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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books ‘Ali: The Best of the Sahabah Hadith Al-Istislam, Investigating Its Authenticity ====================================================== Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d.

728 H) admits that Amir al-Muminin, ‘alaihi al-salam , was the first human being ever to accept Islam from the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi : ثم فيه قول علي صليت ستة أشهر قبل الناس فهذا مما يعلم بطلانه بالضرورة فإن بين إسلامه وإسلام زيد وأبي بكر وخديحة يوما أو نحوه فكيف يصلي قبل الناس بستة أشهر Then, in it (i.e.

the report) is the statement “’Ali performed Salat six months before anyone else”, this (statement) is one which is known to be necessarily fallacious, because between his (‘Ali’s) acceptance of Islam and the acceptance of Islam by Zayd, Abu Bakr and Khadijah was only a distance of one day or a period like that . So, how did he perform Salat six months before anyone else?[^1] So, ‘Ali accepted Islam one whole day before Khadijah, Zayd and Abu Bakr.

But then, our dear Shaykh has a surprise package for us: قول القائل علي أول من صلى مع النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم ممنوع بل اكثر الناس على خلاف ذلك وان أبا بكر صلى قبله The claim that ‘Ali was the first to perform Salat with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, is impossible. Rather, the majority of the people hold a contrary view, and believe that Abu Bakr perform Salat before him (i.e. ‘Ali) .[^2] One wonders.

Since Amir al-Muminin accepted Islam before Abu Bakr, how come the latter offered Salat before him? Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah attempts to solve the puzzle: فان الناس متنازعون في أول من اسلم فقيل أبو بكر أول من اسلم فهو اسبق إسلاما من على وقيل أن عليا أسلم قبله لكن علي كان صغيرا وإسلام الصبي فيه نزاع بين العلماء ولا نزاع في أن إسلام أبي بكر أكمل وانفع The people disagreed about who accepted Islam first. It is said that Abu Bakr was the first to accept Islam, and therefore accepted Islam before ‘Ali.

It is (also) said that ‘Ali accepted Islam before him. However, ‘Ali was a child, and the acceptance of Islam by a child, there is disagreement over it (i.e. its validity) among the ‘ulama .