Its chain is sahih upon the standard of (Imam) Muslim...

Its chain is sahih upon the standard of (Imam) Muslim, its narrators are trustworthy .[^9] Obviously, two trustworthy narrators have narrated Hadith al-Wilayah from Ja’far b. Sulayman. Moreover, all its narrators are trustworthy, and the sanad is fully-connected. Therefore, it is a doubly sahih chain without any doubt, even by the standards of Shaykh al-Arnaut! Yet, he knowingly grades the sanad as dha’if without any justification!

However, Allah has made him admit the truth about the noble hadith in his tahqiq of Sahih Ibn Hibban . So, his own words will continue to refute him till the Hour! The second version of Hadith al-Wilayah , narrated by Buraydah, is equally documented in Musnad Ahmad : حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا بن نمير حدثني أجلح الكندي عن عبد الله بن بريدة عن أبيه بريدة قال ....

فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم لا تقع في علي فإنه منى وأنا منه وهو وليكم بعدي وانه منى وأنا منه وهو وليكم بعدي ‘Abd Allah – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Ibn Numayr – Ajlah al-Kindi – ‘Abd Allah b. Buraydah – his father Buraydah, who said: ....

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “Do not attack ‘Ali, for he is from me and I am from him, and he is your wali after me; and he is from me and I am from him, and he is your wali after me.[^10] Shaykh al-Arnaut comments: إسناده ضعيف بهذه السياقة من أجل أجلح الكندي Its chain is dha’if (weak) with this context due to Ajlah al-Kindi . ^11 Really?!

But, this is what this same al-Arnaut says about the same Ajlah in the same book: الأجلح - وهو ابن عبد الله الكندي - فقد روى له البخاري في " الأدب " وأصحاب السنن وهو صدوق Al-Ajlah – and he is Ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Kindi – al-Bukhari has narrated from him in al-Adab , and the authors of the Sunan too (i.e. al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and al-Nasai). And he is saduq (very truthful) .[^12] How then can anyone grade his hadith as dha’if ?

Interestingly, elsewhere, al-Arnaut’s verdict changes: حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا مصعب بن سلام سمعته من أبي مرتين ثنا الأجلح عن الذيال بن حرملة عن جابر بن عبد الله.... صحيح لغيره وهذا إسناد حسن ‘Abd Allah – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Mus’ab b. Salam – my father – al-Ajlah – al-Zayal b. Harmalah – Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah.... Sahih li ghayrihi , and this chain is hasan .[^13] Therefore, the version of Hadith al-Wilayah narrated by Ajlah is actually hasan by the standards of Shaykh al-Arnaut.

[^1]: Abu Hatim Muhammad b. Hibban b. Ahmad b. Hibban b. Mu’adh b.