❖ The Reality of the Claim about a Text for the Caliphate of Sayyiduna ʿAli رضي الله عنه ❖
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
The Shia claim that the Prophet ﷺ had established a text (nass) regarding the immediate caliphate of Sayyiduna ʿAli رضي الله عنه. What is the reality of this claim?
Answer:
The claim of the Rāfiḍah is that the Prophet ﷺ appointed Sayyiduna ʿAli رضي الله عنه as his successor. This claim is false and baseless.
✿ Narration of Sayyiduna Abū Juḥayfah رضي الله عنه
He said: “I asked Sayyiduna ʿAli رضي الله عنه: Do you have any special scripture? He replied: No, except for the Book of Allah, or an understanding that a Muslim man is granted, or what is in this paper. I asked: What is in this paper? He replied: Issues of blood money, freeing of captives, and that a Muslim is not killed in retaliation for a disbeliever.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 111)
✿ Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Nawawī رحمه الله (d. 676H)
He said:
“As for what the Shia claim — that there was a text appointing ʿAli رضي الله عنه and that the Prophet ﷺ had willed the caliphate to him — this is false and has no basis, by the consensus of Muslims. The consensus upon the falsehood of this claim was already established in the time of ʿAli رضي الله عنه. The first person who refuted the Rāfiḍah was ʿAli رضي الله عنه himself, when he said: ‘We have nothing except what is in this paper.’ If there had been any text regarding his caliphate, he would certainly have mentioned it. It is not reported that he ever mentioned such a text, nor that anyone else reported it to him. And Allah knows best.”
(Sharḥ al-Nawawī: 15/155)
He further stated:
“This is an explicit refutation by ʿAli رضي الله عنه of the false claims fabricated by the Rāfiḍah and Shia. They invent lies that the Prophet ﷺ willed to him many secret matters, fundamental principles of religion, and hidden treasures of the Sharīʿah, which he conveyed only to Ahl al-Bayt, excluding others. These are baseless claims and corrupt fabrications with no foundation whatsoever. The very statement of ʿAli رضي الله عنه is sufficient to invalidate them.”
(Sharḥ al-Nawawī: 9/143; Irshād al-Sārī al-Qasṭallānī: 3/331; Sharḥ al-Mishkāt al-Ṭībī: 6/2050)
Conclusion:The claim of a specific text (nass) for the caliphate of Sayyiduna ʿAli رضي الله عنه is fabricated and false. There is consensus among the Muslims, including Sayyiduna ʿAli رضي الله عنه himself, that no such text existed.
