdillah, the rest is about Al-Ju'fi? Or?

Yes, the first narration is about the Sahabi Jabir b. Abdallah al-Ansari, the second and third are about Jabir b. Yazid al-Ju`fi, the companion of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.27. - 2.29. al-Ash`ath, Jarir and Simak

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/al-ashath-jarir-and-simak

 

[1/138] الكافي: علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن عمرو بن عثمان، عن محمد بن عذافر، عن أبي حمزة أو عن محمد بن مسلم، عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: إن بالكوفة مساجد ملعونة و مساجد مباركة ... فأما المساجد الملعونة فمسجد ثقيف ومسجد الاشعث ومسجد جرير ومسجد سماك ومسجد بالخمراء بني على قبر فرعون من الفراعنة

[1/138] al-Kafi: Ali b. Ibrahim from his father from Amr b. Uthman from Muhammad b. Udhafir from Abi Hamza and Muhammad b. Muslim from Abi Ja`far عليه السلام who said: In Kufa there are accursed mosques and blessed mosques … among the accursed mosques include the mosque of Thaqif, the mosque of al-Ash`ath, the mosque of Jarir, the mosque of Simak and the mosque in al-Khamra which was built on the grave of one Pharaoh among the Pharaohs. 

NOTES:

The accursed mosques are those that were tainted by their connection to either (i) hostile personalities (mainly partisans of Uthman and Mua`wiya) or (ii) unfriendly tribes (to the Shia and Ali).

A similar narration in al-Kafi has the following five:

عن أبي عبدالله عليه السلام قال: إن أمير المؤمنين صلوات الله عليه نهى بالكوفة عن الصلاة في خمسة مساجد: مسجد الاشعث بن قيس ومسجد جرير بن عبدالله البجلي ومسجد سماك بن مخرمة ومسجد شبث بن ربعي ومسجد التيم

Abi Abdillah عليه السلام said: The commander of the faithful صلوات الله عليه prohibited praying in five mosques in Kufa: Masjid al-Ash`ath b. Qays, Masjid Jarir b. Abdallah al-Bajali, Masjid Simak b. Makhrama, Masjid Shabath b. Rib`i and Masjid al-Taym.

Note that a Masjid Shabath b. Rib`i (someone who supported Ali at first but turned Khariji) and a Masjid Taym (to whom belonged Abu Bakr) are added in this narration.

عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: جددت أربعة مساجد بالكوفة فرحا لقتل الحسين عليه السلام: مسجد الاشعث ومسجد جرير ومسجد سماك ومسجد شبث بن ربعي

It seems that one of the main reasons why these mosques were cursed is because they were renovated just to celebrate the killing of al-Husayn! (this shows their Nasibi influence).

Who are the individuals mentioned in the narration?

al-Ash‘ath b. Qays (d. 40/661) fought with ‘Alı in the Battle of Siffın before pressuring him to accept arbitration and appoint Abu Musa al-Ash‘arı as one of the arbiters. This made Ali remind him that he was the same person who participated in the ridda (apostasy) revolts after the death of the Prophet, and was eventually pardoned when he payed a humbling price making use of his Ashrafi connections. What the daughter Jo`da bt. al-Ash`ath did in poisoning al-Hasan and his son’s involvement in the incident of the arrest of Muslim b. Aqil show that the rotten fruits did not fall far from the tree.

Jarır b. ‘Abdallah b. Jabir al-Bajalı (d. 51-6/671-6) was entrusted by ‘Alı to carry a letter to Mu’awiya (to call upon him to submit) but he secretly pledged loyalty to the Umayyads, and began wasting time in Syria, his prevarication worked to sap the energy of Ali’s forces. He finally abdicated at which point Ali ordered his house in Kufa to be destroyed.

Simak b. Makhrama b. Humayn al-Asadı (d. mid- to late 1st/7th century) lived in an area of Kufa known for the pro-‘Uthman beliefs of its inhabitants (as late as the 4th/10th century), where he built a mosque in which ‘Alı famously refused to offer prayers.

Masjid Khamra (or Hamra in al-Tahdhib of al-Tusi) is built on the grave of “one of the Pharaohs”. It is not clear whom this is referring to.

A similar dynamic characterized Masjid Thaqıif given the tribe’s adversarial relationship with ‘Alı and his partisans. Note that Mughira b. Shu`ba the famous Munafiq was from Thaqif and he was critical in perpetuating Umayyad rule as a governor in Kufa.

Edited April 23, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.30. – 2.32. Ja`far b. Isa, Salih and Abu al-Asad

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/jafar-b-isa-salih-and-abu-al-asad

 

[1/139] رجال الكشي: حمدويه و إبراهيم، عن أبو جعفر محمد بن عيسى العبيدي قال: سمعت هشام بن إبراهيم الختلي و هو المشرقي يقول: استأذنت لجماعة على أبي الحسن عليه السلام في سنة تسع و تسعين و مائة، فحضروا و حضرنا ستة عشر رجلا على باب أبي الحسن الثاني عليه السلام، فخرج مسافر فقال: يتخلف آل يقطين و يونس بن عبد الرحمن و يدخل الباقون رجلا رجلا، فلما دخلوا و خرجوا خرج مسافر فدعاني و موسى و جعفر بن عيسى و يونس، فأدخلنا جميعا عليه و العباس قائم ناحية بلا حذاء و لا رداء، و ذلك في سنة أبي السرايا، فسلمنا ثم أمرنا بالجلوس، فلما جلسنا، قال له جعفر بن عيسى: يا سيدي نشكو إلى الله و إليك ما نحن فيه من أصحابنا فقال: و ما أنتم فيه منهم فقال جعفر: هم و الله يا سيدي يزندقونا و يكفرونا و يتبرءون منا، فقال: هكذا كان أصحاب علي بن الحسين و محمد بن علي و أصحاب جعفر و موسى صلوات الله عليهم و لقد كان أصحاب زرارة يكفرون غيرهم، و كذلك غيرهم كانوا يكفرونهم، فقلت له: يا سيدي نستعين بك على هذين الشيخين يونس و هشام و هما حاضران، فهما أدبانا و علمانا الكلام، فإن كنا يا سيدي على هدى ففزنا، و إن كنا على ضلال فهذان أضلانا، فمرنا نتركه و نتوب إلى الله منه، يا سيدي فادعنا إلى دين الله نتبعك فقال عليه السلام: ما أعلمكم إلا على هدى، جزاكم الله عن الصحبة القديمة و الحديثة خيرا، فتأولوا القديمة علي بن يقطين، و الحديثة خدمتنا له، و الله أعلم. فقال جعفر: جعلت فداك، إن صالحا و أبا الأسد ختن علي بن يقطين حكيا عنك أنهما حكيا لك شيئا من كلامنا فقلت لهما ما لكما و الكلام يثنيكم إلى الزندقة فقال عليه السلام: ما قلت لهما ذلك، أنا قلت ذلك و الله ما قلت لهما. و قال يونس: جعلت فداك إنهم يزعمون أنا زنادقة و كان جالسا إلى جنب رجل و هو متربع رجلا على رجل و هو ساعة بعد ساعة يمرغ وجهه و خديه على باطن قدمه الأيسر، فقال له: أ رأيتك لو كنت زنديقا فقال لك هو مؤمن ما كان ينفعك من ذلك، و لو كنت مؤمنا فقالوا هو زنديق ما كان يضرك منه. و قال المشرقي له: و الله ما تقول إلا ما يقول آباؤك عليهم السلام عندنا كتاب سميناه كتاب الجامع فيه جميع ما تكلم الناس فيه عن آبائك عليهم السلام و إنما نتكلم عليه، فقال له جعفر شبيها بهذا الكلام، فأقبل على جعفر فقال: فإذا كنتم لا تتكلمون بكلام آبائي عليهم السلام فبكلام أبي بكر و عمر تريدون أن تتكلموا؟

[1/139] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh and Ibrahim from Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Isa al-Ubaydi who said: I heard Hisham b. Ibrahim al-Khatli - and he is al-Mashraqi - say: I sought permission for a number of people to enter upon Abi al-Hasan عليه السلام in the year one hundred and ninety nine, so they attended and we attended, a total of sixteen men, waiting at the door of Abi al-Hasan the Second عليه السلام. Then Musafir (a Mawla of al-Ridha) came out and said: The family of Yaqtin and Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman should wait while the rest should enter one by one, so when they had all entered and exited, Musafir came out and called me, Musa [b. Salih], Ja`far b. Isa and Yunus, and allowed us to enter to meet him, and al-Abbas (another Mawla of al-Ridha) was stood in a corner without footwear and without having worn a cloak, and that was in the year of Abu al-Saraya (i.e. his coming out in revolt). 

He (al-Ridha) saluted us and ordered us to sit, so when we had sat - Ja`far b. Isa said to him: O my master - we complain to Allah and to you in regards what we are in from our companions [the treatment which we receive from them]. He said: and what are you in from them? Ja`far said: they - by Allah - denounce us as heretics, deem us disbelievers, and disassociate from us, so he (i.e. the Imam) said: like this were the companions of Ali b. al-Husayn, Muhammad b. Ali, Ja`far and Musa عليهم السلام, for the companions of Zurara used to consider as disbelievers all the others (apart from themselves), and likewise, the others used to consider them as disbelievers. 

I said to him: O my master - we seek assistance in you from these two old men, Yunus and Hisham, and they are both present, for they are the ones who have trained us and taught us theological disputation, so if we are - O my master - upon guidance, then we have succeeded, and if we are upon misguidance, then these two are the ones who have misguided us, so order us to leave it (i.e. Kalam) and turn to Allah in repentance from it, O my master - call us to the religion of Allah, for we will follow you, so he عليه السلام said: I do not know you except as being upon guidance, may Allah recompense you goodly for the former companionship and for the recent one. [They interpreted the former companionship to mean Ali b. Yaqtin, and the recent one to be our service to him, and Allah knows better].

Then Ja`far said: may I be made your ransom, Salih and Aba al-Asad the son-in-law of Ali b. Yaqtin relate from you that they quoted to you some of our theological arguments - so you said to them both: what is with you and theological disputations [what do you have to do with it?] - it is dragging you to heresy! so he عليه السلام said: I did not say that to them! did I say that?! - by Allah - I did not say that to them! 

Yunus said: may I be made your ransom - they assert that we are heretics, and he was sat beside a man, and he had placed one leg over the other (was seated cross legged), and time after time (every now and then) was rolling his face and his two cheeks upon the interior of his left foot, so he (al-Ridha) said to him: assume that you were indeed a heretic and they say about you - he is a believer - what would that benefit you? and if you were a believer and they said: he is a heretic - what would that harm you? 

al-Mashriqi said to him: by Allah - you do not speak except that which was also spoken by your forefathers. We do have a book, we have called it the ‘comprehensive book’ (Kitab al-Jami), in it is all that which the people have spoken about [what they have disputed with each other in regards theology] on the authority of your forefathers [with the decisive judgment from the `Aimma], and we debate based on it, and Ja`far said to him something similar to this, so he turned to Ja`far and said: if you were not speaking by [in accordance with] the words of my forefathers then with the words of Abi Bakr and Umar do you want to speak!?

NOTES:

Alı b. Yaqtın was a high ranking Shı‘ite official of the early ‘Abbasid administration. Son of a chief organizer of the ‘Abbasid revolution, he was born in 124 in Kufa and appointed in 168 by the caliph Mahdı as his chief of staff and in 169 by the caliph Hadı as the keeper of the caliphal seal. He remained a high ranking official of the ‘Abbasid government for the rest of his life until his death in 182 whereupon the crown prince Muhammad al-Amin led the funeral prayer. He was a loyal follower of, and a fairly prolific transmitter from, Musa al-Kazim, and even secretly acted as his financial agent.

Yaqtin b. Musa (d. 185), his father, was a Persian client of the Banu Asad, his name (meaning pumpkin) must be an Arabicization of Abu Muslim`s appellation for him, yak din ([man of] one religion), designed to attest the sincerity and pure monotheism of a new convert. He was a committed veteran of the ‘Abbasid cause, so much so that his son, ‘Alı, worried that a curse possibly uttered by Ja‘far al-Sadiq upon those who brought the ‘Abbasids to power may fall on Yaqtın and his descendants.

Ali b. Yaqtin was allowed to work for the tyrannical rulers by the Imam, in Taqiyya, so that he could assist the believers and ward of danger from them. The descendants of Ali b. Yaqtin and the wider family became very strong followers of the Imams. They produced prolific narrators, chief among them, Muhammad b. Isa b. Ubayd b. Yaqtin. An even more important honour for the family is that they were the patrons of a great scholar like Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman [the foremost student of Ali b. Yaqtin’s friend Hisham b. al-Hakam].

As al-Najashi says: يونس بن عبد الرحمان، مولى علي بن يقطين بن موسى

What this narration shows is that the Al Yaqtin were firm proponents of Kalam, under the leadership of Hisham b. al-Hakam and Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman. This caused a backlash from the traditionist faction which did not see a need for employing any degree of independent reasoning even to defend the faith. This is why Yunus and Hisham before him came under attack in Qum. They were deemed as outright heretics. Such a narration was used by the Al Yaqtin as a defense for their position and to claim the sanction of the Imam for what they were doing. There is some evidence that the `Aimma had a very tolerant attitude to all factions [apart from the Ghulat], because different people were on different levels of insight. Thus, the Imam points out that this rivalry was common to the Ashab of several Imams including those who supported Zurara’s position on various theological points and those who were against. This reached such a level that they made Takfir against each other!  

Edited April 25, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.33. al-Harith b. al-Mughira

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/al-harith-b-al-mughira

 

[1/140] رجال الكشي: محمد بن قولويه، عن سعد بن عبد الله، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى، عن عبد الله بن محمد الحجال، عن يونس بن يعقوب قال: كنا عند أبي عبد الله عليه السلام فقال: أما لكم من مفزع أما لكم من مستراح تستريحون إليه ما يمنعكم من الحارث بن المغيرة النصري

[1/140] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Qulawayh from Sa`d b. Abdallah from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa from Abdallah b. Muhammad al-Hajjal from Yunus b. Ya`qub who said: we were at Aba Abdillah عليه السلام's place when he عليه السلام said: do you not have a secure shelter? do you not have a comforter that you can seek comfort in? what prevents you from [referring to] al-Harith b. al-Mughira al-Nasri.

NOTES:

al-Harith b. al-Mughira al-Nasri was a narrator from al-Baqir, al-Sadiq and al-Kadhim who has more than 40 narrations in our corpus as it survives today. He was highly esteemed by the Imam as indicated in this authentic narration which points to his lofty status.

It is not surprising therefore to find al-Najashi saying about him <<Thiqatun Thiqa>> which is a doubly strong endorsement of his moral probity.

Edited April 26, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.34. - 2.35. Hariz and Hudhayfa

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/hariz-and-hudhayfa

 

[141/1] رجال الكشي: حمدويه و محمد، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن صفوان، عن عبد الرحمن بن الحجاج قال: سأل أبو العباس فضل البقباق لحريز الإذن على أبي عبد الله عليه السلام فلم يأذن له، فعاوده فلم يأذن له، فقال: أي شي‏ء للرجل أن يبلغ من عقوبة غلامه؟ قال: على قدر ذنوبه، فقال: قد عاقبت و الله حريزا بأعظم مما صنع قال: ويحك إني فعلت؟ ذلك أن حريزا جرد السيف! ثم قال: أما لو كان حذيفة بن منصور ما عاودني فيه بعد أن قلت لا

[1/141] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh and Muhammad [b. Qulawayh] from Muhammad b. Isa from Safwan from Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj who said: Abu al-Abbas Fadhl al-Baqbaq sought permission for Hariz to enter upon [meet] Abi Abdillah عليه السلام but he was refused, he repeated the request a second time and was not given permission, so he [Fadhl] said: what should be the punishment of a man to his slave [who has done wrong]? He [the Imam] said: in proportion to his crime, he said: you have - by Allah - punished Hariz greater than what he did, he said: woe be upon you! am I the one who did that? Hariz unsheathed the sword [took up arms]! Then he said: if it were Hudhayfa b. Mansur he would not have persisted in the request about him after I had already said no [once].    

NOTES:

This narration indicates the superior obedience that Hudhayfa b. Mansur showed to the Imam in comparison with Abu al-Abbas Fadhl al-Baqbaq. It also indicates the displeasure of the Imam towards Hariz. Despite this, all three are Thiqa and excellent narrators of Hadith.

أقول: إن هذه الصحيحة وإن دلت على جرأة الفضل وسوء أدبه بالنسبة إلى الإمام عليه السلام، إلا أنها لا تنافي وثاقته، ولعلها كانت زلة منه فتذكر بعدها

al-Khoei says that it points to the boldness of al-Fadhl in his interaction with the Imam, and perhaps even to his poor character, however it does not negate his Wathaqa, and it is possible that it was a lapse which he regretted and corrected afterwards.

و هذه الرواية و إن كانت صحيحة لأن الظاهر وثاقة محمد بن عيسى إلا أنها لا تنافي وثاقة حريز كما هو ظاهر بل لا تنافي عدالته أيضا، فإن تجريده السيف من دون إذن الإمام(ع)، و إن كان ذنبا كما يظهر من الصحيحة إلا أنه قابل للزوال بالتوبة، و لا شك في أن حريزا ندم على فعله حينما ظهر له عدم رضى الإمام به، فإن الحجب كان وقتيا من جهة تأديب حريز، لئلا يصدر منه مثل ذلك فيما بعد، فإن الحجب لو كان دائميا لشاع و ذاع، مع أنه لم يذكر إلا في هذه الرواية. و يؤيد ذلك أن الإمام(ع)قد أذن لحريز بعد حجبه في الدخول عليه إكثار حريز من الرواية عن الصادق(ع)، و احتمال أن تكون جميع هذه الروايات قد صدرت قبل الحجب بعيد جدا، كما لا يخفى

Al-Khoei further acknowledges the severity of Hariz's action in taking up arms without the permission of the Imam, it was a great sin which led to the Imam banishing him from his presence, but it is nonetheless a sin that can be forgiven through Tawba, and there is no doubt that Hariz regretted what he did when he became aware of the Imam’s displeasure [and this is why he used al-Baqbaq to plead for the Imam to reconsider]. The banishment seems to be temporary and done so as to discipline Hariz, to make sure that he does not repeat the same mistake again. If it were a permanent exile then it would have been widely known which is not the case [it is only mentioned in this one narration]. Another circumstantial piece of evidence that aids this particular interpretation [i.e. the Imam only forbade him to come see him temporarily] is that Hariz is a prolific narrator from al-Sadiq, and the probability that all these narrations were taken from the Imam before his exile is slim.

More information about our three narrators:

Hudhayfa b. Mansur

الخزاعي، أبو محمد، ثقة، روى عن أبي جعفر وأبي عبد الله وأبي الحسن عليهم السلام حذيفة بن منصور بن كثير بن سلمة بن عبد الرحمان

al-Najashi says: Hudhayfa b. Mansur b. Kathir b. Salama b. Abd al-Rahman al-Khuzai, Abu Muhammad, Thiqa, narrated from Abi Ja`far, Abi Abdillah and Abi al-Hasan عليهم السلام

Allamah Hilli in his Khulasa quotes al-Mufid giving him Tawthiq and praising him, this cannot be sourced to al-Mufid in what survives of his works.

حديثه غير نقي، يروي الصحيح والسقيم، وأمره ملتبس، ويخرج شاهدا

Ibn al-Ghadhairi takes a dissenting view when he declares Hudhayfa’s narrations as below par. This is because he apparently narrated both what is authentic and what is not. He does accept his Hadith if it is corroborated by another.

al-Fadhl b. Abd al-Malik 

الفضل بن عبد الملك أبو العباس البقباق، مولى، كوفي، ثقة، عين، روى عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام

al-Najashi says: al-Fadhl b. Abd al-Malik Abu al-Abbas al-Baqbaq, client, Kufan, Thiqa, eminent, he narrated from Abi Abdillah عليه السلام

It seems that this Tawthiq goes all the way back to Sa`d b. Abdallah [in his Fihrist], this is because al-Barqi says:

وفي كتاب سعد: له كتاب، ثقة

And in the book of Sa`d: he [Fadhl] has a book, Thiqa.

