Authored by: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
The hadith states:
"ʿAlī is the leader of the righteous and the slayer of the wicked. Whoever helps him will be helped, and whoever humiliates him will be humiliated."
Reported by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak (1/169, Hadith 4644), al-Khaṭīb in Tārīkh Baghdād (2/377 & 4/219), and mentioned in Kanz al-ʿUmmāl (11/602), al-Suyūṭī’s al-Laʾālī (1/171), and Ibn al-Jawzī’s al-Mawḍūʿāt (1/353).
Al-Ḥākim declared the narration ṣaḥīḥ al-isnād (authentic in chain).
However, al-Dhahabī rejected this in strong terms:
"Rather, by Allah, it is fabricated (mawḍūʿ), and Aḥmad is a liar. How ignorant you are, O Ḥākim, despite your vast knowledge!"
Al-Risālah al-Mustaṭrafah (p. 19):
*Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Kattānī stated that nearly one-fourth of al-Mustadrak is filled with rejected or weak narrations, including over 100 fabrications.
Noteworthy Quote:
"Don’t be deceived by what al-Tirmidhī calls ḥasan or what al-Ḥākim calls ṣaḥīḥ." — A principle among Hadith scholars due to their excessive leniency.
The claim that ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) is the "Imam of the pious and slayer of the wicked", as per this narration, is:
This hadith cannot be used as a basis for belief or historical narrative.
❖ The Narration Under Discussion
The hadith states:
"ʿAlī is the leader of the righteous and the slayer of the wicked. Whoever helps him will be helped, and whoever humiliates him will be humiliated."
Reported by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak (1/169, Hadith 4644), al-Khaṭīb in Tārīkh Baghdād (2/377 & 4/219), and mentioned in Kanz al-ʿUmmāl (11/602), al-Suyūṭī’s al-Laʾālī (1/171), and Ibn al-Jawzī’s al-Mawḍūʿāt (1/353).
Al-Ḥākim declared the narration ṣaḥīḥ al-isnād (authentic in chain).
However, al-Dhahabī rejected this in strong terms:
"Rather, by Allah, it is fabricated (mawḍūʿ), and Aḥmad is a liar. How ignorant you are, O Ḥākim, despite your vast knowledge!"
❖ Analysis of the Chain of Narration
- Resident of Sāmarrāʾ
- Ibn ʿAdī: Known for fabricating Hadith
- His death occurred in 371 AH
Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 1/249; al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn: 1/79
- Narrator in all six major Hadith books, but:
- Known to have Shīʿī leanings
- Became mentally unstable in later life
- His narrations supporting Shīʿī views are rejected
- Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn: "His Hadith is not ḥujjah."
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: Would not accept his narrations
- Al-Nasāʾī: "Weak in Hadith."
Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 2/402
❖ Scholarly Criticism of al-Ḥākim’s Judgments
- This narration was marked as fabricated (mawḍūʿ) by:
- Ibn al-Jawzī
- Al-Dhahabī
- The hadith contains:
- A Shīʿī narrator
- A weak narrator
- A fabricator (wāḍiʿ al-ḥadīth)
Al-Risālah al-Mustaṭrafah (p. 19):*Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Kattānī stated that nearly one-fourth of al-Mustadrak is filled with rejected or weak narrations, including over 100 fabrications.
Noteworthy Quote:"Don’t be deceived by what al-Tirmidhī calls ḥasan or what al-Ḥākim calls ṣaḥīḥ." — A principle among Hadith scholars due to their excessive leniency.
❖ Summary
The claim that ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) is the "Imam of the pious and slayer of the wicked", as per this narration, is:
- Fabricated (mawḍūʿ)
- Contains discredited narrators
- Declared false by al-Dhahabī, Ibn al-Jawzī, and others
This hadith cannot be used as a basis for belief or historical narrative.
