Written by: Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amnpūrī (ḥifẓahullāh) – PDF link
الْقَوْمُ مِنْ أَكْذَبِ النَّاسِ فِي النَّقْلِيَّاتِ...
➤ Translation of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Critique:
“The Raḍafiẓ are among the most mendacious in their transmitted reports and among the most ignorant in rational matters. They accept what the scholars know to be utterly false, yet they reject that which is mutawātir—transmitted with the highest level of continuity—generation after generation. They make no distinction between transmitters of knowledge or narrators of ḥadīth and reports who are known liars, weak in memory, or ignorant of what they transmit, and those who are just, have strong preservation, and are renowned for their scholarship.”
(Minhāj as-Sunnah 8/1)
✔ Forged chains of transmission (isnād) against the Imams of ḥadīth.
✔ Attributed false statements to the Ahl al-Bayt.
✔ Had no qualms about inventing ḥadīths—especially many ascribed to Sayyidina Ali—and even ascribed an entire spurious book, Nahj al-Balāghah, to him.
The Forger:
Ali ibn Husayn ibn Musa al-Murtada ash-Sharīf (d. 436 AH), a known liar and wicked Raḍafī.
لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ الْإِمَامِيَّةِ يَنْقُلُ هَذَا النَّصَّ...
“No one among the Imāmīyyah transmits this text with a connected isnād, let alone as mutawātir.”
(Minhāj as-Sunnah 8/251)
➋ Hafiz al-Zahabī (748 AH) writes:
قَدِ اخْتُلِفَ فِي كِتَابِ نَهْجِ الْبَلَاغَةِ الْمَكْذُوبِ عَلَى عَلِيٍّ...
“There is disagreement over the false book Nahj al-Balāghah attributed to Sayyidina Ali—whether it was the fabrication of al-Murtada ash-Sharīf or his brother al-Radhī.”
(Tārīkh al-Islām 9/557)
He further remarks:
“Whoever studies Nahj al-Balāghah will be convinced that it is falsely attributed to the Commander of the Faithful, Sayyidina Ali. It contains explicit insults against Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, contradictions, flimsy statements, and expressions which anyone knowledgeable about the Qurayshi Companions (Ṣaḥābah) and later generations will recognize as mostly false.”
(Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 3/124; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubala’ 17/590)
➌ Ibn Khallikān (681 AH) notes:
“People differ regarding the book Nahj al-Balāghah, purportedly a collection of Sayyidina Ali’s speech—whether it was compiled by al-Murtada ash-Sharīf or his brother al-Radhī. Others have said that it is not Ali’s speech at all, but that the compiler himself fabricated it and attributed it to the Imam.”
(Wafayāt al-A’yān 3/313)
“I visited al-Murtada Abū al-Qāsim al-ʿAlawī during his fatal illness. He faced the wall and said:
‘Abū Bakr and ʿUmar ruled justly and sought Allah’s mercy—and they were granted it. But as for me, I say that after professing Islam they apostatized.’
I rose to leave, and before I reached the threshold I heard a great cry upon him.”
(Al-Muntazam li-Ibn al-Jawzī 15/300, isnād ḥasan)
Conclusion:
All praise belongs to Allah. The book Nahj al-Balāghah is a clear fabrication, rejected by the foremost scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah. Only what is authentically transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ and his rightly guided successors should be accepted.
1. Introduction
The Imams of Ahl as-Sunnah have clarified that the Raḍafiẓah’s doctrine is founded upon falsehood. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) states:الْقَوْمُ مِنْ أَكْذَبِ النَّاسِ فِي النَّقْلِيَّاتِ...
➤ Translation of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Critique:
“The Raḍafiẓ are among the most mendacious in their transmitted reports and among the most ignorant in rational matters. They accept what the scholars know to be utterly false, yet they reject that which is mutawātir—transmitted with the highest level of continuity—generation after generation. They make no distinction between transmitters of knowledge or narrators of ḥadīth and reports who are known liars, weak in memory, or ignorant of what they transmit, and those who are just, have strong preservation, and are renowned for their scholarship.”
(Minhāj as-Sunnah 8/1)
2. Fabrication of Ḥadīths and Sayings
The Raḍafiẓ have:✔ Forged chains of transmission (isnād) against the Imams of ḥadīth.
✔ Attributed false statements to the Ahl al-Bayt.
✔ Had no qualms about inventing ḥadīths—especially many ascribed to Sayyidina Ali—and even ascribed an entire spurious book, Nahj al-Balāghah, to him.
The Forger:
Ali ibn Husayn ibn Musa al-Murtada ash-Sharīf (d. 436 AH), a known liar and wicked Raḍafī.
3. Opinions of the Imams of Ahl as-Sunnah
➊ Ibn Taymiyyah (728 AH) on Nahj al-Balāghah:لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ الْإِمَامِيَّةِ يَنْقُلُ هَذَا النَّصَّ...
“No one among the Imāmīyyah transmits this text with a connected isnād, let alone as mutawātir.”
(Minhāj as-Sunnah 8/251)
➋ Hafiz al-Zahabī (748 AH) writes:
قَدِ اخْتُلِفَ فِي كِتَابِ نَهْجِ الْبَلَاغَةِ الْمَكْذُوبِ عَلَى عَلِيٍّ...
“There is disagreement over the false book Nahj al-Balāghah attributed to Sayyidina Ali—whether it was the fabrication of al-Murtada ash-Sharīf or his brother al-Radhī.”
(Tārīkh al-Islām 9/557)
He further remarks:
“Whoever studies Nahj al-Balāghah will be convinced that it is falsely attributed to the Commander of the Faithful, Sayyidina Ali. It contains explicit insults against Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, contradictions, flimsy statements, and expressions which anyone knowledgeable about the Qurayshi Companions (Ṣaḥābah) and later generations will recognize as mostly false.”
(Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 3/124; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubala’ 17/590)
➌ Ibn Khallikān (681 AH) notes:
“People differ regarding the book Nahj al-Balāghah, purportedly a collection of Sayyidina Ali’s speech—whether it was compiled by al-Murtada ash-Sharīf or his brother al-Radhī. Others have said that it is not Ali’s speech at all, but that the compiler himself fabricated it and attributed it to the Imam.”
(Wafayāt al-A’yān 3/313)
4. Deathbed Report of al-Murtada ash-Sharīf
Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn ʿAlī ibn Burhān (d. 645 AH) relates:“I visited al-Murtada Abū al-Qāsim al-ʿAlawī during his fatal illness. He faced the wall and said:
‘Abū Bakr and ʿUmar ruled justly and sought Allah’s mercy—and they were granted it. But as for me, I say that after professing Islam they apostatized.’
I rose to leave, and before I reached the threshold I heard a great cry upon him.”
(Al-Muntazam li-Ibn al-Jawzī 15/300, isnād ḥasan)
Conclusion:
All praise belongs to Allah. The book Nahj al-Balāghah is a clear fabrication, rejected by the foremost scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah. Only what is authentically transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ and his rightly guided successors should be accepted.