Hariz b. Abdallah

al-Najashi says about this Hariz:

حريز بن عبد الله السجستاني، أبو محمد الأزدي، من أهل الكوفة، أكثر السفر والتجارة، إلى سجستان، فعرف بها، وكانت تجارته في السمن والزيت، قيل روى عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام، وقال يونس: لم يسمع من أبي عبد الله إلا حديثين، وقيل روى عن أبي الحسن موسى عليه السلام ولم يثبت ذاك، وكان ممن شهر السيف في قتال الخوارج بسجستان، في حياة أبي عبد الله  عليه السلام، وروي أنه جفاه، وحجبه عنه

Hariz b. Abdallah al-Sijistani, Abu Muhammad al-Azdi, from among the residents of Kufa, he travelled a lot to make business in Sijistan so he became known for it [i.e. his Nisba]. His business was in butter fat and olive. It is said that he narrated from Abi Abdillah عليه السلام. Yunus said: he [Hariz] did not hear from Abi Abdillah عليه السلام except for two narrations. It is also said that he narrated from Abi al-Hasan Musa عليه السلام  but that is not proven. He was among those who unsheathed the sword in fighting the Khawarij in Sijistan in the lifetime of Abi Abdillah عليه السلام, and it is narrated that he was shunned by the Imam and blocked from access to him [as a result].

It is clear that al-Najashi who had the book of al-Kashshi is basing his biographical information about his millitary activity and the Imam’s subsequent displeasure at him from it.

al-Tusi gives him an outright Tawthiq in his Fihrist.

Hariz authored arguably the most important book on Salat in the Madhhab. Hammad b. Isa al-Juhni transmits this Kitab al-Salat, which mostly contains narrations from his principal source who is Zurara. Its importance can be seen from the fact that al-Saduq includes it in his preface to al-Faqih among the dependable books which are referred to (عليها الكتب المعتمدة المعول). He was such a prolific narrator that he occurs in the chains of more than 1300 Hadith as we have them in our books today.

To know Hariz’s status in Fiqh one only needs to know that a scholar like Yunus considered him his teacher and asked him questions on it to which Hariz replied directly in the first person.

What to make of al-Najashi quoting Yunus saying that he heard only two narrations from al-Sadiq?

It would seem that this piece of information is something else that is taken from a narration in al-Kashshi

محمد بن مسعود، قال: حدثني محمد بن نصير، قال حدثني محمد بن عيسى، عن يونس قال: لم يسمع حريز بن عبد الله من أبي عبد الله (عليه السلام)، إلا حديثا أو حديثين

Muhammad b. Masud from Muhammad b. Nusayr from Muhammad b. Isa from Yunus who said: Hariz b. Abdallah did not hear from Abi Abdillah عليه السلام except one or two narrations.

The problem with this is that as we have seen in the narration under discussion, Hariz definitely used to enter and meet al-Sadiq before he was disallowed.

ولكن هذه الرواية لا يمكن تصديقها، بعدما ثبت بطرق صحيحة، روايات كثيرة تبلغ (215) موردا كما يأتي عن حريز عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام

As al-Khoei says: this narration cannot be believed because of the presence of more than 215 authentic narrations wherein Hariz is narrating directly from Abi Abdillah عليه السلام

وقال المفيد في الإختصاص: إن سبب قتل حريز أنه كان له أصحاب يقولون بمقالته، وكان الغالب على سجستان الشراة، وكان أصحاب حريز يسمعون منهم ثلب أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام وسبه، فيخبرون حريزا ويستأمرونه في قتل من يسمعون منه ذلك، فأذن لهم، فلا يزال الشراة يجدون منهم القتيل بعد القتيل، فلا يتوهمون على الشيعة، لقلة عددهم، ويطالبون المرجئة، ويقاتلونهم، وما زال الأمر هكذا حتى وقفوا على الأمر، فطلبوا الشيعة، فاجتمع أصحاب حريز إليه في المسجد، فعرقبوا عليهم المسجد وقلبوا أرضه عليهم، رحمه الله

Al-Mufid says in al-Ikhtisas: the reason for Hariz’s death is that he had companions who followed him in matters of religion in Sijistan which had a majority of Khawarij. The companions of Hariz used to hear them disparaging the commander of the faithfulعليه السلام  and abusing him, they would come to Hariz and ask him to permit them to kill anyone they hear speaking thusly and he permitted them. Then the Khawarij began to see their fellows being [secretly] killed day after day, but they did not think even for a moment that it could be the Shia, because of how few they were, instead they sought retribution with the Murjia and bagan killing then in revenge, this continued until they became aware of the reality, so they targetted the Shia, and the companions of Hariz sought refuge together with him in the mosque, but they brought down the mosque over their heads and buried them under the rubble - may Allah have mercy on him.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.36. Hasan al-Muthalath

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/hasan-al-muthalath

 

[-/1] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن يونس، عن ابن مسكان، عن سليمان بن خالد قال: لقيت الحسن بن الحسن فقال: أما لنا حق؟ أما لنا حرمة؟ إذ اخترتم منا رجلا واحدا كفاكم! فلم يكن له عندي جواب، فلقيت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام فأخبرته بما كان من قوله لي، فقال لي: القه فقل له: أتيناكم فقلنا هل عندكم ما ليس عند غيركم؟ فقلتم: لا، فصدقناكم و كنتم أهل ذلك، و آتينا بني عمكم فقلنا: هل عندكم ما ليس عند الناس؟ فقالوا: نعم، فصدقناهم و كانوا أهل ذلك، قال: فلقيته فقلت له ما قال لي، فقال لي الحسن: فإن عندنا ما ليس عند الناس، فلم يكن عندي شي‏ء، فأتيت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام فأخبرته، فقال لي القه و قل: إن الله عز وجل يقول في كتابه ائْتُونِي بِكِتابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ هذا أَوْ أَثارَةٍ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صادِقِينَ، فاقعدوا لنا حتى نسألكم قال: فلقيته فحاججته بذلك، فقال لي: أفما عندكم شي‏ء ألا تعيبونا، إن كان فلان تفرغ و شغلنا فذاك الذي يذهب بحقنا

[1/-] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Muhammad b. Isa from Yunus from Ibn Muskan from Sulayman b. Khalid who said: I met al-Hasan b. al-Hasan - he said: do we not have a right? do we not have a sanctity? if you were to select from among us [the Ahlulbayt as a whole] a single man he would have been sufficient for you [as an Imam]! I (Sulayman) did not have an answer for him, so I met Aba Abdillah عليه السلام and informed him of his words to me, he [the Imam] said to me: meet him and say to him - we came to you and said: do you have what the rest of the people do not have [do you have anything exclusive over the rest]? so you said: no, we considered you truthful [in your answer] and you became deserving of that [i.e. of nothing], then we came to the sons of your uncle [the descendants of al-Husayn] and said: do you have what the rest of the people do not have? so they said: yes, we considered them truthful and they became deserving of that [the Imama], he (Sulayman) said: so I met him and said to him what he (al-Sadiq) had said to me [to say to him], al-Hasan said to me: but we do have what the people do not have, I did not have anything [to reply to him], so I came to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام and reported to him [what had happened] -  he said: meet him and say: Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - says in his book: “provide me with a book (scripture) before this one - or traces of knowledge - if you be truthful” (46:4), so sit down for us [become accessible to us] so that we can ask you [all the questions we have], he (Sulayman) said: I met him and argued against him using that - so he said to me: do you not have anything [to do] other than to humiliate us?!, if so and so [meaning Ja`far] chose to be free [unoccupied by Jihad - and devoted to scholarship] while we are engaged [in revolt - and therefore inept at scholarship] - then that is what takes away our right!

NOTES:

Hasan al-Muthalath is al-Hasan b. al-Hasan b. al-Hasan b. Ali b. Abi Talib. His father was al-Hasan al-Muthanna and his mother was Fatima bt. al-Husayn b. Ali b. Abi Talib.

The Hasanid branch was more inclined to seek authority and redress the injustices committed by the Abbasids through force, which contrasted greatly with the quietism adopted by the Imams from the Husaynid branch. This led to a rivalry between them as seen from the at times strained relations that al-Baqir and al-Sadiq had with al-Hasan al-Muthalath (mentioned in this Hadith) and more particularly with his brother Abdallah b. al-Hasan who had propagated his son Muhammad b. Abdallah Nafs al-Zakiyya as the Mahdi. The Zaydi conception of the Imamate, underpinned as it is only by the requirement for one to be a lineal descendant of Ali and rise with the sword against the illegal authorities (without making any claims to exclusive knowledge or testamentary succession) was greatly influenced by such popular and ultimately failed uprisings. Al-Hasan acknowledges al-Sadiq’s superiority in Ilm but explains it as caused by him sitting at home while they were kept busy by the struggle. al-Hasan himself would die in the Iraqi prison of al-Mahdi (the second Abbasid caliph) together with a lot of other Talibids in 145 AH because of his activities, the same fate would await a lot of the Hasanis of the time.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.37. - 2.38. Abu Ali b. Rashid and Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/abu-ali-b-rashid-and-ali-b-al-husayn-b-abd-rabbi

 

[1/142] غيبة الطوسي: ابن أبي جيد، عن محمد بن الحسن بن الوليد، عن الصفار، عن محمد بن عيسى قال: كتب أبوالحسن العسكري عليه السلام إلى الموالي ببغداد والمدائن والسواد وما يليها: قد أقمت أبا علي بن راشد مقام علي بن الحسين بن عبد ربه ومن قبله من وكلائي، وقد أوجبت في طاعته طاعتي، وفي عصيانه الخروج إلى عصياني، وكتبت بخطي

[1/142] Ghayba of al-Tusi: Ibn Abi Jayyid from Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. al-Walid from al-Saffar from Muhammad b. Isa who said: Abu al-Hasan al-Askari عليه السلام wrote to his followers in Baghdad, Madain, the Sawad [Kufa], and surrounding areas [the following]: I have appointed Aba Ali b. Rashid to the position which was formerly occupied by Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi and those who preceded him from among my agents. I have made obedience to him to be obedience to me and opposition to him to be opposition to me. I have written this letter in my own hand.

 

[2/143] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود، عن محمد بن نصير، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى قال: نسخت الكتاب مع ابن راشد إلى جماعة الموالي الذين هم ببغداد المقيمين بها و المداين و السواد و ما يليها أحمد الله إليكم ما أنا عليه من عافيته و حسن عادته، و أصلي على نبيه و آله أفضل صلواته و أكمل رحمته و رأفته، و إني أقمت أبا علي بن راشد مقام علي بن الحسين بن عبد ربه و من كان قبله من وكلائي، و صار في منزلته عندي، و وليته ما كان يتولاه غيره من وكلائي قبلكم، ليقبض حقي، و ارتضيته لكم و قدمته على غيره في ذلك، و هو أهله و موضعه، فصيروا رحمكم الله إلى الدفع إليه ذلك و إلي، و أن لا تجعلوا له على أنفسكم علة، فعليكم بالخروج عن ذلك و التسرع إلى طاعة الله و تحليل أموالكم و الحقن لدمائكم، وَ تَعاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَ التَّقْوى، وَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ، وَ اعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً، وَ لا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَ أَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ، فقد أوجبت في طاعته طاعتي و الخروج إلى عصيانه الخروج إلى عصياني، فألزموا الطريق يأجركم الله و يزيدكم من فضله، فإن الله بما عنده واسع كريم، متطول على عباده، رحيم، نحن و أنتم في وديعة الله و حفظه، و كتبته بخطي، و الحمد لله كثيرا

[2/143] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud from Muhammad b. Nusayr from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa who said: I made a copy of the letter [from the Imam] in the possession of Ibn Rashid to the group of followers who reside in Baghdad, Madain, the Sawad [Kufa], and surrounding areas: I praise Allah to you because of what I am in of good health granted by Him and His fair dealing with me. I invoke blessings upon His prophet and his family, the best of His blessings and most complete of His mercy and affection. I have appointed Aba Ali b. Rashid to take the place of Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi and whoever came before him from among my agents. He (Abu Ali) has attained the same status the latter had with me. I give him authority over all that which the other agents had authority over among you so that he can collect my dues. I have chosen him for you and have given him precedence over others in this regard because he is the most suited and deserving of that. So fall in line - may Allah have mercy on you - in handing that over to him and to me, and do not give him any reason to fault you over, for it is incumbent upon you to avoid that, and to hasten to the obedience of Allah, and to legitimize your wealth and preserve your blood - “and assist each other in righteousness and piety (5:2), and fear Allah so that you may be mercied (49:10), and hold onto the rope of Allah all together (3:103), and do not die except as Muslims (3:102)”. I have equated obedience to him with my obedience and embarking upon disobedience to him with embarking upon my disobedience. So stick steadfastly to the path and Allah will reward you and increase you from his own grace, for Allah is expansive and generous with what He has, bountiful to his servants, merciful. You and us are in the safe-guard of Allah and His protection. It is my own handwriting, and I praise Allah effusively.

NOTES:

It seems that this is one letter which has been truncated by al-Tusi in his Ghayba and given in a more complete form by al-Kashshi. The historical document sheds light on the financial network of the later Imams which had evolved considerably from earlier times. It serves the purpose of introducing a new agent (Abu Ali b. Rashid) to the Shia of Baghdad, Madain, Sawad and surrounding environs as a replacement for the former agent (Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi). This would mean that the Imam had one man at the top of a pyramid-like structure overseeing the affairs of what may be called the Iraq sector. Undoubtedly, another individual would be ultimately responsible for the vast Iran sector including greater Khorasan.

Who was Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi?

Both al-Barqi and al-Tusi count Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi among the companions of al-Hadi. He was an agent (Wakil) of Abi al-Hasan al-Askari [i.e. al-Hadi] as the two narrations above show. The status of Ali b. al-Husayn must have been very high for the Imam to have such confidence about him i.e. obedience to him was to be absolute.

Al-Kashshi includes two reports which shed light on the circumstances around his death.

حمدويه، عن محمّد بن عيسى، عنه قال: سألته أن ينسأ في أجلي، فقال: أو تلقى ربّك ليغفر لك خير لك فحدّث بذلك عليّ بن الحسين إخوانه بمكّة، ثمّ مات بالخزيميّة في المنصرف في سنته، و هذا في سنة تسع و عشرين و مائتين رحمه اللّه فقال: و قد نعي إليّ نفسي كان وكيل الرجل قبل أبي عليّ بن راشد

Hamduwayh - Muhammad b. Isa - [Ali b. al-Husayn] who said: I asked him to put-off my death, he said: ‘that you meet your Lord so that he can forgive you is better for you’. Ali b. al-Husayn narrated this [conversation] to his brothers in Makka and went on to die in Khuzaymiyya when departing from the Hajj in the same year, that was the year two hundred and ninety nine, may Allah have mercy on him. And he had said [when the Imam had answered him in this way]: he has foretold my death for me! He was the agent of the man before Abi Ali b. Rashid.   

محمد بن مسعود، قال: حدثنا محمد بن نصير، قال: حدثنا أحمد بن محمد ابن عيسى، قال: كتب إليه علي بن الحسين بن عبد ربه يسأله الدعاء في زيادة عمره حتى يرى ما يحب، فكتب إليه في جوابه: تصير إلى رحمة الله خير لك، فتوفي الرجل بالخزيمية

Muhammad b. Masud - Muhammad b. Nusayr - Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa who said: Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi wrote to him asking him [the Imam] to supplicate for him to have a longer life until he can see what he loves, so he wrote to him in answer: that you depart to the mercy of Allah is better for you, then the man died in Khuzaymiyya. 

Who was Abu Ali b. Rashid?

Abu Ali al-Hasan b. Rashid, was the Wakil of the Imam who took the position of Ali b. al-Husayn after the latter’s death. He is counted among the companions of both al-Jawad and al-Hadi. al-Tusi gives him an outright Tawthiq in his Rijal. And why wouldn’t he be trustworthy when the Imam has just described in such glowing terms in his letter of introduction to the Shia.

وجدت بخط جبرئيل بن أحمد حدثني محمد بن عيسى اليقطيني قال: كتب عليه السلام إلى علي بن بلال في سنة اثنتين وثلاثين ومائتين: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم أحمد الله إليك وأشكر طوله وعوده، واصلي على محمد النبي وآله صلوات الله ورحمته عليهم، ثم إني أقمت أبا علي مقام حسين بن عبدربه فائتمنته على ذلك بالمعرفة بما عنده الذي لا يقدمه أحد وقد أعلم أنك شيخ ناحيتك فأحببت إفرادك وإكرامك بالكتاب بذلك فعليك بالطاعة له، والتسليم إليه جميع الحق قبلك، وأن تحض موالي على ذلك وتعرفهم من ذلك ما يصير سببا إلى عونه وكفايته، فذلك توفير علينا، ومحبوب لدينا، ولك به جزاء من الله وأجر، فان الله يعطي من يشاء أفضل الاعطآء والجزاء برحمته، أنت في وديعة الله، وكتبت بخطي وأحمد الله كثيرا

Jibrail b. Ahmad - Muhammad b. Isa al-Yaqtini who said: He عليه السلام wrote to Ali b. Bilal in the year two hundred and thirty two [the following]: in the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. I praise Allah to you and thank Him for His bounty and favour. I invoke blessings upon Muhammad the prophet and his family, the blessings of Allah and His mercy be upon them. I have appointed Aba Ali in the place of Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi and have entrusted this [position] to him being aware of what he has [of merit] in which no one precedes him. I know that you are the chief of your locality [also appointed by the Imam] so I wished to single you out and distinguish you by sending you a personal letter on the matter. Therefore, upon you is obedience to him, and to submit to him all the dues that you have with you, and to encourage my followers to do this and create awareness among them such that it becomes a cause for support and aid to him. That will be a provision for us and is beloved to us, and for you will be a goodly recompense from Allah and a reward, for Allah does give to the one He likes the best of recompenses and rewards by His mercy. You are in the safe-guard of Allah. I have written it by me own hand and I praise Allah effusively.    

This letter was written in 232 and Ali died in 299, an incongruity which needs to be explained. It could be that the position was unfilled for the intervening period, or that the letter was written at least a year after Abu Ali's appointment.

حدثني محمد بن قولويه، قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله، قال: حدثنا أحمد ابن هلال، عن محمد بن الفرج، قال: كتبت إلى أبي الحسن عليه السلام أسأله عن أبي علي بن راشد، وعن عيسى بن جعفر بن عاصم، وابن بند؟ فكتب إلي: ذكرت ابن راشد رحمه الله، فإنه عاش سعيدا ومات شهيدا ودعا لابن بند، والعاصمي، وابن بند ضرب بالعمود حتى قتل، وابن جعفر ضرب ثلاثمائة سوط ورمي به في دجلة

Muhammad b. Qulawayh - Sa`d b. Abdallah - Ahmad b. Hilal - Muhammad b. al-Farj who said: I wrote to Abi al-Hasan عليه السلام asking him about Abi Ali b. Rashid, Isa b. Ja`far b. Asim and Ibn Band, so he wrote to me: you have mentioned Ibn Rashid - may Allah have mercy on him - for he lived virtuously and died a martyr, and he supplicated for Ibn Band and al-Asimi. Ibn Band was killed by being hit by rods until he died, and Ibn Ja`far was whipped three hundred strokes and thrown into the Tigris.      

This establishes that Abu Ali b. Rashid was martyred in the lifetime of Imam al-Hadi (because of his job for the Imam?) and did not continue his work into the Imama of al-Askari.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[salman1]

Salam,

 

This is great! Thank you!

 

salman

[Islamic Salvation]

2.39. - 2.40. al-Hasan and al-Husayn the two sons of Zurara

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/al-hasan-and-al-husayn-the-two-sons-of-zurara

 

[1/144] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن محمد بن عيسى بن عبيد، عن يونس بن عبد الرحمن، عن عبد الله بن زرارة قال: قال لي أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: اقرأ مني على والدك السلام و قل له: ... و لقد أدى إلي ابناك الحسن و الحسين رسالتك، حاطهما الله و كلأهما و رعاهما و حفظهما بصلاح أبيهما كما حفظ الغلامين ...

[1/144] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from Muhammad b. Isa b. Ubayd from Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman from Abdallah b. Zurara who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to me: convey my salutations to your father and say to him: … and your two sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn brought me your letter, may Allah guard, defend, watch over and protect them because of the goodness of their father, the way He had protected the two boys (the orphans in Surat al-Kahf).

