These were some of Abu Dawud's authorities.
These were some of Abu Dawud's authorities. The author then goes on to show that the transmitters of the narration recorded by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, namely Abu ‘Asim, Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Khallal, Buhayr ibn Sa’id, Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid, Yahya ibn Abi al-Muta’, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ala', Mu’awiyah ibn Salih, Isma’il ibn Bishr ibn Mansur, and ‘Abd al-Malik ibn al-Sabbah, are all weak ( da’if ) transmitters, as mentioned by Sunni authorities on rijal in their works.
Moreover, al-Hafiz ibn al-Qattan has expressly rejected the authenticity of this sole narration of ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Salami, as mentioned by Ibn Hajar in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, vi, 238. The author then goes on to point out that even if this narration be presumed to be sahih , it cannot have any weight against Hadith al-Thaqalayn which has been narrated by a great number of and leading Sunni scholars, while this narration has not been recorded in most of their works.
Moreover, should this tradition be really authentic, then the words "rightly-guided successors" should be taken to mean the Twelve Imams of the Ahlul Bayt (A), as affirmed by another well-known tradition of the Prophet (S) that there would be twelve khulafa' or a'immah after him.
Thereafter the author goes on to deal with another doubt cast on this tradition by Shah ‘Abd al-Aziz, that even if it be presumed that Hadith al-Thaqalayn does not conflict with the above-mentioned tradition, the word al-’itrah can be taken to mean all the Prophet's kinsmen (aqarib) belonging to Banu Hashim in general, or all of the descendants of Fatimah (A). Then it would be absurd to say that every individual belonging to them were an imam.
Sayyid Hamid Husayn clarifies this doubt by quoting various lexicographers, such as al-Jawhari, Ibn al-Athir, Ibn Manzur, al-Firuzabadi and others to the effect that ‘itrah means one's nearest relations (akhass aqaribih), children (walad) and descendants (dhurriyyah). Moreover, he points out, Hadith al-Thaqalayn indicates the supreme knowledge as well as freedom of the ‘itrah mentioned in it from sin and error.
Such a description applies solely to the Twelve Imams (A), who in their traditions, from ‘Ali (A) onwards, have introduced themselves as the ‘itrah of the Prophet (S) and as the supreme authorities of the Islamic faith by the side of the Qur'an. Tradition n.2 Thereafter, the author deals with another tradition ascribed to the Prophet (S) which too Shah ‘Abd al-Aziz claims to be sahih: خدوا شطر دينكم عن هذه الحميراء.