In a narration presented in al Kafi the Mutazilah come to Imam Jafar and ask him to give bayah to Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah for the Calipahate. Imam Jafar refuses and intimidates Amr bin Ubayd to why he would not give bayah, and why Amr was wrong to call for it.
Now there are many issues with this ahadith:
a) Imam Jafar in the beginning of the narration asks the Mutazilla to pick a leader who can represent them, and then requests his requester to make the debate short. However, he himself lengthens the debates.
b) On top of that he replies with questions, insults Amr for giving incorrect answers, goes off tangents and as mentioned before lengthens the debate so he can tire the opponent into exhaustion.
c) Why is he asking Amr all these fiqh questions when its not Amr who is claiming leadership, but a call for giving bayah to Nafs-az-Zakiyah. With this in mind can anyone reject dawah to a 12er by questioning him an areas where one suspects he or she is weak in and dismiss their call ?
d) Why didn't Imam Jafar challenge Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah in these areas of fiqh instead.
e) Lastly, why didn't Imam Jafar mention anything about 12 divinely appointed Imams to dismiss the call to another person's Imamate.
f) Why did Imam Jafar mention Saqifa when the Mutazilla now agreed to Imamate which should occur from the Ahlul Bayt. To dismiss this claim he could have just said there are only a list of dozen that can be chosen in the ummah and not anyone else.
Anyway here is the ahadith for anyone who wants to see it.
Chapter 7 - ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd and al-Mu’taziliy Groups’ Visiting abu ‘Abd Allah,
‘Alayhi al-Salam
H 8184, Ch. 7, h 1
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Umayr from ‘Umar ibn ‘Udhaynah from Zurarah from ‘Abd al-Karim ibn
‘Utbah al-Hashimiy who has said the following:
“I was sitting in the presence of abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, in Makkah when a group of people
of al-Mu‘tazilah among whom ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd was present as well as Wasil ibn ‘Ata’, Hafs ibn
Salim Mawla’ ibn Hubayrah and people of their leaders came to visit. This happened during the time
when al-Walid was killed and people of al-Sham had differences among them. They spoke (about the
situation) a great deal with confusion and made it very lengthy. Abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam,
said to them, ‘You have spoken a great deal and it is excessive for me. Appoint someone from among
yourselves to speak in favor of your arguments and make it short.’ They then appointed ‘Amr ibn
‘Ubayd for this task. He spoke assiduously and made it lengthy. Among other things he said, ‘People
of al-Sham have killed their Caliph, and Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has struck one
group against the other and has scattered their affairs. We have deliberated and found a man who has
religion, reason, kindness, position and resource for Caliphate and he is Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah
ibn al-Hassan. We then decided to gather around him to pledge allegiance, then come with him in
public. Those who pledge allegiance with us will be of us and we will be for him. Those who stay
away from us we will keep away from him. Those who plan against us we will do Jihad and plan
against them because of their rebellion and their rejection to return them to the truth and the people of
truth. We like to present this plan before you so you will also join us; we need a person like you. It is
because of your position and the great number of your followers.’ When he finished, abu ‘Abd Allah,
‘Alayhi al-Salam, asked, ‘Are you all of the same opinion as ‘Amr is?’ They replied, ‘Yes, we are of
the same opinion.’ He (the Imam) then praised Allah and glorified Him; then asked Him to grant
salawat (favors and compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to His cause).
He then said, ‘We become angry when Allah is disobeyed but when He is obeyed we become happy.’
‘O ‘Amr, tell me if the nation will make you the person in charge of their affairs and give you
authority without fighting and expenses and said to you, “Whomever you choose to be their ruler with
authority is accepted by the nation.” Whom then would you choose for the nation?’ He replied, ‘I will
make it Shura’ (to be decided by the Muslims). He (the Imam) asked, ‘To be decided by all Muslims?’
He replied, ‘Yes, by all Muslims.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Will it be decided by their scholars of law
and good ones?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Will such people be of Quraysh and
others?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Will they be of Arab and non-Arab?’ He replied,
‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘O ‘Amr tell me, do you love abu Bakr and ‘Umar or denounce them?’
He replied, ‘I love them.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘But you just opposed them. What do you all say?’
They replied, ‘We love them.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘O ‘Amr, were you to be a man who
denounced the two of them, then it would have been permissible for him to oppose them. How can you
love the two of them when you just opposed them? ‘Umar had made a covenant with abu Bakr on the
basis of which he pledged allegiance to him and he did not counsel anyone else on the issue.
Thereafter abu Bakr returned it to him (‘Umar) and did not counsel anyone in the issue. ‘Umar then
formed a council of six members. He kept all of al-Muhajirun and al-Ansar out of this council except
those six people from Quraysh. He made a will about the council to which, I think, neither you nor
your friends agree because you make a Shura’ of all Muslims.’ He asked, ‘What did he do?’ He (the
Imam) replied, ‘He commanded Suhayb to lead Salat (prayer) for the people for three days and to
consult the six people and no one else except the son of ‘Umar who consulted them but would have
had have no say in their decision. He made a will and advised those of al-Muhajirun and al-Ansar in
his presence to do this: “If three days pass before the council finish the task or pledge allegiance to a
man, you must cut off the necks of all the members of the council. If four of them agree on a plan
before three days pass but two of them oppose, you must cut off the necks of the two opposing
members of the council.” Do you accept such a plan about the council that you like all Muslims to
form?’ They replied, ‘No.’
