Thus, his hadith is good, if Allah Most High wills. As for al-Hafiz’s statement concerning him, “Truthful, but makes mistakes,” it allows for this. And Allah knows best.

2479 — “O people, do not complain about Ali. By Allah, he is too exemplary in the cause of Allah—or in the path of Allah—for him to be complained about.”

Ibn Ishaq recorded it in al-Sirah (4/250, Ibn Hisham), and Ahmad (3/86) transmitted it through his route: ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ma‘mar ibn Hazm narrated to me from Sulayman ibn Muhammad ibn Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah, from his paternal aunt Zaynab bint Ka‘b—who was married to Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri—from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, who said: The people complained about Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. So the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stood among us to deliver a sermon, and I heard him say it. The words, “for him to be complained about,” do not appear in al-Musnad.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are known and trustworthy, apart from Zaynab bint Ka‘b. Al-Tajrid states: “A female Companion; Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri married her.” After attributing this statement to al-Tajrid, al-Hafiz said in al-Isabah: “It seems that Abu Ishaq Ibn al-Amin preceded him in this, for he mentioned her in his supplement to al-Isti‘ab; Ibn Fathun likewise mentioned her. Others listed her among the Followers, and her narration from her husband Abu Sa‘id and his sister al-Furay‘ah appears in the four Sunan collections and Musnad Ahmad. Her two nephews, Sa‘d ibn Ishaq and Sulayman ibn Muhammad, the sons of Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah, narrated from her. Ibn Hibban mentioned her in al-Thiqat.”