“Riyāh bin al-Harth has narrated that a delegation met
‘Alī (AlahisSalam) and said: O our master, May Go d bless you! ‘Alī (AlahisSalam) asked: how am I your master as you are Arabs (and
they do not readily acknowledge someone as their leader)?
They said: we have heard it from the Messenger of Allāh
(صلى-الله-عليه-و-آله-وسلم
) on the day of Ghadīr Khum: one who has me as his
master, surely he has this (‘Alī) as his master. Riyāh said:
when those people left, I asked him: who are these
people? He said: it is a delegation of (Medinan ) Helpers
an d Abū Ayy ūb al-Ansārī ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) is also one of them.”
Ahmad bin Hambal related it in al-Musnad (5:419), and Fadā’ilus-sahābah (2:572#967); Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Musannaf (12:60 #
12122); Tabarānī, al-Mu‘jam-ul-kabīr (4:173, 174 # 4052, 4053);
Muhib Tabarī, ar-Riyād-un-nadrah fī manāqib-il-‘ashrah (2:169;
3:126); and Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wan-nihāyah (4:172; 5:462).
Haythamī has declared the narrators of this tradition
trustworthy (thiqah) in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (9:103,104).
Ibn ‘Asākir narrated it in Tārīkh Dimashq al-kabīr through
Ziyād bin al-Hārith (45:161), Hasan bin al-Hārith (45:162), and
Riyāh bin al-Hārith (45: 163).
Ibn Athīr narrated through Zirr bin Hubaysh in Asad-ulghābah fī ma‘rifat-is-sahābah (1:672) that twelve Companions
including Qays bin Thābit, Hāshim bin ‘Utbah and Habīb bin
Budayl acknowledged ‘Alī () as their master
“It is narrated by ‘Umar ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) that once a person had an
argument with him. He said: the man sitting her e will
decide bet ween yo u an d me, an d he pointed towards ‘Alī ( AlahisSalam). That man said: this pot-bellied person (will decide
bet ween us)! ‘Umar (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) rose from his seat, caught him by
the collar and lifted him from the ground. Then he said:
Do yo u know that the person yo u con sider worthless is my
master as well as the master of every Muslim.”
Muhib Tabarī has said in ar-Riyād-un-nadrah fī manaqib-il-
‘ashrah (3:128) that Ibn Sammān has documented this narration.
“It is narrated by ‘Umar ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) that two Bedouins came
to him disputing with each other. He said to ‘Alī (AlahisSalam): O
Abū Hasan : decide bet ween these t wo. So h e decided
bet ween them (and settled their dispute). One o f them
said: Is h e the only one left to decide bet ween us? (At
this) ‘Umar ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) moved towards him and caught him by
his collar and said: May yo u be dead! Do you know who
he is? He is my master and the master of every believer
( and) one who does not acknowledge him as h is master is
not a believer.
Muhib Tabarī has narrated this tradition in Dhakhā’ir-ul-‘uqbā fī manāqib dhaw-il-qurbā (p.126), and says that Ibn Sammān has
mentioned it in his book al-Muwafaqah. He also narrated it in arRiyād-un-nadrah fī manāqib-il-‘ashrah (3:128).
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 