Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

428 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia
BPerish the two hands of Abu Lahab [an uncle of the Prophet]
and perish he! His wealth and his children will not benefit him!B
(Qur'an Ill: 1-2)"582
2.b. Tbe Twelver Shia always claim that there is a clear text stating
that 'Ali(4)
should be the caliph, and that he is the rightfully
appointed heir and the only one who desewed this position.
They claim that the texts support one another to confirm that.
However, this hadith proves their view to be flawed because in
it, the Prophet (g) called these people to support him and said
that whoever agreed to support him would become his brother,
appointed heir and successor after he was gone. He did not
single out 'Ali (&) for that; in fact, he overlooked him three
times, and only when he did not find any other supporter did he
say to him what he said. This indicates that the Prophet (g) did
not think that 'Ali (&) desenred the position at first, but that he
accepted him in the ;ole because he had no other choice after his
people refused. Is this in accordance with what they claim, that
'Ali (&) was divinely appointed to this position?583
3. The hadith, "I am the city of knowledge, and
'Ali is its gate ..." and other fabricated hadiths
There are very many fabricated hadiths of this type. Jiibir ibn
Abdullah narrated from the Prophet (g) that he said: "I am the city of
knowledge, and 'Ali is its gate." This report is flawed, and it was
rejected by Bukhari. Yahya ibn Ma'een said concerning it: "It has no
basis." Ibn al-Jawzi quoted it in al-Mawdoo'6t (The Fabricated).
An-Nawawi and adh-Dhahabi said: "It is fabricated."584 Al-Albini
said: "The hadith, 'I am the city of knowledge, and 'Ali is its gate, so
whoever desires knowledge let him come to the gate' is fabricated. It
was narrated by d-'Aqeeli in ad-Du'afa', by Ibn 'Adiy in al-Kemil,
by at-Tabarini in al-Kabeer and by d-H%im from Ibn 'Abbiis. Ibn
'Adiy and al-HZm also narrated it from Jiibir (&)."585