[Islamic Salvation]

2.41. al-Husayn b. Qayama

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/al-husayn-b-qayama

 

[1/145] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن الحسن بن موسى، عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي نجران، عن الحسين بن بشار قال: استأذنت أنا و الحسين بن قياما على الرضا عليه السلام في صريا فأذن لنا قال: افرغوا من حاجتكم قال له الحسين: تخلو الأرض من أن يكون فيها إمام؟ فقال: لا، قال: فيكون فيها اثنان قال: لا إلا واحد صامت لا يتكلم، قال: فقد علمت أنك لست بإمام! قال: و من أين علمت؟ قال: إنه ليس لك ولد و إنما هي في العقب، فقال له: فو الله أنه لا تمضي الأيام و الليالي حتى يولد لي ذكر من صلبي يقوم بمثل مقامي، يحيي الحق و يمحي الباطل

[1/145] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from al-Hasan b. Musa from Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Najran from al-Husayn b. Bashir who said: I sought permission for myself and al-Husayn b. Qayama to meet al-Ridha عليه السلام in Surya, he granted it and said: finish all your needs [ask all your questions]. al-Husayn (b. Qayama) said to him: is the earth ever devoid of an Imam? He عليه السلام said: no, he (al-Husayn) said: does it ever happen that there are two Imams (together)? He عليه السلام said: no, except if one is silent and not talking, he (al-Husayn) said: I have come to know that you are not an Imam! He عليه السلام said: and how did you come to know that? he (al-Husayn) said: you do not have a son and it [Imama] is through posterity [lineal descendants], so he عليه السلام said: by Allah, the days and the nights will not pass except a son will be born to me from my loins who will assume the position I have, he will enliven the truth and efface the falsehood.

NOTES:

al-Husayn b. Qayama was a Waqifi who did not believe in the Imama of al-Ridha. One of the arguments of the Waqifa against al-Ridha was his lack of male descendants as he had not got a son for a very long time. Finally the prediction of the Imam came true and al-Jawad was born to him late in life.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.43. al-Hakam b. Utayba

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/al-hakam-b-utayba

 

 [1/147] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود، عن علي بن الحسن بن فضال، عن العباس بن عامر و جعفر بن محمد بن حكيم، عن أبان بن عثمان، عن أبي بصير قال: سألت أبا جعفر عليه السلام عن شهادة ولد الزنا أ تجوز؟ قال: لا، فقلت: إن الحكم بن عتيبة يزعم أنها تجوز، فقال: اللهم لا تغفر ذنبه، ما قال الله للحكم إِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَكَ وَ لِقَوْمِكَ، فليذهب الحكم يمينا و شمالا فو الله لا يوجد العلم إلا في أهل بيت نزل عليهم جبريل عليه السلام

[1/147] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud from Ali b. al-Hasan b. Fadhal from al-Abbas b. A`mir and Ja`far b. Muhammad b. Hukaym from Aban b. Uthman from Abi Basir who said: I asked Aba Ja’far عليه السلام about the Shahada (giving witness) of a Walad Zina (child born out of Nikah) - is it permissible? he عليه السلام said: No. I said: al-Hakam b. Utayba holds it to be permissible, so he عليه السلام said: O Allah - do not forgive his sin! Allah was not addressing al-Hakam when He said: ‘it is a reminder unto you and your Qawm (relations)’ (43:44). al-Hakam can go to the right and to the left, for by Allah he will not find true knowledge except with the Ahl al-Bayt upon whom Jibril عليه السلام descended.

NOTES:

The Imam has a novel interpretation of ‘your Qawm’ in the verse. They are the Ahl al-Bayt who alone have kinship ties to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم

al-Hakam was one of the scholars within the Butriyya movement. He considered ʿAlī to be more virtuous (afḍal) than Abū Bakr and ʿUmar; but found every form of what he considered Shīʿite “extremism” to be disagreeable. If he was particularly noticed by the Imāmite tradition, this was probably because Zurāra b. Aʿyan, the most prominent early Imami, had studied with him.

The Butriyya limited themselves to political Shi’ism. While it is true that they considered the Ahl al-Bayt to be worthy of leadership of the Umma, they did not see them as the sole arbiters whose interpretation of the Shari`a should be taken as final. They set themselves up as independent authorities and in this way misguided the masses. An example of this can be seen in this narration wherein the Imam repudiates the Fatwa of al-Hakam about the Shahada of a Walad al-Zina being admissible in the court of law. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.44. Hammad b. Isa

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/hammad-b-isa

 

[1/148] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن العبيدي، عن حماد بن عيسى قال: دخلت على أبي الحسن الأول عليه السلام فقلت له: جعلت فداك ادع الله لي أن يرزقني دارا و زوجة و ولدا و خادما و الحج في كل سنة فقال: اللهم صل على محمد و آل محمد و ارزقه دارا و زوجة و ولدا و خادما و الحج خمسين سنة، قال حماد: فلما اشترط خمسين سنة علمت أني لا أحج أكثر من خمسين سنة، قال حماد: و حججت ثمانيا و أربعين سنة و هذه داري قد رزقتها و هذه زوجتي وراء الستر تسمع كلامي و هذا ابني و هذا خادمي قد رزقت كل ذلك ...

[1/148] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from al-Ubaydi from Hammad b. Isa who said: I entered upon Abi al-Hasan the First عليه السلام and said to him - may I be made your ransom, supplicate to Allah for me that he grants me a house, a wife, a son, a servant, and the ability to perform Hajj every year. He عليه السلام said: O Allah bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and grant him a house, a wife, a son, a servant, and the ability to perform Hajj for fifty years. Hammad said: so when he limited it to fifty years I knew that I will not perform the Hajj exceeding fifty. Hammad also said: I have gone to Hajj for forty eight years, and this is my house which I have been granted, and this is my wife behind the veil hearing my voice, and this is my son, and this is my servant, I have been granted all that …

NOTES:

Hammad b. Isa al-Juhni was a resident of Basra. He was very young when he met al-Sadiq for the first time. He is quoted as confirming having correctly memorized only about 20 narrations from al-Sadiq. Among these is the famous and widely transmitted narration wherein al-Sadiq teaches him how to pray. He died in the lifetime of al-Jawad in a flood which occurred close to Madina when he was going to the Hajj in the year 209.

He was a very prolific narrator of Hadith [graded Thiqa by both al-Najashi and al-Tusi] occurring in the Asanid of about 1036 narrations found in our books [Ref. to Mu`jam al-Ahadith of al-Khoei]. In most of these he is narrating from Hariz who is narrating from Zurara [this is a particularly important chain because it has preserved a lot of Zurara’s narrations from the two Imams about Salat and other important Fiqhi Masail].

Edited May 16, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.45. Humran b. A`yan

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/humran-b-ayan

 

[-/1] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن ابن أذينة، عن زرارة قال: قدمت المدينة و أنا شاب أمرد فدخلت سرادقا لأبي جعفر عليه السلام بمنى، فرأيت قوما جلوسا في الفسطاط و صدر المجلس ليس فيه أحد، و رأيت رجلا جالسا ناحية يحتجم، فعرفت برأيي أنه أبو جعفر عليه السلام فقصدت نحوه فسلمت عليه، فرد السلام علي، فجلست بين يديه و الحجام خلفه فقال: أمن بني أعين أنت فقلت: نعم أنا زرارة بن أعين، فقال: إنما عرفتك بالشبه، أحج حمران؟ قلت: لا و هو يقرئك السلام، فقال: إنه من المؤمنين حقا لا يرجع أبدا، إذا لقيته فأقرئه مني السلام و قل له لم حدثت الحكم بن عتيبة عني أن الأوصياء محدثون لا تحدثه و أشباهه بمثل هذا الحديث فقال زرارة: فحمدت الله تعالى و أثنيت عليه فقلت الحمد لله، فقال هو الحمد لله، ثم قلت أحمده و أستعينه، فقال هو أحمده و أستعينه، فكنت كلما ذكرت الله في كلام ذكره كما أذكره حتى فرغت من كلامي

[1/-] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from Muhammad b. Isa from Ibn Abi Umayr from Ibn Udhayna from Zurara who said: I journeyed to Madina when I was a young man and entered a pavilion of Abi Ja`far عليه السلام in Mina. I saw a group sitting in the tent and no one was at the front of the gathering. I saw a man seated at the back being cupped. I felt that it was Abu Ja`far عليه السلام came near and greeted him, he replied the greeting. I sat in front of him while the cupper was behind him. He said: are you from the children of A`yan? I said: yes, I am Zurara b. A`yan, he said: I recognized you because of your familiar looks, did Humran make the Hajj? I said: no, but he sends you greetings, he عليه السلام said: he is truly a believer who will never turn back, if you meet him convey my greetings to him and say to him: why did you narrate to al-Hakam b. Utayba my saying that the Awsiya are Muhadath [spoken to by angels], do not narrate such narrations to him and his fellows. Zurara said: then I praised Allah the Exalted and extolled Him by saying: “All praise belongs to Allah” he also said: “All praise belongs to Allah” then I said: “I praise Him and seek His aid” he in turn said: “I praise Him and seek His aid”. Whenever I would mention Allah in my talk he would also mention Him in the same way I did until I finished my conversation.

NOTES:

The Imam confirms the status of Humran as a believer and declares that he will never turn back from that. The Banu A`yan were formerly associated with the pseudo-Sunni scholar al-Hakam b. Utayba. The Imam asks Humran not to narrate to him the narrations which are reserved only for those whom he took as his Shia. We also see the Imam practicing a Sunna by echoing the praise to Allah in the same manner as he hears it - a way of affirming what has been said.

 

[2/149] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود، عن علي بن حسن، عن العباس بن عامر، عن أبان، عن الحارث قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: إن حمران كان يقول: نمد الحبل من جاوزه من علوي و غيره برئنا منه

[2/149] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud from Ali b. Hasan from al-Abbas b. A`mir from Aban from al-Harith who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام saying: Humran used to say: we stretch out a rope [as our marker] then we disassociate from whoever over-steps it - whether he be an Alawi or otherwise.

NOTES:

Note that the Imam is quoting a statement of Humran. This confirms his exalted status in so far as the Imam saw merit in what he had said. What Humran wishes to convey by this is that: it is the Shia who are the possessors of the standard by which to judge what is correct and what is not. They possess the criterion to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Whenever a claimant makes any claim, be he an Alawi [from which many pretenders arose making use of their lofty genealogy to corrupt others] or otherwise makes no difference in this regard. Whoever exceeds the bounds is to be disassociated from.

 

[3/150] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن هشام بن الحكم، عن حجر بن زائدة، عن حمران بن أعين قال: قلت لأبي جعفر عليه السلام: إني أعطيت الله عهدا لا أخرج من المدينة حتى تخبرني عما أسألك قال: فقال لي: سل قال: قلت: أمن شيعتكم أنا؟ قال: نعم في الدنيا و الآخرة

[3/150] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Muhammad b. Isa from Ibn Abi Umayr from Hisham b. al-Hakam from Hujr b. Zaida from Humran b. A`yan who said: I said to Abi Ja`far عليه السلام: I have made an oath to Allah that I will not depart from Madina until you inform me the answer to what I ask. He said to me: ask. I said: am I of your Shia? He said: yes, in this world and the next.

 

Who was Humran b. A`yan?

Humran b. A`yan had met al-Sajjad and was one of the earliest companions of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq. He was the first of the famous Banu A`yan to turn to the `Aimma after having formerly associated with al-Hakam b. Utayba.

محمّد بن مسعود، عن محمّد بن نصير، عن العبيدي و عن حمدويه، عنه، عن الحسن بن عليّ بن يقطين قال: حدّثني المشايخ أنّ حمران و زرارة و عبد الملك و بكيرا و عبد الرحمان بني أعين كانوا مستقيمين، و مات منهم أربعة في زمان أبي عبد اللّه عليه السّلام و كانوا من أصحاب أبي جعفر عليه السّلام و بقي زرارة إلى عهد أبي الحسن عليه السّلام فلقي ما لقي

Muhammad b. Mas`ud – Muhammad b. Nusayr – al-Ubaydi; Hamduwayh – al-Uabydi; al-Hasan b. Ali b. Yaqtin said: the Mashayikh narrated to me that Humran, Zurara, Abd al-Malik, Bukayr and Abd al-Rahman - the sons of A`yan - were all steadfast [on the correct Madhhab]. Four of them died in the lifetime of Abi Abdillah عليه السّلام  but they were the companions of Abi Ja`far عليه السّلام before that. Only Zurara remained to the time of Abi al-Hasan عليه السّلام and faced what he faced..

To know his exalted status just consider the narration below [which is backed up by other narrations despite it weak chain]

و عن العيّاشي، عن عليّ بن محمّد، عن محمّد بن أحمد، عن محمّد بن موسى الهمداني، عن منصور بن العبّاس، عن متروك بن عبيد، عمّن رواه، عن زيد الشحّام، قال: قال لي أبو عبد اللّه عليه السّلام ما وجدت أحدا أخذ بقولي و أطاع أمري و حذا حذو أصحاب أبي غير رجلين: عبد اللّه بن أبي يعفور و حمران بن أعين. أما أنّهما مؤمنان خالصان من شيعتنا أسماؤهم عندنا في كتاب أصحاب اليمين الذي أعطى اللّه محمّدا صلّى اللّه عليه و آله

Al-Ayyashi – Ali b. Muhammad – Muhammad b. Ahmad – Muhammad b. Musa al-Hamdani – Mansur b. al-Abbas – Matruk b. Ubayd – from the one who he narrated from – Zayd al-Shahham - Abu Abdillah عليه السّلام said: I have not found anyone who takes my word and obeys my commands and walks in the footsteps of the companions of my father except two men: Abdallah b. Abi Ya`fur and Humran b. A`yan. Verily they are two sincere believers among my Shia, their names are with us in the book of the people of the right which Allah had given to Muhammad.

He is considered among the Tabi`in and was an all-round complete scholar being a specialist both in the Qur`an and the Hadith among other sciences. 

As his descendant Abu Ghalib al-Zurari says in a letter:

قال أبو غالب في رسالته: لقي سيّدنا سيّد العابدين عليّ بن الحسين عليه السّلام و كان من أكبر مشايخ الشيعة المفضّلين الذين لا يشكّ فيهم، و كان أحد حملة القرآن و من يعد و يذكر اسمه في كتب القراء، و روي أنه قرأ على أبي جعفر محمّد بن عليّ عليهما السّلام و كان مع ذلك عالما بالنحو و اللغة

He met our master and the master of the worshipers Ali b. al-Husayn عليه السّلام. He was the foremost among the merituous teachers of the Shia about whom there is no doubt. He was one of the bearers of the Qur`an and among those who are enumerated and mentioned in the books of Qira`a. It is narrated that he recited the Qur`an to Abi Ja`far b. Muhammad b. Ali عليهما السّلام [as a student of his]. He was also apart from that a scholar of grammar and language. 

This is borne out because he features in the chain of the Qira`a known as Khalaf an Hamza or Khallad an Hamza. Some scholars have argued that this would be the closest Qira’a to us because of the presence of numerous Kufan narrators with Shi`i leanings in them apart from Humran. Humran is featured as having got this recitation from al-Baqir > al-Sajjad > al-Husayn > Ali.

His ability in grammar can be seen in the following narration

العيّاشي، عن عليّ بن محمّد بن يزيد القمّي، عن محمّد بن أحمد بن يحيى، عن إبراهيم بن هاشم، عن محمّد بن حمّاد، عن الحسن بن إبراهيم، عن يونس بن عبد الرحمان، عن يونس بن يعقوب، عن هشام بن سالم قال: كنّا عند أبي عبد اللّه عليه السّلام جماعة من أصحابه، فورد رجل من أهل الشام، فاستأذن فاذن له فلمّا دخل سلّم، فأمره أبو عبد اللّه عليه السّلام بالجلوس، ثمّ قال له: حاجتك أيّها الرجل؟ قال: بلغني أنّك عالم بكلّ ما تسأل عنه فصرت إليك لأناظرك، فقال أبو عبد اللّه عليه السّلام: في ماذا؟ قال: في القرآن و قطعه و إسكانه و خفضه و نصبه و رفعه، فقال أبو عبد اللّه عليه السّلام: يا حمران دونك الرجل! فقال الرجل: إنّما اريدك أنت لا حمران! فقال أبو عبد اللّه عليه السّلام: إن غلبت حمران فقد غلبتني فأقبل الشامي يسأل حمران حتّى ضجر و ملّ و عرض و حمران يجيبه! فقال: كيف رأيت يا شامي؟ قال: رأيت حاذقا ما سألته عن شي‏ء إلّا أجابني فيه

al-Ayyashi – Ali b. Muhammad b. Yazid al-Qummi – Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Yahya – Ibrahim b. Hashim – Muhammad b. Hammad – al-Hasan b. Ibrahim – Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman – Yunus b. Ya`qub – Hisham b. Salim who said: a group of Abi Abdillah’s عليه السّلام companions were with him when a man from Syria  came and sought permission to enter which was given, when inside he greeted and Abu Abdillah عليه السّلام asked him to be seated. Then he said: what have you come for O man? He said: I have been informed that you are knowledgeable of all that which you are questioned about so I have come to debate you. Abu Abdillah عليه السّلام said to him: in what topic? He said: about the Qur`an, its Qat` (disconnection), Iskan (deletion in jussive), Khafd (genitive), Nasb (accusative) and Raff (nominative). Abu Abdillah عليه السّلام said: O Humran face the man! The man said: I want to face you not Humran! Abu Abdillah عليه السّلام said: if you can defeat Humran then you have defeated me, so the Syrian began asking Humran until he became tired, exhausted, whatever he brings up is answered by Humran! The Imam said: how have you found him O Syrian? He said: I have found him proficient, whatever I ask him about is answered in full!         

Edited May 19, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Hassan-]

@Islamic Salvation salamu 'alaykum.

Which grading is the hadith below? I know it's either Sahih, Hasan or Muwathaq but I'm curious to know which one of the three it is.

 

[5/98] الكافي: عدة من أصحابنا عن أحمد بن محمد، عن العباس بن عامر، عن عبدالله بن بكير، عن أبيه، قال: قال لي

أبوعبدالله عليه السلام: إذا استيقنت أنك قد أحدثت فتوضأ وإياك أن تحدث وضوء ا أبدا حتى تستيقن أنك قد أحدثت

[5/98] al-Kafi: A number of our companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad from al-Abbas b. A’mir from Abdallah b. Bukayr from his father who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to me: if you are sure that you have broken your Wudhu then renew it, beware of ever renewing a Wudhu unless you are certain that you have broken it.

[Islamic Salvation]

13 hours ago, Hassan- said:

@Islamic Salvation salamu 'alaykum.

Which grading is the hadith below? I know it's either Sahih, Hasan or Muwathaq but I'm curious to know which one of the three it is.

 

[5/98] الكافي: عدة من أصحابنا عن أحمد بن محمد، عن العباس بن عامر، عن عبدالله بن بكير، عن أبيه، قال: قال لي

أبوعبدالله عليه السلام: إذا استيقنت أنك قد أحدثت فتوضأ وإياك أن تحدث وضوء ا أبدا حتى تستيقن أنك قد أحدثت

[5/98] al-Kafi: A number of our companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad from al-Abbas b. A’mir from Abdallah b. Bukayr from his father who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to me: if you are sure that you have broken your Wudhu then renew it, beware of ever renewing a Wudhu unless you are certain that you have broken it.

Wa Alaykum Salam.

It is Muwathaq because of Abdallah b. Bukayr who was a Fathi in Madhhab. 

[Sumerian]

24 minutes ago, Islamic Salvation said:

Wa Alaykum Salam.

It is Muwathaq because of Abdallah b. Bukayr who was a Fathi in Madhhab. 

Brother, are most of the hadiths in this book muwathaq or sahih? 

[Islamic Salvation]

On 5/20/2017 at 7:34 PM, E.L King said:

Brother, are most of the hadiths in this book muwathaq or sahih? 

Wa Alaykum Salam

I have not counted the exact number. But this is a good idea. Will get back to you.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.46. Hamza b. Bazi`

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/hamza-b-bazi

 

[1/151] غيبة الطوسي: أحمد بن محمد بن يحيى، عن أبيه، عن محمد بن الحسين ابن أبي الخطاب، عن صفوان بن يحيى، عن إبراهيم بن يحيى بن أبي البلاد قال: قال الرضا عليه السلام: ما فعل الشقي حمزة بن بزيع؟ قلت: هو ذا قد قدم، فقال عليه السلام: يزعم أن أبي حي؟! هم اليوم شكاك ولا يموتون غدا إلا على الزندقة ...

