Abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani & great praise for `Ali (ra)

[Hani]

al-Salamu `Aleykum,

This is what the scholar of Ahlul-Sunnah, abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani (d.430) wrote in his "al-Musnad al-Mustakhraj" regarding Ameer al-Mu'mineen `Ali ibn abi Talib (ra).


(This scholar is considered a Nasibi according to the Shia, since he wrote a book on Imamah, disproving the Imami Shia concept of Imamah, then he wrote his popular book on the virtues of the four rightly guided Caliphs, which most certainly increased the hatred of the Rafidhah for him.)


His Musnad begins by quoting several narrations from several Sahabah regarding the great punishment for those who attribute lies to Rasul-Allah (saw), and the importance of knowing where one gets his religion from and the harms of narrating from whoever you meet. Then he wished to quote that same Hadith from `Ali (ra), so he said:


وَلَنْ يَسْتَعْظِمَ الْكَذِبَ عَلَيْهِ إِلا مَنْ خَصَّهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي أَكْثَرِ أَحْوَالِهِ بِحُسْنِ التَّوْفِيقِ، وَأَيَّدَهُ بِالْعِصْمَةِ وَالتَّسْدِيدِ كَسَيِّدِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَوَلِيِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَابْنِ عَمِّ رَسُولِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ أَخْبَرَهُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، أَنَّ الْخُرُورَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الأَرْضِ أَحَبُّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ أَنْ يَبُوءَ بِالْكَذِبِ عَلَى رَسُولِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

[No one will know the greatness of the sin of lying upon him (saw), except one whom Allah most high has blessed in most of his affairs with success(Tawfeeq), and supported him with protection(`Ismah) and guidance(Tasdeed), like the master(Sayyid) of the Muslims, the close friend(Wali) of the believers, and the cousin of the messenger of the Lord of the worlds, he spoke about himself may Allah be pleased with him, that dropping down from the sky to the earth is more beloved to him than to attribute lies to the messenger of the Lord of the worlds]


Then he mentions the narration of `Ali (ra):


حَدَّثَنَاهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، ثَنَا أَبُو مَسْعُودِ بْنُ الْفُرَاتِ، ثَنَا يَعْلَى بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ، ثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، عَنْ خَيْثَمَةَ، عَنْ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ غَفْلَةَ، قَالَ: قَالَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ فَوَاللَّهِ لَأَنْ أَخِرَّ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ أَنْ أَكْذِبَ عَلَيْهِ


[`Abdullah ibn Ja`far was the one to tell us that: abu Mas`oud ibn al-Furat told us, Ya`la bin `Ubayd told us, al-A`mash told us, from Khaythamah, from Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, he said: `Ali ibn abi Talib (ra) said to me: "By Allah, dropping down from the sky is more beloved to me than to attribute a lie to him (saw)."]


Now one may ask, why did Hani open this topic? The praise for `Ali ibn abi Talib is very common in the books of the Muslims so what makes this special?


What is special are the words used to praise `Ali (ra), I tried to point to them in my translation above, words that are used by today's Shia to prove the absolute divinity of `Ali (ra), yet we see this early Arab scholar, describing him with words like:


"Sayyid" although he believes that Abu Bakr (ra) and `Umar (ra) were more worthy of leadership and greater in the sight of Allah.


"Wali" although he does not believe `Ali (ra) was appointed at Ghadeer, nor was he selected as the successor of Rasul-Allah (saw).


"`Ismah" although he does not believe `Ali (ra) is infallible and incapable of error.


Today, the ones who have basic knowledge of Arabic comprehend full well the meaning of these words, they understand the proper usage of these terms and how the early Arabs used them.


It is truly a pity, that also today most people have not the slightest clue, nor do they bother.

[Ebn Hussein]

And he was an Iranian Shafi'i Sunni (master of the Arabic language, not like Shia Ayatullats) from Isfahan (Asbahan as Arabs back then pronounced it), Allahu Akbar! May Allah reward you Hani.

[Furkan]

Interesting topic indeed.