Question:
Some extremist Shia prove from the following verse and hadith that the sacred personality of Muhammad Kareem ﷺ and Sayyiduna Ali رضي الله عنه are the same, therefore Ali رضي الله عنه is a wali and superior to all other companions, in fact, he is like the Prophet ﷺ?
❀ The command of Allah Almighty is:
فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَنِسَاءَنَا وَنِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَنْفُسَنَا وَأَنْفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَلْ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
(O Prophet!) If knowledge has come to you, then dispute no more, but say: Come! Let us gather our children and families, and you gather your children and families, then let us invoke the curse of Allah upon the liars.
❀ Sayyiduna Saad bin Abi Waqqas رضي الله عنه narrates:
لما نزلت هذه الآية: فقل تعالوا ندع أبناءنا وأبناءكم دعا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عليا وفاطمة وحسنا وحسينا فقال: اللهم هؤلاء أهلي
When the noble verse: ﴿فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ﴾ was revealed, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ called Sayyiduna Ali, Sayyida Fatimah, Sayyiduna Hasan, and Sayyiduna Husain رضي الله عنهم and said: Allah! These are my Ahl al-Bayt.
Answer:
To argue from this verse and hadith that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is like the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) or superior to him or all other companions is a clear distortion of the verse. No interpreter or scholar has ever explained these meanings.
❀ Allama Fakhr al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him)
says:
A person named Mahmood bin Hasan Hamasi, who was a Twelver Shia teacher, used to say that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is superior to all prophets except the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He took the argument from the word ﴿أنفسنا وأنفسكم﴾ that here ﴿أنفسنا﴾ does not refer to the person of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), because no person invites to himself, rather someone else is meant. It is unanimously agreed that the other person is Sayyidina Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). However, it is not possible that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is exactly the same soul as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), rather the meaning is that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is like the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This likeness in all respects requires equality, except for prophethood, because there is evidence that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a prophet, whereas Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is not. It is unanimously agreed that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is superior to Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). In other attributes, as usual, both are equal. Then it is also unanimously agreed that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is superior to all prophets, which implies that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is superior to all prophets. This reasoning is based on the apparent meaning of the verse.
Furthermore, he presented a hadith which is popular among supporters and opponents that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
Whoever wants to see the knowledge of Adam, the obedience of Noah, the friendship of Abraham, the awe and grandeur of Moses, and the morals of Jesus, let him look at Ali ibn Abi Talib.
This hadith is false. This hadith indicates that the qualities scattered among other prophets were gathered in the single person of Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), which proves that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is superior to all prophets except the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). As for the ancient and modern Shia, they argue from this same verse, and this is their main argument. When it is known that the person of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is superior to all companions, it is necessary that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is superior to all companions. This is the implicit meaning of the Shia argument.
The answer to this is that just as it is unanimously agreed that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is superior to Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), similarly before the appearance of this person, it was also unanimously agreed that a prophet is superior to a non-prophet. It is also unanimously agreed that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is not a prophet. Therefore, from the apparent meaning of this verse, it follows that just as this verse is specific to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), it is also specific to all the noble prophets.
It is wrong to take أنفسنا as specifically referring to Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and to declare him equal to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on this basis is even more ignorant.
❀ Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
says:
This is against the Arabic language. Allah’s command نِسَاءَنَا clearly shows that it does not refer only to Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), but also to other daughters of the same rank as Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her). However, at that time, no daughter other than Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) was present. Lady Ruqayyah, Lady Umm Kulthum, and Lady Zainab (may Allah be pleased with them) had already passed away. Similarly, أنفسنا does not refer only to Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); it is a plural form. Just as نِسَاءَنَا is a plural form, so is أَبْنَاءَنَا. Only Sayyidina Hasan and Sayyidina Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them) were called because no one else was present to be referred to as sons.
When it is wrong to take this as referring only to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), then declaring Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) superior to all companions or equal to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on this basis is clear heresy and contradicts the consensus of the Ummah.
❀ Abu Hafs Umar bin Ali Naumani (may Allah have mercy on him)
says:
الجواب: أنه كما انعقد الإجماع بين المسلمين على أن محمدا صلى الله عليه وسلم أفضل من على رضي الله عنه، فكذلك انعقد الإجماع بينهم قبل ظهور هذا الإنسان على أن النبى أفضل ممن ليس بنبي، وأجمعوا على أن عليا رضى الله عنه ما كان نبيا
The answer is that just as there is consensus among Muslims that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is superior to Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), similarly before the appearance of this (exaggerating) person, there was also consensus that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is superior to every person who is not a prophet, and there is also consensus that Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was not a prophet.
