Sunni Feedback on The Issues of Infallibility and Ahulbayt [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Abdullah Ibn Saba (Part II)

After an overview in the previous part, I will Ensha Allah
analyze the fictitious story of Abdullah Ibn Saba reported
by Sayf, in comparison with the other Sunni reports.

First
I give a brief tour of the allegations of Sayf Ibn Umar
attributed to Abdullah Ibn Saba:

Sayf alleged that a Yemenite Jew, called Abdullah Ibn Saba
(also known as Ibn Amutus-Sawda'; son of a black slave),
declared his Islam at the time of * Uthman *.

He
willfully associated himself with Muslims and traveled in
their cities and towns, from Damascus to Kufa to Egypt,
propagating among Muslims that Muhammad (PBUH&HF) will
be resurrected like Jesus.
He also said Ali is
Prophet's executor and was deprived of his divine office
by Uthman.
He provoked Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn
Yasir to agitate against Uthman and Muawiyah.
He
provoked Muslims to kill Uthman since he had usurped the
seat of Ali.

Sayf also alleged that Ibn Saba was
the key element in the tragedy of the battle of Camel.

Let
us now discuss each of the above allegations one by one:

The Return of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF) Sayf alleged Abdullah Ibn Saba was the one who invented
the idea that Prophet Muhammad would return before the Day
of Judgment.

Sayf wrote that Ibn Saba based his
allegation on the return of Jesus, saying: If Jesus is
going to come back, Muhammad will also return because he
is more important than Jesus.

He alleged that Ibn Saba also quoted
the following verse from the Quran to support his claim:

Certainly the one who
ordained the Quran to you, shall return you.
(Quran 28:85) The attribution to Ibn Saba of the idea that the prophet
would return is ridiculous.
It shows the
ignorance of Sayf and his disciples throughout the history
who repeated such allegation.

They misunderstood
the history of Islam.
Had these mercenaries
studied the Islamic history carefully, they would have
known that the first one who declared the idea of the
return of the Messenger of God was Umar Ibn al-Khattab.

Muslim
historians agree that:

Umar stood at the Mosque of the
Prophet when the Prophet passed away, and said: There are
hypocrites who allege that the Messenger of God has died.

Certainly the
Messenger of God did not die, but he went to his Lord, as Moses, son of Imran,
went to his Lord (for receiving the heavenly commandments).

By
God, Muhammad will return as Moses returned, and he shall cut off
the hands and legs of those who alleged that the Messenger of Allah has
died.

Sunni Reference: al-Sirah al-Nabawiyah, by Ibn Hisham, v2,
p655 We can not say that Umar took this idea from Abdullah Ibn
Saba or any other person.

Ibn Saba did not exist at that time, not
even in the imagination of Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi, who invented the entire
allegation.

Sayf wrote that Ibn Saba came to Medina and became Muslim during the
reign of Uthman, which is far after the death of Prophet.

So if
any Muslim believes in this, it would only be logical to say that the source of this
doctrine is the second Caliph's speech on the day that the Messenger of
God died, rather than Ibn Saba.

Sunni history does not have any
record of such allegation before the speech of Umar on the death of Prophet (PBUH&HF).

The Doctrine of Ali's Executorship Sayf further alleged that Ibn Saba is the one who
propagated the idea that Ali Ibn Abi Talib is the executor and the successor of the
Messenger of God.

He said that there were a thousand prophets
before Muhammad, each of which had an executor after him, and that Ali is the
executor of the Prophet.

Furthermore, Sayf alleged that Ibn Saba
said that the three caliphs who ruled after the Prophet were usurpers of the
Islamic rule.

Sayf and his disciples forgot that they mentioned in their
fiction that Abdullah Ibn Saba came to Medina and adopted Islam during
the reign of Uthman.

This is long after the death of the
Messenger of Allah.

On the other hand, Sunni history testifies that the Messenger of
God himself is the one who declared that Ali would be his executor right
at the *beginning of his mission*.

Here is the tradition
concerning the first open preach the prophet (PBUH&HF):

Ali (AS) narrated: When the
verse: And warn your closest tribe was revealed, the Messenger of God
called me and said: Ali, certainly Allah commanded me to warn my
closest tribe, and I feel the difficulty of this mission.

I know
that when I confront them with this warning, I will not like their response.

Then Prophet invited the members of his clan to dine with him on a small
amount of food and little milk.

There were forty of them.

After
they ate, the Prophet spoke to them:

O Children of Abdul
Muttalib, by God, I do not know of any young man from the Arabs who brought to his
people better than I brought to you.
I have brought to you the
goodness of this world and the Hereafter.

