Salam brothers and sisters,
I make this thread (i don't believe i have made an exact one of this nature prior) not to disparage or abuse a scholar i know many of you hold in high regard, but rather to call a spade a spade. Ibn Taymiyyah would often debate Alam al-Hilli , a Shia scholar. Many Sunni scholars, including of the Salafi group, themselves admitted that at times in trying to refute the Jafari Madhab, he would recklessly reject even that which is reliable.
Here are some very disturbing examples of that:A believer and Munafiq are recognized by their hatred of Ali
ما كنا نعرف المنافقين على عهد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إلا ببغض علي.
“We did not recognise the Munafiqin in the time of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam except by means of their hatred for ‘Ali.” [Abu Bakr al Suli: Juz Min Ahadith Abi Bakr al Suli, hadith no. 1174; Abu Nuaim: Sifat al Nifaq wa Na’t al Munafiqin, 80.]
Narrators of Bukhari and Muslim, except Harun ibn Ishaq al Kufi who is widely regarded as Saduq or Thiqah.
Ibn Taymiyyah regarded this as a fabrication in Minhaj al Sunnah al Nabawiyyah, 4/286. Weakening Ghadir
“For whosoever I am Mawla then Ali is his Mawla”:فمن كنت مولاه فإن هذا مولاه، أو قال: فإن عليا مولاه
"Al-Albani says: “When I saw Sheikh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyah considering the Hadith (For whosoever I am Mawla then Ali is his Mawla)
as weak/doubtful in its first half and “lie in its second” then I had to write in length over this issue.In my viewpoint, the reason behind such exaggeration (of Ibn Taymiyah) was that he used to be hasty in deciding the inauthenticity of some Hadiths before seeing them properly" [Silsilat ul Ahadith as-Sahiha, Volume No.4, Page No. 344]
Weakening Hadith al-Thaqalayn
“The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
“I have left behind over you (al-Thaqalayn) that which if you hold fast to it you will never go astray: the Book of Allah – one end of which is in the Hand of Allah and the other in your hands– and my Ahl al-Bayt.”Ibn Taymiyyah in response writes: “…and as for His saying; ”If you adhere to it than you would never astray after, the Book of Allah (swt) and my Itra (Family)”, it was narrated by al Tirmidhi and Ahmad ibn Hanbal said it is
weak. (Source: Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah. Vol. 8. Pg. # 230 – 231).
However, this version of Thaqalayn is present through more than twenty chains, two of which are regarded as out-right
Hasan by al-Albani and al-Arnaut, and are present in Sunan Abi Asim, Musnad ibn Rawayh, and Sharkh Mushkil al-Athar of Imam al-Tahawi.Al-Albani summarises as follows:"the mention, in this hadith, of the
members of his household, alongside the Qur’an, is like the mention of the way of the Rightly Guided Caliphs alongside the Sunnah (way) of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in the hadith: “I urge you to adhere to my way (Sunnah) and the way of the Rightly Guided Caliphs…”
Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (4/260).
Chain one حدثنا سليمان بن عبيد الله الغيلاني، حدثنا أبو عامر، حدثنا كثير بن زيد، عن محمد بن عمر بن علي، عن أبيه، عن علي رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال :إني تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به لن تضلوا :كتاب الله، سببه بيد الله، وسببه بأيديكم، وأهل بيتي. [Musnad Ibn Rahwayh / Sunan Abi Asim]
Chain two
حدثنا إبراهيم بن مرزوق قال : حدثنا أبو عامر العقدي قال : حدثنا كثير بن زيد، عن محمد بن عمر بن علي ، عن أبيه ، عن علي ، أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم – إني قد تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به لن تضلوا :كتاب الله سببه بأيديكم، وأهل بيتي. [Mushkil al-Athar al-Tahawi]
The only difference between the two chains is a narrator at the beginning who is indisputably Thiqah, and so the following will apply for both, although al-Albani/ al-Arnaut were grading the second chain:
1. Muhammad Nasir-ud-Dīn al-Albani included this in Silsila al-aHaadith as-Sahiha, referring to it as a strong Shawahid, whose narrators are trustworthy.
2. Shu’ayb al-Arnaut has graded the chain of narrators as ‘Hasan’ in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar.
3.Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani has graded the chain as ‘Saheeh’ in al-Matalib al-Aliyah bi Zawaid al-Masanid al-Thamaniyyah.
4.Ahmad B. Abu Bakr b.Ismail Al Busri , Itihaf al-Khiyarah al-Maharah bi Zawaid al-Masanid al-‘Ashra declares the chain as ‘Saheeh’.
5.Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar of the well-respected Hadithanswers.com also grades the chain of narrators for this tradition as ‘Hasan’ and has written: “This is a narration from Kitabus Sunnah of Imam Ibn Abi ‘Asim (rahimahullah), hadith: 1563. The chain is sound (hasan).”
As for the one present in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, al-Albani and al-Arnaut have authenticated it:حدثنا عبد الله حدثنى ابى عن ابن نمير ثنا عبدالملك بن ابى سليمان عن عطية العوفى عن ابى سعيد الخدرى قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم انى قد تركت فيكم ما ان اخذتم به لن تضلوا بعدى الثقلين احدهما اكبر من الاخر كتاب الله حبل ممدود من السماء الى الارض و عترتى اهل بيتى وانهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا على الحوض
al-Albani: وهو إسناد حسن في الشواهد al-Arnaut: سنده حسن بالشواهد.
While the above chain would be considered weak due to Attiyah, al-Albani and al-Arnaut deemed it Hasan due to corroborating witnesses – meaning, they took into account all of the various chains of narrators to strengthen this.
Credit to the brother who has compiled this:
https://shiaresponses.wordpress.com/2019/07/07/ibn-taymiyyahs-reckless-weakening-of-merits-of-ali/https://shiaresponses.wordpress.com/hadith-al-thaqalayn-articles/https://shiaresponses.wordpress.com/ghadir-khumm-articles/