Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

384 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia
Their aim was to slander the Companions (may Allah be pleased with
them all) for allegedly going against the command of the Messenger
(B) and agreeing on that, so that they could undermine and reject
what the Companions narrated of Qur'an and hadith to future
generations of ~uslims.~~'
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his
refutation of al-IJilli: "As for the appointment of 'Ali by name, there
is nothing of that nature in the reliable books of the hadith scholars;
all the scholars of hadith are unanimously agreed that it is false. Ahu
Muhammad ibn Hazm said: 'We did not find any report with anyone
about this so-called instrnction, except one report which goes back to
an unknown narrator who goes by the kunyah of Abu d-Hamra', hut
we do not know who he was at Elsewhere he said:
"Therefore we conclude that what the Rififidis claim about 'Ali being
appointed as the Prophet's successor is something that none of the
scholars, past or present, who have knowledge of the words of the
Messenger of Allah (gJ, heard anything about. Hence the scholars of
hadith know for certain that this report is false, as they know that
other reports are false."432
However, among later extremists, there were those who
revived Ibn Saba's theory concerning Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (4).
They expanded it to include the descendants of 'Ali and al-Husayn,
using this as a cover to stir up people's emotions and reach their
hearts, in order to achieve their aims against the Islamic state. The
first one to st& spreading the idea that leadership was limited to
specific members of Ah1 al-Bayt was Shaytin at-T%q, whom the Shia
call Mu'min at-^%^?^^ When Zayd ibn 'Ali found out abont that, he
sent for him to ask abont this nunour. Zayd said to him: "I have heard
that you are claiming that among the family of Muhammad, there is
an Imam to whom obedience is obligatory." Shay* a~-~%q said:
"Yes, your father 'Ali ibn al-Husayn was one of them." He said: