in Baghdad during the Buyid era, around 400 AH (as we shall remark upon when we reach that point, God willing).
Roughly twenty days later, sackcloth banners are hung on the doors of the shops, straw and ashes are scattered, and the children and women roam the city’s alleyways lamenting al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAli on the Day of ʿĀshūrā, the morning after they have recited the spurious text al-Maṣraʿ that falsely describes his killing (1). We shall, if Allah Most High wills, set out the true circumstances of his death and make the matter crystal clear.
Some of the Umayyads used to fault ʿAli by calling him (2) “Abū Turāb,” yet this very name was bestowed upon him by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As is authentically recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (3) on the authority of Sahl ibn Saʿd, ʿAli once displeased Fāṭimah and went to the mosque. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came upon him lying there with dust clinging to his skin; he began brushing the dust from him and said, “Sit up, Abū Turāb.” (4)
[Ḥadīth of Brotherhood]
Al-Ḥākim said: “Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd-Allāh al-Ḥafīd narrated to us; al-Ḥusayn (5) ibn Jaʿfar al-Qurashī narrated to us; al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥanafī narrated to us; Ayyūb ibn Mudrik narrated to us, from Makḥūl, from Abū Umāmah, who said: ‘When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established bonds of brotherhood among the people, he paired himself with ʿAli.’”
Al-Ḥākim then remarked: “We have not recorded this report from Makḥūl except through this chain, yet the senior scholars found it pleasing because its transmitters are from Syria.”
I say: There is reason to question the soundness of this ḥadith.
A report (6) from Anas and ʿUmar likewise states that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter.” Similar reports also come through the routes of Zayd ibn Abī Awfā, Ibn ʿAbbās, Makhdūj ibn Zayd al-Dhuhlī, Jābir ibn ʿAbd-Allāh, ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, Abū Dharr, and ʿAli himself; but every one of their chains is weak, and none provides a decisive proof. Allah knows best.
It has also been transmitted through several routes that he said, “I am the servant of Allah and the brother of His Messenger; anyone who claims this after me is a liar.” (7)