[1/151] Ghayba of al-Tusi: Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Yahya from his father from Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. Abi al-Khattab from Safwan b. Yahya from Ibrahim b. Yahya b. Abi al-Bilad who said: al-Ridha عليه السلام said: what’s happened to the wretched Hamza b. Bazi`? I said: he is here - come to see you, so he عليه السلام said: he claims that my father is alive?! today they are doubters but tomorrow they won’t die except upon heresy [other than islam] … 

NOTES:

Hamza b. Bazi` was a Waqifi who rejected the Imama of al-Ridha because they claimed that al-Kadhim was alive. 

[Islamic Salvation]

2.47. Hayyan al-Sarraj

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/hayyan-al-sarraj

 

[1/152] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن الحسن بن موسى، عن محمد بن أصبغ، عن مروان بن مسلم، عن بريد العجلي قال: دخلت على أبي عبد الله عليه السلام فقال لي: لو كنت سبقت قليلا أدركت حيان السراج قال: و أشار إلى موضع في البيت فقال: و كان هاهنا جالسا فذكر محمد بن الحنفية و ذكر حياته و جعل يطريه و يقرظه، فقلت له: يا حيان أ ليس تزعم و يزعمون و تروي و يروون لم يكن في بني إسرائيل شي‏ء إلا و هو في هذه الأمة مثله قال: بلى قال: فقلت: فهل رأينا و رأيتم أو سمعنا و سمعتم بعالم مات على أعين الناس فنكح نساؤه و قسمت أمواله و هو حي لا يموت فقام و لم يرد علي شيئا

[1/152] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from al-Hasan b. Musa from Muhammad b. Asbagh from Marwan b. Muslim from Burayd al-Ijli who said: I entered upon Abi Abdillah عليه السلام so he said to me: if you had come in a little earlier you would have met Hayyan al-Sarraj, he (Burayd) said: and he (al-Sadiq) pointed out a place in the room and said - he (Hayyan) was sat there, then he (Hayyan) brought up Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya and talked about his life (continued existence), and he began praising him and extolling him. So I (al-Sadiq) said to him: O Hayyan! don't you and others claim and narrate: ‘there is nothing that happened to the Bani Israil except that it is also to occur in this Umma’, he (Hayyan) replied: yes, so I (al-Sadiq) said: then have we or you seen or heard - a Scholar (divine leader) - who died in the estimation of the people (as far as the people were concerned), and his wives were married off, and his inheritance was redistributed, while he was still alive not dead?!, so he (Hayyan) stood up (to leave) and did not answer me anything.

 

[2/153] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن الحسن بن موسى، عن أصحابنا، عن عبد الرحمن بن الحجاج قال: قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: أتاني ابن عم لي يسألني أن آذن لحيان السراج فأذنت له، فقال لي: يا أبا عبد الله إني أريد أن أسألك عن شي‏ء أنا به عالم إلا أني أحب أن أسألك عنه، أخبرني عن عمك محمد بن علي مات قال: قلت: أخبرني أبي أنه كان في ضيعة له فأتى فقيل له أدرك عمك قال: فأتيته و قد كانت أصابته غشية فأفاق، فقال لي: ارجع إلى ضيعتك، قال: فأبيت، فقال: لترجعن، قال: فانصرفت فما بلغت الضيعة حتى أتوني فقالوا: أدركه فأتيته فوجدته قد اعتقل لسانه، فدعا بطست، و جعل يكتب وصيته فما برحت حتى غمضته و غسلته و كفنته و صليت عليه و دفنته، فإن كان هذا موتا فقد و الله مات، قال: فقال لي: رحمك الله شبه على أبيك، قال: قلت: يا سبحان الله أنت تصدف على قلبك قال: فقال لي: و ما الصدف على القلب قال: قلت: الكذب

[2/153] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from al-Hasan b. Musa from our companions from Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: one of the sons of my paternal uncle came to me seeking permission to allow Hayyan al-Sarraj to meet me so I granted it to him. He (Hayyan) said to me: O Aba Abdillah - I want to ask you something about which I have knowledge but would like you to confirm it, inform me about your paternal uncle - Muhammad b. Ali - did he die? He (al-Sadiq) said: I said: my father (al-Baqir) informed me that he was in one of his farm lands when they came to him and said: go to your paternal uncle, he (al-Baqir) said: so I came to him, and he was overcome by unconsciousness, then he regained his senses, he (Ibn al-Hanafiyya) said to me: return to your property, he (al-Baqir) said: I refused, but he said: you must return, so I left, I had not reached the property when they came to me again and said: go to him, I came to him and found that his tongue had been seized (he could not talk anymore), he called for a tray and began writing his will. I did not leave until I had closed his eyes, washed him, enshrouded him, prayed over him, and buried him, so if this is death - then he has - by Allah - died! He (al-Sadiq) said: so he (Hayyan) said to me: may Allah have mercy on you, it was made to appear so to your father, I said: glory be to Allah! you turn away from your own heart! he said to me: and what is turning away from the heart? I said: lying (to it).

NOTES:

Hayyan al-Sarraj (the saddler) was a Kaysani. These were an early Shi’ite splinter grouping who believed that Muhammad b. Ali b. Abi Talib (Ibn al-Hanafiyya) was the Mahdi. They did not accept his apparent death and maintained that he was in concealment (Ghayba) in the Radwa mountains. They awaited his triumphant return.

These narrations indicate that they were still active in the time of al-Sadiq. The Imam argues against Hayyan using a well-known narration as well as the testimony of his father.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.48. Khuzayma b. Thabit

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/khuzayma-b-thabit

 

[-/1] فروع الكافي: علي بن إبراهيم، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن يونس، عن معاوية بن وهب عن ابي عبدالله عليه السلام قال: كان البلاط حيث يصلى على الجنائز سوقا على عهد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يسمى البطحاء يباع فيها الحليب والسمن والاقط وإن أعرابيا أتى بفرس له فأوثقه فاشتراه منه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله ثم دخل ليأتيه بالثمن فقام ناس من المنافقين فقالوا: بكم بعت فرسك؟ قال: بكذا وبكذا قالوا: بئس مابعت، فرسك خير من ذلك وإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله خرج إليه بالثمن وافيا طيبا فقال الاعرابي: ما بعتك والله، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: سبحان الله بلى والله لقد بعتني، و ارتفعت الاصوات فقال الناس: رسول الله يقاول الاعرابي فاجتمع ناس كثير فقال أبوعبدالله عليه السلام: ومع النبي صلى الله عليه وآله أصحابه إذ أقبل خزيمة بن ثابت الانصاري ففرج الناس بيده حتى انتهى إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وآله فقال: أشهد يا رسول الله لقد اشتريته منه فقال الاعرابي أتشهد ولم تحضرنا؟ وقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وآله: أشهدتنا؟ فقال له: لا يا رسول الله ولكني علمت أنك قد اشتريت أفأصدقك بما جئت به من عند الله ولا اصدقك على هذا الاعرابي الخبيث قال: فعجب له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وقال: يا خزيمة شهادتك شهادة رجلين

[1/-] Furu al-Kafi: Ali b. Ibrahim from Muhammad b. Isa from Yunus from Muawiya b. Wahb from Abi Abdillah عليه السلام who said: al-Balat – where the prayers for the dead are prayed [in our times] – was an open market in the time of the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله called al-Batha` which was sold milk, butter-fat, and milk curds. Once a Bedouin came with a horse and the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله inspected it and bought it from him, then he entered inside to bring him the amount. A group of hypocrites who were around stood and said [to the Bedouin]: how much did you sell it to him for? He said: at such and such price, they said: what a bad bargain, your horse is better than that. The messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله came out with the full agreed-upon price but the Bedouin said: by Allah I have not sold it you, the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله said: glory be to Allah! yes by Allah you have indeed sold it to me, and voices were raised, the people said: the messenger of Allah is arguing with a Bedouin and a crowd gathered around, Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: the prophet صلى الله عليه وآله was surrounded by his companions when Khuzayma b. Thabit al-Ansari approached, parted the people with his hand, until he reached the prophet صلى الله عليه وآله and said: I bear witness O messenger of Allah that you bought it from him, the Bedouin said: how can you witness when you were not even present! The prophet said to him: did you witness it with your eyes? He said: no O messenger of Allah, but I know that you bought it from him - should I consider you truthful in that which you came with from Allah but then doubt your truthfulness over this nasty Bedouin! He (al-Sadiq) said: the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله was very pleased at that and said: O Khuzayma, your witness is equal to the witnessing of two men.

NOTES:

This narration explains the origin of Khuzayma b. Thabit’s title ‘Dhu al-Shahadatyn’.               

Khuzayma b. Thabit was an early Ansari companion of the messenger of Allah among the Aws. He participated in Badr and the rest of the battles. He carried the banner on behalf of the Khatma [his sub-tribe] on the day of the conquest of Makka.

He is sometimes included in the list of companions who withheld giving the pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr until after Ali had done so. Some have cast doubt on this because he is also mentioned as a participant who cooperated with the official program of compiling a standard unified Mushaf of the Qur’an under Uthman.

Khuzayma willingly confirmed Ali when he challenged the companions at Rahba to bear witness about the saying of the messenger of Ali “to whomsoever I am a master than Ali is also his master” at Ghadir Khumm.

He became particularly close to Ali in later years and even accompanied him to Jamal and Siffin wherein he was martyred in 37 AH.  

He was a capable poet and composed a number of fine pieces to mark various landmark events. These should be studied in depth as they can act as early confirmation of the elevated status of Ali in early Shi`ism as seen by his contemporaries.

I quote here one of his famous pieces of poetry.

Al-Hakim narrates in his Mustadrak from al-Aswad b. Yazid al-Nakhai that: when Ali b. Abi Talib was given the pledge of allegiance while seated on the puplit of the messsenger of Allah – Khuzayma b. Thabit said after standing in front of the pulpit:

اذا نـحـن بـايـعـنـا عليـاً فـحـسبنا               أبـو حـسن ممـا نـخـاف من الفتن

وجـدنـاه أولى الناس بالنــاس إنـه             أطـب قـريـش بالكتاب وبالسنن

وإن قـريـشــاً ما تـشـق غــبـــاره                إذا ما جرى يوما على ضمَّر  البـدن

فـفـيـه الـذي فيهم من الخير كـلـه               وما فيهم مثل الذي فيه من حسـن

If we have given the pledge to Ali then sufficient for us is     

Abu Hasan to save us from what we fear of strife

We found him to be the best men among men                          

He is the most knowledgeable of the Quraysh in the Book and the Norms

The Quraysh cannot cleave through his raised dust                  

When he rides out some day on the lean-bodied swift ones (horses)

In him is all that which is in them of good                                

But they do not have all that which he has of merit

“cannot cleave through his raised dust” is a metaphor for someone who is “peerless/unsurpassed”. It refers to a horseman who out-rides others leaving them behind, they cannot even reach his dust.

[Islamic Salvation]

2.49. Khayran al-Khadim

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/khayran-al-khadim

 

[1/154] رجال الكشي: حمدويه وإبراهيم، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن خيران الخادم قال: وجهت إلى سيدي ثمانية دراهم وكتبت اليه: قد وجهت إليك ثمانية دراهم كانت أهديت إلي من طرسوس دراهم منهم، وكرهت أن أردها على صاحبها، أو أحدث فيها حدثا دون أمرك، فهل تأمرني في قبول مثلها أم لا؟ لأعرفها إن شاء الله وانتهى إلى أمرك. فكتب وقرأته: أقبل منهم إذا أهدي إليك دراهم أو غيرها، فإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم لم يرد هدية على يهودي ولا نصراني. قال: و قلت: جعلت فداك ... قال: اعمل في ذلك برأيك فإن رأيك رأيي، و من أطاعك فقد أطاعني

[1/154] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh and Ibrahim from Muhammad b. Isa from Khayran al-Khadim who said: I sent to my master [al-Jawad] eight Dirhams and wrote to him: I have sent your way eight Dirhams which had been gifted to me from Tarsus being silver coins from them [non-Muslims in the Roman empire]. I did not want to refuse to accept them or to do anything with them without your instruction. Do you allow me to accept its like [in the future] or not. [I ask] so that I can know what to do - if Allah wills - and to make sure I obey your order? So he wrote [and I the narrator read it]: accept any amount from them if it is gifted to you whether it be monetary or otherwise, for the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم never refused a gift whether it be from a Jew or a Christian. He [Khayran] said: I also said: may I be made your ransom … he said: decide on it based on your own discretion, for your decision is my decision, and whoever obeys you has obeyed me.  

NOTES:

Tarsus is a historic town in what is now south-central Turkey close to the Mediterranean. During the Roman Empire, Tarsus was the capital of the province of Cilicia. It is known for being the birthplace of Paul the Apostle. It remained contested between the Byzantines and the Muslim Caliphate for several decades before al-Ma`mun returned it to Muslim control and recommenced offensive campaigns against Byzantium using it as a base.

It seems that some non-Muslims sent coins to Khayran from this mixed-faith town because of their love for the Imam. This prompted Khayran to write to the Imam asking him what to do with them.

Khayran al-Khadim (the servant) was a Mawla (freed slave) of al-Ridha and lived to the time of al-Hadi because he is enumerated as one of his companions. It would seem from this narration that he acted as a Wakil (agent) of al-Jawad. He is considered Thiqa by al-Tusi. The Imam had such trust in him that he considers obedience to Khayran equivalent to obedience to him and this alludes to his esteemed station which only a few could attain.

Edited May 27, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.50. - 2.51. Dawud b. Farqad and Harun b. Sa`d

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/dawud-b-farqad-and-harun-b-sad

 

[1/155] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن أيوب، عن صفوان، عن داود بن فرقد قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله عليه السلام: إن رجلا خلفي حين صليت المغرب في مسجد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فقال فَما لَكُمْ فِي الْمُنافِقِينَ فِئَتَيْنِ وَ اللَّهُ أَرْكَسَهُمْ بِما كَسَبُوا أَ تُرِيدُونَ أَنْ تَهْدُوا مَنْ أَضَلَّ اللَّهُ، فعلمت أنه يعنيني، فالتفت إليه فقلت وَ إِنَّ الشَّياطِينَ لَيُوحُونَ إِلى أَوْلِيائِهِمْ لِيُجادِلُوكُمْ وَ إِنْ أَطَعْتُمُوهُمْ إِنَّكُمْ لَمُشْرِكُونَ، فإذا هو هارون بن سعد، قال: فضحك أبو عبد الله عليه السلام ثم قال: إذا أصبت الجواب قبل الكلام بإذن الله قلت: جعلت فداك لا جرم و الله ما تكلم بكلمة، فقال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: ما أحد أجهل منهم إن في المرجئة فتيا و علما و في الخوارج فتيا و علما، و ما أحد أجهل منهم

[1/155] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Ayyub from Safwan from Dawud b. Farqad who said: I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: I was praying the Maghrib in the mosque of the messenger of the Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم [in Madina] when a man behind me said: “What is [the matter] with you [that you are] two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they have earned. Do you want to guide him whom Allah has made to go astray?” (4:88), I realized that he said this with me in mind, so I turned towards him and said: “and certainly the devils do inspire their allies to dispute with you, and if you obey them in doing so then you would indeed be of the polytheists” (6:121), then I recognized that it was Harun bin Sa`d, he (Dawud) said: so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام laughed when he heard this and said: you pre-empted him with the most fitting reply even before engaging in a debate with him - by the permission of Allah. I said: may I be made your ransom, truly by Allah - he did not utter a single word in reply [he was flummoxed], so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: no one is more ignorant than them (the Zaydiyya), among the Murjia there exist jurists and scholars, and among the Khawarij there exist jurists and scholars, but no one is more ignorant than these.

NOTES:

Harun bin Sa`d (Sa`id) al-Ijli was the Kufan leader of those who came to be called the Ijliyya. These were very similar to the Batri Zaydis. Harun himself was very hostile to the pacifist Imams. His followers were known for accepting Abu Bakr and Umar and not considering an unbroken succession of Imams to be necessary. They would consider as Imam any descendant of Ali who would unsheathe the sword and confront the corrupt temporal rulers. Harun lampooned the followers of Ja`far for what he saw as their extreme exaltation of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and their uncritical esotericism.

Harun had supported Zayd b. Ali in his revolt, and later joined himself with Ibrahim b. Abdallah [who had taken up the fight against the Abbasids with his brother al-Nafs al-Zakiyya Muhammad b. Abdallah b. al-Hasan b. al-Hasan b. Ali b. Abi Talib] who made him the governor of Wasit.

There he gave an accession-Khuṭba in which he inveighed against al-Manṣūr’s methods of governing and the deplorable social conditions of his time; in so doing, he is supposed to have been well received by the religious scholars of the city.

When the troops of Manṣūr surrounded him in the city in 145 AH, he decided against making a sortie – presumably because, due to his advanced age, he was generally inclined to caution but also out of political considerations as he wished to wait to see the outcome of the encounter at Bākhamrā. Once the result was clear, he fled to Baṣra. Afterwards all trace of him is lost. Many believed that he died while still en route; others held the view that he had managed to escape and died in hiding about 150 AH. In Kūfa the Abbasid governor had his house destroyed.

Dawud b. Farqad was a Kufan client of the Shi`i family of Abu al-Sammal al-Asadı. He was a companion of al-Sadiq and al-Kadhim. An early authority like Ibn Fadhal says about him ‘Thiqatun Thiqa’ which emphasizes his impeccable credentials as a narrator. He is in turn considered trustworthy by both al-Najashi and al-Tusi. He had a famous book of Hadith which was transmitted by a large number of companions. He occurs in the chains of 95 narrations spread out in our books of Hadith that have survived.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.52. Dharih b. Muhammad al-Muharibi

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/dharih-b-muhammad-al-muharibi

 

[-/1] الفقيه: باسناده عن عبدالله بن سنان قال: أتيت أبا عبدالله عليه السلام فقلت له: جعلني الله فداك ما معنى قول الله عزوجل: ثُمَّ لْيَقْضُوا تَفَثَهُمْ قال: أخذ الشارب وقص الاظفار وما أشبه ذلك، قال: قلت: جعلت فداك فإن ذريحا المحاربي حدثني عنك أنك قلت: ثُمَّ لْيَقْضُوا تَفَثَهُمْ لقاء الامام وَلْيُوفُوا نُذُورَهُمْ تلك المناسك، قال: صدق ذريح وصدقت، إن للقرآن ظاهرا وباطنا ومن يحتمل ما يحتمل ذريح 

[1/-] al-Faqih: Via his chain to Abdallah b. Sinan who said: I came to Aba Abdillah عليه السلام and said to him: may Allah make me your ransom, what is the meaning of the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic: “then they should remove their untidiness” (22:29), he said: trimming the mustache and cutting the nails, I said: may I be made your ransom, Dharih al-Muharibi narrated to me quoting you as saying: “then they should remove their untidiness” means ‘visit the Imam’ and “fulfill their vows” refers to ‘[perform] the pilgrimage rites’, he said: Dharih was right and so are you, verily for the Qur’an there is an exoteric and esoteric [layered meanings], and who can bear what is borne by Dharih?    

NOTES:

Abu al-Walid Dharih b. Muhammad b. Yazid from the Banu Muharib b. Hasafa was a companion of al-Sadiq and al-Kadhim. He is graded as Thiqa by al-Tusi. About 31 of his narrations can still be found in our books.

