Which one is accounted as the authentic phrase [in Saqlayn hadith]:

وعترتي) and my household) or وسنتي) and my tradition)?

 In their Hadith books, the narrators have recorded Saqlayn hadith,

which is of high credit, in two versions, and now, we are about to find out

the authentic one:

1st.بيتي اهل وعترتي هللا كتاب) God‟s Book and my household)

2nd. وسنتي هللا كتاب) God‟s Book and my tradition)

The answer:

 The Prophet‟s true and authentic hadith is the one, which includes the

phrase بيتي اهل و) and my household), and the authenticity of its

documentary sources is beyond doubt, while the documents, presented for

سنتي و) and my tradition) seem unsound.

The evidence of the phrase بيتي اهل و) and my household):

 Two grand narrators have narrated the following text:

1- In his book, entitled „Sahih‟, Moslem narrates from Zeid

Ibn Argham that once the Prophet (peace be upon him and

his descendants) delivered a sermon next to Khum, a pool in

a region between Mecca and Medina, in which he praised

God and admonished the people as saying,

اال ايها الناس، فانما انا بش ٌر يوشك ان ياتي رسول ربي فاجيب و انا تارك فيكم ثقلين :

اولهما كتاب هللا فيه الهدي و النور، فخذوا بكتاب هللا و استمسكوا به – فحث علي كتاب هللا

و رؼب فيه ثم قال : و اهل بيتي، اذكركم هللا في اهل بيتي ، اذكركم هللا في اهل بيتي ،

* اذكركم هللا في اهل بيتي

(O, people! Verily, I am a man, and soon the angel of death

will come to me, and I will submit myself to his call. I leave

behind two invaluable things: the Divine Book, which is the

light and guidance, so adhere to it. He then went on, and my

household, and my household, and my household.)

Darami in his „Sonan‟ has recorded this sermon, too,** and the

authenticity of these two documentary sources is beyond doubt.

2-Tirmizi has also narrated this hadith with the phrase بيتي اهل عترتي و

(and my household) as follows,

اني تارك فيكم ما ان تمسكتم به لن تضلوا بعدي؛ احدهما اعظم من االخر: كتاب هللا حبل

ممدود من السماء الي االرض و عترتي اهل بيتي ، لن يفترقا حتي يردا علي الحوض،

* فانظروا كيؾ تخلفوني فيها

(I leave behind among you two things. You will never go astray

if you hold fast to them; and one of them is greater than the

other: the Book of Allah, which is a string from the heaven to

the earth, and my household (Ahlul-Bait). They will never be

separated from each other until they join me at the pond.

Beware how you will treat my trusts.)

 This proves the authenticity of our assertion that Moslem and

Tirmizi, the authors of „Sahih‟ and „Sonan‟, have highlighted the

phrase بيتي اهل و) my household), and its authenticity is beyond doubt.

The evidence of the phrase وسنتي) and my tradition):

 The tradition, having applied the phrase وسنتي) and my tradition), is a

fake, and in addition to its unsound documents, it is believed that the

Umayyad agents have faked it:

1- In his „Mostadrak‟, Hakem Neishaburi has narrated the below

tradition from the following narrators:

 Abbas Ibn Abi Ovays narrated from Abi Ovays from Thur Ibn

Zeidul Deilami from Akramah from Ibn Abas that the holy Prophet

(peace be upon him and his descendants) said,

* يا ايها الناس إني قد تركت فيكم، ان اعتصمتم به فلن تضلوا ابدا: كتاب هللا و سنه نبيه

(O, people! I leave behind two things; you will never go astray

if you hold fast to them: the Book of Allah and His Prophet‟s

tradition.)

 Ishmael Ibn Abi Ovays and Abi Ovays, the father and the son, twoof the narrators of this hadith, are not only unreliable, but also charged

of forgery and lie.

The genealogists’ views on them:

 Hafez Mazi, a genealogical scholar, in his book, entitled „Tahzibul

Kamal‟ writes about Ishmael and his father as such:

 “Yahya Ibn Moe‟en (one of the great scholars in the field of

genealogy) believes that Abi Ovays and his son are unreliable”. He

has been narrated as saying that they have committed breach of trust

about the hadiths. With regard to Abi Ovays‟ son, he said, “He is

unreliable”, and Nesaee believes that Abi Ovays‟ son is unsound and

untrustworthy. Abul Qasem Lalkaee said, “Nesaee has a lot of

assertions against him such as, “his narrations ought to be

abandoned”.

