Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Glimpses of Shi'ism in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal Chapter 1: Admonition To Kinsmen and Nomination of Imam ‘ali- (‘a) Ahmad bin Hanbal says: Aswad bin ‘Amir has related to us from Shari-k from A‘mash from Minhal from ‘Abdulla-h bin Asadi, that (Imam) ‘Ali- (‘a) said: When the a-yah “And warn your relatives of nearest kin” (26:214) was revealed, the Prophet gathered his family around him and treated 30 of them to a meal and then said: “Who is willing to guarantee my debts and commitments so that he should be with me in paradise and should be my successor from among my family.” A person whom Shurayk did not name, answered: O Messenger of Allah you are like a sea,[^26] who can take charge of this responsibility.
The Prophet repeated his statement to his relatives, and (Imam) ‘Ali- [(‘a)] replied: “I will undertake this responsibility.”[^27] Ahmad Muhammad Sha-kir the annotator of the Musnad has enumerated the isna-d of this hadi-th as hasan or fair. The same event has been narrated in greater detail in the words of Imam ‘Ali- (‘a) in hadi-th no. 1371 of the Musnad (vol. 2, pp. 352-353) and the annotator has termed its isna-d as sahi-h (authoritative).