What characteristic did the Prophet...

What characteristic did the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, intend then and there to attribute to ‘Ali, and ‘Ali alone, from among all others who are well­known for their history in serving Islam, if such philosophy, O Muslims, is proven accurate?

As regarding their claim that had ‘Ali's priority regarding the Imamate not been futuristic, he would have become then the Imam in spite of the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, we say that such a claim is indeed quite odd; it is the watering down of the truth, an unmatched misrepresentation which ignores the covenants of all prophets, caliphs, kings and princes to their successors.

It overlooks the meaning of the hadith: "You to me are like Aaron to Moses except there will be no prophet after me." It is an attempt to forget his statement, peace be upon him and his progeny, in the hadith relevant to his kin when he warned them saying, "Therefore, listen to him [to ‘Ali] and obey him," and to other nUmarous texts in this meaning.

Even if we suppose that due to the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, ‘Ali's priority of the imamate could not be effective immediately, then obviously it had to be effective after his demise, following the unanimously accepted rule of interpreting a statement the absolute truth of which is unattainable by its closest meanings.

As regarding the honour of the good ancestors, it is safeguarded without forcing such an interpretation as we will explain if necessary, Wassalam. Sincerely, Sh [^1]: This is quoted by Dar Qutni, as indicated near the conclusion of Section 5, Chapter One, of Al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa by Ibn Hajar; so, refer to page 26. It is also narrated by many traditionists, each from his own source, and in their own books of traditions.

Ahmad has quoted something similar from ‘Umar of the ahadith narrated by al-Bara' ibn ‘Azib on page 281, Vol. 4, of his Musnad, which we have already quoted in Letter No. 54 above. Previous…