Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Tklib 31 1
thirty years, then Allah (s) will grant power to whomever He
wills."13 This hadith is indicative of the validity of 'Ali's
caliphate, as his caliphate brought to a close the thirty year
period of caliphate in the footsteps of the Prophet (gg that are
mentioned in this hadith, and this was the basis of the scholars'
opinions.14 Ahad ibn Hanbal said: "The hadith of Safeenah
about the caliphate. is sound, and I based my opinion about the
caliphate on it."15 Abdullah ibn &mad said: "I said to my
father: 'Some people are saying that he ('Ali) was not a caliph.'
He said: 'This is a bad and compt view.' He said: 'The
Companions of the Messenger of Allah (g) used to address him
as Amir al-Mu'mineen; should we disbelieve them? He led
people on hajj, cut off the hand of the thief and stoned the
adulterer; could the one who did that be anything other than a
caliph?'"'6
Ibn Taymiyah said concerning the hadith of Safeenah: "It is a
well-known hadith that was narrated by Hammiid ibn Salamah,
'Abdul-W&th ibn Sa'eed and al-'Awwh ibn Hawshab from
Sa'eed ibn Jamhh from Safeenah, the freed slave of the
Messenger of Allah (g). It was narrated by the authors of as-
Sunan such as Abu Diiwood and others, and Imam m a d and
others based their views on it when affnming the caliphate of the
four Rightly Guided Caliphs. Abad regarded it as sound and
quoted it as evidence against those who were not certain about
the caliphate of 'Ali (&) because the people were divided
concerning him. m a d said: 'Whoever does not regard 'Ali
(&) as the fourth caliph is more misguided than his family's
donkey,' and he forbade accepting such a person's proposal of
~naniage."'~
The commentator of at-Ghhriwiyyah said: "And we affirm 'Ali
as caliph after 'Uthmh (may Allah be pleased with them both).