12. Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-'Askari (d. 260 AH)

According to Ibn Saba', the appointment of rightful heirs stopped at 'Ali (&), but those who came later included a number of his descendants in this concept. The Shiite cells were working quietly and secretly, but nevertheless these claims reached some members of Ah1 al-Bayt, and they denied them categorically, as their forefather Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&)had done. Hence those liars fabricated the concept of taqiyyah, which they falsely ascribed to Ah1 al-Bayt, so that it would be easy for them to spread their ideas, making sure that their followers would not be affected by the sincere public statements of Ah1 al-Bayt to the people.417 One of the most serious matters fabricated by the Shia is the idea of the rightfully appointed heir. This means that the Messenger of Allah (g) instructed the people that after his death, the caliphate should go directly to 'Ali (&,), and it means that those who came before him usurped his rights. It says in the book al-K6ji that those who died without knowing their Imam died a death like those during the time of pre-Islamic ignorance.

'Ali was the rightful heir of the Prophet (B), according to their claim.418 However, in studying the history of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, we find no mention of rightfnlly appointed heirs during the caliphates of Abu Bakr and Jmar (&5). This idea began to emerge during the last years of the X i ' s attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia caliphate of 'Uthmsn (&), when fimah began to appear. The Companions rejected tbis idea when they heard it and explained that it was false; among the most famous of those who did so were 'Ali ibn Abi T2ib (&) and the Mother of the Believers 'A'ishah (I&). During the caliphate of 'Ali (&), we see this idea crystallising i n k e form of a belief to which people were called and which was propagated. This notion of the so-called rightfully appointed heir, which is promoted by the RiEfidis and continned by their scholars, wav the fabrication of Ahdullah ibn Saba', as was mentioned by anNawbakhti and al-Kashshi and as we have seen above.

What is narrated in sound reports from a number of the Companions, including 'Ali (&) himself, is sufficient to refute their claim. There is a great deal of such evidence, including the following: It was said in the presence of 'kishah (r&) that the Prophet (G) appointed 'Ali by name as his successor, and she said: "Who said that? I saw the Prophet ( g ) as he was leaning on my chest. He called for a vessel of water, then he fell to one side and died, without me realising. So how could he have issued instructions that 'Ali should be his sn~cessor?"~'~ This clear statement from 'A;l'ishah (I&) that the Prophet ( g ) did not appoint 'Ali by name as his successor is the greatest evidence that there was no appointed heir.

The Prophet (g) died in her lap, so if there had been any instruction, she would have been the most aware of it of all people.420 It was narrated that Ibn 'Abbk (4) said: " 'Ali ibn Abi T2ib (&)came out of the house of the Messenger of Allah (g) during the illness from which he died, and the people said: '0 Abu al-Hasan, 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib how is the Messenger of Allah (g) this morning?' He said: 'He is better this morning, praise be to AUah.' 'Abb% ibn 'Abdul-Muwb took his hand and said to him: 'By AUah, after three days you will be driven by the stick (you will be under the authority of someone else). By Allah, I think that the Messenger of Allah (gJ will die of this sickness, for I know how the faces of Banu 'Abdul-Mumlib look when they are dying. Let us go to the Messenger of Allah and ask him who is to be in charge. If we are to be in charge, then we will know it; if someone else is to be in charge, then we will know it, and he will advise him to be kind to us.' 'Ali said: 'By Allah, if we ask the Messenger of AUah (g) for it (leadership), and he denies it to us, the people will never give it to us after that and, by Allah, I will never ask the Messenger of AUah (@J for it."'421 In these words, there is evidence of the extent of the Companions' commitment to carrying out the instrnctions of the Messenger of Allah (g). If there had been any appointed successor, no one would have gone against it, and the An@ would not have expressed their opinions so freely, bravely and honestly when they met, after the Prophet (g) died, to discuss a successor, saying: "A d e r from among us and a ruler from among They would have sworn allegiance to the one whom the Prophet (g) had instructed should be his successor, or at least some of them would have mentioned these instructions.

