They cite the use of “it” in it – which is nominally...

They cite the use of “it” in it – which is nominally singular – in support of their submission: إني قد تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به I have left behind over you that which if you hold fast to IT To them, if the Messenger had intended that both the Book and his offspring must be followed, he would have said: “that which if you hold fast to THEM.” But, there are explicit signs of ignorance in this argument. The “it” (ه) in the hadith is a reference to the “which” (ما) before it.

In Arabic, a combination of both is possible even if the allusion is to billions of items. For instance, Allah says: إن الذين كفروا لو أن لهم ما في الأرض جميعا ومثله معه ليفتدوا به من عذاب يوم القيامة ما تقبل منهم ولهم عذاب أليم As for those who disbelieve, lo! If all that WHICH is in the earth were theirs, and the likeness of IT with IT, to ransom them with IT from the torment of the Day of al-Qiyamah, it would not be accepted from them. Theirs will be a painful torment.

[^4] We see that “it” here refers to everything in the earth – all the animals, all the constructions, all the minerals, all the lands and so on. Let us see another example: إن تجتنبوا كبائر ما تنهون عنه نكفر عنكم سيئاتكم وندخلكم مدخلا كريما If you avoid major sins, that WHICH you have been forbidden from IT, We shall remit from you your sins and admit you to a noble entrance. [^5] “It” is a direct reference to the “major sins”.

With these, obviously, nothing stops the same expression from working for both the Qur’an and the in Hadith al-Thaqalayn! How do these people reason?! Interestingly, the alternative hadith which our brothers from the Ahl al-Sunnah love to quote has the same wording too. Imam al-Bayhaqi (d.

458 H) records: أخبرنا أبو عبد الله الحافظ أخبرني إسماعيل بن محمد بن الفضل الشعراني ثنا جدي ثنا بن أبي أويس ثنا أبي عن ثور بن زيد الديلي عن عكرمة عن بن عباس رضي الله عنهما أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم خطب الناس في حجة الوداع فقال يا أيها الناس أني قد تركت فيكم ما إن اعتصمتم به فلن تضلوا أبدا كتاب الله وسنة نبيه Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Hafiz – Isma’il b. Muhammad b. al-Fadhl al-Sha’rani – my grandfather – Ibn Abi Uways – my father – Thawr b.

Zayd al-Dayli – ‘Ikrimah – Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, delivered a sermon to mankind during the Farewell Hajj, and said: “O mankind!