1215 — Abū Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Wāsitī reported to us: Abū Bakr al-Athram reported to us: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to me, “Write down this hadith, for it is a good hadith concerning the caliphate of Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him.” He then said: Ishāq ibn Yūsuf al-Azraq reported to us: Abd al-Malik reported to us, from Salama ibn Kuhayl, from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jad, from Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, who said:

I was with Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—while Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—was under siege. A man came to him and said, “The Commander of the Faithful is about to be killed this very moment!” Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—stood up, and I grasped him around the waist, fearing for his safety. He said, “Let go of me—may you be motherless!”

Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—went to the house, but Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—had already been killed. He then returned to his own house, entered it, and locked the door behind him. The people came and pounded on his door, then entered and said, “Uthmān has been killed, and the people must have a caliph. We know of no one with a greater right to it than you.”

Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—said to them, “Do not press me further. It is better that I be your adviser than your ruler.” They replied, “No! By Allah, we know of no one with a greater right to it than you.” He said, “If you insist, my pledge of allegiance shall not be given in secret. Rather, I shall go out to the mosque, and whoever wishes to pledge allegiance to me may do so.” He then went out to the mosque, and the people pledged allegiance to him.

⦗1761⦘

1216 — Ibn Abd al-Hamīd also reported to us: Abū Yahyā al-Attār reported to us: Ishāq ibn Yūsuf al-Azraq reported to us . . . and he related the same hadith with its chain of transmission.

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy upon him—said: This is our position concerning Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him: he was the fourth caliph, as the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “The caliphate will last thirty years.”

It has also been related from Hudhayfa that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “If you entrust it to Abū Bakr, he is detached from this world and desirous of the Hereafter. If you entrust it to Umar, he is strong and trustworthy, and no reproach deters him in matters concerning Allah. If you entrust it to Alī, he will guide others and is himself rightly guided; he will keep you upon a straight path.”

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy upon him—said: As Hudhayfa related, Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—remained upon the straight path from the time he was raised in the company of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—until the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—passed away. He then pledged allegiance to Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—and remained upon the straight path. When Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—passed away, he pledged allegiance to Umar—may Allah be pleased with both of them—and remained with him upon the straight path. When Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—passed away, he pledged allegiance to Uthmān ibn Affān—may Allah be pleased with him—and remained with him upon the straight path.

When Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—was unjustly killed, Allah cleared Alī of involvement in his killing, and Alī regarded his killing as a manifest injustice. He then assumed the caliphate after them—may Allah be pleased with him—and, praise be to Allah, remained upon the straight path: following the Book of Allah—mighty and majestic—following the practices of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and following the precedent of Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān—may Allah ⦗1762⦘ be pleased with them. He neither changed nor altered their practice. He was detached from this world and desirous of the Hereafter, humble in himself yet exalted in the sight of Allah—mighty and majestic—and in the sight of the believers, until he was slain as a martyr. May Allah curse his killer and disgrace him in this world and the Hereafter.