The verse in question is in Surat al-Hajj. It contains instructions to the those making the Hajj. It says: “Then they should remove their untidiness, fulfill their vows and circumambulate the Ancient House” (22:29)

The apparent meaning of ‘remove their untidiness’ is for a pilgrim to groom himself, and this would involve acts like trimming the mustache and cutting the nails, as the Imam answers Abdallah b. Sinan. But he had given a different answer to Dharih consonant with his spiritual maturity. As is well known - the `Aimma used to answer the people based on the levels of their ability. Abdallah b. Sinan had heard something different from Dharih and wanted to confirm it from the Imam himself. This is when the Imam reveals to him the exterior and interior meaning of the verse. What the Imam said to Dharih is the removal of dirt of the heart like sins by meeting the Imam while what he said to Abdallah b. Sinan is the removal of physical uncleanliness by grooming. There is no contradiction between the two, rather they complement each other.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

2.53. al-Rayyan b. al-Salt

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/al-rayyan-b-al-salt

 

[1/156] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود، عن علي بن الحسن، عن معمر بن خلاد قال: سألني رجل أن أستأذن له عليه يعني الرضا عليه السلام و أسأله أن يكسوه قميصا و يهب له من دراهمه فلما رجعت من عند الرجل أصبت رسوله يطلبني، فلما دخلت عليه، قال: أين كنت؟ قلت: كنت عند فلان، قال: يشتهي أن يدخل على فقلت: نعم جعلت فداك، قال: ثم سبحت، فقال: ما لك تسبح فقلت له: كنت عنده الآن في هذا، فقال: إن المؤمن موفق ثم قال: لو يأتيك فأعلمه قال: فلما دخل عليه جلس قدامه، و قمت أنا في ناحية، فدعاني فقال: اجلس فجلست، فسأله الدعاء ففعل، ثم دعا بقميص فلما قام وضع في يده شيئا، فنظرت فإذا هي دراهم من دراهمه

قال محمد بن مسعود، قال علي بن الحسن: و الرجل الذي سأل الدعاء و الكسوة هو الريان بن الصلت، و قال: حدثني الريان بهذا الحديث

[1/156] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud from Ali b. al-Hasan from Muammar b. Khallad who said: a man asked me to seek permission for him to come see him, that is al-Ridha عليه السلام, and he also asked me to ask him (the Imam) to gift him a cloak and some of his silver coins [which had been minted in his name]. When I returned back from the man I encountered his [the Imam’s] messenger looking for me [with instructions to go see the Imam]. When I entered upon him he said: where were you? I said: with so and so, he said: he wishes to come see me? I said: yes, may I be made your ransom. Muammar said: then I glorified Allah, he said: why do you glorify? I said to him: I was just with him when he first broached this! [how could you know?] he said: a believer is facilitated. Then he said: If he comes to you then inform him [that he can visit]. He [Muammar] said: so when he [the man] came in he took a seat in front of him [the Imam], and I was standing in a corner, so he [the Imam] called me and said: be seated, so I sat, then he [the man] asked him to supplicate for him, which he did, then he [the man] asked for a cloak, so when he stood to depart he [the Imam] placed into his hands something, I glanced at it and saw that it was some coins from among his special coins. 

Muhammad b. Masud said: Ali b. al-Hasan said: the man who asked for supplication and a cloak was al-Rayyan b. al-Salt. He also said: al-Rayyan himself narrated the same to me. 

NOTES:ً

The silver coins requested were ones that al-Ma`mun had minted naming Ali al-Ridha as his successor and the crown-prince.

When the Imam says that a believer is موفق 'Muwaffaq' meaning 'facilitated to get it right', he probably means that the Imam [the chief of the believers] is assisted by unseen forces i.e. the spirit which always accompanies the Imam to make him aware of what he does not know. This is similar to him being 'Muhaddath', that is, spoken to by the angels.   

Two other variants recount the same event:

و عن طاهر بن بن عيسى، عن جعفر بن أحمد، عن عليّ بن محمّد بن شجاع، عن محمّد بن الحسن، عن معمّر بن خلاد، قال: قال لي الريّان بن الصلت بمرو و كان الفضل بن سهل بعثه إلى بعض كور خراسان فقال: احبّ أن تستأذن لي على أبي الحسن عليه السّلام فاسلّم عليه و اودّعه، و أحبّ أن يكسوني من ثيابه و أن يهب لي من دراهمه الّتي ضربت باسمه قال: فدخلت عليه، فقال لي مبتدءا: يا معمّر! ريّان يحبّ أن يدخل علينا و أكسوه من ثيابي و اعطيه من دراهمي؟ قال: قلت: سبحان اللّه! و اللّه ما سألني إلّا أن أسألك ذلك له! فقال: يا معمّر! إنّ المؤمن موفّق، قل له: فليجي‏ء قال: فأمرته، فدخل عليه فسلّم عليه، فدعا بثوب من ثيابه فلمّا خرج قلت: أيّ شي‏ء أعطاك؟ فاذا في يده ثلاثون درهما

[al-Kashshi] Tahir b. Isa – Ja`far b. Ahmad – Ali b. Muhammad b. Shuja` – Muhammad b. al-Husayn [b. Abi al-Khattab] – Muammar b. Khallad who said: al-Rayyan b. al-Salt said to me in Marw after al-Fadhl b. Sahl [Ma`mun’s vizier] had dispatched him to some of the villages in Khurasan: I would like you to seek permission on my behalf from Abi al-Hasan [to allow me to meet him] so that I can greet him and bid him farewell. I would also like it if he could give me a piece of clothing from among his clothes and gift me a few of his silver coins that were minted in his name. He [Muammar] said: I entered in to see him [al-Ridha] but he pre-empted me in speaking saying: O Muammar! Rayyan desires to come see us and that I give him a piece of clothing from my clothes and some of my coins? I said: glory be to Allah! he just requested me to ask this of you! he [the Imam] said: O Muammar! the believer is assisted - say to him: ‘you can come’, he [Muammar] said: I informed him [Rayyan] of that. He [Rayyan] entered and greeted him, then he [the Imam] called for a piece of clothing from among his clothes [to give it to him]. When he [Rayyan] exited I [Muammar] said to him: what did he give you? lo and behold there were thirty silver coins in his hand.  

روى العيون في باب دلالاته عليه السّلام عنه، قال: الهمداني، عن علي بن إبراهيم، عن عبيه، عن الريان بن الصلت قال: لمّا أردت الخروج إلى العراق و عزمت على توديع الرضا عليه السّلام قلت في نفسي: إذا ودّعته سألته قميصا من ثياب جسده لاكفّن به و دراهم من ماله أصوغ بها لبناتي خواتيم، فلمّا ودّعته شغلني البكاء و الأسف على فراقه عن مسألة ذلك فلمّا خرجت من عنده صاح بي: يا ريّان! ارجع، فرجعت، فقال لي: أما تحبّ أن أدفع إليك قميصا من ثياب جسدي تكفّن فيه إذا فنى أجلك! أو ما تحبّ أن أدفع إليك دراهم تصوغ بها لبناتك خواتيم؟ فقلت: يا سيّدي! قد كان في نفسي أن أسألك ذلك فمنعني الغمّ بفراقك، فرفع الوسادة و أخرج قميصا فدفعه إليّ، و رفع جانب المصلّى فأخرج دراهم فدفعها إليّ، و عددتها، فكانت ثلاثين درهما

[al-Uyun] al-Hamdani – Ali b. Ibrahim – Ibrahim b. Hashim frm al-Rayyan who said: When I wanted to set out to Iraq I decided to bid farewell to al-Ridha and said to myself: ‘while taking his leave I will ask him for a shirt, one which he has worn over his body so that I can use it as my shroud, also some of his silver coins from which I will make rings for my daughters. When saying good-bye to him I was too busy crying and regretting at having to be separated from him that I forgot to ask him for those items. When I had departed his room he called out to me: O Rayyan! come back. I returned, he said to me: wouldn’t you like it if I were to hand you one of my worn shirts so that you can use it as your shroud when your time is over? wouldn’t you like it if I were to hand to you some silver coins which you then use to make rings for your daughters? I said: O my master! this is what I had in mind to ask you but grief at having to be far from you prevented me! then he raised the pillow and took out a shirt which he gave to me, and he lifted a side of the prayer mat and took out coins and gave them to me. I later counted them and they were thiry Dirhams.

Who is al-Rayyan b. Salt?

Abu Ali Rayyan b. Salt al-Ash`ari  al-Qummi is listed in the Fihristat as companion of al-Ridha. It seems that he was an official in the Abbasid hierarchy in Marw who came into the contact with the Imam when the latter was called there under Ma`mun’s order. The Imam’s magnetic force of personality is so strong that he became a devoted follower.

Najashi grades him as being ‘Thiqa Saduq’ meaning ‘Trustworthy and Truthful’. He also mentions that he had a book in which he gathered what al-Ridha had to say about the differences between the Al [family of the prophet] and the Umma [community of believers].

al-Tustari says that this is preserved and can be found quoted under the chapter 23 of al-Uyun min Akhbar al-Ridha:

باب مجلس الرضا عليه السّلام مع المأمون في الفرق بين العترة و الامّة

Chapter on the session of al-Ridha with al-Ma`mun about the difference between the Itra [descendants of the prophet] and the Umma.  It can also be found in al-Saduq’s Amali Majlis 79.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

3.54. Zurara b. A`yan

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/zurara-b-ayan

Narrations that are pro-Zurara

 

[1/157] رجال الكشي: حمدان بن أحمد، عن معاوية بن حكيم، عن أبي داود المسترق قال: كنت قائد أبي بصير في بعض جنائز أصحابنا فقلت له: هو ذا زرارة في الجنازة قال لي: اذهب بي إليه قال: فذهبت به إليه، قال: فقال له: السلام عليك أبا الحسن فرد عليه زرارة السلام و قال له: لو علمت أن هذا من رأيك لبدأتك به، قال: فقال له أبو بصير: بهذا أمرت

[1/157] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamdan b. Ahmad from Muawiya b. Hukaym from Abi Dawud al-Mustariq who said: I was the attendant leading Abi Basir [who was blind] in the funeral procession of one of our companions when I said to him: there is Zurara in the procession, he [Abi Basir] said to me: take me to him [Zurara], so I took him to him, he said: peace be upon you O Aba al-Hasan [Zurara], Zurara returned the greeting to him and said: if I thought that this was of your own volition I would have preceded you in it [greeted you first], so Abu Basir said to him: this is what I have been ordered to do.

NOTES:ً

This narration alludes to some kind of “bad blood” between Abu Basir and Zurara. Zurara claims that he would have been the first to extend his greetings if he knew that the blind Abu Basir was being sincere in coming to him. Abu Basir’s rejoinder points to the truth of Zurara’s words because he admits that he has been ordered to do this. Whether this is to be interpreted as a command from the Imam which Abu Basir had to follow specifically in his interactions with Zurara or a more general recommendation by the Imam to treat all believers cordially while attempting a reconciliation remains to be seen. 

 

 [2/158] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن يعقوب بن يزيد، عن محمد بن أبي عمير، عن جميل بن دراج قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: بشر المخبتين بالجنة بريد بن معاوية العجلي و أبو بصير ليث بن البختري المرادي و محمد بن مسلم و زرارة، أربعة نجباء أمناء الله على حلاله و حرامه، لو لا هؤلاء انقطعت آثار النبوة و اندرست

[2/158] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from Ya`qub b. Yazid from Muhammad b. Abi Umayr from Jamil b. Darraj who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام say: give glad tidings of paradise to the humble: Burayd b. Muawiya al-Ijli, Abu Basir Layth b. al-Bukhtari al-Muradi, Muhammad b. Muslim and Zurara. Four possessors of nobility and the trustees of Allah upon his Halal and Haram, if it wasn’t for them the traces of prophethood would have perished and been destroyed.

 

[3/159] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود، عن علي بن الحسن بن فضال، عن أخواي محمد و أحمد ابنا الحسن، عن أبيهما الحسن بن علي بن فضال، عن ابن بكير، عن زرارة قال: قال أبا عبد الله عليه السلام: يا زرارة إن اسمك في أسامي أهل الجنة بغير ألف، قلت: نعم جعلت فداك اسمي عبد ربه و لكني لقبت بزرارة

[3/159] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud from Ali b. al-Hasan b. Fadhal from his two brothers Muhammad and Ahmad from their father al-Hasan b. Ali b. Fadhal from Ibn Bukayr from Zurara who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: O Zurara, your name is among the names of the people of paradise without the letter Alif in it. I said: yes, may I be made your ransom, my name is Abd Rabbi, Zurara was just a nick-name given to me. 

 

[4/160] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن يعقوب بن يزيد و محمد بن الحسين بن أبي الخطاب، عن محمد بن أبي عمير، عن إبراهيم بن عبد الحميد و غيره قالوا: قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: رحم الله زرارة بن أعين لو لا زرارة و نظراؤه لاندرست أحاديث أبي عليه السلام

[4/160] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from Ya`qub b. Yazid and Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. Abi al-Khattab from Muhammad b. Abi Umayr from Ibrahim b. Abd al-Hamid and others apart from him - they all said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: may Allah have mercy on Zurara b. A`yan, if it was not for Zurara and his peers the narrations of my father عليه السلام would have perished.

NOTES:

When the Imam exclaims that their narrations would have been lost without Zurara and his fellows then this is not an exaggeration. It is enough to note that Zurara has more than 2000 surviving narrations in our books to validate this. That is an incredible number.

 

[5/161] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن يعقوب بن يزيد، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن هشام بن سالم، عن سليمان بن خالد الأقطع قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: ما أحد أحيا ذكرنا و أحاديث أبي عليه السلام إلا زرارة و أبو بصير ليث المرادي و محمد بن مسلم و بريد بن معاوية العجلي و لو لا هؤلاء ما كان أحد يستنبط هذا، هؤلاء حفاظ الدين و أمناء أبي عليه السلام على حلال الله و حرامه، و هم السابقون إلينا في الدنيا و السابقون إلينا في الآخرة

[5/161] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Ya`qub b. Yazid from Ibn Abi Umayr from Hisham b. Salim from Sulayman b. Khalid al-Aqta who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام saying: there is no one who has enlivened our remembrance and the narrations of my father عليه السلام except for Zurara, Abu Basir Layth al-Muradi, Muhammad b. Muslim and Burayd b. Muawiya al-Ijli. If it wasn’t for them there wouldn’t be anyone who could derive these [the Ahkam]. They are the protectors of the religion and the trustees of my father عليه السلام upon the Halal of Allah and His Haram. They are the foremost to us in this world, and the foremost to us in the hereafter.

 

[6/162] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن ابن أذينة، عن زرارة قال: كنت قاعدا عند أبي عبد الله عليه السلام أنا و حمران، فقال له حمران: ما تقول فيما يقول زرارة فقد خالفته فيه قال: فما هو؟ قال: يزعم أن مواقيت الصلاة مفوضة إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم و هو الذي وضعها، قال: فما تقول أنت؟ قال: قلت: إن جبريل عليه السلام أتاه في اليوم الأول بالوقت الأول و في اليوم الثاني بالوقت الآخر ثم قال جبريل: يا محمد ما بينهما وقت فقال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: يا حمران إن زرارة يقول إنما جاء جبريل مشيرا على محمد عليه السلام، صدق زرارة، جعل الله ذلك إلى محمد عليه السلام فوضعه و أشار جبريل عليه

[6/162] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Muhammad b. Isa from Ibn Abi Umayr from Ibn Udhayna from Zurara who said: I was seated in the presence of Abi Abdillah عليه السلام together with Humran when Humran said to him: what do you say about what Zurara says - and I have opposed him in it? Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: and what is that? He (Humran) said: he (Zurara) believes that the timings of the prayers were delegated to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله and that he صلى الله عليه وآله was the one who fixed them. Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: and what do you say? I (Humran) said: Jibril عليه السلام came to him the first day with the starting time and on the second day with the ending time - and then Jibril said [to the messenger]: what is between these two points is the time. So Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: O Humran, verily what Zurara means is that Jibril came to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله with mere indications, and Zurara has spoken the truth, for that was left to to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله, and he was the one who fixed them, Jibril only gave indications about them.

 

[7/163] رجال الكشي: محمد بن قولويه، عن سعد، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى ومحمد بن عبد الله المسمعي، عن علي بن أسباط، عن محمد بن عبد الله بن زرارة، عن أبيه قال: بعث زرارة عبيدا ابنه يسئل عن خبر أبي الحسن عليه السلام فجائه الموت قبل رجوع عبيد إليه فأخذ المصحف فأعلاه فوق رأسه وقال: ان الامام بعد جعفر بن محمد من اسمه بين الدفتين في جملة القرآن منصوص عليه من الذين أوجب الله طاعتهم على خلقه، أنا مؤمن به قال: فأخبر بذلك أبو السحن الأول عليه السلام فقال: والله كان زرارة مهاجرا إلى الله تعالى

[7/163] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Qulawayh from Sa`d from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa and Muhammad b. Abdallah al-Mismai from Ali b. Asbat from Muhammad b. Abdallah b. Zurara from his father (Abdallah b. Zurara) who said: Zurara sent Ubayd his son to ask about the affair [Imama] of Abi al-Hasan عليه السلام but death came to him (Zurara) before his son Ubayd could come back to him [with the answer]. So he (Zurara) took a Mushaf [just before he died] and put it above his head and said: the Imam after Ja`far b. Muhammad is the one whose name is between the two covers in the generality of the Qur`an, appointed in a clear designation by those whose obedience has been made obligatory by Allah upon His creation - and I am a believer in him. Abu al-Hasan the first (al-Kadhim) عليه السلام was later informed of this so he said: by Allah - Zurara was an emigrant (Muhajir) to Allah the Exalted.

 

[8/164] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن محمد بن عيسى بن عبيد، عن محمد بن أبي عمير، عن جميل بن دراج و غيره قال: وجه زرارة عبيدا ابنه إلى المدينة، يستخبر له خبر أبي الحسن عليه السلام و عبد الله بن أبي عبد الله، فمات قبل أن يرجع إليه عبيد ... قلت لأبي الحسن الأول عليه السلام و ذكرت له زرارة و توجيهه ابنه عبيدا إلى المدينة، فقال أبو الحسن: إني لأرجو أن يكون زرارة ممن قال الله تعالى وَ مَنْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ مُهاجِراً إِلَى اللَّهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ الْمَوْتُ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ

[8/164] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from Muhammad b. Isa b. Ubayd from Muhammad b. Abi Umayr from Jamil b. Darraj and others apart from him - he (Jamil) said: Zurara sent his son Ubayd to Madina to investigate for him the matter of Abi al-Hasan عليه السلام and Abdallah b. Abi Abdillah [another son of al-Sadiq who had also announced his Imama], but he (Zurara) died before Ubyad could return to him (with news) ... I talked to Abi al-Hasan the first (al-Kadhim) عليه السلام and mentioned to him Zurara and his act of sending his son Ubayd to Madina, so Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام said: I do hope that Zurara is among those about whom Allah the Exalted has said: “and whoever comes out of his home emigrating to Allah and his messenger - and death overtakes him (in such a state) - then he has already secured his reward from Allah” (4:100).

 

[9/165] كمال الدين: أحمد بن زياد بن جعفر الهمداني، عن علي بن إبراهيم بن هاشم، عن محمد بن عيسى بن عبيد، عن إبراهيم بن محمد الهمداني قال: قلت للرضا عليه السلام: يا ابن رسول الله أخبرني عن زرارة هل كان يعرف حق أبيك؟ فقال عليه السلام: نعم، فقلت له: فلم بعث ابنه عبيدا ليتعرف الخبر إلى من أوصى الصادق جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام؟ فقال: إن زرارة كان يعرف أمر أبي عليه السلام، ونص أبيه عليه، وإنما بعث ابنه ليتعرف من أبي هل يجوز له أن يرفع التقية في إظهار أمره، ونص أبيه عليه؟ وأنه لما أبطأ عنه طولب باظهار قوله في أبي عليه السلام، فلم يحب أن يقدم على ذلك دون أمره فرفع المصحف وقال: اللهم إن إمامي من أثبت هذا المصحف إمامته من ولد جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام

[9/165] Kamal al-Diin: Ahmad b. Ziyad b. Ja`far al-Hamdani from Ali b. Ibrahim b. Hashim from Muhammad b. Isa b. Ubayd from Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Hamdani who said: I said to al-Rida عليه السلام: O the son of the messenger of Allah inform me about Zurara - did he know of the right of your father [al-Kadhim to be the Imam]? He عليه السلام said: yes he did. I said: then why did he send his son Ubayd to investigate the question of the succession to al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad? He said: Zurara knew of the affair of my father [his Imama] and the designation of his father [al-Sadiq] to him, he only sent his son to know from my father [al-Kadhim] whether it was permitted for him to lift the Taqiyya in announcing the affair [Imama] and the designation of his father to him. When the answer delayed he was asked to declare his opinion about my father but he did not wish to proceed in doing so without his instruction so he raised the Mushaf and said: O Allah my Imam is the one whose Imama this Mushaf establishes among the sons of Ja`far b. Muhammad عليهما السلام    

NOTES:

That most of the Ashab would not know of the identity of the next Imam should not be seen as surprising because this was a very closely guarded secret not easily dispensed with. These narration fall in line with the guidelines of what the Shia should do when faced with such a situation.