“He (the Imam) said, ‘O ‘Amr, leave this aside. Suppose, I pledged allegiance to your friend to whom
you call me and then the nation gathered around you and no two people disagreed with you about your
plan. Then you marched against the pagans who reject al-Islam and do not pay taxes. Will there be
enough knowledge with your friend or with you with which you can deal according to the traditions of
the Messenger of Allah in the matters of the pagans and the war against them?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He
(the Imam) asked, ‘What will you do?’ He replied, ‘We call them to al-Islam. If they refused we tell
them to pay taxes.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What you will do if they will be Majus and not of the
people of the book?’ He replied, ‘They are the same.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Are you telling me from
al-Quran?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What will you do if they were pagans of Arab
people and of idol worshippers?’ He replied, ‘They are the same.’ He (the Imam) asked,’Are you
telling me from al-Quran?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) asked read this, ‘Fight against those
people of the Book who have no faith in Allah or the Day of Judgment, who do not consider unlawful
what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful, and who do not believe in the true religion, until
they humbly pay tax with their own hands.” (9:29)’
“He (the Imam) asked, ‘Is the exception and the stipulation of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most
Glorious, about the people of the book and those not of the people of the book the same?’ He replied,
‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘From whom have you learned this answer?’ He replied, ‘I have heard
people say so.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Leave this aside. Suppose they refuse to pay taxes and you fight
them, and defeat them, then how will you deal with the properties captured from them?’ He replied, ‘I
will deduct one-fifth from it and divide the remainder among those who have fought the war.’ He (the
Imam) said, ‘Tell me about the one-fifth. To whom will you give it?’ He replied, ‘I will give it to
whomever Allah has told to give.’ The narrator has said that ‘Amr then recited: ‘You must take notice
that whatever you gain one-fifth of it belongs to Allah, the Messenger, the relatives, the orphans, the
destitute and those who deplete their expenses on a journey.’ (8:41) He (the Imam) asked, ‘To who
will you give that which is for the Messenger?’ Who are relatives?’ He replied, ‘The scholars of the
law have different opinions about it. Certain ones among them say, “They are the relatives of the Holy
Prophet and his family.” Certain others say, “It is the caliph.” Still others say, “They are the relatives
of those who have taken part in the fighting.”’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Which one do you think is it?’
He replied, ‘I do not know.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘I can see that you do not know. Leave this aside.’ He
(the Imam) then said, ‘Consider the remainder after taking one-fifth. Will you distribute it among all
the fighters?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘In doing so you oppose the Messenger of Allah.
The decisive factor between you and I is the scholars of the law of al-Madinah and the elders. Ask
them. They have no differences on this issue. They do not dispute that the Messenger of Allah made a
truce with the Arabs. It said that they can live in their locations and must not migrate. If the enemy
will attack him they must rise and fight his enemy but they will have no share in the properties
captured from the enemy. You, however, say you will distribute it among all the fighters. In so doing
you oppose the Messenger of Allah in his dealings in everything that you have said about the pagans.
Despite this what do you say about charity?’ He (the Imam) then recited the verse to him. ‘Charity is
for the poor, the destitute, the charity collectors. . . .’ (9:60) He said, ‘That is right.’ He (the Imam)
asked, ‘How will you distribute it?’ He replied, ‘I will divide it into eight portions and give to each
category one portion thereof.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Will you do so even if members of one category
will be ten thousand and of the members of another category there will be only one or two or three
individuals present?’ Will you give to one individual an amount equal to what will you give to ten
thousand people?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Will you collect the charities of the towns
and the city in one place and divide among them in equal portions?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam)
said, ‘In doing so you oppose the Messenger of Allah in all of his dealings I have mentioned. The
Messenger of Allah would give the charities of the people of the towns to the people of the towns and
the charities of the people of the city to the people of the city. He would not distribute it among them
in equal portions. He distributed it among them according to the number of people present and
according to his discretion. He did not set about it a particular time or portion. He, according to the
needs of the people present, distributed the charities. If you have doubts about what I said you can
meet the scholars of the law of al-Madinah. They have no differences on the issue that the Messenger
of Allah would do as I said he did.’ He (the Imam) then turned to ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd and said, ‘You in
this group must maintain piety before Allah. You must maintain piety before Allah. My father was the
best of the people on earth. He was more knowledgeable than all of the people on earth about the book
of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, and the tradition of the Messenger of Allah. He has
said, “The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Whoever strikes people with his sword and calls them to
himself while among the Muslims there is someone more knowledgeable than he is, such person is
lost and he is a pretender.’' (al-Kafi)
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February 20, 2015, 03:09:00 AM