لطفا منتظر باشید ...
PRODUCING AN UNTRUE TRADITION
CONCERNING AMIR-UL-MUMINEEN (A.S.)
Ibne Abil-Hadeed, a Shafa'ee M'tazalite scholar narrates
from his teacher Abu Jafar Askari as such: 'Muawiya
appointed a huge group of companions and disciples of the
companions for the purpose of forging false and evil
traditions about Ali (A.S.) which would become a source
of defeat and taunt for Hazrat and which would keep the
people uninformed of his innocence. For this act, he set
huge amounts of awards in order to encourage the forger's
inclination and make the mammonists desirous. Such people
too forged whatever they wanted and desired. Amongst them
we may mention such names as Abu Huraira, Amr-Aas and
Mughaira-ibn- Shu'aba from the companions (of the Holy
Prophet) and Urwah-ibn-Zubair from the disciples of the
companions.
FIRST
TRADITION
Muhammad-ibn-Shahab Zuhri narrates that
Urwah-ibn-Zubair related to him a tradition from Ayesha
where she says:[Arabic text]«I was in the presence of the Holy Prophet when
Abbass and Ali could be seen approaching us from a far
distance. The Holy Prophet said: 'O Ayesha, these two
will die in a state when they will have not followed my
nation or my religion.»Abdul Razzaq narrates from Mu'ammar that there were
two traditions with Zuhri which were narrated from Ayesha
through Urwah. These two traditions were about Ali
(A.S.).Once I inquired from Zuhri about those two people
(Urwah and Ayesha). He replied: What have you to do with
those two people and their traditions?! Almighty Allah
Knows them better. In connection with Bani- Hashim they
are, in my opinion the accused ones (of hatred, vengeance
and lies).
SECOND
TRADITION
The second tradition which has been narrated from
Ayesha through Urwah is as follows:[Arabic text]She says: I was in the presence of the Prophet when
Abbass and Ali came. The Holy Prophet said: 'O Ayesha, if
you wish to see two men of the Fire then look at these
two ones who are approaching towards us! I raised my head
and all of a sudden saw Abbass and Ali! 158We do not know who has forged this tradition, whether
it was Urwah-ibn- Zubair or others? Anyhow, it was on the
lines of Muawiya's sinister policies that such a
tradition was forged and propagated.
THIRD
TRADITION
Amongst the traditions which Amro Aas has forged is a
tradition which Bukhari and Muslim have unfortunately
narrated from him in their respective books. He says: 'I
heard the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.A.) saying: The
progeny of Abi Talib are not amongst my friends. Rather
my friends are Allah, the virtuous believers and the
good-doers.In this connection, we shall refer to Sahih Bukhari
and Muslim and will see that this tradition has been
narrated in these two books in the following manner:[Arabic text] 159Amro Aas says:- 'I heard the Holy Prophet saying in a
loud voice: «The progeny of Abi so and so (Abi-Talib)are
not my friends. My friends are only Allah and virtuous
believers.'»In another tradition, Bukhari has an annexation to
this tradition where as per the narration of Amro Aas and
following this talk the Holy Prophet said: «But they are
having relationship with me and I observe bonds of
relationship [Arabic text] with them.160»Now let us see what type of people the progeny of Abi
Talib are. In Arabic [Arabic text] refers to a person's
kinsmen and lineage. 161Therefore, the sons of a person are the first ones who
are applicable to the word of [Arabic text]. The sons of
Abi-Talib comprises Talib, Aqeel, Jafar and Ali (A.S.)