If there had been some instruction to that effect before this, 'Ali would have said to al-'Abbb: "How can we ask him who will be his successor when he has already appointed me as his snccessor?" The Messenger of Allah (@J died the same day, and as there were no instrnctions of that nature, it becomes clear that the contention that 'Ali (&) had clear instructions is a claim that has no sound basis. All the reports that they narrate, referring to the instructions that Ali (&) should be the successor, are to be rejected because they are contrary to this clear statement from 'Ali (&) himself. All the texts that they quote as 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia evidence either do not refer to the man concerned ('Ali) or they do refer to him, but they are fabricated.4z3 'Ali (&) was asked: "Did the Messenger of Allah (@) tell you anything that was for you only?' He said: "The Messenger of Allah ( g ) did not tell us anything that was for us only, that he did not tell all the people, except that which is in this sheath of my sword." He took out a document on which was written: "May Allah curse the one who offers a sacrifice to anything other than Allah, may Allah curse the one who steals the boundary markers, may Allah curse the one who curses his parents, and may Allah curse the one who gives refuge to an innovator."424 Ihn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "This hadith, which is proven in Bukhari and Muslim and elsewhere from 'Ali (&), refutes the RXdi claim that the Messenger of Allah (&) gave instructions that 'Ali should be his successor. If the matter was as they claim, none of the Companions would have rejected that (instruction of the Prophet). They were too obedient towards Allah (&) and His Messenger, during his lifetime and after his death, to reject his instructions and give precedence to someone other than the one to whom he gave precedence and to reject someone to whom the Messenger of Allah ( g ) had given precedence in his instructions.

They are far above doing any such thing. The one who thinks that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) could do that is accusing them all of comption and of agreeing to go against the wishes of the Messenger (B) and against his ruling and instructions. Any person who goes so far in doing evil has gone beyond the pale of Islam and has become a disbeliever, according to the consensus of the prominent scholars."425 Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "This disproves the claim made by the lmami and Rzfidi other caliph and ')JI as ', &ions aPP ointing 1, shia hat there were i:s$ i fabricabons of trhers. ' pJi said: "When 3.3.4. ibn sufyZn the Ws nmatd that '0 people. he said: of the c a d , s~cessO~. Therefore We .led at the Battle preva &d not appoint any and llah (%) as his successo~, he ~0110wed the ~essengel of A oint Abu B* ,99427 . he passed away, decided to leaderShjP U U ~ m e path in 33.5. with that the latter said: 'my don't You good their prophet under ,tion to appoint llah anion , d tw Messenger of A the members Islam From these oinm the idea, 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia Their aim was to slander the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) for allegedly going against the command of the Messenger (B) and agreeing on that, so that they could undermine and reject what the Companions narrated of Quran and hadith to future generations of ~ u s l i m s . ~ ~ ' Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his refutation of al-IJilli: "As for the appointment of 'Ali by name, there is nothing of that nature in the reliable books of the hadith scholars; all the scholars of hadith are unanimously agreed that it is false.

Ahu Muhammad ibn Hazm said: 'We did not find any report with anyone about this so-called instrnction, except one report which goes back to an unknown narrator who goes by the kunyah of Abu d-Hamra', hut we do not know who he was at Elsewhere he said: "Therefore we conclude that what the Rififidis claim about 'Ali being appointed as the Prophet's successor is something that none of the scholars, past or present, who have knowledge of the words of the Messenger of Allah (gJ, heard anything about. Hence the scholars of hadith know for certain that this report is false, as they know that other reports are false."432 However, among later extremists, there were those who revived Ibn Saba's theory concerning Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (4). They expanded it to include the descendants of 'Ali and al-Husayn, using this as a cover to stir up people's emotions and reach their hearts, in order to achieve their aims against the Islamic state. The first one to st& spreading the idea that leadership was limited to specific members of Ah1 al-Bayt was Shaytin at-T%q, whom the Shia call Mu'min at-^%^?^^ When Zayd ibn 'Ali found out abont that, he sent for him to ask abont this nunour. Zayd said to him: "I have heard that you are claiming that among the family of Muhammad, there is an Imam to whom obedience is obligatory." Shay* a ~ - ~ % q said: "Yes, your father 'Ali ibn al-Husayn was one of them." He said: 'Ali ibn Abi T2lib "How can that be, when he would take a mouthful of food, and if it was hot, he would cool it with his hand and then put it in my mouth?

Do you think that he could protect me from the heat of this mouthful and not protect me from the fire of hell?" Shay* at-Tiq said: "He did not want to tell you lest you reject it and thus become a disbeliever, then he would not be able to intercede for This story, which was narrated in the most reliable book of biography they have, shows that this theory was circulating in secret to the point that it was unknown to one of the imams of Ah1 al-Bayt, namely Imam Zayd. Muhihh ad-Deen al-Khateeb stated that Shaytin at-Tiq was the first one to fabricate this misguided belief, limiting the position of the imamate and legislation to them and claiming infallibility for specific people among Ah1 a l - ~ a ~ t . ~ ~ ~ Shaytin at-Tiq was joined by another man, Hishh ibn al-Hakam (d. 179 It seems that the belief in limiting imamate to specific people started in ~ u f a h , ~ ~ ' with the efforts of a group of followers of H i s h h and Shay6n at-Tiq. Thus the foundations for the idea of limiting the imamate to a specific number were laid down in the second century by a group of people who claimed to have connections to Ah1 alBayt, such as Shaytk at-Tiq and H i s h h ibn a l - ~ a k a m . ~ ~ ~ Beliefs and ideas about the number of Imams differed among the various Shiite groups. It says in Mukhtajar at-Tuhfah: "It should be noted that the Imamis limit the number of Imams, but they differed as to the exact number. Some of them said it is five, some said it is seven, some said it is eight, some said it is twelve and some said it is thirteen."439 The books of the Shia give an idea of these differences and contradictions, whether the books are those of the Ismailis, such as Masci'il al-lmamah by an-Nkhi' al-Akbar or az-Zeenah by Abu Hitim ar-Rizi, or of the Twelvers, such as al-Maqcilrit wal-Firaq by al-Ash'ari al-Qummi and Firaq ash-Shia by an-Nawhakhti.

