He (the Messenger of Allah) went out for the battle of Tabuk.

He (the Messenger of Allah) went out for the battle of Tabuk. So, ‘Ali said to him, “Let me go out with you.” Therefore, the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Do not weep, ‘Ali. Are you not pleased that you are to me of the status of Harun to Musa, with the exception that you are not a prophet? Verily, it is not right that I depart except with you as my khalifah . You are my wali over every believer after me .”[^3] ‘Allamah Ahmad Muhammad Shakir (d.

1377 H) declares: إسناده صحيح Its chain is sahih .[^4] ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1412 H) also states: وأخرجه أحمد 1/330: ثنا يحيى بن حماد به مطولا وفيه: قال: وخرج صلى الله عليه وسلم بالناس في غزوة تبوك قال: فقال علي أخرج معك قال: فقال له نبي الله: "لا". فبكى علي قال له: " أما ترضى أن تكون منى بمنزلة هارون من موسى إِلا أنك لست بنبي انه لا ينبغي أن أذهب الا وأنت خليفتي". قال: وقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "أنت وليي في كل مؤمن بعدي".

الحديث وأخرجه الحاكم بطوله 3/132-134 من طريق أحمد ثم قال: صحيح الإسناد ووافقه الذهبي. Ahmad (1/330) recorded it from Yahya b. Hamad in detail, and part of it is: He (the Messenger of Allah) went out with the people for the battle of Tabuk. So, ‘Ali said to him, “Let me go out with you.” Therefore, the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Do not weep, ‘Ali. Are you not pleased that you are to me of the status of Harun to Musa, with the exception that you are not a prophet?

Verily, it is not right that I depart except with you as my khalifah . You are my wali over every believer after me .” ... the hadith . Al-Hakim recorded it in full (3/132-134) through the route of Ahmad, and said, “ Its chain is sahih **” and al-Dhahabi concurred with him**.[^5] The ‘Allamah himself adds concerning its chain: إسناده حسن. Its chain is hasan .[^6] Commenting on this same chain of Hadith al-Tawliyah , Dr. Al-Jawabirah says: اسناده حسن.

Its chain is hasan .[^7] Imam al-Busiri too grades the chain as follows: سند صحيح A sahih chain.[^8] So, one wonders: why is Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah so panicky about this hadith ? There must be a reason he is so desperate about it, to the extent of attributing patent fallacies to all the Sunni muhadithun – perhaps dozens or hundreds of them – before his time in order to bring it down. What is the scary secret?

It is apparent that wali in Hadith al-Tawliyah cannot possibly mean “friend”, “helper” or “supporter” in any logical sense.