It was recorded by al-Hakim (3/172), who made no comment on it. Al-Dhahabi critiqued it, saying: “I say: It is not authentic.” He indicated that its flaw lay with al-Hakim’s teacher, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya al-‘Alawi, whom he accused in al-Mizan of fabricating the hadith, “Ali is the best of mankind.” He also denounced al-Khatib’s leniency in describing it as: “This is a rejected hadith; it is not established!” Al-Hafiz concurred with him in al-Lisan.

I say: As for this Ali ibn Ja‘far, no one declared him reliable. Indeed, al-Tirmidhi indicated his weakness by regarding his narration with the wording, “Whoever loves me and these two ...,” as singular. It is recorded in the other book under no. 3122. Al-Dhahabi said in al-Mizan: “I have not seen anyone declare him weak, nor anyone declare him reliable; but his hadith is extremely rejected. Al-Tirmidhi neither authenticated it nor graded it good.” Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Acceptable”—that is, when corroborated.

I say: This addition, which he alone narrated to the exclusion of all the other routes, is extremely rejected, especially its concluding portion concerning the exegesis of the verse on affection. For that exegesis is false; it is inconceivable that it could have come from al-Hasan ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, since the verse is Makkan and was revealed before Ali married Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with them both. Its meaning, as authentically reported from Ibn Abbas, is: “except that you maintain the ties of kinship between me and you.” What has been narrated from Ibn Abbas contrary to this is false and is not authentically established from him, as I have demonstrated in the other book under no. 4974.

In sum, the hadith under discussion is good through its first two routes, and corroboration may be sought