Besides, Ibn Adi (the genealogist) says, “Ibn Abi Ovays has narrated a

number of queer traditions from Malek, his uncle, that nobody

believes in them”.*

 Ibn Hejr in the preface of his book „Fath Ul-Bari‟ has asserted,

“One cannot rely on Ibn Abi Ovays‟ narrations, because Nesaee has

reprimanded him”.**

 In his book, called „Fathul Molk Ul-Ala‟, Hafez Seyed Ahmad Ibn

Sediq quoted Salmat Ibn Sheid that he had heard from Ishmael Ibn

Abi Ovays saying, “When the people of Medina have a diversity of

opinion about something and fall in two groups, I fake some

traditions”.***

 Thus, Ishmael Ibn Abi Ovays in accused of faking hadiths, and Ibn

Moe‟en has ascribed the mendacity to him. In addition, his narrations

have never been recorded in any sound books, including „Sahih‟ by

both Moslem and Tirmizi.

 Moreover, Abu Hatam Razi in „Jarh and Tadil‟ writes, “Abu Ovays‟

hadiths have been recorded in some of the books, but no one relies onthem in his debates, because they are not trustworthy”.*

The traditions,

narrated by them, are unsound and in cases, contradict the sound and

authentic ones.

 It is worthy to mention that the hadith transmitter, i.e., Hakem

Neishaburi, has rectified the lack of authenticity of the hadith

narrators, so he has not endeavored to rectify it. On the contrary, he

has presented evidence, proving the authenticity of the hadith content,

but this evidence adds invalidity to it, and here is his unsound

evidence:

The second evidence of the phrase سنتي و) and my tradition):

 Hakem Neishaburi has narrated the following as Marfu hadith **

from Abu Hurirah,

اني قد تركت فيكم شيئين لن تضلوا بعدهما: كتاب هللا و سنتي و لن يفترقا حتي يردا علي

*** الحوض

 Hakem has narrated this hadith with the following chain

of transmission:

 Alzabi narrated from Saleh Ibn Musa Al-Talhi from Abdul Aziz Ibn

Rafi from Abi Saleh from Abi Hurirah.

Like the previous one, this hadith is a fake. Saleh Ibn Musa Al- Talha

is one of the narrators, and below are the great genealogists‟ views on

him:

 Yahya Ibn Moeen says, “Saleh Ibn Musa is not reliable”. Abu

Hatam Razi reprimands him as saying, “his narrations are not sound,

and he ascribes some invalid statements to the trustworthy individuals.

Nesaee believes, “his narrations ought to be abandoned ”.*

 In „Thahzib Ul-Tahzib‟, Ibn Hejr refers to Ibn Habaen as saying,

“Saleh Ibn Mosa ascribes some statements to the trustworthy

individuals, while they have no conformity with their speech”. He

then adds, “his narrations are not reliable, and Abu Naeem also

believes that his narrations should not be trusted, because he alwaysnarrated null and void narrations”.** Also, Ibn Hejr in

„Taqrib‟***writes, “his narrations are abandoned”, and Zahabi in

„Kashef‟****says, “His narrations are unreliable”. He also in „Mizan

Ul-Etedal‟*

has quoted the above-mentioned tradition, asserting that it

was one of Salih‟s invalid traditions.

The third evidence of the phrase وسنتي) and my tradition):

 Ibn Abdul Ber in „Tamhid‟ **has recorded the same tradition with

the following chain of transmission:

Abdul Rahman Ibn Yahya narrated from Ahmad Ibn Saeed from

Mohammed Ibn Abraham Aldabili from Ali Ibn Zeidul Faraezi, from

Al-Honaini from Kathir Ibn Abdollah Ibn Amro Ibn Ouf from his

father from his grandfather.

 With regard to Kathir Ibn Abdollah, Imam Shaffee said, “He is one

of the pillars of mendacity”.*** Abu Dawud also asserted, “He is of the

liars”. Ibn Haban stated, “Abdollah Ibn Kathir has narrated a book of

traditions from his father and grandfather which is a fake from the

base, and any excerption from the book or narration from Abdollah is

prohibited, save for criticism or rebuttal”.****

 Nesaee and Darul Ghatna are of the opinion that his narrations are

unreliable, and Imam Ahmad confirms that his narrated hadiths are

unsound and therefore, rejected, and Ibn Moe‟en is of the same

opinion.

 It is a wonder that Ibn Hejr in „Al- Taghrib‟ has only sufficed it to

describe him as „unsound‟ and has called those who have charged him

with mendacity as extravagant, whereas the leaders of genealogy have

accused him of mendacity and fake; as Zahabi says, “his words are

invalid and unfounded”.

