Ma’in and others have declared him thiqah (trustworthy).
Ma’in and others have declared him thiqah (trustworthy). These ahadith strengthen one another, and each of the chains is qualified to be used as a hujjah , much less their combination.[^5] What exactly was this status? Imam Ahmad (d.
241 H) records a hadith that gives the answer: حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا عبد الله بن نمير قال ثنا موسى الجهني قال حدثتني فاطمة بنت علي قالت حدثتني أسماء بنت عميس قالت سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول: يا علي أنت مني بمنزلة هارون من موسى الا انه ليس بعدي نبي ‘Abd Allah – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – ‘Abd Allah b. Numayr – Musa al-Juhani – Fatimah bint ‘Ali – Asma bint ‘Umays: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying: “ O ‘Ali!
You are to me of the status of Harun to Musa except that there is no prophet after me.”[^6] Shaykh al-Arnaut comments: إسناده صحيح Its chain is sahih ^7 So, Imam ‘Ali was exempted from the closure order to highlight his status as the Harun of our Ummah – the spiritual, political and military lieutenant of our Prophet. Quite strangely though, Ibn ‘Umar and some other Sahabah did not think that this status of ‘Ali placed him above Abu Bakr and ‘Umar!
How they managed to arrive at such a weird conclusion is a mystery of mysteries. In a related riwayah , Ibn ‘Umar even revealed a fact that changes the game even more drastically. Imam al-Nasai (d.
303 H) records: أخبرنا أحمد بن سليمان قال حدثنا عبيد الله قال حدثنا إسرائيل عن أبي إسحاق عن العلاء بن عرار قال سألت بن عمر وهو في مسجد رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم عن علي وعثمان فقال أما علي فلا تسألني عنه وانظر إلى منزله من رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ليس في المسجد بيت غير بيته وأما عثمان فإنه أذنب ذنبا عظيما يوم التقى الجمعان فعفى الله عنه وغفر له وأذنب فيكم ذنبا دون فقتلتموه Ahmad b. Sulayman – ‘Abd Allah – Israil – Abu Ishaq – al-‘Ala b.
‘Arar: I asked Ibn ‘Umar while he was in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, concerning ‘Ali and ‘Uthman. So, he replied, “As for ‘Ali, then do not ask me concerning him. Just look at his apartment from (the apartment of) the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. There is NO house in the mosque apart from his house . As for ‘Uthman, he committed a terrible sin on the day when the two armies met (i.e. at Uhud when he fled). But Allah pardoned and forgave him.
Then, he committed another sin among you, and you killed him.”[^8] Both Dr. Bandari and Sayyid Hasan jointly state: صحيح رجاله ثقات It is sahih . Its narrators are trustworthy. ^9 Imam al-Bukhari (d.