The Almighty commanded me to
invite you to it.

Who among you will assist me on this mission and
become my brother, my executor, and my successor?

No one accepted the invitation,
and I said: O Messenger of God, I shall be your assistant.

He held my neck and said to them: This is my brother, my executor (Wasi),
my successor (Caliph) among you.
So listen to him and obey him.

They laughed, saying to Abu Talib:

He (Muhammad) commanded you to
listen to your son and to obey him.

Sunni References:

(1) History of Tabari, English version, v6, pp 88-92 (two
traditions)

(2) History of Ibn Athir, v2, p62

(3) History of Ibn Asakir, v1, p85

(4) Durr al-Manthur, by al-Suyuti, v5, p97

(5) al-Sirah al-Halabiyah, v1, p311

(6) Shawahid al-Tanzil, by al-Hasakani, v1, p371

(7) Kanz al-Ummal, by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, v15, p15, pp
100-117

(8) Tafsir al-Khazin, by Ala-ud-Din al-Shafi'i, v3, p371

(9) Dala'il al-Nabawiyah, by al-Baihaqi, v1, pp 428-430

(10) al-Mukhtasar, by Abul Fida, v1, pp 116-117

(11) Life of Muhammad, by Hasan Haykal, p104 (First
Edition only.

In the second edition the last sentence
of Prophet (PBUH) has been removed.
)

(12) Tahdhib al-Athar, v4, pp 62-63.

The above tradition was also reported by important Sunni
figures such as Muhammad Ibn Is'haq (who is the most celebrated Sunni
historian), Ibn Abi Hatem, and Ibn Mardawayh.

It is also recorded by
orientalists such as T.
Carlyle, E.
Gibbon, J.
Davenport, and
W.
Irving.

Here we would like ask the following question: Imam Ali
reported that the Messenger of God is the one who granted him the office of
executorship, brotherhood, and successorship.

Sayf Ibn Umar
reported that the idea of the executorship of Ali had came from a Jew called Abdullah
Ibn Saba.

We should ask the members of the Takfeer University (who call
everyone who disagree with them unbeliever) the following question: Do you
believe in Imam Ali's report or Sayf Ibn Umar's? Sayf was accused by prominent
Sunni scholars of weakness, forgery, and heresy.

Of course, we should not expect any true Muslim to choose
the report of a liar such as Sayf Ibn Umar and to reject the report of the
Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the Leader of the Faithful, the brother
of the Prophet (PBUH&HF).

The Messenger of God used to say to Ali:

Your position to me is like
the position of Aaron to Moses, except that there shall be no Prophet
after me Sunni References:

(1) Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English version, Traditions
5.
56 and 5.
700

(2) Sahih Muslim, Arabic, v4, pp 1870-71

(3) Sunan Ibn Majah, p12

(4) Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, p174

(5) al-Khas'is, by al-Nisa'i, pp 15-16

(6) Mushkil al-Athar, by al-Tahawi, v2, p309

The Prophet (PBUH&HF) thereby meant that as Moses had
left behind Aaron to look after his people as his Caliph when he went to
receive the Commandments, in the same way he was leaving Ali behind as
his deputy to look after the affairs of Islam after him.

Allah
said in Quran:
...
And
Moses said unto his brother Aaron: Take my place among my community. (Quran
7:142).

Notice that Ukhlufni and Khalifa
(Caliph) are exactly from the same root.

Do the mercenary writers who endeavor to spread hostility
among Muslims forget that while returning from his farewell pilgrimage,
and in the presence of over a hundred thousand pilgrims in Ghadir
Khum, the Messenger of God declared:

Do I not have more right
over the believers than what they have over themselves? People
cried and answered: Yes, O' Messenger of God.

Then Prophet (PBUH) held up the
hand of Ali and said: Whoever I am his leader, Ali is his leader.

O'
God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile
to him.

Some of Sunni References:

(1) Sahih Tirmidhi, v2, p298, v5, p63

(2) Sunan Ibn Maja, v1, pp 12,43

(3) Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, pp 84,118,119,152,330,
v4, pp 281,368,370, 372,378, v5, pp 35,347,358,361,366,419
(from 40 chains of narrators!!!)

