the tribe of Kumiya.⦗1⦘
He drew the young man close, stirred in him a longing for pursuits he already loved, and entrusted him with his secret. Accompanying him was the jurist ʿAbd Allah al-Wansharisi, a handsome man and a grammarian. The two agreed that he would hide his learning and eloquence and pretend, for a time, to ignorance and a rustic accent, after which the sudden revelation of his true ability would be taken as a miracle—and that is precisely what he did.⦗2⦘
He then chose six of his stoutest followers and set out with them for Marrakesh, which at the time belonged to Ibn Tashfin. Once there they began their denunciations, so that the king grew apprehensive of them. They were staying in a ruined mosque, and the king had them brought before him. He reproached them for the insults that had allegedly been directed at the monarch, whereupon he said, “Whatever words of disparagement have reached you—I did indeed utter them. Has…"
in Sahih al-Bukhari (nos. 111, 1870, 3172, 3179, 6755, 6903, 6915 and 7300) the report comes through Abu Juhaifah al-Suwaʾi, who said: “I asked Ali—may Allah honour him—‘Do you possess anything that is not in the Quran, or that other people do not have?’ He replied, ‘By Him who split the grain and created life, we have nothing except what is in the Quran—apart from an understanding that a man may be granted concerning the Book—and what is written on this sheet.’ I asked, ‘What is on this sheet?’ He said: ‘Blood-money (diya), the ransom of captives, and that no Muslim is killed in retaliation for a disbeliever.’
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar comments that Abu Juhaifah posed the question because some Shiʿites claimed the Prophet ﷺ had entrusted the Family of the House—especially Ali—with revelations unknown to others.
Al-ʿAyni, quoting Ibn Battal (ʿUmdat al-Qari, 1/161), states: this narration decisively refutes the Shiʿite innovation and the allegation that Ali was the sole legatee (waṣiy) and uniquely endowed with knowledge from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for Ali affirmed that he held only what all Muslims possess, namely the Book of Allah, while any deeper comprehension depends on individual capacity and is not exclusive to him.
Furthermore, the book in question cannot soundly be attributed to Jaʿfar al-Sadiq—may Allah have mercy on him. Those who ascribe it to him are among the most ignorant of transmitters, traditions and historical reports, and of distinguishing the sound from the weak. Their sources are mainly disconnected chronicles, many fabricated by notorious liars such as Abu Mikhnaf Lut, Hisham b. Muhammad b. al-Saʾib and the like. Students of knowledge know that matters established solely by transmission can be deemed authentic only with a sound chain; when that is lacking, both Sharia and reason forbid us to affirm their veracity. See: Siddeeq Hasan Khan, Abjad al-ʿUlum, 2/214–216; idem, Laqta al-ʿAjlan; and Sayyid Rashid Rida, al-Manar, 4/60.
(1) Pronounced with a ḍamma on the kaf and a sukūn on the waw: a small tribe that once lived on the coastal strip belonging to Tlemcen.
(2) See Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, 5/48.