—something that makes it necessary to refute him and expose the evils, errors, and lies in his book. I have also found the opportunity to critique it by examining its weak and fabricated hadiths. Thus far, I have collected nearly one hundred such hadiths, most—if not all—of them concerning the virtues of Ali. They range from weak to fabricated, and are numbered in the other book from 4882 to 4960. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

1981 — “Visit the sick and follow funeral processions; they will remind you of the Hereafter.”

It was narrated by Abu Ya‘la in his Musnad (84/1), al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (518), Ibn Hibban (709), Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd (248), and al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah (1/166/1), through Qatadah, from Abu Isa al-Aswari, from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, attributed to the Prophet.

I say: Its chain of transmission is good. All its narrators are reliable and are among the narrators of the two Sahihs, except Abu Isa al-Aswari. Muslim narrated from him as corroboration; al-Tabarani and Ibn Hibban declared him reliable; and a number of scholars narrated from him.

1982 — “The office of a local community leader begins with blame, ends in regret, and brings punishment on the Day of Resurrection.”

It was narrated by al-Tayalisi in his Musnad (no. 2526) and Abu al-‘Abbas al-Asamm in his Hadith Collection (3/148/1) (no. 125), from Hisham, from ‘Abbad ibn Abi ‘Ali, from Abu Hazim, from Abu Hurayrah, who attributed it to the Prophet.

I say: This too has a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are reliable and are among the narrators of the two Sahihs, except ‘Abbad ibn Abi ‘Ali, who was from Basra. Other reliable authorities besides this Hisham—namely al-Dastawa’i—also narrated from him: Hammad ibn Zayd and Khulayid ibn Hassan, as recorded in al-Jarh wa-al-Ta‘dil (Narrator Criticism and Accreditation) (3/1/84). It mentions neither criticism nor accreditation concerning him. Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat, and al-Hafiz said: “Acceptable.”