Muhammad bin Yahya from Muhammad bin al-Husayn from Safwan from Ya'qub bin Shuayb who said: I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: if something happens to the Imam (i.e. he dies) - what should the people do? he عليه السلام said: why should they not apply the words of Allah عز وجل – “a delegation should go forth from each of their sections to become learned in the Diin, and to warn their people when they return to them - so that they may guard” (9:122); then he عليه السلام said: they (i.e. the delegation) are excused as long as they are seeking (i.e. the identity of the new Imam), and those who are waiting for them to come back have an excuse until their people (i.e. the delegation) return to them (i.e. and inform them).

Despite this, it is hard to think of someone of the caliber of Zurara [who, together with Muhammad b. Muslim, Abu Basir and Burayd, is part of the Big Four] not knowing, this is why the last narration is so important in explaining this.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

Narrations that are anti-Zurara

At the outset, it is important to clarify that when compared to the effusive praise for Zurara [and other members of the big four] in the narrations of the `Aimma, the mountain of  narrations he narrated [showing his favourable position with the Sadiqayn], and the positive historical consensus around his memory in the sect, the examples of censure he is supposedly receiving in the narrations below is merely akin to a few straws in the wind. No surprise then that scholars like al-Najashi and al-Tusi had no hesitation in ignoring them and giving him an un-matched positive evaluation. Having said this, there are certain aspects of his character, such as Zurara’s ostensible daring in dealing with the Imam [he was a scholar in his own right] and his independent views specifically in theological issues, which have led to some backlash against him found in our sources.

Some thinkers have even gone so far as to read into these interactions the claim that Zurara and many of the earliest prominent Ashab did not see the `Aimma as authorities in all aspects of life [just in the truthful relay of the material inherited from their forefathers]. They claim that their Ilm was not comprehensive but rather limited to that which is required in the Diin. This is the view of the `Aimma as ‘Ulama Abrar’ - righteous scholars who were arbiters in jurisprudence and whose words in it are to be taken as final but nothing more. A full analysis of such a view is postponed to its appropriate place.

Some of the narrations below will touch on Zurara's views within the wider question of Jabr [predestination] versus Qadr [free-will] which was a major theological controversy in early Islam. At an extreme end of the spectrum we had some who were proponents of the total subjugation of human to the divine will [there was no such thing as human volition] while on the other end you had those who considered humans as being totally independent to choose whatever action to take with no role whatsoever for any external influence.

It seems that Zurara as a Mutakallim [theologian] had his own thesis on some facets of this question, indeed a lost Kitab al-Istita`a [human capacity for action] is attributed to him in the sources. Most of the negative portrayal below have to do with this particular position of his which seems to be distinct from al-Amr bayn al-Amrayn [the intermediary moderate position that is ascribed to the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt].

 

[10/166] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود، عن الفضل، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن إبراهيم بن عبد الحميد، عن عيسى بن أبي منصور و أبي أسامة الشحام و يعقوب الأحمر قالوا: كنا جلوسا عند أبي عبد الله عليه السلام فدخل عليه زرارة فقال: إن الحكم بن عتيبة حدث عن أبيك أنه قال صل المغرب دون المزدلفة، فقال له أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: أنا تأملته ما قال أبي هذا قط! كذب الحكم على أبي! قال: فخرج زرارة و هو يقول ما أرى الحكم كذب على أبيه

[10/166] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud from al-Fadhl from Ibn Abi Umayr from Ibrahim b. Abd al-Hamid from Isa b. Abi Mansur, Abi Usama al-Shahham and Ya`qub al-Ahmar who said: we were seated with Abi Abdillah عليه السلام when Zurara entered and said: al-Hakam b. Utayba narrates from your father that he [al-Baqir] said: pray the Maghrib before reaching Muzdalifa [in the Hajj], Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: I have thought about this - my father never said that ever! al-Hakam has lied about my father! he said: so Zurara came out saying: I don’t think al-Hakam has lied about his father.

NOTES:ً

The most charitable light in which this can be seen is to say that al-Baqir had indeed spoken these words to al-Hakam [who was not of the Imamiyya] as a Taqiyya, which explains why Zurara insists that the Imam had spoken them. al-Sadiq denies this because something which was spoken in Taqiyya is as though has never been uttered because it is not the actual position of the Madhhab. If this interpretation is far-fetched then there would be no option but to note the ill-behaviour of Zurara in this instance, being bold enough to take the side of his former Shaykh i.e. al-Hakam over al-Sadiq.

 

[11/167] رجال الكشي: حمدويه و إبراهيم ابنا نصير، عن العبيدي، عن هشام بن إبراهيم الختلي و هو المشرقي قال: قال لي أبو الحسن الخراساني عليه السلام: كيف تقولون في الاستطاعة بعد يونس؟ تذهب فيها مذهب زرارة؟ و مذهب زرارة هو الخطاء! فقلت: لا و لكنه بأبي أنت و أمي ما تقول في الاستطاعة و قول زرارة فيمن قدر و نحن منه براء و ليس من دين آبائك، و قال الآخرون بالجبر و نحن منه براء و ليس من دين آبائك، قال: فبأي شي‏ء تقولون؟ قلت: بقول أبي عبد الله عليه السلام و سأل عن قول الله عز و جل وَ لِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا ما استطاعته؟ قال: فقال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: صحته و ماله فنحن بقول أبي عبد الله عليه السلام نأخذ قال: صدق أبو عبد الله عليه السلام هذا هو الحق

[11/167] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh and Ibrahim the sons of Nusayr from al-Ubaydi from Hisham b. Ibrahim al-Khatli [al-Mashraqi] who said: Abu al-Hasan al-Khurasani عليه السلام said to me: what do you say regarding Istita`a after Yunus? Do you subscribe to the opinion of Zurara while the opinion of Zurara is wrong! I said: no, rather - may my father and mother be ransomed for you -  [we subscribe to] what you say about Istita`a.  As for the opinion of Zurara about the one who is given capacity then we disassociate from it as it is not of the religion of your forefathers. Others believe in pre-destination which we similarly disassociate from as it is not of the religion of your forefathers. He said: what then do you say? I said: we affirm the view of Abi Abdillah عليه السلام when he was asked about the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic “and pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed by Allah to the people - for whoever has the capacity to find a way to it” (3:97) - what is his ‘capacity’? so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: good-health and having wealth, so we subscribe to the verdict of Abi Abdillah عليه السلام, he said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام spoke the truth, this is how it is.

NOTES:ً

The opinion of Zurara about Istita’a was his assertion that the capacity to act [Istita’a] precedes the action [Fi’l]. This is also attributed to the so-called Qadaris and later Mu`tazila who saw it as essential component of the belief in Free Will. In other words, the capability to act [Istita’a] is part and parcel of the person who is capable of acting [Mustati`] and exists prior to the action. This is said to be in contradiction with the doctrine of the Imams according to whom the capacity to act is unconditionally simultaneous with the action and does not precede it [al-Istita’a ma’a’l-Fi’l]. For each specific action, the divine will has to allow for it to happen and it could not go ahead without that ultimate cause sanctioning it.  

 

[-/12] رجال الكشي: محمد بن قولويه، عن محمد بن أبي القاسم ماجيلويه، عن زياد بن أبي الحلاّل قال: قلت لابي عبد اللّه عليه السلام: إنّ زرارة روى عنك في الاستطاعة شيئاً فقبلنا منه وصدقناه وقدأحببت أن أعرضه عليك فقال: هاته فقلت: يزعم أنه سألك عن قول اللّه عزّ وجلّ: وَ لِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا فقلت: من ملك زاداً وراحلة فقال لك: كلّ من ملك زاداً وراحلة فهو مستطيع للحج وإن لم يحج؟ فقلت: نعم؟ فقال: ليس هكذا سألني ولا هكذا قلت، كذب علي واللّه كذب علي واللّه، لعن اللّه زرارة، لعن اللّه زرارة، لعن اللّه زرارة، إنما قال لى: من كان له زاد وراحلة فهو مستطيع للحج؟ قلت: قد وجب عليه قال: فمستطيع هو؟ فقلت: لا حتى يؤذنله قلت: فأخبر زرارة بذلك؟ قال: نعم قال زياد: فقدمت الكوفة فلقيت زرارة، فأخبرته بما قال أبو عبد اللّه وسكت عن لعنه. قال: أما انه قد أعطاني الاستطاعة من حيث لا يعلم، وصاحبكم هذا ليس له بصر بكلام الرجال

[12/-] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Qulawayh from Muhammad b. Abi al-Qasim Majluwayh from Ziyad b. Abi al-Hilal who said: I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: Zurara has narrated something on your authority about Istita`a so we accepted it from him and considered him truthful in it, but I wish to present it to you [to confirm its validity], he said: go ahead, I said: he claims that he asked you about the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic “and pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed by Allah to the people - for whoever has the capacity to find a way to it” (3:97) so you said: [capacity means] whoever possesses provision and an animal to carry him, he said to you: whoever possesses provision and an animal then he is capable of performing Hajj even if he does not go on to perform it? you said: yes. He said: that is not what he asked me nor what I replied to him, he has lied about me by Allah, he has lied about me by Allah, may Allah curse Zurara, may Allah curse Zurara, may Allah curse Zurara, he had said to me: the one who possesses provision and an animal does he have the capacity for making the Hajj? I said: it has become obligatory upon him, he said: is he Mustati` [capable - wanting by it to infer a theological signification]? I said: no, until he is given permission [by Allah], I said: can I inform Zurara of this [conversation]? he said: yes, Ziyad said: so I traveled to Kufa and met up with Zurara, I informed him of what Abu Abdillah عليه السلام had said to me but did not include the Imam’s cursing of him, he said: verily, he [the Imam] has given me the doctrine of Istita`a without being aware of having done so, and this man of yours [al-Sadiq] is not familiar with the theological debates of the people.

NOTES:ً

This seems to be the origin of Zurara’s opinion on the subject of Istita`a. He asked a purely Fiqhi question regarding the one upon whom the Hajj would be obligatory and inferred from it the theological principle that human capacity for acting is a potential that exists even before the action and can be invoked at will. He goes a step further and accuses the Imam of having given this to him without realizing because of not being in touch with the nuance of popular debates of the day about such topics, most of which, it has to be said, were mere sophistry. It is very doubtful that someone like Zurara who had spent a lifetime learning from al-Baqir and al-Sadiq could condescend to say such a thing about them!

This is why it is important to point out that this Hadith is not Mu`tabar because Muhammad b. Abi al-Qasim Majluwayh who is the son-in-law of Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi [in Tabaqa number 7] cannot narrate directly from a companion of al-Sadiq like Ziyad. This disconnection means that this Hadith is unreliable.

 

[13/168] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، قال: حدّثني محمد بن عيسى، عن يونس، عن مسمع كردين أبي سيار قال: سمعت أبا عبد اللّه عليه السلام يقول: لعن اللّه بريداً! ولعن اللّه زرارة!

[13/168] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Muhammad b. Isa from Yunus from Misma` Kardiyn Abi Sayyar who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام say: may Allah curse Burayd! and may Allah curse Zurara!

NOTES:ً

As will be seen in the final narration, the Imam had decided to publicly curse some of his companions as a way of shielding them from exposure to the authorities. This seems to be one instance of this, especially when we note the sudden and un-prompted nature of the out-burst, a clear indication of Taqiyya [saying things just for them to be registered].  

 

[14/169] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن هشام بن سالم، عن محمد بن حمران، عن الوليد بن صبيح قال: دخلت على أبي عبد الله عليه السلام فاستقبلني زرارة خارجا من عنده، فقال لي أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: يا وليد أما تعجب من زرارة؟ يسألني عن أعمال هؤلاء أي شي‏ء كان يريد أيريد أن أقول له لا فيروي ذلك عني ثم قال: يا وليد متى كانت الشيعة تسأل عن أعمالهم؟ إنما كانت الشيعة تقول من أكل من طعامهم و شرب من شرابهم و استظل بظلهم، متى كانت الشيعة تسأل عن مثل هذا!

[14/169] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Muhammad b. Isa from Ibn Abi Umayr from Hisham b. Salim from Muhammad b. Humran from al-Walid b. Sabih who said: I entered to meet Abi Abdillah عليه السلام and found Zurara exiting the place. Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to me: O Walid, don’t you wonder at Zurara? he asks me about [the permissibility of] working for them [the usurping rulers], what did he want? did he want me to say: no [it is not acceptable] so that he can narrate this on my authority? then he reiterated again: O Walid, when did the Shia ever ask about working for them? Rather the Shia used to ask about the permissibility of eating their food, and drinking their drinks, and shading themselves in their shade [living with them], when did the Shia ever ask about that [which Zurara asks]!       

NOTES:ً

As al-Muhaqiq al-Sha`rani notes in a footnote to this narration in al-Wafi, the Imam’s shock can be understood by how preposterous it was to the sensitivities of the ordinary Shia, with their exemplary God-fearing, to even contemplate working for the temporal worldly rulers and run the risk of not only allying themselves with those who had usurped the rights of the `Aimma and oppressed them, but also, to then be implicated in implementing rulings that were contradictory to the Fiqh of the Ahl al-Bayt. Such a question need not even be asked, as its prohibition is clear-cut and goes without saying.

Of course, special dispensation was given by the `Aimma to a few of their exclusive followers [e.g. Ali b. Yaqtin] to work for the authorities, but this was with the greater interest of the Shia in mind and under strict conditions. Unless otherwise, the overwhelming attitude of the Shia was to have aversion to working for them, unless one is sure that he will have enough leeway to act in a just manner and not be compelled to do harm or enact that which has been prohibited.

 

[15/170] رجال الكشي: حمدويه، عن أيوب، عن حنان بن سدير قال: كتب معي رجل أن أسأل أبا عبد الله عليه السلام عما قالت اليهود و النصارى و المجوس و الذين أشركوا هو مما شاء أن يقولوا قال: فقال: إن ذا من مسائل آل أعين ليس من ديني و لا دين آبائي قال: قلت: ما معي مسألة غير هذه

[15/170] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Ayyub from Hanan b. Sadiyr who said: a man entrusted me with a written question to ask Aba Abdillah عليه السلام [which was]: what the Jews, Christians, Magians and those who polythesize profess - is that what Allah willed them to believe [or was it of their own volition]? He said: this is a question that behooves the family of A`yan, it does not belong to my religion or the religion of my forefathers. I said: I do not have any other question apart from this.

NOTES:ً

This is another piece of evidence indicating Zurara’s interest in the question of pre-destination. Do people disbelieve because God wished them to do so or is it a choice they make freely? The Imam’s answer should be studied carefully. It confirms that the `Aimma were averse to delving into speculative lines of questioning in theological matters especially matters related to Tawhid. They mainly concerned themselves with Fiqh because it is more practical and relevant to the common believer. This explains why most of the narrations we have from them are about practical jurisprudential matters. The `Aimma were the guardians of the Sunna, and the prophet did not address such questions purposely in his religion whose strength is simplicity. Most of the theological debates were innovations influenced by corrupting influences of new converts from ancestral faiths and borrowings from Greek logic, movements that were antithetical to pristine Islam.  

Of course, this is not to say that the `Aimma were ignorant of such issues, but rather they trained a few number of select companions in this field whom they felt were competent enough to deal with it. However, when the society evolved some of these issues had to be confronted head on and the latter `Aimma especially al-Rida educated the Shia further on what their stances should be.

 

[16/171] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن الوشاء، عن هشام بن سالم، عن زرارة قال: سألت أبا جعفر عليه‌ السلام عن جوائز العمال؟ فقال: لا بأس به، قال: ثم قال: انما اراد زرارة أن يبلغ هشاما اني أحرم أعمال السلطان

[16/171] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh b. Nusayr from Muhammad b. Isa from al-Washsha from Hisham b. Salim from Zurara who said: I asked Aba Ja`far عليه‌ السلام about [accepting] the stipends given to officials [working in the bureaucracy of the Caliphate]? He said: there is no harm in [taking] it, then he said: Zurara wanted that it reach Hisham [the Caliph] that I prohibit working for the Sultan. 

NOTES:ً

The narration adds another aspect to the question of working for the temporal rulers that was touched on above (see No. 14 above). Such questions were not asked openly [in a public setting] by the Shia because for the Imam to refuse people to work for ‘them’ would be considered a clear act of rebellion carrying a grievous penalty [it was considered treasonous by the authorities - how could their administrations survive if no one was willing to work for them!]. It is clear that the Imam is acting under duress when replying in the affirmative and legalizing the stipends obtained from them because he goes on to lightly admonish Zurara by questioning his motives – does he want me to answer in truth and it spreads among the people that I refuse working for them! that would a clear broadcast that I consider them illegitimate rulers! Something which the `Aimma never openly declared fearing for their safety and that of their Shia.

 

[17/172] رجال الكشي: حمدويه بن نصير، عن محمد بن عيسى بن عبيد، عن يونس بن عبد الرحمن، عن عبد الله بن زرارة و محمد بن قولويه و الحسين بن الحسن، عن سعد بن عبد الله، عن هارون بن الحسن بن محبوب، عن محمد بن عبد الله بن زرارة و ابنيه الحسن و الحسين، عن عبد الله بن زرارة قال: قال لي أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: اقرأ مني على والدك السلام، و قل له: إني إنما أعيبك دفاعا مني عنك، فإن الناس و العدو يسارعون إلى كل من قربناه و حمدنا مكانه لإدخال الأذى في من نحبه و نقربه، و يرمونه لمحبتنا له و قربه و دنوه منا، و يرون إدخال الأذى عليه و قتله، و يحمدون كل من عبناه نحن وإن لم يحمد امره، فإنما أعيبك لأنك رجل اشتهرت بنا و لميلك إلينا، و أنت في ذلك مذموم عند الناس غير محمود الأثر لمودتك لنا و بميلك إلينا، فأحببت أن أعيبك ليحمدوا أمرك في الدين بعيبك و نقصك، و يكون بذلك منا دافع شرهم عنك، يقول الله جل و عز أَمَّا السَّفِينَةُ فَكَانَتْ لِمَسَاكِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الْبَحْرِ فَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا وَكَانَ وَرَاءَهُمْ مَلِكٌ يَأْخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ صَالِحة غَصْبًا، هذا التنزيل من عند الله <صالحة> لا و الله ما عابها إلا لكي تسلم من الملك و لا تعطب على يديه و لقد كانت صالحة ليس للعيب منها مساغ و الحمد لله، فافهم المثل يرحمك الله فإنك و الله أحب الناس إلي و أحب أصحاب أبي عليه السلام حيا و ميتا، فإنك أفضل سفن ذلك البحر القمقام الزاخر، و أن من ورائك ملكا ظلوما غصوبا يرقب عبور كل سفينة صالحة ترد من بحر الهدى ليأخذها غصبا ثم يغصبها و أهلها، و رحمة الله عليك حيا و رحمته و رضوانه عليك ميتا، و لقد أدى إلي ابناك الحسن و الحسين رسالتك، حاطهما الله و كلأهما و رعاهما و حفظهما بصلاح أبيهما كما حفظ الغلامين، فلا يضيقن صدرك من الذي أمرك أبي عليه السلام و امرتك به، و أتاك أبو بصير بخلاف الذي أمرناك به، فلا و الله ما أمرناك و لا أمرناه إلا بأمر وسعنا و وسعكم الأخذ به، و لكل ذلك عندنا تصاريف و معان توافق الحق، و لو أذن لنا لعلمتم أن الحق في الذي أمرناكم به، فردوا إلينا الأمر و سلموا لنا و اصبروا لأحكامنا و ارضوا بها، و الذي فرق بينكم فهو راعيكم الذي استرعاه الله خلقه، و هو أعرف بمصلحة غنمه في فساد أمرها، فإن شاء فرق بينها لتسلم ثم يجمع بينها لتأمن من فسادها و خوف عدوها في ابان ما يأذن الله، و يأتيها بالأمن من مأمنه و الفرج من عنده، عليكم بالتسليم و الرد إلينا و انتظار أمرنا و أمركم و فرجنا و فرجكم، و لو قد قام قائمنا و تكلم متكلمنا ثم استأنف بكم تعليم القرآن و شرائع الدين و الأحكام و الفرائض كما أنزله الله على محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم لأنكره أهل البصائر منكم ذلك اليوم إنكارا شديدا، ثم لم تستقيموا على دين الله و طريقه إلا من تحت حد السيف فوق رقابكم، إن الناس بعد نبي الله عليه السلام ركب الله بهم سنة من كان قبلكم فغيروا و بدلوا و حرفوا و زادوا في دين الله و نقصوا منه، فما من شي‏ء عليه الناس اليوم إلا و هو منحرف عما نزل به الوحي من عند الله فأجب رحمك الله من حيث تدعى إلى حيث تدعى، حتى يأتي من يستأنف بكم دين الله استئنافا، و عليك بالصلاة الستة و الأربعين، و عليك بالحج أن تهل بالإفراد و تنوي الفسخ إذا قدمت مكة و طفت و سعيت فسخت ما أهللت به و قلبت الحج عمرة أحللت إلى يوم التروية ثم استأنف الإهلال بالحج مفردا إلى منى و تشهد المنافع بعرفات و المزدلفة، فكذلك حج رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم و هكذا أمر أصحابه أن يفعلوا أن يفسخوا ما أهلوا به و يقلبوا الحج عمرة، و إنما أقام رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم على إحرامه للسوق الذي ساق معه، فإن السائق قارن و القارن لا يحل حتى يبلغ هديه محله، و محله المنحر بمنى، فإذا بلغ أحل، فهذا الذي أمرناك به حج المتمتع فألزم ذلك و لا يضيقن صدرك، و الذي أتاك به أبو بصير من صلاة إحدى و خمسين، و الإهلال بالتمتع بالعمرة إلى الحج، و ما أمرنا به من أن يهل بالتمتع، فلذلك عندنا معان و تصاريف كذلك ما يسعنا و يسعكم و لا يخالف شي‏ء منه الحق و لا يضاده، و الحمد لله رب العالمين 

[17/172] Rijal al-Kashshi: Hamduwayh from Muhammad b. Isa from Yunus from Abdallah b. Zurara AND Muhammad b. Qulawayh and al-Husayn b. al-Hasan from Sa`d from Harun b. al-Hasan b. Mahbub from Muhammad b. Abdallah b. Zurara and his [Zurara’s] two sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn from Abdallah b. Zurara who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to me: convey my salutations of peace to your father and say to him: Verily, I only defame you as a way of defending you, for the masses and the enemy hasten to whomever we draw near and praise his station so as to cause harm to the one we love and bring close. They accuse such a one because of our love for him and his closeness and intimacy with us, and they consider causing him harm and even killing him as justified. On the other hand, they praise every one whom we fault even if his affair is not praiseworthy. Thus, I fault you because you have become notorious as a result of your association with us and your inclination towards us, which have caused you to become blamable in the eyes of the people and your works to be looked upon unfavourably, all this because of your love for us and your inclination towards us. So I wished to fault you so that they can praise your religious stand as a result of my denigrating and diminishing you, and this becomes a way of warding off their evil from you.  