(4) Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Hanbal, v2, pp 563,572

(5) al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v2, p129, v3, pp
109-110,116,371

(6) Khasa'is, by al-Nisa'i, pp 4,21

(7) Majma' al-Zawa'id, by al-Haythami, v9, p103 (from
several transmitters)

(8) Tafsir al-Kabir, by Fakhr al-Razi, v12, pp 49-50

(9) al-Durr al-Manthur, by al-Hafiz Jalaluddin al-Suyuti,
v3, p19

(10) Tarikh al-Khulafa, by al-Suyuti, pp 169,173

(11) al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah, by Ibn Kathir, v3, p213, v5,
p208

(12) Mushkil al-Athar, by al-Tahawi, v2, pp 307-308

(13) Habib al-Siyar, by Mir Khand, v1, part 3, p144

(14) Sawaiq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, p26

(15) al-Isabah, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, v2, p509; v1,
part1, p319, v2, part1, p57, v3, part1, p29,
v4, part 1, pp 14,16,143

(16) Tabarani, who narrated from companions such as Ibn
Umar, Malik Ibn al-Hawirath, Habashi Ibn Junadah,
Jari, Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas, Anas Ibn Malik, Ibn Abbas,
Amarah,Buraydah,.

(17) Tarikh, by al-Khatib Baghdadi, v8, p290

(18) Hilyatul Awliya', by Abu Nu'aym, v4, p23, v5, pp26-27

(19) al-Istiab, by Ibn Abd al-Barr, Chapter of word ayn
(Ali), v2, p462

(20) Kanzul Ummal, by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, v6, pp 154,397

(21) al-Mirqat, v5, p568

(22) al-Riyad al-Nadirah, by al-Muhib al-Tabari, v2, p172

(23) Dhaka'ir al-Uqba, by al-Muhib al-Tabari, p68

(24) Fayd al-Qadir, by al-Manawi, v6, p217

(25) Usdul Ghabah, by Ibn Athir, v4, p114

(26) Yanabi' al-Mawaddah, by al-Qudoozi al-Hanafi, p297...

And hundreds more...
No Muslim would ever doubt that the Messenger of God is
the leader of all Muslims for all generations.

The Prophet in his
statement granted Ali the same position as his, when he said that Ali is the leader
of everyone who follows the Prophet.

This declaration which was narrated by more than one
hundred and ten companions and rated authentic (Sahih) and frequent (Mutawatir)
by the leading Sunni scholars, not only indicates that Ali is the
executor of Messenger, but also indicates that Ali takes the place of
the leadership of all Muslims after the Messenger of Allah.

However, these mercenaries still allow themselves to say that the belief that Ali was the
executor of the Messenger had come from a Jew who declared his Islam
during the days of Uthman!!!

Abdullah Ibn Saba has no base on the disputes immediately
after the death of prophet related to his successorship, and all relevant
claims of Shia is proven to be on the death of the prophet or even before
that, not during the reign of Uthman which is far long after prophet's
demise.

At the very start and immediately after the death of the prophet (PBUH&HF),
the Shia of Ali included those companions who where loyal to Imam Ali,
such as Ammar Ibn Yasir, Abu-Dhar al-Ghafari, Miqdad, Salman al-Farsi,
Ibn Abbas ...
etc.
, all gathered in the house of Fatimah (AS).

Even
Talha and Zubair were loyal to Imam Ali at the beginning and joint the others in the
house of Fatimah.

al-Bukhari narrated:

Umar said: And no doubt
after the death of the Prophet we were informed that the Ansar disagreed
with us and gathered in the shed of Bani Sa'da.

'Ali and
Zubair and whoever was with them, opposed us, while the emigrants gathered with
Abu Bakr.

Sunni Reference:

Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English, v8,
Tradition #817

Other Sunni traditionists narrated that on the day of
Saqifah:

Umar said: Ali Ibn Abi
Talib, Zubair Ibn Awwam and those who were with them separated from us (and
gathered) in the house of Fatimah, the daughter of the messenger of
Allah.

Sunni References:

- Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, p55

- Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, by Ibn Hisham, v4, p309

- History of Tabari (Arabic), v1, p1822

- History of Tabari, English version, v9, p192 Also:

They demanded confirmation of the
oath, but Ali and al-Zubair stayed away.

al-Zubair drew
his sword (from the scabbard), saying, I will not put it back until the oath of
allegiance is rendered to Ali.

When this news reached Abu Bakr and
Umar, the latter said, Hit him with a stone and seize the sword.

It is stated that Umar rushed (to the door of the House of Fatimah) and
brought them forcibly while telling them that they must give their oath of
allegiance willingly or unwillingly.

Sunni reference: History of al-Tabari, English version,
v9, pp 188-189 Certainly that Jew did not have any role in the division
of the companions into two factions right at the death of Prophet since he
was non-existent at that time.

