2223 — “What do you want from Ali? Ali is from me, and I am from him; and he is the ally of every believer after me.”

Al-Tirmidhi (3713), al-Nasa’i in al-Khasa’is (pp. 13 and 16–17), Ibn Hibban (2203), al-Hakim (3/110), al-Tayalisi in his Musnad (829), Ahmad (4/437–438), and Ibn ‘Adi in al-Kamil (2/568–569) narrated it through Ja‘far ibn al-Yaman al-Duba‘i, from Yazid al-Rishk, from Mutarrif, from ‘Imran ibn Husayn, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, dispatched an army and appointed Ali ibn Abi Talib as its commander. He went out with the detachment and took possession of a slave-girl. They objected to this, and four of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, agreed among themselves, saying, ‘If we meet the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, we will tell him what Ali has done.’

Whenever the Muslims returned from a journey, they would first go to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, greet him, and then depart for their homes. When the detachment returned, they greeted the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One of the four then stood up and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, have you seen what Ali ibn Abi Talib has done—such and such?’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, turned away from him. Then the second stood up and said the same thing, and he turned away from him. Then the third came forward and said the same thing, and he turned away from him. Then the fourth stood up and said what they had said. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, turned to him, and anger could be seen on his face, and said”—then he mentioned it.

Al-Tirmidhi said: “A good, singular hadith; we know it only through the hadith of Ja‘far ibn Sulayman.”

I say: He is trustworthy and among Muslim’s narrators, as are all the other narrators in its chain. For this reason, al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s conditions,” and al-Dhahabi concurred with him. The hadith also has a corroborating report, narrated by Ajalh al-Kindi from ‘Abdullah ibn Buraydah, from his father Buraydah, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, dispatched two expeditions to Yemen, with Ali ibn Abi Talib in command of one of them...” He then mentioned the story in a manner similar to that above, ending with: