Then, he said to them, “It is strange of he who claims that...

Then, he said to them, “It is strange of he who claims that ‘Isa will return but rejects that Muhammad will return. Meanwhile, Allah the Almighty has said, ‘Verily, He Who has ordained the Qur’an upon you (O Muhammad) will surely bring you back to a place of return’ (28:85). As such, Muhammad is more entitled to return than ‘Isa.” So, it was accepted from him, and he created for them (the doctrine of) al-raj’ah , and they spoke about it.

Then he said, “There were one thousand prophets, and each prophet had a designated successor. And ‘Ali was the designated successor of Muhammad.” Then he said, “Muhammad is the last of the prophets and ‘Ali is the last of the designated (immediate) successors (of prophets).” Then he added after that, “Who is more unjust that he who did not fulfil the testamentary will of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and jumped over the designated successor of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and administered the Ummah ?” Then he said to them, “Verily, ‘Uthman unjustly embezzled funds, and this (‘Ali) is the designated successor of the Messenger of Allah.”[^2] This riwayah of Yazid al-Faq’asi is the only one – with a chain of narration - throughout all books of the Ahl al-Sunnah that makes the following claims: ‘Abd Allah b.

Saba, la’natullah ‘alaihi , had a black slave mother. He accepted Islam during the rule of ‘Uthman. He believed that Imam ‘Ali, ‘alaihi al-salam , was the designated successor of , sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi . He believed in the ‘aqidah called al-raj’ah . So, if the report collapses, all the four points above go down with it. There would be absolutely nothing else to base those assertions upon. Therefore, let us examine the narrators. In the chain of the riwayah , there is Shu’ayb b. Ibrahim.

Who was he? Was he reliable or not? Al-Hafiz (d. 852 H) helps us out here: شعيب بن إبراهيم الكوفي :رواية كتب سيف عنه فيه جهالة انتهى .ذكره ابن عدي وقال ليس بالمعروف وله أحاديث واخبار وفيه بعض النكرة وفيها ما فيه تحامل على السلف وفي ثقات ابن حبان شعيب بن إبراهيم من أهل الكوفة يروي عن محمد بن أبان البلخي روى عنه يعقوب بن سفيان فيحتمل ان يكون هو والظاهر أنه غيره Shu’ayb b. Ibrahim al-Kufi: the narration of the books of Sayf was by him. There is obscurity concerning him .

Ibn ‘Adi mentioned him and said, “ He is unknown . He narrated ahadith and stories, and there is some repugnancy concerning him . Among his narrations are those which are prejudiced against the Salaf .” In al-Thiqat , Ibn Hibban said, “Shu’ayb b.