and a daughter by the name of Faakteh Umm.162
Ha'ani.But, in reality all these personalities have been
entangled in this forged tradition because of Hazrat Ali
(A.S.). Otherwise the Umayyids had nothing to do with
Talib, Aqeel and Jafar. Even their saying that Abu Talib
had been an unbeliever; who had notbrought faith even during the last moments of his life
was only for the sake of proving some sort of a
shortcoming in Ali (A.S.) and nothing else. Uthman would
tell Ali (A.S.) as such: «'What should I do. The Quraish
do not love you. You have killed more than thirty of
their men in the battle of «Badr» and that too such
people whose face were shining like sheets made of
gold!»Undoubtedly, Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.) was entangled in
the strong cord of enmity and hatred of the Quraishites
i.e. the most powerful front in the Arabian peninsula. In
the battle of «Badr» he had killed the most prominent
of the ignorant Quraishites. In addition, even if the
ruling Quraishites did not claim blood from Ali (A.S.)
yet they could not see him sitting on the throne of power
and had even emphasised that they disliked seeing
Prophethood and Caliphate coming together in one place
and one family. 163Imam too on numerous occasions has expressed before
his Lord his grievance against them. 164
ASSESSING THE PREVIOUS TRADITION
Now let us see what this tradition intended to achieve
and what the aim of its forgery was. Didn't we see how
Muawiya used to give commands for producing contradictory
statements for every type of virtue that had been
mentioned for Abu-Turab Amir-ul-Mumineen? (A.S.) This
tradition has one general saying as a result of which all
the virtues which has been narrated about
Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.) from the Holy Prophet will be
rendered valueless and will appear to have been said for
the sake of observing the bonds of relationship and
pleasing his cousin Ali and has had no basis and origin.
Is it not that the Prophet in a famous and very reliable
tradition said:[Arabic text] 165With the existence of the afore-said tradition under
discussion will the lofty purport of this tradition ever
remain intact. If anyone becomes well- acquainted with
the books of traditions belonging to the Caliphate
school, one will realize how the entire commands of
Muawiya was put into effect.Right from the time of Muawiya up to the time of
Omar-ibn-Abdul Aziz, the Muslims were brought up under
the training of the Umayyids in hatred, animosity and
despise with Imam Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.). Numerous
forged traditions aimed in the dishonour of Hazrat was in
the hands of the people and particularly those who were
far away from the true Islamic centers like Mecca and
Medina bore the brunt of these fabrications. You must
have repeatedly heard that in the Friday-prayer sermons
over all the Islamic pulpits and in all the Muslim
mosques, they would curse Imam Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.)
thinking this to be a part of the obligatory acts. This
was the official policy of the Umayyid government so much
so that it is said that once a preacher forgot to curse
Ali (AS.) in one of the Friday- prayer sermons. On his
way towards his house, he suddenly remembered that he had
not cursed Ali (A.S.). He stood there and cursed Hazrat
for a thousand times as an atonement for forgetfulness.
This spot gained sanctity and blessing and a mosque named
as [Arabic text] (mosque of curse)was put up in that
very place. Such was the situation of the Islamic world
during the Umayyid dynasty and it was under these
circumstances that such traditions had emerged and
propagated. Of course later on, due to relentless
endeavours of Ahl-e-bayt and their companions and the
scholars coming after the occultation period, the truth
was heaved out from beneath the ruins of the Umayyid era.