Attacking Two of Most Beloved Companions of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) and Their Disciples
Sayf alleged that Ibn Saba is the one who instigated the
two prominent companions of the Prophet Muhammad, namely Abu Dhar (RA)
and Ammar Ibn Yasir (RA), against Uthman.

He said this Jew met
Abu Dhar in Damascus, and that he introduced to him the idea of prohibiting
treasuring gold and silver.

Sayf included the following great
companions of prophet and their disciples, among the list of the followers of Ibn Saba:

(1) Abu Dhar (RA),

(2) Ammar Ibn Yasir (RA),

(3) Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr (RA), son of the first Caliph,

(4) Malik Ashtar (RA).

and more To better understand the heresy of Sayf and his
allegation, let us quickly review the biography of the above great Muslim pioneers:

(1) Abu Dhar al-Ghafari (Jundub Ibn Jonadah): He is the
THIRD person in the list of the four pioneers who first
embraced Islam.

He was a monotheist even before his conversion.

He
frankly declared his faith in Islam at Mecca beside the Holy House
of God.

The infidels of Mecca beat him almost to death but he
survived, and on the instruction of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF) he
returned to his tribe.

After the Battles of Badr and Uhud he came to
Medina and stayed with Prophet until the demise of the Prophet (PBUH&HF).

During
the reign of the early Caliphs, Abu Dhar was sent to
Damascus where he could not agree with Muawiyah.

Later Muawiyah
complained about Abu Dhar to Uthman, the third Caliph, and thus Uthman sent Abu
Dhar into exile at Rabadha where he later died.
Rabadha
was known for having the worst climate.

(2) Ammar Ibn Yasir: He was also known as Abuyaqzan.

His
mother's name was Somayyah.

He and his parents
were pioneers in embracing Islam, and he was the SEVENTH person to declare his
faith.

His parents were executed after the torture by the infidels of
Mecca, because of their conversion to Islam, but Ammar managed
to escape to Medina.

Ammar fought on Imam Ali's side in the battle
of Jamal (Camel) and later in the war of Siffin where he was killed
in the battle field by Muawiyah soldiers, at the age of ninety-three.

(3) Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr: He was adopted by Imam Ali
after his father, Abu Bakr, died.

Muhammad
was one of the commanders of the army of Imam Ali (AS) in the battle of Camel.

He
was also in the battle of Siffin.
Imam Ali appointed
him as the governor of Egypt, and he took his office 15/9/37 AH.

Later,
Muawiyah sent an army under the leadership of Amr Ibn al-Aas to Egypt
in the year 38 AH, who fought and captured Muhammad, and then killed
him.

His body was placed in a belly of a dead donkey and then was
brutally burnt.

(See al-Istiab, v1, p235; History of al-Tabari, v4,
p79; Ibn Kathir, v3, p180; Ibn Khaldoon, v2, p182) (4) Malik Ashtar al-Nakha'i: He met the Prophet and was
one of the trustworthy disciple of companions (Tabe'in).

He
was chief of his tribe, and after receiving an injury to
one of his eyes in the battle of Yarmuk, he became known as Ashtar.

He
was the general of the army of Imam Ali in the battle of Siffin and
known for his bravery and combating the enemies of Islam.

At
the age of 38, he was appointed by Imam Ali as the governor of Egypt.
But
on his way to Egypt, near the Red Sea, he died after eating poisonous
honey which had been planned by Muawiyah.

The above were the short bibliographies of some eminent
Muslim pioneers.

It is regrettable that some historians who reported from
Sayf's heresy, allege that they followed a mysterious Jew.

The
mercenary workers did not even hesitate to attack such outstanding companions.

They
said that Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn Yasir met Ibn Saba, were affected by his
propaganda, and thus turned against Uthman.

However, we should not
forget that by their attacking those two prominent companions, they are
actually attacking the Messenger of God who attested to their purity and
righteousness frequently:

The Messenger of God said:
Certainly Allah commanded me to love four persons and informed me that He
loves them.

The companions asked:

O' Messenger of God, who
are those four persons? The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: Ali is
from them (repeating that three times), Abu Dhar, Salman al-Farsi, and
Miqdad.

Sunni references:

- Sunan Ibn Majah, v1, pp 52-53, Tradition #149

- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p130

- Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v5, p356

- Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p648,
Tradition #1103

- Hilyatul Awliya', by Abu Nu'aym, v1, p172 The Messenger of Allah also said:

Every prophet was given by
God seven righteous companions.

I was given fourteen righteous
companions.