 

Allah Majestic and Mighty says: “as for the boat then it belonged to the poor working at sea so I wished to damage it because there was a king after them who seizes every good boat by force” this is a revelation from Allah [including the word] ‘good’. No by Allah! he did not damage it except so that it be saved from the king and is not ruined in his hands. It was a ‘good’ boat which had no question of being defective Allah be praised, so comprehend the parable, may Allah have mercy on you! for you are by Allah! the most beloved of people to me and the most beloved of the companions of my father in my estimation both in life and after death. Indeed you are the best boat in that tumultuous and stormy sea, and there is a tyrannical and usurping king after you, keeping watch for the crossing of every good boat returning from the sea of guidance so that he can take it for himself and seize it and its owners, so may the mercy of Allah be upon you in life and His mercy and pleasure be upon you after death.

 

And your two sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn brought me your letter, may Allah guard, defend, watch over and protect them because of the goodness of their father, the way He had protected the two boys (the orphans in Surat al-Kahf). 

 

Let not your heart constrict in grief if Abu Basir comes to you with the opposite of that which you were instructed by my father and by me, for by Allah! we did not instruct you and him except with an instruction that is fitting to act upon both for us and for you, and for each [instruction, even if seemingly contradictory] we have diverse expressions and interpretations all of which agree with the truth. 

 

And if we were allowed [to explain] you would come to know that the truth is in that which we have instructed you. So refer back to us the matter and submit to us and be patient in acting according to our rulings and be satisfied with them. The one who has divided you is your shepherd who has been given authority by Allah over His creation. He [the shepherd] is more aware of what is in the interest of his flock and what can corrupt it. If he wishes he divides between them to safe-guard them, then he unites them once more so that it is secure from destruction and the fear posed by its enemy, in such a time as Allah permits, bringing it thereby safety from His place of safety and relief from Him. Upon you is to submit and to refer back to us and to await our affair and your affair and our relief and your relief.  

 

However [if you do not submit wholly - then], if our Riser were to rise and our Speaker speak and he recommences teaching you the Qur’an, the Laws of religion, the rulings and inheritance shares the way Allah revealed them to Muhammad the ‘people of insight’ among you will repudiate it on that day a bitter repudiation, then you will not remain steadfast upon the religion of Allah and his path except under the threat of the sword over your necks! 

 

The people after the prophet of Allah were left to embark by Allah the same example as those who came before you, so they changed, altered, distorted, and added to the religion of Allah and reduced from it, consequently there is not a thing which the people are upon today [following] except that it is distorted when compared to that which was revealed from Allah. Respond then my Allah have mercy on you away from what you are calling for to what you are being called to, until comes the one who will renew the religion anew. 

 

Upon you is the forty six unit prayer and to make the Hajj by reciting the Talbiyya aloud for Ifrad [Hajj alone without Umra] and make an intention to dissolve it [later], when you reach Makka you make the Tawaf and the Sa’i [between Safa and Marwa], then you dissolve what you had made Talbiyya for and change the Hajj to Umra, you are consequently  relieved of the state of Ihram up to the day of Tarwiya, then you renew reciting the Talbiyya aloud for Hajj solely [Ifrad] [and go] to Mina, and witness the benefits at Arafat and Muzdalifa, for this was how the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم made the Hajj and this is what he had ordered his companions to do, to dissolve that which they had recited the Talbiyya aloud for and to change the [intention of] Hajj to [that of] Umra, and the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم remained in [the state of] his Ihram because of the animal which he had driven with [accompanying] him, for the Sa`iq [one who drives the animal] is a Qarin [coupler] and the Qarin does not disengage [from the state of Ihram] until his Hadi [sacrificial animal] reaches its appropriate place, and its appropriate place is the sacrificial grounds in Mina, so when it reaches there [and is slaughtered] then he has disengaged [from the sate of Ihram]. This which we have ordered you to comply with is the Hajj of the Mutamati`, so adhere to it and your chest should not be constricted [in grief], that which Abu Basir came to you with in regards the prayer being fifty one [units], and voicing the Talbiyya aloud for Tamattu [enjoying] combining the Umra with the Hajj [at the outset, without the maneuver of having to dissolve the intention] and our instruction to him to recite the Talbiyya for Tamattu, then we have for that different interpretations and expressions which are accommodating for both us and you, and none of them [the seemingly different instructions] oppose the truth nor contradict it, and all praise is due to Allah.              

NOTES:ً

An interesting tidbit which we gleam from this narration is that the Qira’a of the Ahl al-Bayt of the verse 18: 79 was different from the extant Uthmani Mashif. They used to recite it with an additional interpretive word صالحة like this:

و كان وراءهم ملك يأخذ كل سفينة صالحة غصبا ‘there was a king after them who seizes every good boat by force’ 

instead of just و كان وراءهم ملك يأخذ كل سفينة غصبا ‘there was a king after them who seizes every boat by force’ 

It is important to note that this is what has also been attributed to the Mushaf of Ibn Mas`ud and how Ubayy b. Ka`b recited the verse [See Tafsir al-Tabari]

In Sahih Bukhari:

قال سعيد بن جبير فكان ابن عباس يقرأ وكان أمامهم ملك يأخذ كل سفينة صالحة غصبا وكان يقرأ وأما الغلام فكان كافرا وكان أبواه مؤمنين

A very critical point which we can we can take from this narration is that the Imam held Zurara in very high esteem [arguably his greatest companion as intimated in the narration] but purposely defamed Zurara as a defensive mechanism to safeguard him from the those who would latch onto anyone who became too close to the `Aimma. The Imam compares this act of his to al-Khidr who damaged the fisherman’s boat to save it from the king who was after it. Thus, this narration is a central interpretive lens through which the negative portrayal of Zurara in a number of reports can be explained away.

Secondly, and even more sensitive, is that the Imam would sometimes purposely instruct different things to different companions causing a division between them. This was apparently done for the greater interest of keeping them safe because it was felt that Madhhabic uniformity, especially in matters of visible rituals, would be a marker used by the authorities to identify and consequently persecute them. The companions are ordered to submit to this, even when they discover cases of this, because the Imams do not have the opportunity to fully clarify to them the thinking behind each case, or to establish the Diin as it is supposed to be [which will only be fulfilled with the coming of the Qaim].

With the Imams sometimes actively choosing to create Ikhtilaf between the companions, case in point from this narration being Zurara told to pray 46 units per day while Abu Basir was told 51 units, also, Zurara was previously given instruction to make the Hajj to be Mufrad while Abu Basir was instructed for Tamattu al-Umra bi al-Hajj, the question which arises is this – are the different instructions given by the Imam to which we have to submit contradictory in reality [to be overlooked because exigency demaded it or because doing so is within their authority] OR is it that despite them seeming to be contradictory on the surface they are actually referring to the same truth?

There is an allusion in this narration to the latter being correct, despite their words having diverging meanings but none of them oppose the truth or contradict it rather agree with it and can be reconciled. 

Edited June 25, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

3.55. Zakariyya b. Sabur

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/zakariyya-b-sabur

 

[-/1] الكافي: محمد بن يحيى، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى، عن ابن فضال، عن يونس بن يعقوب، عن سعيد بن يسار أنه حضر أحد ابني سابور وكان لهما فضل وورع و إخبات فمرض أحدهما وما أحسبه إلا زكريا بن سابور قال: فحضرته عند موته فبسط يده ثم قال: ابيضت يدي ياعلي، قال: فدخلت على أبي عبدالله عليه السلام و عنده محمد بن مسلم قال: فلما قمت من عنده ظننت أن محمدا يخبره بخبر الرجل فأتبعني برسول فرجعت إليه فقال: أخبرني عن هذا الرجل الذي حضرته عند الموت أي شئ سمعته يقول؟ قال: قلت بسط يده ثم قال: ابيضت يدي ياعلي، فقال أبوعبدالله عليه السلام: والله رآه، والله رآه، والله رآه

[1/-] al-Kafi: Muhammad b. Yahya from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa from Ibn Fadhal from Yunus b. Ya`qub from Sa`id b. Yasar who said: I visited one of the sons of Sabur, and they [the brothers] were all possessors of merit, self-restraint [from sins] and humility, in any case one of them fell sick - I do not think it was anyone other than Zakariyya b. Sabur - I attended to him when he was about to die so he stretched out his hand and said: my hand has brightened O Ali! following this I entered upon Abi Abdillah عليه السلام while Muhammad b. Muslim was with him, when I got up to leave I felt that Muhammad will inform him of the incident that happened with the man [Zakariyya], sure enough he [the Imam] sent a messenger after me [to call me] and I returned to him whereupon he said: inform me about this man whom you visited before his death - what did you hear him say? I said: he stretched out his hand and said ‘my hand has brightened O Ali!’ so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: by Allah he saw him! by Allah he saw him! by Allah he saw him! 

NOTES:ً

It is clear that Zakariyya b. Sabur saw Ali عليه السلام before dying. His hand brightened most probably because the Imam shook hands with him or touched him there.  

Other narrations that speak about what believers and disbelievers see just before death also confirm that this does happen.

محمد بن يحيى، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن الحسين بن سعيد، عن النضر بن سويد، عن يحيى الحلبي، عن ابن مسكان، عن عبدالرحيم قال: قلت لابي جعفر عليه السلام حدثني صالح بن ميثم، عن عباية الاسدي أنه سمع عليا عليه السلام يقول: والله لا يبغضني عبد أبدا يموت على بغضي إلا رآني عند موته حيث يكره ولا يحبني عبد أبدا فيموت على حبي إلا رآني عند موته حيث يحب. فقال أبوجعفر عليه السلام: نعم ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله باليمين

Muhammad b. Yahya – Ahmad b. Muhammad  - al-Husayn b. Sa`id – al-Nadhr b. Suwayd – Yahya al-Halabi – Ibn Muskan – Abd al-Rahim who said: I said to Abi Ja`far عليه السلام [the following]: Salih b. Maytham narrated to me from Abaya al-Asadi that he heard Ali عليه السلام saying: by Allah! there is not a slave who hates me and goes on to die upon that state of hatred towards me except that he sees me before he dies where [having a status] he dislikes, and there is not a slave who loves me and goes on to die upon that state of love towards me except that he sees me before he dies where he likes. Abu Ja`far عليه السلام said: yes [it is true] and the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله [stands] to his [Ali’s] right [when they come to visit the dying].

أبوعلي الاشعري، عن محمد بن عبدالجبار، عن صفوان، عن جارود بن المنذر قال: سمعت أبا عبدالله عليه السلام يقول: إذا بلغت نفس أحدكم هذه - وأوما بيده ألى حلقه - قرت عينه

Abu Ali al-Ash`ari – Muhammad b. Abd al-Jabbar – Safwan – Jarud b. al-Mundhir who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام saying: if the soul of one of you reaches here – and he pointed with his hand to his throat – his eyes will be delighted [by seeing the Imam].

[Islamic Salvation]

-

Edited June 28, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

3.56. Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qandi

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/ziyad-b-marwan-al-qandi

 

[-/1] عيون اخبار الرضا: عن أبيه، عن سعد، عن محمد بن عيسى، عن زياد بن مروان القندى قال: دخلت على أبي ابراهيم عليه السلام وعنده على ابنه أبو الحسن فقال لي: يا زياد هذا ابني فلان كتابه كتابي وكلامه كلامي ورسوله رسولي وما قال فالقول قوله

[1/-] Uyun Akhbar al-Ridha: From his father from Sa`d from Muhammad b. Isa from Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qandi who said: I entered to meet Abi Ibrahim [al-Kadhim] عليه السلام and with him was his son Abu al-Hasan [al-Ridha] – he [al-Kadhim] said to me: O Ziyad this is my son so and so – his letter is my letter, his words are my words, his messenger is my messenger and whatever he says then the decision is what he says.

NOTES:ً

The surprising thing is that Ziyad could narrate such a narration which is clear in its implications about the succession and still go on to be the principal leader of Waqifism i.e. stopping at al-Kadhim and rejecting the Imama of al-Rida. But this is what happens when one succumbs to temptation of the world.

قال مصنف هذا الكتاب: ان زياد بن مروان القندى روى هذا الحديث ثم انكره بعد مضى موسى عليه السلام وقال بالوقف وحبس ما كان عنده من مال موسى بن جعفر عليه السلام

As al-Saduq puts it: Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qandi narrated this Hadith and then rejected it after the passing of Musa عليه السلام, professed belief in Waqf and withheld what he had of the wealth that belonged to Musa b. Ja`far عليهما السلام [did not hand it over to the next Imam].

This is how Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman explains the state of affairs at the death of al-Kadhim عليه السلام

محمد بن يحيى العطار، عن محمد بن أحمد، عن محمد بن جمهور، عن أحمد بن الفضل، عن يونس بن عبدالرحمن قال: مات أبو إبراهيم عليه السلام وليس من قوامه أحد إلا وعنده المال الكثير، و كان ذلك سبب وقفهم وجحدهم موته، طمعا في الاموال، كان عند زياد بن مروان القندي سبعون ألف دينار، وعند علي بن أبي حمزة ثلاثون ألف دينار، فلما رأيت ذلك وتبينت الحق وعرفت من أمر أبي الحسن الرضا ماعلمت، تكلمت ودعوت الناس إليه فبعثا إلي وقالا: مايدعوك إلى هذا؟ إن كنت تريد المال فنحن نغنيك وضمنا لي عشرة آلاف دينار، وقالا لي: كف، فأبيت وقلت لهما: إنا روينا عن الصادقين عليهم السلام أنهم قالوا: إذا ظهرت البدع فعلى العالم أن يظهر علمه، فإن لم يفعل سلب نور الايمان، وما كنت لادع الجهاد في أمر الله على كل حال، فناصباني وأضمرا لي العداوة

Muhammad b. Yahya al-Attar – Muhammad b. Ahmad – Muhammad b. Jumhur – Ahmad b. al-Fadhl – Yunus b. Abd al-Rahman who said: Abu Ibrahim عليه السلام died while there wasn’t a man among his agents who did not have in his hands a lot of wealth [belonging to the Imam], and that was the reason for their “stoppage” and opposition to acknowledging his death, being covetous of the wealth. Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qandi had with him seventy thousand gold coins and Ali b. Abi Hamza had thirty thousand gold coins. When I observed this and the truth became obvious to me and I recognized the matter as rightly belonging to Abi al-Hasan al-Rida I began speaking and calling the people to him [al-Rida] so they both sent for me and said: what is motivating you to do this [support al-Rida]? If it is money you want then we will make you rich and they promised me ten thousand gold coins and they said: stop [your activities in support of al-Rida]! but I refused and said to them: we have narrated from the Sadiqayn that they said: if innovation rears its head then it is upon the scholar to reveal his knowledge and if he does not do so then the light of faith is snatched away from him. I am not one of those who can abandon struggling in the way of Allah under any circumstance. So they held hatred and began to harbour enmity towards me.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Islamic Salvation]

3.57. Ziyad b. al-Mundhir Abu al-Jarud

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/ziyad-b-al-mundhir-abu-al-jarud

 

[1/173] رجال الكشي: محمد بن الحسن البراثي و عثمان بن حامد الكشيان، عن محمد بن يزداد، عن محمد بن الحسين، عن عبد الله المزخرف، عن أبي سليمان الحمار قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول لأبي الجارود بمنى في فسطاطه رافعا صوته: يا أبا الجارود كان و الله أبي إمام أهل الأرض حيث مات لا يجهله إلا ضال، ثم رأيته في العام المقبل قال له مثل ذلك، قال: فلقيت أبا الجارود بعد ذلك بالكوفة فقلت له: أليس قد سمعت ما قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام مرتين قال: إنما يعني أباه علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام 

[1/173] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Burathi al-Kashshi and Uthman b. Hamid al-Kashshi from Muhammad b. Yazdad from Muhammad b. al-Husayn from Abdallah al-Muzkhraf from Abi Sulayman al-Hammar who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام saying to Abi al-Jarud in his tent in Mina whilst having raised his voice: O Aba al-Jarud - by Allah my father was the Imam of all the people of the earth when he died, no one is ignorant of him [rejects his right] except the misguided one, then I saw him the next year [in the Hajj season] saying to him the same thing. He (Abi Sulayman) said: so I met Abu al-Jarud after this in al-Kufa and said to him: did you not hear what Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said twice? He said: he means by it his father Ali bin Abi Talib عليه السلام

NOTES:ً

Abu al-Jarud like other Zaydis maintained the Imamate of Ali but not of his descendants who did not rebel with the sword. He transmitted narrations from al-Baqir and al-Sadiq and clearly held them in high esteem as learned members of the Ahl al-Bayt but nothing more.

When al-Sadiq says to him that his father was the Hujja of God on earth Abu al-Jarud struggles to interpret it in a way that does not go against his beliefs. This is because he did not consider the quietist Muhammad b. Ali al-Baqir to be an Imam. He does this by claiming that al-Sadiq was speaking about his ‘forefather’ Ali but this is clearly against the apparent of what al-Sadiq meant.

The Zaydiyya are a well known branch of the Shi‘a arising out of the abortive revolt of Zayd b. ‘Ali b. al-Husayn in Kufa in 122 AH. Abu al-Jarud, who is said to have been blind from birth, participated in this revolt. Within the Zaydiyya there were two main trends that can be labelled Jarudiyya and Batriyya.

The Jarudiyya, the sub-sect whose name is derived from their leader - the Abu al-Jarud under discussion, can be considered as being stronger in their “Rafdh” than the Batriyya. This is because they went further in de-legitimizing the first three Caliphs and rejecting the validity of their rule. They also condemn the majority of the Companions and the Muslim community for their desertion of the rightful Imam whom they consider to be Ali. They affirm that Ali had been appointed by the Prophet as his legatee (wasi) and implicitly as his successor. They also accept al-Hasan and al-Husayn as Imams after Ali believing that they shared in the inheritance of the prophet.