The 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia issue of imamate is not a minor issue for them, in which differences might be regarded as normal. It is the basic foundation of their religion, and they say that the one who does not believe in their Imam has no religion. Hence they regard one another as disbelievers; even the followers of one Imam may regard each other as disbelievers and curse one another.440 The Twelvers later settled on limiting the imamate to twelve Imams, but there was no one in the Prophet's family, Banu Hkhim, at the time of the Messenger of Allah (gJ, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthm2n or 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) who believed in the imamate of twelve This belief was only known after the death of al-Hasan alLZAskari in 260 AH."' Limiting the Imams to a specificnumber is a false and compt belief of which Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&) and his sons and grandsons are innocent. In the major Shiite reference book, Nahj alBali?ghah, it is narrated from 'Ali (5%) that he said: ''have me alone and find someone else, for we are facing new developments of different types, which are overwhelming and confusing. There are clouds on the horizon, and the path is not clear.

You should understand that if I accept your offer, I will lead you to what I believe to be right, and I will not listen to the rebuke of anyone. But if you leave me alone, I will be like one of you, and probably I will be more obedient to whoever yon appoint as your leader. I can serve you better as an adviser than as a r~ler.""~ If the imamate of 'Ali had been something decreed by Allah (&), it would not have been permissible for 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib (&,) under any circumstances to say to the people, "Leave me alone and find someone else," or to say, "I can serve you better as an adviser than as a ruler." How could he do that when the people wanted him to be a ruler and came to swear allegiance to him?4" He says something even clearer in an-Nahj: "The people have sworn allegiance to me who swore allegiance to Abu Bakr, 'Umar 'AZi ibn Abi Tilib and 'Uthmk, and on the same terns. The one who was present could not have a say in the matter, and the one who was absent has no right to object. Rather decision-making belongs to the Muhijijireen and An& if they are unanimously agreed on a man and appoint him as leader, this must reflect the approval of Allah (g).

If someone rebels against them by rejecting what they agreed to or by introducing innovation, they will have the right to try to bring him back to that which he rebelled against; if he persists, they will fight him for following a way other than the believers' way, and Allah (&) will keep him in the path he has chosen."44s With these words, Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&) highlighted some facts worth paying attention to: (a) The ones among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (g) who bad the right to reach a decision on the basis of mutual consultation were the Muhijireen and An$$, they were the decision-makers. (b) Their agreement on a person was a reason for Allah's approval and a sign that He was pleased with their choice. (c) No one could become the leader or attain authority during their era without their choosing him or their consent. (d) No one rejected their decision or rebelled against their ruling except an innovator and transgressor who was following a way other than that of the believers. How do the Twelver Shia understand these important statements?446 The appointment of 'Ali (&) as Imam by name could not be proven by any means, and the issue of limiting the number of Imams to a specific number is to be rejected according to the Quran and Sunnah.

It is neither rational nor realistic, because after this specific number, is the Ummah to remain without an Imam or ruler? The era of the visible Imams, according to the Twelvers, was little more than 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia two and a half centuries. The Shia were compelled to find a way out of the problem of limiting the number of Imams, so they introduced the idea of the scholar acting on behalf of the Imam, but they differed concerning the extent of this deputation.4" In modem times, they were forced to abandon this principle completely, even though it is the foundation of their religion. They made the appointment of their head of state something that could be done by means of election; they abandoned the idea of limiting the number and instead limited the quality or type, restricting leadership of the state to 'the Shiite i ~ r i s t s ' . ~ ~ ~ What the Twelver Shia quote as evidence from the Sunni books for limiting the number of Imams It was narrated that Jibir ihn Samurah said: "There will be twelve rulers. Then he said something that I did not hear. and my father said that he said: 'All of them from ~ u r a ~ s h .

