The killing of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): (Once, when) I had put my foot in the stirrup, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) came to me and asked me: "Where do you intend to go?" I replied: "To Iraq." He said: "Look! If you go there, the edge (blow) of the sword will certainly strike you there." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! Before him I had heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say the same thing." (The narrator Abu Harb said:) I heard my father say: I was greatly astonished at this, and I said (to myself): "A man of war is saying such a thing about himself!"
This hadith was narrated by Imam al-Humaydi, Ibn Abi Umar, Abu Ya'la and al-Bazzar through Sufyan. Imam al-Bazzar stated explicitly: As far as we know, only Abd al-Malik narrated it from Abu Harb, and only Ibn Uyaynah narrated it from him. Imam Ibn Hibban and Imam al-Hakim also declared it sahih (authentic).

It is narrated from Abu Sinan al-Du'ali Yazid bin Umayyah that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) once fell so severely ill that we became gravely anxious for his life. Then, when he recovered and became well, we said: "Al-hamdu lillahi alladhi asahhaka ya Amir al-Mu'minin" (All praise is for Allah, who has granted you healing and health, O Commander of the Believers!) We had become very fearful for you because of this illness of yours. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "But I was not in the least afraid for my life, because the Truthful and the Confirmed (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him) told me: 'You will not die until this part of you (pointing to the head and beard) is stained with blood by a blow, and you will be killed by the most wretched of them, just as the most wretched man of Banu so-and-so hamstrung the she-camel of Allah Almighty.'" He (peace and blessings be upon him) specifically attributed that wretched man to his nearest sub-clan rather than to the people of Thamud.
Imam Ahmad narrated it in al-Musnad (730) and Imam al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (4673), and its chain is hasan (good).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked me: "Who was the most wretched of the earlier people (of the former nations)?" I said: "The one who hamstrung the she-camel (of the people of Salih)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have spoken the truth. Then who is the most wretched of the later people?" I said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have no knowledge of that." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who will strike you here," and he (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to the top of the head (the crown) of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). And Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say (often, out of longing for martyrdom): "I wish that most wretched one of yours would rise up (with his foul intention) and dye this with this," meaning that he would dye his blessed beard with the blood flowing from his head.
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith in his Musnad. Its chain contains the narrator Rishdin bin Sa'd, who is da'if (weak); however, supporting reports for the hadith exist in the six books and other books of hadith which strengthen it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in my dream, and I complained to him (peace and blessings be upon him) of the denial and harm I had received from his Ummah, and then I wept (out of grief). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'O Ali, do not weep.' Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to one side, and I too looked in that direction, and suddenly I saw two men climbing upwards, and huge heavy rocks were crushing their heads until they were shattered, and then the heads returned to their original state." (The narrator Abu Salih said:) Then early in the morning I set out to attend upon Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), as I used to go to him every day, until, when I reached the place called 'al-Harariq', I met people who told me: "Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) has been martyred."
This narration is in al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim. Imam al-Hakim declared it sahih al-isnad (authentic in chain); however, other imams have criticised it because of the memory of the narrator in its chain, Sharik bin Abdullah al-Qadi.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Hasan or al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "In a dream my beloved, the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), met me, and I complained to him (peace and blessings be upon him) of the (severe hardships and trials) I had faced from the people of Iraq after him (peace and blessings be upon him), whereupon he (peace and blessings be upon him) promised me relief and deliverance from those people." The narrator said: After this dream Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) lived only three days (and, attaining martyrdom, was delivered from their trials).
The chain of this narration contains an unnamed (mubham) narrator; however, through other historical and narrated evidence, this dream of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and the account of his martyrdom after it are established.

Ja'far bin Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father, and he from Ali bin al-Husayn (may Allah have mercy on him), that when Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, Sayyiduna al-Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) stood up to deliver a sermon. He praised and extolled Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, and then said: "Amma ba'd (to proceed): By Allah, tonight you have martyred a great man who (departed to his true Creator) on a night in which the Qur'an was revealed, on which Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) was raised up (to the heavens), and on which Yusha' bin Nun (peace be upon him), the special companion and faithful attendant of Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him), was killed."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated it in his Musnad. Its chain contains the narrator Sukayn bin Abd al-Aziz, who is da'if (weak), but it has supporting reports in Musnad Ahmad and other books of hadith which strengthen it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he narrated the like of the previous narration, and in it he added: "On that day the repentance of the Children of Israel was accepted." He also said: "Indeed, no one before him (Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him) surpassed him in rank and greatness, nor will anyone who comes after him reach his station. Whenever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent him on a military expedition, Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) would be on his right and Sayyiduna Mika'il (peace be upon him) on his left. By Allah! He left behind no legacy of gold or silver except seven hundred or eight hundred dirhams, which he had kept aside to buy a servant."
Imam al-Bazzar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Amr bin Ali narrated this same narration to us, from Abu Asim, through Sukayn; then he mentioned it in full and said: As far as we know, no one other than Sayyiduna al-Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated it, and the only one who transmitted it from Ja'far is Sukayn.

Sayyiduna Fadalah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from his father: I went out with my father to Yanbu' to visit Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who was ill there. My father said to him: "What keeps you staying in this place? If you were to die here, no one would be with you except the Bedouins of the tribe of Juhaynah. Come to Madinah, for if you die there, your eminent companions will take care of the matters of your washing and shrouding, and they will offer your funeral prayer." It should be noted that Abu Fadalah (may Allah be pleased with him) was one of the people of Badr. Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "I will not die of this illness of mine. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me his pledge that I will not die until I am made Caliph, and then this (pointing to his beard) is dyed with the blood of this (that is, with the blood of the crown of his head)." Later Abu Fadalah (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred at the Battle of Siffin.
Imam al-Bazzar narrated it through Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahim from al-Hasan (bin Musa), and he said: As far as we know, Fadalah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated no hadith from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) other than this one.