He included in them Ali, al- Hasan, al-Husain, Hamza, Ja'far,
Ammar Ibn Yasir, Abu Dhar, Miqdad, and Salman.

Sunni references:

- Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, Traditions
#109, #277

- Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p329, p662

- Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, pp88,148,149 from several
chain of narrators

- al-Kabir, by al-Tabarani, v6, p264, p265

- Hilyatul Awliya', by Abu Nu'aym, v1, p128 Also al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, al-Hakim and many others narrated
that the Messenger of Allah said:

Heaven has not shaded, nor
has the earth carried a person more straight forward than Abu Dhar.

He
walks on earth with the immaterialistic attitude of
Jesus, the son of Mary.

Sunni reference:

- Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p334, Tradition #3889

- Tahdhib al-Athar, v4, pp 158-161

- Musnad Ahmad Hanbal, #6519, #6630, #7078

- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p342

- al-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v4, part 1, pp 167-168

- Majma' al-Zawa'id, by al-Haythami, v9, pp 329-330 Ibn Majah, in his authentic Sunan, narrated that Imam Ali
said:

I was sitting in the house of the
Prophet and Ammar asked to see him.

Then Prophet said: Welcome
the good and the purified.
Ibn Majah also narrated that Aisha narrated
that the Messenger of God said Whenever Ammar is given two
alternatives, he always chooses the most righteous of the two.

There are much more authentic narrations told by the
Prophet (PBUH&HF) about Ammar, such as Ammar is full of faith.

Also Prophet said:

A band of rebels will kill
Ammar.

Sunni references:

- Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter # MCCV, pp
1508-1509, Trditions #6966-6970 (five traditions).

- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p383

Now to see who those rebels were, look at Musnad Ahmad and
Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd who narrated:

In the Battle of Siffin,
when the head of Ammar Yasir (RA) was cut off and taken to Muawiyah, two
people were arguing over it, each one claimed that he had killed Ammar.

Sunni references:

- Musnad Ahmad (Pub.
in Dar al-Maarif, Egypt
1952), Tradition #6538, #6929

- Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v3, p253

Also it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF)
said:

Paradise longs for three
men, Ali, Ammar and Salman.

Sunni reference:

Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p332,

Tradition
#3884 Moreover al-Tirmidhi narrated:

When the Messenger of God heard
that Ammar and his parents were tortured in Mecca, he (PBUH&HF)
said: Members of Yasir's family, be patient.

Your
destination is paradise.

Sunni Reference: Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p233, Thus, Ammar and his parents were the first people declared
by the Prophet to be dwellers of paradise.

Here we should say: When a Muslim knows that the Prophet
has commended these two important companions (Abu Dhar & Ammar Ibn
Yasir) so highly, and if he is a believer in the truthfulness of Muhammad, he
does not allow himself to insult these two companions.

Such an
insult discredits the Prophet.

As we just saw, the above authentic
traditions in the six Sunni collections claim that Prophet said he has only four or
fourteen righteous companions, out of his 1400 companions.

Interestingly
enough that Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn Yasir were mentioned among those very few
individuals.

We find that the hostility of Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi, who
lived during the second century after the Prophet, and the hostility of his
students towards the Shi'ites, motivated them to spread such cheap
propaganda.

Sayf knew that attributing the revolt against Uthman to the work of
Ibn Saba contradicts known historical facts which show that the two
companions, Abu Dhar and Ammar, were opposed to Uthman's ever coming to
power.

Because Sayf knew of their opposition to Uthman, he tried to smear
their reputations by adding the names of the two prominent companions to the
list of students of that fictitious Jew.

If Ibn Saba ever existed, he had declared his Islam after
Uthman was killed.

Now let us suppose we accept what Sayf
alleged concerning that Abdullah Ibn Saba declared his faith after Uthman came to
power.

Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn Yasir, on the other hand, had been opposed
to Uthman's caliphate before he came to power.

The two
companions were followers of the Imam Ali (AS), and they firmly believed that Ali was
appointed by the Prophet to be his successor.

Since this was
their belief before the appearance of Ibn Saba, the story of Sayf about their
being influenced by Ibn Saba, is unfounded and untrue.

Thus, in order to clear the third caliph from all
accusations pertaining to his ill-management of the Islamic treasury, Sayf accused
the revolters being the students of Ibn Saba.

He then
completed his story by adding the two companions to the class of Ibn Saba's students,
intentionally overlooking the fact that the two companions belong to the
first successful class of the school of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF).

They
were among the important companions who were honored by the Prophet.

In
fact, Sayf was led by his untrue story to reject the testimony of the
Prophet.

By this, Sayf had disproved his whole tale.