Sayyiduna ʿAlī (RA) Responding to the Mu’adhdhin – Narration with a Weak Chain
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
What is the authenticity of the following narration?
❀ Narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā (رحمه الله):
كان على بن أبى طالب إذا سمع المؤذن يؤذن قال كما يقول، فإذا قال : أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، وأشهد أن محمدا رسول الله ، قال على : أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، وأشهد أن محمدا رسول الله، وأن الذين جحدوا محمدا هم الكاذبون .
“When ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (RA) heard the mu’adhdhin calling the Adhan, he would repeat the same words. And when the mu’adhdhin said: Ashhadu an lā ilāha illallāh wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan Rasūlullāh, ʿAlī (RA) would respond: Ashhadu an lā ilāha illallāh, wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan Rasūlullāh, wa anna alladhīna jahadū Muḥammadan hum al-kādhibūn — ‘I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that those who denied Muhammad are the liars.’”
(Zawā’id Musnad Aḥmad: 1/119)
❖ Answer:
The chain of narration is weak.
① Abū Shaybah ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Kūfī is weak.
❀ ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī (رحمه الله) said:
عبد الرحمن بن إسحاق، أبو شيبة الواسطي، وهو متفق على ضعفه .
“ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq Abū Shaybah al-Wāsiṭī is unanimously agreed upon as weak.”
(al-ʿArf al-Shadhī: 1/76, 78, 156)
② The biography of Abū Saʿīd is not found.
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Haythamī (رحمه الله) said:
لم أجد من ذكره .
“I did not find anyone who mentioned him.”
(Majmaʿ al-Zawā’id: 1/332)
✅ Conclusion:
This narration about Sayyiduna ʿAlī (RA) responding to the mu’adhdhin with an additional phrase has a weak chain due to unreliable narrators and missing biographical details.