But it was unfortunate that once again an unrelenting
assault of Western culture and persistent endeavours of
Jewish, Christian and Communist Islamicists sunk the
truth under the debris of ignorance and inside the gloom
of dubiousness!After Omar-ibn-Abdul Aziz, especially with the coming
of the Abbassides into power, that too in the name of
Al-e-Muhammad166; and
the endeavours of the Imams and their self-sacrificing
companions, it was no longer possible to speak against
Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.) just as it was possible during
the Umayyid era. Thus, in all the existing manuscripts of
this tradition taken right from 'Sahih Bukhari' and
'Muslim' till 'Musnad Ahmad' and 'Abi Awani' the
tradition has come down in this manner:[Arabic text]The progeny of Abi so and so are not my friends.,
However, in the commentary of Sahih Bukhari which has
been written by one of the prominent traditionist of the
Caliphate school, it has come down that the progeny of
Abi so and so refers to Abu Talib.167
Nevertheless he makes amends and explains that in
reference to the progeny of Abu Talib, the Holy Prophet
(only) meant the unbelievers and polytheists amongst
them!We ask: Who are these unbelievers and polytheists? Is
it Ali who is the first believer and the first one to
confirm the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet? Is it Jafar
who is counted to be amongst the great martyrs of Islam
and is honoured with the title of «Zul-Janahain »
(owner of a pair of wings)? Is it Aqeel, Talib, Hassan,
Hussein, Abdullah-ibn-Jafar, Muslim, Muhammad-
ibn-Hanafia and their likes? Is history aware of any
polytheist or atheist from the progeny of Abu Talib? Was
it not that majority of them were fore runners in
sacrificing themselves in the path of Islam? And the
minority amongst them who were so were at least Muslims
in the true sense.This was the tradition which has been narrated from
Amro-Aas and has unfortunately found its way in the books
of 'Sihah' and 'Musnad' of the Caliphate school.
FOURTH
TRADITION
Now let us look into the tradition which has been left
behind by Abu Huraira. A'mash narrates and says: 'At the
time when Abu-Huraira arrived in Iraq along with Muawiya
in the year of congregation 168,
he entered the mosque of Kufa. When he saw the large
number of people having come to receive him, he sat down
on his two knees and after blandishing for several times
his bald head, he said: 'O the people of Iraq! Do you
imagine that I will lie about Allah and His Messenger and
then burn myself in the Fire of Hell. I swear by Allah
that I heard His Messenger saying: for every Prophet
there is a sanctuary and my sanctuary is in Medina
between Mount «Eer» and Mount «Thur». May the curse
of Allah, His Angels and all the people be upon the one
who creates any dishonour in my sanctuary and raises a
disturbance in it.Iraq had been the center of the Shiites of
Amir-ul-Mumineen and the people of Kufa were trained by
him and were his followers. Abu-Huraira speaks among such
people. Perhaps his own self is aware that they are such
people who doubt his saying and maybe it is for this
reason that he says:«Do you imagine that I speak the falsehood and so
entangle myself in the Fire of Hell?»Therefore, he swears that he has himself heard the
Messenger of Allah. Later, he adds: «I take Allah as
witness that Ali has created disturbance and sedition in
this land!».When news of this tradition reached Muawiya, he
honoured Abu Huraira for this great service. As well as
sending him money, he appointed him as the ruler of
Medina. 169
ASSESSING THE FOURTH TRADITION
In this tradition Abu-Huraira says that the Holy
Prophet has said: 'Medina is my sanctuary and its limits
extend from Mount «Eer» to Mount «Thur». But what we
can derive from history, biography and geographical books
of the Arabs is this that Mount 'Thur' is basically not
in Medina or its surroundings. A mountain by this name
exists on the outskirts of the city of Mecca and it is
the same mountain where the Holy Prophet concealed
himself at the time of 'Hijrat' (migration). 170Numerous men of geography have some sayings in this
regard which divulges the falsity of the tradition.Yaqoobi in the book «Al-Baladan» says: «Mecca is
situated between great mountains .... the mountains which
surround the city of Mecca are Abu Qabees .... Qayeqa'an,
Fazeh, Muhsab, Thur next to Safa, Hera, Bashir....' 171 Moreover he says:
