Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 10444

Ubaydullah bin Iyad bin Amr al-Qari narrates: Abdullah bin Shaddad bin al-Had came and entered upon Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), while we were sitting with Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). This was on his return from Iraq, in the days when Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked him: "O son of Shaddad bin al-Had, will you tell me the truth about what I ask you? Tell me about those people whom Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) killed." Abdullah bin Shaddad said: "Why would I not tell you the truth?" Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Then tell me about them." Abdullah bin Shaddad said: "When Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) agreed with Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that arbitrators would be appointed from both sides, eight thousand of the scholars of the Qur'an rebelled against Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). They camped at a place called Harura', which was a place near Kufah, and they settled there. Those people said: 'You have taken off the shirt which Allah Almighty clothed you with, and you have also abandoned the name which Allah Almighty gave you, and then you went ahead and made someone an arbitrator in the religion of Allah, whereas judgement belongs only to Allah Almighty.' When Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) received news of the objection they had raised against Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), on the basis of which they had separated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered the mu'adhdhin, and he called out (that is, announced) that only those who were scholars of the Qur'an should come to the Commander of the Believers. When the house was filled with the scholars of the Qur'an, he sent for a copy of the Qur'an (mushaf) and placed it before those people, and then, passing his hand over it, he began to say: 'O Mushaf, tell the people.' The people appealed to him, saying: 'O Commander of the Believers, what are you asking it about? It is only ink on paper; we read the words that are in it. What do you want?' He said: 'These companions of yours who have rebelled: the Book of Allah will judge between me and them. Allah Almighty has said in His Book concerning a husband and wife: "If you fear a breach between the two of them, then send an arbitrator from the man's family and an arbitrator from the woman's family; if they both intend reconciliation, Allah Almighty will bring about agreement between them."' (Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said:) 'Is the sanctity of the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) greater, or is the respect owed to the affair of one man and woman greater? They object against me that, when writing the agreement, I wrote in it "Ali bin Abi Talib" (and did not write "Commander of the Believers" in it). Once Suhayl bin Amr came (on the occasion of the Truce of Hudaybiyah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had this written: "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)." He said: "Do not write Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Then what shall we write?" Suhayl said: "Write: Bismika Allahumma (In Your name, O Allah)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write: Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah." He said: "If I knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, I would not have opposed you." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had this written: "This is the agreement which Muhammad bin Abdullah the Qurashi is making."' (Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said:) 'Allah Almighty has said in His Book: "In the way of the Messenger of Allah there is an excellent example for you; this is for the one who hopes in Allah Almighty and the Last Day."' Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) to those people. I also went with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) until we reached the middle of their camp. Then Ibn al-Kawwa' stood up and addressed the people, saying: 'O scholars of the Qur'an, this is Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). Whoever does not know him, let him recognize him. I know him through the Book of Allah: he is the one about whom, and about whose people, this verse was revealed: "Rather, they are a quarrelsome people." So send him back to his master, and do not debate with him about the Book of Allah.' The narrator says: Then their speakers stood up and said: 'By Allah, we will debate with him on the basis of the Book of Allah. If he brings a truth that we understand, we will follow him; and if he brings falsehood, we will expose him as wrong for his falsehood and send him back to his companion (that is, to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)).' Then for three days they kept debating with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) on the basis of the Book of Allah, and four thousand of them turned back, all of them having repented; Ibn al-Kawwa' was also among them. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) brought them to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) in Kufah. Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a mission to the rest of them and said: 'You see what our situation and the people's situation is. Stay wherever you wish. Let it be agreed between us and you that you will not unlawfully shed any blood, you will not rob on the roads, and you will not violate any covenant of protection. If you do any of these things, then we will impose war upon you. Indeed, Allah Almighty does not love the treacherous.'" The narrator says: Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said to Abdullah bin Shaddad: "O Ibn Shaddad, did Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) kill them?" Abdullah bin Shaddad said: "By Allah, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) did not send a military expedition against them until they had begun robbing, had begun shedding blood, and had begun violating the covenant of protection." Sayyidah Aishah said: "By Allah! Is that really how it happened?" Abdullah bin Shaddad said: "By Allah, besides whom there is no god, that is exactly how it happened." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Something else has reached me about the people of Iraq: they talk among themselves and say that there was also a man called Dhu al-Thudayyah." Abdullah bin Shaddad said: "I saw him. I stood beside him among the slain with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) called the people and asked: 'Do you recognize him?' The most that was said was that one man said: 'I saw him praying in the mosque of Banu so-and-so.' The people could give no reliable information about him; only this much could be learned." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: "When Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was standing beside him, what did he say? Was it what the people of Iraq relate?" Abdullah bin Shaddad said: "I heard him say: 'Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.'" Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Did you see him say anything other than that?" Abdullah said: "Allah knows, no." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Very well, Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth. May Allah Almighty have mercy on Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). It was his habitual phrase that whenever he saw something remarkable, he would say: 'Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.' Then the people of Iraq began attributing false statements to him and adding to the original account."
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).