The narration with no evidence:In his „Al-Movata‟, Malek has narrated this tradition without

evidence or chain of transmission, and it is evident that such a

tradition is of no credit.*

This study clearly proves that the mendacious

narrators or the Umayyad agents through imitating the real hadith

have faked this hadith. Due to this fact, the mosque speakers and

preachers have to abandon this tradition, which has not been narrated

by the Messenger of God, and instead, acquaint the people with the

sound tradition; the tradition, which Moslem has recorded in his

„Sahih‟ as بيتي اهل) my household) and Tirmizi as بيتي اهل و عترتي) my

household and Ahlul-Bait). Moreover, the seekers of knowledge

should study the hadith science so as to distinguish the sound hadiths

from the unauthentic ones.

 It is noteworthy to mention that what the Prophet (peace be upon

him and his descendants) meant by the phrase بيتي اهل was his

household, such as Fatima, Hasan, and Hussein (a.s), because Moslem

in his „Sahih‟ *

and Tarmazi in his „Sonan‟ ** have quoted from

Ayesha as saying,

نزلت هذه االية علي النبي – صلي هللا عليه [ و آله ] وسلم – انما يريد هللا ليذهب عنكم

الرجس اهل البيت و يطهركم تطهيرا ، في بيت ام سلمة ، فدعا النبي – صلي هللا عليه [ و

فاطمة و حسناً و حسيناً آله ] وسلم – فجللهم بكساء و علي خلؾ ظهره فجلله بكساء ثم قال

م تطهيرا. قالت ام سلمه و انا معهم يا ً : اللهم هوالء اهل بيتي فاذهب عنهم الرجس و طهره

نبي هللا ؟ قال : انت علي مكانك و انت الي خير.

انما يريد هللا ليذهب عنكم الرجس اهل البيت و يطهركم تطهيرا verse The(

(Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanliness from you, O,

People of the house! And to purify you a thorough

purification)was revealed in the house of Omme Salameh.

Then, the holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his

descendants) covered Fatima (a.s), Hasan, and Hussein under

the cloak while Ali was behind him. He also covered Ali with

the cloak and said, “O, my Lord! These are my household.

* Al- Movata, Malek, p.889, hadith no.3

*

 Sahih, Moslem, vol.4, P. 1883, hadith no.2424.

** Sonan, Tirmizi, vol.5, P.663

Remove from them the impurity and purify them”. Then,

Omme Salameh asked the Prophet (peace be upon him and his

descendants), “Am I considered as your household?” and the

Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants.s) replied,

“Stay in your place (Do not come under the cloak); you are on

the way of goodness”.)

The concept of Saqlayn hadith:

 Two conclusions are drawn from the fact that the holy Prophet

(peace be upon him and is descendants) mentioned his household

alongside the holy Quran, and then called both of them as the Divine

authority over his nation:

1- Like the holy Quran, the words of the Prophet‟s household serve

as the Divine authority, and they must adhere to them in the religious

affairs. Although the Muslims were divided into two groups on the

issue of Caliphate and the management of the nation‟s political affairs

after the Prophet‟s demise and each of them had their own ideologies,

there remains no room for any difference among them on the Ahlul-

Bait (a.s) as the religious authority, because all of them agree on the

validity of Thaqlayn hadith, which calls for the holy Quran and the

Prophet‟s household as the source of ideology and Divine laws. It is

evident that if the Islamic nations act in accordance with this hadith,

their differences will be less and less, and as a result, they will reach

to unity.

2- The holy Quran is immune from the error, because it is the Word

of God, and He describes it as such,

* ال ياتيه الباطل من بين يديه و ال من خلفه تنزيل من حكيم حميد

(No falsehood finds way to it in the present or future; the

descending of it is by the Source, the Wisdom, the Praised.)

 If the holy Quran is immune from the error, its mate should be so,

because it is not sensible that the fallible or sinful persons

accompany the Divine Book.

*

 Foselat Sura, verse no. 42

** Ale-Imran Sura, verse no. 42

This tradition certifies the infallibility of the Prophet‟s household,

but it is noteworthy to mention that infallibility is not always

accompanied with prophecy. There are some infallible persons who

are not the prophets. In accordance with the verse,

** إن هللا اصطفاك و طهرك واصطفاك علي نساء العالمين

(Allah has chosen you and purified you and has preferred you

over the women of the world), the holy Mary is pure from

sins, but not the prophet.

Book: Shia responses