Balazari says in Ansabul Ashraf:
Abu Bakr sent for Ali (a) to pay allegiance to him and when he
refused to pay the allegiance, Umar went to the house of
Abdur Rahman Damishqiya, whose objection against the report of
Ibne Abi Shaybah about the threat of Umar to burn down the house of revelation
was mentioned a little while ago, has also expressed doubt in that inappropriate
act and on the chain of this report as well in his article and said:
The chain of reporters of this tradition is disconnected on one
side and on the other side Sulaiman Teemi is a companion of companions (Tabii)
and there is a great gap between Balazari and him; how can he quote from him
without an intermediary. The objection against this report is that Ibne Aun is
the last companion of companions and there was a long gap between him and Abu
Bakr.
Research into the chain of narrators of this report clearly shows
that this objection of Abdur Rahman Damishqiya accompanied with ridicule and
taunts more resembles academic objection, because we claim that this report is also
perfectly genuine on the basis of sources of narrators of Ahle Sunnat
traditions and if Allah wills, we will prove this claim.[2]
[1] Ansabul
Ashraf, Balazari, Vol. 1, Pg. 586
[2]
Investigation into the chain of reporters of traditional report:
Balazari has narrated the
traditional report through this chain of reporters:
Madaini from Muslimah bin
Maharib from Sulaiman Teemi from Ibne Aun: Indeed Abu Bakr…
1- Madaini:
Dhahabi has said about
Madaini that:
Madaini: Allamah Hafiz
Sadiq Abul Hasan Ali bin Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abi Saif Madaini Akhbari: He
was a history scholar and was learned about battles, expeditions and poems, and
regarding these matters he is included among the accurate reporters.
In continuation of the
statement of Yahya bin Moin, he writes:
Yahya bin Moin has said
regarding him thrice: He is reliable. He is reliable. He is reliable.
Seer Aalamun Nubla,
Vol. 10, Pg. 401, Shamsuddin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Uthman bin Qaimaz Dhahabi,
Abu Abdullah (d. 748), Mausisatur Risala, Beirut, 1413, Ninth edition, Edited:
Shuaib Arnaut, Muhammad Naeem Arqasusi.
Tarikh al-Islam wa
Wafyatul Mashahir wal Aalaam, Vol. 16, Pg. 290, Shamsuddin Muhammad bin
Ahmad bin Uthman Dhahabi (d. 748 A.H.), Darul Kitab al-Arabi, Lebanon, Beirut,
1407 A.H. – 1987 A.D. First edition, Edited: Dr. Umar Abdus Salam Tadmiri.
2- Muslimah bin Maharib:
Ibne Hibban has described
him in Kitabus Thiqat; therefore doubt of anonymity of this person is invalid.
Ath-Thiqat: Ibne
Hibban, Vol. 7, Pg. 490
3- Sulaiman Teemi:
Mizzi has said in Tahdhibul
Kamaal:
Rabi bin Yahya has narrated
from Shoba bin Hajjaj that he said: I have not seen anyone more truthful than
Sulaiman. Whenever he narrated traditions from the Holy Prophet (s), his
expression used to change.
Tahdhibul Kamaal,
Vol. 12, Pg. 8, Biography of Sulaiman bin Tarqan Teemi, Abu Motamar Basri, no.
2531 – Al-Jirha wa Tadeel, Vol. 4, Pg. 124, Biography Sulaiman Teemi,
no. 539.
4- Abdullah bin Aun:
Some have objected that the
report is Maqtu (cut off) over here as he has not narrated the report
from companions whereas Safdi, an important Ahle Sunnat scholar has said
regarding Ibne Aun:
Possibility exists for him
that he heard reports from a group of companions.
Al-Wafi bil Wafiyat,
Vol. 17, Pg. 390, under the biography of Hafiz Mazni Abdullah bin Aun bin
Artaban Abu Aun al-Mazni, no. 320.
This is when reports exists
mentioning the companionship of this person, as Ibne Saad has narrated in Tabaqatul
Kubra:
Ibne Aun was very eager to
meet the Holy Prophet (s) [at last he got this chance and] a shortly before the
passing away of the Prophet, he was able to see him and was extremely elated
for this…
Tabaqatul Kubra,
Vol. 7, Pg. 198, under the biography of Abdullah bin Aun bin Artaban, No. 3232,
Darul Kutub Ilmiya, (Beirut ,
Lebanon
So much so that if we
suppose that Ibne Aun was not a companion and that he was a companion of
companions (Tabii), even then no harm comes to this report; as the
father of science of narrators (Ilme Rijal) of Ahle Sunnat, Shoba bin
Hajjaj says regarding him:
My doubt about Ibne Aun is
better and more acceptable than the certainty of others.
Preface to Al-Jirha wa
Tadeel, Pg. 145
And Ibne Mubarak says:
I have not seen anyone
superior to Ibne Aun and Shoba has said: My doubt about Ibne Aun is better and
more acceptable than the certainty of others.
Seer Aalamun Nubla,
Vol. 6, Pg. 365, Shamsuddin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Uthman bin Qaimaz Dhahabi,
Abu Abdullah (d. 748), Mausisatur Risala, Beirut, 1413 A.H., Ninth edition,
Edited: Shuaib Arnaut, Muhammad Naeem Arqasusi.
Mizzi has also written in Tahdhibul
Kamaal:
Umar bin Habib says: I
heard Uthman Batti say: My eyes have not seen anyone like Aun (in excellence
and superiority).
And many more other praises
are mentioned about him, but we refrain to quote them here:
Tahdhibul Kamaal,
Vol. 15, Pg. 399, Yusuf bin Zaki Abdur Rahman Abul Hajjaj al-Mizzi (d. 742
A.H.), Edited: Dr. Bishar Awad Maruf, Mausisatur Risala, Beirut, First edition,
1400 A.H. – 1980 A.D.
Consequently, as we stated:
Firstly: Some Ahle Sunnat
scholars have clarified that he was a companion and he met the Messenger of
Allah (s) in his last days; he was present during the incident of attack on the
house of Fatima (s) and was aware of the
issue.
Secondly: Supposing that
the report is disconnected and it is mentioned by Ibne Aun of his own accord;
in that case also it is sufficient to prove our claim, because a person like
Ibne Aun, doubt in whom is same as certainty among Ahle Sunnat scholars…is
sufficient for us and is sufficient to prove genuineness of the report.
