by Ibn Shīrawayh, where he traces it back through Hudhayfa ibn al-Yamān, who reported that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘If people knew when Alī was named Commander of the Faithful, they would not deny his merit. He was named Commander of the Faithful while Adam was between spirit and body.

Allah Most High says:

“And when your Lord took from the children of Adam—from their loins—their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves: ‘Am I not your Lord?’”

[Surah al-Arāf: 172]

(1).

The angels said, “Yes indeed.” He—blessed and exalted is He—then said, “I am your Lord, Muhammad is your Prophet, and Alī is your commander.”’ This explicitly establishes the point at issue.”

The response is as follows:

First, we deny its authenticity and demand that it be established. Hadith scholars unanimously agree that the mere fact that the author of al-Firdaws narrates a hadith does not establish its authenticity. Ibn Shīrawayh al-Daylamī al-Hamadhānī included in this book many hadiths graded authentic and others graded good * as well as fabricated hadiths. Although he was a man of knowledge and religion and was not himself one to lie, he transmitted what appeared in other people’s books, and books * (2) contain both truth and falsehood. He thus did (3) as many others have done when compiling hadiths: sometimes including their chains of transmission and sometimes omitting them.

Second, this hadith is a fabricated lie by the unanimous agreement of hadith scholars (4).