«Medina possesses two mountains which are named «Uhud»
and Eer'. 172Muqaddesi who is one of the best Islamic scholar in
geography writes in his book «Ahsan at-Taqasim» as
such:«The cave of 'Thur' is placed one league away from
Mecca and Mount Hera is situated on the side of
Mina. '173Yaqoot Hamavi, the writer of the biggest geographical
encyclopedia of Islam says:«'Thur' is the name of a mountain in Mecca and in it
is a cave where the Holy Prophet had hid himself.'174»Muhammad-ibn-Abdul Man'am Hamiri in his geographical
culture emphasises as such:«'Thur' which is called as 'Thur Athal' is one of the
mountains of Mecca lying on the southern side of the city
and is two miles away from Mecca.175»Anyone from the famous Arab philologists who has
spoken about the word «Thur», has emphasised that it is
the name of a mountain on the outskirts of Mecca like:Ibn-Athir (died in the year 606) in his book
«An-Nihaya-fi-Gharib-ul-Hadith-wal-Athar».Faiyumi (died in the year 770) in his book
«Al-Mesbah-ul-Munir» under the topic of «Thur».Allama Ibne-Manzoor, a great Arab philologist (died in
the year 711) in his great book «Lisan -ul-Arab
al-Muheet» under the topic of «Thur».Firuzabadi (died in the year 817) in his book
«Al-Qamoos-ul-Muheet» under the topic of «Thur».Zubaidi (died in the year 1205) in his magnificient
book «Taj al-Arous» with commentary on
«Al-Qamoos-ul-Muheet».This probe reveals that Abu-Huraira, the narrator of
the tradition suffered from a weak memory and senility
and has mentioned the mountain of 'Thur' (near Mecca) to
be in Medina.Several scholars from the Caliphate school have spoken
in regard to this tradition and have strived to justify
this mistake some way or the other.They say: 'Maybe the Holy Prophet has named one
mountain from the mountains of Medina as «Thur».'They say: Perhaps the Holy Prophet only meant to
determine the limits of the sanctuary in Medina and has
likened this limit to the distance between the two
mountains which lies in Mecca.They say: Due to error and mistake, the transmitter
has mentioned 'Mount Thur' instead of mentioning Mount
Uhud.The fourth has evaded the name of 'Thur' in the
tradition or has mentioned it in vague terms (so and so)
so that it could avoid being entangled in such problems.These endeavours such as the above and in some other
manners continued until an ultimate solution was found
i.e. the discovery of a mountain by the name of «Thur»
in Medina by Abdul-Salam-ibn-Muhammad, a Hanbalite
traditionist who died in the year 669. For the first
time, a mountain by this name was created! For centuries,
all the scholars who have spoken something or the other
in this regard have said: «Such a mountain does not
exist on the outskirts of Medina.» They have also said:
«The inhabitants of Iraq have narrated this tradition
while they were unaware of the geographical conditions of
Medina.» Now all of a sudden a man amongst the scholars
of Iraq (Basra) comes along and says: Next to 'Mount
Uhud' is a small mountain by the name of «Thur» and
adds that the entire people of Medina are aware of it.The matter does not end here and in the next century a
second witness comes into the picture. His name is
Abdullah Mutri (died in the year 765) and he narrates
from his father Muhammad Mutri about the existence of
such a mountain (in Medina). He further adds: The people
of Medina, generation after generation were familiar with
a mountain by the name of 'Thur' which is next to Mount
Uhud and this mountain is small in size and redish in
colour.In our era, the contemporary scholars have strived in
some other manner to eliminate untrue sayings: A great
master by the name of Abdul-Qudoos and the author of
«Athar-ul-Medina» on page 139 of the said book has
drawn the picture of this mountain. Doctor Muhammad
Hussein Haikal, the author of the famous book
«Hayat-e-Muhammad» in his other book by the name of
«Manzil al-Vahy» on page 512 has brought the same
geographical topography and on page 440 mentions that he
has utilized the matter from the topography of
Abdul-Qudoos i.e. «Athar-ul-Medina».176
However, Doctor Haikal in his previously - mentioned book
i.e. «Hayat-e- Muhammad», like all the historians and
geographers mentions that the cave and mountain of 'Thur'
is situated on the outskirts of Mecca and has reckoned
this to be the place of concealment of the Holy Prophet
during 'Hijrat' (migration). 177