Where they differed with the Twelver Imamis is in that they did not believe in Nass [successive designation] of one Imam to the next, or hold the requirement that the Imam be infallible. Instead they considered any pious descendant of Fatima who takes up arms and rises in revolt against the unjust temporal rulers to be the Imam.

 

 [-/2] عيون الاخبار: أحمد بن محمد بن يحيى العطار، عن أبي، عن محمد بن الحسين بن أبي الخطاب، عن الحسن بن محبوب، عن أبي الجارود، عن أبي جعفر، عن جابر بن عبد الله الانصاري قال: دخلت على فاطمه عليها السلام وبين يديها لوح فيه اسماء الاوصياء فعددت اثنا عشر آخرهم القائم ثلاثه منهم محمد واربعه منهم على عليهم السلام

[2/-] Uyun al-Akhbar: Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Yahya al-Attar from his father from Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. Abi al-Khattab from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from Abi al-Jarud from Abi Ja`far from Jabir b. Abdallah al-Ansari who said: I entered to meet Fatima عليها السلام and found a tablet in front of her which had the names of the Awsiya (Heirs). I counted twelve [names] the last of them being the Qaim, three of them were Muhammad and four of them had names of Ali عليهم السلام

 

[-/3] عيون الاخبار: الحسين بن أحمد بن ادريس، عن أبي، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى و ابراهيم بن هاشم، عن الحسن بن محبوب، عن أبي الجارود، عن أبي جعفر، عن جابر بن عبد الله الانصاري قال: دخلت على فاطمه عليها السلام وبين يديها لوح فيه اسماء الاوصياء فعددت اثنا عشر آخرهم القائم عليه السلام ثلاثه منهم محمد واربعه منهم على عليهم السلام

[3/-] Uyun al-Akhbar: al-Husayn b. Ahmad b. Idris from his father from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa and Ibrahim b. Hashim from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from Abi al-Jarud from Abi Ja`far from Jabir b. Abdallah al-Ansari who said: I entered to meet Fatima عليها السلام and found a tablet in front of her in which were the names of the Awsiya (Heirs). I counted twelve names the last of them being the Qaim عليه السلام. Three of them were Muhammad and four of them had names of Ali عليهم السلام

NOTES:

The two narrations above and others like them form part of the complex of traditions collectively called ‘the Hadith of the Lawh [tablet]’. Some critical scholars have questioned their authenticity giving three reasons:

i. The possibility of al-Hasan b. Mahbub, who was probably born close to the time of al-Sadiq's death, narrating from senior companions of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq has been questioned. Here he is narrating from Abu al-Jarud who seems to be in the same age range. This raises the suspicion of a hidden intermediary.

ii. More importantly, these Hadiths seem to be polemical in nature. This is because they are putting words in the mouth of a rival leader of the Imamis i.e. Abu al-Jarud of the Jarudi Zaydis, making him acknowledge that the Imams are twelve. But this does not tally with anything we know about the historical  Abu al-Jarud. He is not portrayed as ever coming over to the Twelver view or supporting it in independent records. Instead, in the first narration above, which is reliable, he gets a telling off from al-Sadiq for not acknowledging the Imama of al-Baqir.

iii. al-Bahbudi claims that they are fabrications after the event with the chains being cooked. They originate from a time when the idea of twelve Imams gained currency and was being supported. Otherwise, what could explain the fact that the Shia kept on splintering into multiple sub-sects after the death of each Imam and entered into a period of deep confusion post the Occultation if everything was clear cut and well known as these Hadiths indicate?

The question which Bahbudi has to answer is as follows: How could such a fabrication have entered our corpus when we have an accomplished scholar like al-Saduq narrating them via multiple very strong lower-chains up to al-Hasan b. Mahbub [they authentically go back to him at the very least], and the Matn predicts future events before his [Ibn Mahbub's] time which panned out as predicted.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Islamic Salvation

[Sumerian]

@Islamic Salvation wouldn't it be easy for one of the narrators or even the author of the book to simply construct a chain that looks authentic for polemical reasons to try and prove his madhab - especially if its a sole narration?

I think in such instances one needs mutawatir hadiths to prove his aqeeda, don't you think?

Edited June 30, 2017 by E.L King

[Islamic Salvation]

On 7/1/2017 at 1:56 AM, E.L King said:

@Islamic Salvation wouldn't it be easy for one of the narrators or even the author of the book to simply construct a chain that looks authentic for polemical reasons to try and prove his madhab - especially if its a sole narration?

I think in such instances one needs mutawatir hadiths to prove his aqeeda, don't you think?

It is of course possible for someone to fabricate both the content of a Hadith and its chain which did indeed happen. The difficulty would be to pass it off as a genuine narration and introduce it to the mainstream of Hadith circulation. This is because the scholars of the Hadith and especially the experts among them decried narrating an inordinate number of narrations from unknown or weak individuals. They also put great importance to corroboration and suspecting exceptionally sole reports.

Then there was the method of transmission whereby a student goes to a trusted teacher and hears it directly from his mouth and gets a license to transmit further. They would not give weight to what has been "found in a book" for example, but does not have an oral legacy in the circles of study.

[Islamic Salvation]

3.58. Zayd b. Ali

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/zayd-b-ali

 

[1/174] الكافي: علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن صفوان بن يحيى، عن عيص بن القاسم قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: عليكم بتقوى الله وحده لا شريك له وانظروا لأنفسكم فوالله إن الرجل ليكون له الغنم فيها الراعي فإذا وجد رجلا هو اعلم بغنمه من الذي هو فيها يخرجه ويجيئ، بذلك الرجل الذي هو أعلم بغنمه من الذي كان فيها والله لو كانت لاحدكم نفسان يقاتل بواحدة يجرب بها ثم كانت الأخرى باقية فعمل على ما قد استبان لها ولكن له نفس واحدة إذا ذهبت، فقد والله ذهبت التوبة فأنتم أحق أن تختاروا لأنفسكم، إن أتاكم آت منا فانظروا على أي شئ تخرجون ولا تقولوا خرج زيد فإن زيدا كان عالما وكان صدوقا ولم يدعكم إلى نفسه إنما دعاكم إلى الرضا من آل محمد عليهم السلام ولو ظهر لوفى بما دعاكم إليه إنما خرج إلى سلطان مجتمع لينقضه فالخارج منا اليوم إلى أي شئ يدعوكم إلى الرضا من آل محمد عليهم السلام فنحن نشهدكم إنا لسنا نرضى به وهو يعصينا اليوم وليس معه أحد وهو إذا كانت الرايات والألوية أجدر أن لا يسمع منا إلا مع من اجتمعت بنو فاطمة معه فوالله ما صاحبكم إلا من اجتمعوا عليه، إذا كان رجب فأقبلوا على اسم الله عز وجل وإن أحببتم أن تتأخروا إلى شعبان فلا ضير وإن أحببتم أن تصوموا في أهاليكم فلعل ذلك أن يكون أقوى لكم وكفاكم بالسفياني علامة

[1/174] al-Kafi: Ali b. Ibrahim from his father from Safwan b. Yahya from Iys b. al-Qasim who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام saying: upon you is to fear God alone who Has no partner, and to be on the lookout for yourselves, for by Allah a man may possess a flock over which he places a shepherd, but when he discovers another man who is more knowledgeable about caring for his flock than the one in place he removes the latter and replaces him with that man who is more knowledgeable about his flock than the one who was previously taking care of it. If one of you had two souls, one of which he could fight with and risk it, while the other remains alive safe to use to act upon the truth that has become clear to him [then it would have been fine], but he has only one soul - if it is lost then by Allah the opportunity for repentance is also lost. You are best placed to make  decisions for yourselves, if a comer comes to you from us [the people of the House] then scrutinize what things are you coming out in revolt over exactly, and do not say ‘Zayd revolted’ [to justify yourselves] for Zayd was a scholar and truthful, moreover he did not call you for his own sake rather he called you to rally around the Rida [pleasing choice] from the family of Muhammad [i.e. the Imam], and had he become victorious he would have followed through on what he had called you to. But the one who revolts from among us today to what thing is he calling you to? is it to the pleasing choice from the family of Muhammad?! if so then we declare that we are not pleased with him! and if he is disobeying us about this today when he has no following then how much more emboldened will he be to ignore and not listen to us when the banners and the flags [converge around him]! [You are not come out] except with the one around whom the children of Fatima are united over, for by Allah your man is none other than the one around whom they unite. So when it is Rajab then proceed in the name of Allah Mighty and Majestic [to Makka] but if you wish to delay to Sha`ban then there is no harm done and if you prefer to fast in your families then perhaps that is more appropriate for you. Indeed the Sufyani is enough of a sign for you [to indicate the closeness of the appearance].    

NOTES:

The Imam begins by emphasizing that the leader to be the most worthy. If this is true even for mundane human affairs then how much more consequential would it be in critical matters of religion. He then  advises caution against wasting ones precious life over causes that are not divinely sanctioned. He warns against backing pretenders from the Ahl al-Bayt, who were cropping up in copious numbers at that time, before the coming of the Sufyani, for they would all be false claimants. Zayd should not be used as a justification to rebel because he was of a different league and would have actually fulfilled his promise if victorious. The importance of the three months as the commencement of the show-down to the end-game is also indicated.

 

[-/2] الكافي: عدة من أصحابنا، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى، عن علي بن الحكم، عن أبان قال: أخبرني الأحول أن زيد بن علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام بعث إليه وهو مستخف، قال: فأتيته فقال لي: يا أبا جعفر ما تقول إن طرقك طارق منا أتخرج معه. قال: فقلت له: إن كان أباك أو أخاك خرجت معه، قال: فقال لي: فأنا أريد أن أخرج أجاهد هؤلاء القوم فاخرج معي، قال: قلت لا ما أفعل جعلت فداك، قال: فقال لي: أترغب بنفسك عني؟ قال: قلت له: إنما هي نفس واحدة فإن كان لله في الأرض حجة فالمتخلف عنك ناج والخارج معك هالك وإن لا تكن لله حجة في الأرض فالمتخلف عنك والخارج معك سواء، قال: فقال لي: يا أبا جعفر كنت أجلس مع أبي على الخوان فيلقمني البضعة السمينة ويبرد لي اللقمة الحارة حتى تبرد شفقة علي ولم يشفق علي من حر النار، إذن أخبرك بالدين ولم يخبرني به؟ فقلت له: جعلت فداك من شفقته عليك من حر النار لم يخبرك، خاف عليك أن لا تقبله فتدخل النار، وأخبرني أنا فإن قبلت نجوت وإن لم يبال أن أدخل النار، ثم قلت له: جعلت فداك أنتم أفضل أم الأنبياء؟ قال: بل الأنبياء، قلت: يقول: يعقوب ليوسف: يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَىٰ إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا لَكَ كَيْدًا لم لم يخبرهم حتى كانوا لا يكيدونه ولكن كتمهم ذلك، فكذلك أبوك كتمك لأنه خاف عليك، قال: فقال: أما والله لئن قلت ذلك لقد حدثني صاحبك بالمدينة أني أقتل وأصلب بالكناسة وأن عنده لصحيفة فيها قتلي وصلبي، فحججت فحدثت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام بمقالة زيد وما قلت له، فقال لي: أخذته من بين يديه ومن خلفه وعن يمينه وعن شماله ومن فوق رأسه ومن تحت قدميه ولم تترك له مسلكا يسلكه

[2/-] al-Kafi: A number of our companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa from Ali b. al-Hakam from Aban who said: al-Ahwal reported to me saying: Zayd b. Ali b. al-Husayn عليهما السلام sent for me while he was in hiding so I went to see him. He [Zayd] said to me: O Aba Ja`far [al-Ahwal] what will you say if a knocker from among us [the family of the prophet] knocks on your door [asking for your support to fight the unjust ruler] - would you come out in revolt with him? I said to him: if it is your father [al-Sajjad] or your brother [al-Baqir] I would set out with him. He [Zayd] said to me: Verily I wish to rise up and fight these people so set out with me, I said: No, I will not do so may I be made your ransom, he said to me: do you prefer your life over mine? I said: it is only one soul [that I have] - if Allah does indeed have a Hujja [proof] on the earth [whose existence you deny] then the one who stays back from joining you is saved and the one who joins you is destroyed [for revolting without the permission of the Hujja], but if Allah does not have a Hujja [proof] on the earth [as you claim] then the one who stays back and the one who joins you are both the same. He said to me: O Aba Ja`far I used to sit with my father to share a plate with him so he would feed me the choicest piece of meat and cool for me a hot morsel fearing for my health but he did not fear for me enough to save me from the hell-fire! How could it be that he informed you the truth about the religion [the presence of the Hujja] and did not inform me about it! I said to him: may I be made your ransom - it is only because of his fear of hell-fire for you you that he did not inform you! he feared for you that you would reject it and enter the fire, but he informed me [not caring either way] so if I accept I am saved and he was not bothered that I enter the fire [if I reject]. Then I said to him: may I be made your ransom are you better or the prophets? He said: the prophets, I said: Ya`qub said to Yusuf: “O my son - do not relate your dream to your brothers for they will devise a plot against you” (12:5) why not inform them and expect them not to devise a plot against him but rather he was to keep it a secret from them [so as not to tempt them]? the same way your father kept it a secret from you because he feared for you. He said: by Allah! now that you mention that - your man [the Imam] narrated to me in Madina that I am to be killed and crucified in Kinasa and that he has a book which tells of my killing and crucifixion in it. Later I [al-Ahwal] made the pilgrimage and relayed to Aba Abdillah عليه السلام my conversation with Zayd, so he said to me: you took him from in front and from behind, from the right and from the left, from above his head and from below his legs and did not leave him any room to wiggle out [the argument you made was water tight].

NOTES:

The narration begins with al-Ahwal, a famous theologian who was a student of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, recounting how he was summoned by Zayd who asked him to aid his cause and join him in his revolt. al-Ahwal declares that he would only agree to do so if he was asked by Zayd’s father or brother [who were Imams]. He then argues against Zayd using the concept of the Hujja on the earth, which Zayd seemingly does not recognize. Al-Ahwal says to him that if there is a Hujja on the earth [which Zayd by his own admission is not] then joining Zayd without the permission of the Hujja would be folly, and if there is no Hujja on the earth then joining Zayd or not joining him are both equivalent because there is no cosmological significance to Zayd as compared to another leader. In both scenarios, al-Ahwal argues against the necessity to join Zayd based on Zayd's own admission. Next Zayd takes him up on this concept of the Hujja and asks – if there exists such a central doctrine in the religion – why did his father who cared for him so much in material sense not make him aware of it so as to save him from spiritual perdition? Al-Ahwal replies that it is just because of his concern that the Imam did not explain to him this truth for fear that he would reject it which would guarantee his damnation. Finally, Zayd admits that the Imam had already predicted his fate which is to be killed. Kinasa is a well known place in Kufa where Zayd's body was left for days. May Allah have mercy on him.

 

[3/175] الكافي: محمد بن يحيى، عن محمد بن الحسين، عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي هاشم، عن عنبسة بن بجاد العابد، عن جابر، عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: كنا عنده وذكروا سلطان بني أمية فقال أبو جعفر عليه السلام: لا يخرج على هشام أحد إلا قتله، قال: وذكر ملكه عشرين سنة، قال: فجزعنا، فقال: مالكم إذا أراد الله عز وجل أن يهلك سلطان قوم أمر الملك فأسرع بسير الفلك فقدر على ما يريد؟ قال: فقلنا لزيد عليه السلام هذه المقالة، فقال: إني شهدت هشاما ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يسب عنده فلم ينكر ذلك ولم يغيره فوالله لو لم يكن إلا أنا وابني لخرجت عليه!

[3/175] al-Kafi: Muhammad b. Yahya from Muhammad b. al-Husayn from Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Hashim from Anbasa b. Bijad al-Abdi from Jabir from Abi Ja`far عليه السلام. He [Jabir] said: we were with him [the Imam] when the rulers of Bani Umayya were mentioned so Abu Ja`far عليه السلام said: no one will rebel against Hisham [the Umayyad Caliph] except that he [Hisham] will kill him, he also said: his [Hisham’s] rule will be for twenty years. He [Jabir] said: we were overcome with grief [on hearing that] so he said: what is with you - don’t you know that if Allah Mighty and Majestic wishes to destroy the ruler of a people he orders an angel so he [the angel] journeys swiftly through the celestial sphere and accomplishes what he intends? He [Jabir] said: we relayed these words to Zayd so he said: I witnessed the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله being abused in the presence of Hisham but he did not repudiate it nor did he put a stop to it - so by Allah if there is no one except myself and my son I would still rise up against him!     

NOTES:

This narration and many other like it confirm the fact that the `Aimma had a book which listed all the rulers who will arise before Qiyama and the period of their rule.

فأسرع بسير الفلك which has been rendered as ‘journeys swiftly through the celestial sphere’ seems to be a metaphor the implication of which is not grasped fully. Falak denotes anything circular, specifically the place of the revolving of the stars. I am sure that the scientists among us will claim to read Inter-galactic space travel through a black-hole into this.

Zayd explains his honourable claim for rising against Hisham. There is not doubt that Zayd was a great scholar and a very pious individual who had a great concern for Islam. How could he do nothing after seeing with his own eyes the disrespect that these supposed successors of the prophet had for his great grandfather. Someone who evinces no reaction when the prophet is abused is considered a disbeliever!

[Islamic Salvation]

3.59. Salim b. Mukram

https://sites.google.com/site/mujamalahadith/vol1/book-of-narrators/salim-b-mukram

 

[1/176] رجال الكشي: محمد بن مسعود قال: سألت أبا الحسن علي بن الحسن عن اسم أبي خديجة قال: سالم بن مكرم فقلت له: ثقة؟ فقال: صالح و كان من أهل الكوفة و كان جمالا، و ذكر أنه حمل أبا عبد الله عليه السلام من مكة إلى المدينة قال: أخبرنا عبد الرحمن بن أبي هاشم عن أبي خديجة قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: لا تكتن بأبي خديجة قلت: فبم أكتني فقال: بأبي سلمه

و كان سالم من أصحاب أبي الخطاب، و كان في المسجد يوم بعث عيسى بن موسى بن علي بن عبد الله بن العباس، و كان عامل المنصور على الكوفة إلى أبي الخطاب، لما بلغه أنهم قد أظهروا الإباحات و دعوا الناس إلى نبوة أبي الخطاب، و إنهم يجتمعون في المسجد و لزموا الأساطين يورون الناس أنهم قد لزموها للعبادة، و بعث إليهم رجلا فقتلهم جميعا، لم يفلت منهم إلا رجل واحد أصابته جراحات فسقط بين القتلى يعد فيهم، فلما جنه الليل خرج من بينهم فتخلص، و هو أبو سلمة سالم بن مكرم الجمال الملقب بأبي خديجة، فذكر بعد ذلك أنه تاب و كان ممن يروي الحديث

[1/176] Rijal al-Kashshi: Muhammad b. Masud said: I asked Aba al-Hasan Ali b. al-Hasan [b. Ali b. Fadhal] about the name of Abi Khadija what was it? he said: it was Salim b. Mukram. I said to him: was he Thiqa? He said: He was Salih. He was a resident of Kufa and was a Cameleer [in the business of renting out camels]. It is said that he was the one who transported [carried on his camels] Aba Abdillah عليه السلام from Makka to Madina. He [Ali b. al-Hasan] said: Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Hashim reported to us from Abi Khadija that Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to him: do not use Abi Khadija as an agnomen [Kuniyya], he said: what should I use? he said: Abi Salama   

Salim was among the companions of Abu al-Khattab and was inside the Masjid the day that Isa b. Musa b. Ali b. Abdallah b. Abbas - who was the governor of al-Mansur [the Abbasid Caliph] over Kufa - sent forces against Abi al-Khattab, having heard that they had become licentious [permitted the forbidden acts], called the people to accept the prophethood of Abu al-Khattab, and gathered in the Masjid [to plan a revolt] ensconcing themselves in its pillars while making it seem to the people as if they were doing so for purposes of worship. So he [Isa] sent men to them who killed them all, no one from among them escaped except for one man who was injured, fell amidst the dead and was thought to be dead, when night came he stood and disappeared. That man was Abu Salama Salim b. Mukram the Cameleer who also had the Kuniyya of Abu Khadija [before the Imam changed it]. It is said that he repented after this incident [for following Abi al-Khattab] and became among those who narrate the Hadith [from al-Sadiq].