2649 – ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar informed us; Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad informed us; Abū Yaḥyā al-Rāzī narrated to us; Muḥammad—meaning Ibn Ḥumayd—narrated to us; ʿAffān narrated to us; Abū Dirham narrated to us; he said:

I heard al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī say that al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf once asked him, “What is your view of Abū Turāb?” He replied, “And who is Abū Turāb?” Al-Ḥajjāj said, “ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.” Al-Ḥasan answered, “I say that Allah has counted him among those who are rightly guided.”

Al-Ḥajjāj said, “Produce evidence for what you claim.” Al-Ḥasan replied:

“Allah says in His Noble Book: ‘We did not appoint the direction of prayer you formerly faced except so that We might know those who follow the Messenger from those who turn back on their heels. Indeed, it was burdensome except for those whom Allah has guided’ (al-Baqarah 143). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the very first whom Allah guided along with the Prophet ﷺ, and the first to join the Prophet ﷺ.”

Al-Ḥajjāj retorted, “That is merely an Iraqi view!” Al-Ḥasan said, “It is exactly as I have told you.”