It was our custom back then that whenever we returned from any journey...

It was our custom back then that whenever we returned from any journey, we would not go to our families until after visiting the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and looking at him. So, the small band of four people came (to the Prophet immediately they returned), and one of them stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Have you not seen that ‘Ali did so and so?” So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him. Then, the second stood up and said the same thing.

So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him (too). Then the third stood up and said the same thing. So, he (the Prophet) turned away from him (as well). Then the fourth stood up and said the same thing. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “What is it with them and ‘Ali? Verily, ‘Ali is from me and I am from him, and he is the wali of every believer after me .”[^2] ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) says about this riwayah : أخرجه ....الطيالسي في " مسنده " (829) ....

من طريق جعفر بن سليمان الضبعي عن يزيد الرشك عن مطرف عن عمران بن حصين رضي الله عنه ....وقال الترمذي: "حديث حسن غريب، لا نعرفه إلا من حديث جعفر بن سليمان ". قلت: وهو ثقة من رجال مسلم وكذلك سائر رجاله ولذلك قال الحاكم: " صحيح على شرط مسلم "، وأقره الذهبي. Al-Tayalisi recorded it in his Musnad (829).... from the route of Ja’far b. Sulayman al-Dhab’i, from Yazid al-Rishk, from Mutarrif, from ‘Imran b. Hasin, may Allah be pleased with him .... And al-Tirmidhi said: “A hadith that is hasan gharib (i.e.

with a hasan [good] chain), we do not know it except through the hadith of Ja’far b. Sulayman”. I (al-Albani) say: and he (Ja’far b. Sulayman) is thiqah (trustworthy), from the narrators of ( Sahih ) Muslim, and so are the rest of its (i.e. the hadith’s **) narrators**. This is why al-Hakim said, “ Sahih upon the standard of (Imam) Muslim. And al-Dhahabi concurred with him.[^3] All the narrators are thiqah (trustworthy), and are relied upon in Sahih Muslim . Imam al-Tirmidhi (d.

279 H) declares the chain to be hasan , while both al-Hakim (d. 403 H) and al-Dhahabi (d. 748 H) grade it as sahih . ‘Allamah al-Albani approvingly cites their consensus opinion, which shows that he too holds the same view about the chain.

Al-Tayalisi further records another chain for the hadith : حدثنا يونس قال حدثنا أبو داود قال حدثنا أبو عوانة عن أبي بلج عن عمرو بن ميمون عن بن عباس ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال لعلي: أنت ولي كل مؤمن بعدي Yunus – Abu Dawud – Abu ‘Awanah – Abu Balj – ‘Amr b.