" ' ~ ~ ~ In Muslim, it is narrated that Jibir said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (s) say: 'Islam will continue to prevail for the time of twelve caliphs,' then he said a word that I did not understand, and I said to my father: 'What did he say?' He said: 'All of them from ~ u r a ~ s h . " ' ~ ~ ~ According to another version: "This religion will continue to prevail and be strong for the time of twelve caliphs."451 According to yet another version: "The people's affairs will continue to be prosperous during the reign of twelve men."452 Ahu Diwood narrated: "This religion will continue to prevail until you have had twelve caliphs, under all of whom the Ummah will be united."453 Abu Diwood narrated a similar report via al-Aswad ibn Sa'eed from Jsbir, and he said that he added: "When he returned to his house, Quraysh came to him and said: 'Then what will happen?' He said: 'Killing."3454 The Twelvers cling to this text and quote it as evidence against Ah1 as-Sunnah, not because they believe in what is mentioned in the 'Ali ibn Abi Trilib books of the ~ u n n i s , ~ ~ ~ but they quote the hadiths they believe in. However, by examining the text with neutraLity and objectivity, we find that these twelve men are described as becoming caliphs, and it is said that at their time, Islam will be strong and prevailing, the people will be united behind them, and they will still he in a good state. None of these attributes is applicable to those whom the Twelvers claim as their Imams. None of them became caliph except Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali and al-Hasan for a short time.

The Ummah was not prosperous or prevailing during the periods of any of these twelve Imams, even according to the Shia themselves. On the contrary, the Ummah "continued to deteriorate and was ruled by evildoers and even by di~believers,"~'~ and "the Imams themselves concealed their religious affairs by means of taqiyyah."457 The era of Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&), when he was in a position of power and was a caliph, was 'an era of taqiyyah,' as was clearly stated by their sbaykh a l - ~ u f e e d . ~ ~ ~ He "could not bring out the Quran or rule in accordance with many Islamic rulings," as was clearly stated by their shaykh al-~azi'iri?~~ He was "forced to go along with his companions and appease them at the expense of religion," as was stated by their shaykh al-~urtada.~~' Thus this hadith has nothing to do with their claims at all. Moreover, it does not limit the Imams to this number; it is a prediction from the Prophet (B) that Islam would continue to prevail during the era of these people. The eras of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Umayyads were periods of power and ~tren~th.4~' Ibn Taymiyah said: "Islam and the rule of Islam were stronger and more farreaching at the time of the Umayyads than after their time." He quoted as evidence the hadith, "This matter will continue to prevail for the time of twelve caliphs, all of whom are from Quraysh." Then he said: "This is how it was. The caliphs were Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthmin and 'Ali, then those who took over under whom the people united and who had power and strength, namely Mu'2wiyah and his 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia son Yazeed, then 'Abdul-Malik and his four sons, among whom was 'Umar ibn 'Abdul-'Azeez.

After that came the declime which has continued until today." Then he explained that.462 Concerning the hadith, 'all of them from ~ n r a ~ s h , ' ~ ~ ~ he said: "This means that they are not limited to 'Ali and his descendants. If they were limited to 'Ali (&) and his descendants, he would have mentioned something to refer to that exclusivity. Don't yon see that he did not say: all of them from among the descendants of Ismceel or from among the Arabs. If they were distinguished by the fact that they were all from Banu Hishim or from among the descendants of 'Ali, then the hadith would have referred to that. But as he said that they would all be from among Quraysh in general, it is known that they are from Quraysh, but they are not from a particular clan or tribe; rather they are from Banu Tayrn, Banu 'Adiyy, Banu 'Abd Shams and Banu H2shim.

The Rightly Guided Caliphs were from these tribes."464 SO there is nothing left of the description to match the description that they want except the number only, and the number does not mean anything.465 Their evidence from the Quran The Shia did not find anything that would support their belief in imamate on the basis of Qur'anic texts, so they quoted verses from the Book of Allah that praised His righteous slaves and pious close friends, and they interpreted them as if they referred exclusively to Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&) on the basis of this corrupt belief, just as they fabricated many hadiths to support this reprehensible innovation. They did this in order to ensnare ignorant Muslims and those who had little knowledge about this subject. The arguments they presented concerning this are clearly false, and their argument is not free of two issues: (a) Either what they quoted as evidence for that claim is sound, such as the verse of purification, the verse of 'Ali ibn Abi Thlib mubaalah, the hadith of the banner, the hadith of Khumm and other hadiths, (b) or the hadiths were fabricated, and fabricated reports cannot be used as evidence. Hence it is well established among the scholars that the R2fidis are the most mendacious of the groups that claim to belong to Islam. Ibn Taymiyah stated that there was consensus among the scholars of hadith who h o w abont narrations and chains of narration that the R%&s are the most untruthful of all groups, and this attribute is ancient in them. Hence the leading scholars of Islam h o w that this group is distinguished by its lying.466 The following are some examples of how they quoted Quran as evidence: