This excerpt is taken from A Research Review of Mirza Muhammad Ali Engineer's Objections and Issues, authored by Haroon bin Shabbir Ahmad, may Allah preserve him, and revised by Fazilat al-Sheikh Maulana Muhammad Rafiq Tahir, may Allah preserve him.
The statement of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him:
The weak things Mirza Engineer Sahib relies on to cast doubt on the virtues of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) include a saying of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him). Regarding this, he says with reference to Fath al-Bari:
"Imam Ibn al-Jawzi has also narrated a conversation between Abdullah ibn Ahmad and his father Ahmad ibn Hanbal, in which he asked his father Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal... ...about his opinion regarding the dispute between Sayyiduna Ali and Hazrat Muawiyah. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal kept his head bowed for a while, then said: 'My son, understand well that Sayyiduna Ali had many enemies who tried to find faults in him but failed! So those enemies, as an alternative tactic, found this other person, i.e., Muawiyah, suitable for their purpose, who had fought against him, and thus those enemies exaggerated his status against Sayyiduna Ali.'"
After this, Engineer Sahib gives a false interpretation, saying: "He said that these hadiths found about Hazrat Muawiyah, they could not demean Hazrat Ali, so they fabricated these!"
The fact is that Engineer Sahib has repeated the phrase "authentic chain" so much that we have become accustomed to examining each of his arguments in the light of the rules of isnad (chain of narration). It is not that out of bias we try to weaken every argument of his. Therefore, it should be noted that Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) is neither a proof nor did he mention the chain of this saying of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He referred to Imam Ibn al-Jawzi’s book "Al-Mawdu'at," in which the complete chain of this saying is present
Reference: (Al-Mawdu'at:24/2)
. In this chain, there is a narrator Abu Saeed ibn al-Harfi, whose reliability has not been explicitly confirmed by any expert in Jarh wa Ta'dil (criticism and accreditation)! If it is established, then Engineer Sahib or any of his followers should present it; we would be grateful. Also, there is a narrator Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Fath, who, although authenticated by Khateeb Baghdadi (may Allah have mercy on him), was criticized by Allama Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him)
Reference: (Al-Mizan:7989)
. After quoting Khateeb’s statement, Dhahabi says: "قلت: ليس بحجة" that this narrator is not reliable.This was the isnad status of the saying presented by Engineer Sahib, while on the other hand, Imam Ahmad’s student Imam Abu Bakr al-Marwazi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ اللهِ، مَا تَقُولُ فِيمَا كَانَ مِنْ عَلِيٍّ وَمُعَاوِيَةَ رَحِمَهُمَا اللهُ؟ فَقَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ: مَا أَقُولُ فِيهَا إِلَّا الْحُسْنَى، رَحِمَهُمُ اللهُ أَجْمَعِينَ۔
"O Abu Abdullah (Ahmad ibn Hanbal)! What do you say about Ali and Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with them)? He replied: 'I say nothing but good about them; may Allah have mercy on all the companions.'"
Reference: (As-Sunnah lil-Khallal:713)
And what is its chain? Imam Abu Bakr al-Khallal (may Allah have mercy on him) is among the A’immah of Ahl al-Sunnah. He said that this narration was told to me by Imam Abu Bakr al-Marwazi (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the famous students of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him). He is narrating this saying from Imam Ahmad. It is the same Imam Ahmad and the same question, but the answer is significantly different! Now which answer will be considered authoritative? And has our truthful Engineer Sahib ever mentioned this saying?
And even if that saying is accepted as authentic, it still does not fulfill Mirza Sahib’s intention. He has tried to distort the original matter for his own benefit. Your clarification makes it clear that from this saying, you want to declare all the narrations about the virtues of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) as fabricated, as Mirza Sahib said, "These hadiths found about Muawiyah," meaning all the virtues narrated and mentioned by scholars are fabricated and forged! Whereas this is a complete misinterpretation of Imam Ahmad’s saying; he never meant this!
In response, it should be asked: Did the Imam say that all the narrations about the status of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) are fabricated? Absolutely not! The maximum conclusion that can be drawn from his saying is that some hadiths about the virtues of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) were fabricated. But does that mean denial of those hadiths which are authentically transmitted with a sound chain? If a hadith about someone’s virtue exists, and there are also fabricated hadiths about him, does that mean the same ruling applies to the authentic hadiths? No, absolutely not! So why is Mirza Sahib trying to deceive people?
Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him) himself did not derive the issue from this saying that you are trying to impose. If the hadiths we presented are also fabricated, and the enemies of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fabricated them, then Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him), who is the transmitter of Imam Ahmad’s saying, would have certainly mentioned those hadiths. But did he call any of those hadiths fabricated or weak? Absolutely not! Although they are famous, they deserved the most to be pointed out as fabricated.
Moreover, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) included those hadiths in his book "Musnad Ahmad":
❀ اَللّٰهُمَّ اجْعَلْهُ هَادِيًا مَهْدِيًّا، وَاهْدِ بِهِ:
Reference: (Musnad Ahmad:17895)
❀ اَللّٰهُمَّ عَلِّمْ مُعَاوِيَةَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِسَابَ، وَقِهِ الْعَذَابَ:
Reference: (Musnad Ahmad:17152)
If these hadiths were fabricated by the enemies of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), would he have included them in his book?
The reality is that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) never said that all the hadiths about the virtues of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) are fabricated or authored by the enemies of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)! A very strong proof of this is a famous hadith narrated about the virtue of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), "اَللّٰهُمَّ اجْعَلْهُ هَادِيًا مَهْدِيًّا، وَاهْدِ بِهِ," which we have mentioned under the virtues of Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) with reference to Sunan Tirmidhi. This hadith is also brought by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) in his Musnad as mentioned above. Now observe the chain from Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He says:
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ بَحْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، عَنْ رَبِيعَةَ بْنِ يَزِيدَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمٰنِ بْنِ أَبِي عَمِيرَةَ الْأَزْدِيِّ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، أَنَّهُ ذَكَرَ مُعَاوِيَةَ، وَقَالَ: "اَللّٰهُمَّ اجْعَلْهُ هَادِيًا مَهْدِيًّا، وَاهْدِ بِهِ"۔
That is, there are five intermediaries between Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Ahmad narrates from his teacher Ali ibn Bahr, who narrates from Walid ibn Muslim, who narrates from Saeed ibn Abdul Aziz, who narrates from Rabi’ah, who narrates from the companion of the Prophet, Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Umayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)!
Now look at Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s own opinions about these narrators!
He considered "Ali ibn Bahr" ثقة، لا بأس به:
Reference: (Tarikh Baghdad-268/13)
About "Walid ibn Muslim," he said:
كَانَ عِنْدَكُمْ ثَلَاثَةُ أَصْحَابِ حَدِيثٍ: مَرْوَانُ، وَالْوَلِيدُ، وأبو مسهر۔
"You have three (great) hadith narrators! Marwan, Walid ibn Muslim, and Abu Mushir."
Reference: (Tarikh Abi Zar’ah al-Dimashqi, p.384)
About "Saeed ibn Abdul Aziz," Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: لَيْسَ بِالشَّامِ رجل أصح حديثا من سعيد بن عبد الْعَزِيز التنوخي۔
"There is no one in Sham whose hadith is more authentic than Saeed ibn Abdul Aziz."
Reference: (Al-‘Ilal li Ahmad-53/3)
On the same page, he also said: "Imam Awza’i and Saeed ibn Abdul Aziz are equal in my view." Since Imam Awza’i was a great Imam, Muhaddith, and Faqih, what status would Saeed ibn Abdul Aziz have in hadith narration?
"Rabi’ah ibn Yazid" is a narrator in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim!
Reference: (Sahih al-Bukhari: 5478, Sahih Muslim:2735,1037,542)
etc.As for "Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Umayrah," he is a companion! Now Mirza Sahib or his followers should tell us, which narrator fabricated this hadith? All its narrators are trustworthy according to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him).
You have seen Mirza Sahib’s arguments and your excellent sense of justice. Now please consider our remarks regarding the authenticity of these hadiths.
