Kitab-e- Sulaym Ibn Qays Al-Hilali
The greatness and esteemed value of this book can be gauged by the hadith of Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq a.s that whoever does not possess this book does not have anything from The Ahlul Bayt AS. This is a book that has received endorsement from five Infallible Imams. This is the first book of the Shi’a containing knowledge of Traditions, History, Theology and Commentary. The author was born in Kufa and came to Madinah but was not able to see The Prophet SAWW. However, he was a trustworthy companion to Five A’immah AS. Many a renowned Sunni traditionalists have quoted ahadith from Sulaym and this is a sure endorsement of his authenticity. Sulaym’s book comprises 91 ahadith, which are illuminating, revealing and heart-rending for the oppression heaped upon Ahlul Bayt a.s after the demise of The Prophet SAWW cannot but move the reader.
One of the Ahadith shows how Umar punished all his Governors who had betrayed trust and squandered public funds. Yet one Governor, Qunfuz, was rewarded despite his misdeed. When Sulaym asked Imam Ali a.s why this was so, he Imam a.s replied that Qunfuz was not held accountable because he had helped Umar whip Seyyida Fatimatu Zzahraa a.s when Umar came with a posse to attack and burn down the house of the only daughter of The Prophet s.a.w.a on the second day after The Prophet s.a.w.a’s demise. Sulaym researched and verified events before he penned them so that their authenticity is incontrovertible. Indeed, Sulaym’s sources are impeccable. Sulaym’s book was entrusted to only one person, Aban ibni abi Ayyash who was held to a solemn oath not to talk of the book during Sulaym’s lifetime and that after his death he would give the book only to trustworthy Shi’a of Ali ibni Abi Talib a.s. This explains why Imam Al-Sadiq a.s has said this book contains the secrets of ( The Progeny of the Holy Prophet s.a.w.a)Aale Muhammad a.s.TRADITION NO 1
SALIM ibn Qais said, “When Ali (A.S.) saw how people betrayed him and were reluctant to support him, agreeing with Abu Bakr and paying homage to him and respecting him, he remained at home. `Omer said to Abu Bakr, `What stops you from calling upon him to swear the oath of allegiance to you since nobody else remains to do so except him and these four men?’ Abu Bakr was more soft-hearted than `Omer and more intelligent as well as more far-sighted, whereas the other (`Omer) was the most rough, rude and crude. Abu Bakr said, `Who should we send to him?’ `Omer said, `Let us send Qunfath to him, for he is a rough and tough man and a taleeq, one of the Bani `Adiyy ibn Ka`b.’ He sent him together with helpers to Ali (A.S.). He sought Ali’s permission to enter, but Ali (A.S.) refused to let him in. Those in Qunfath’s company returned to Abu Bakr and `Omer who were sitting at the Mosque surrounded by people and told them that they were not granted permission to enter. `Omer said, `Go back. If he permits you, enter, but if he does not, enter without his permission!’”
They returned and again sought permission to enter. Fatima (A.S.) said to them, “I shall expose you to embarrassment if you enter my house without permission.” They returned as the accursed Qunfath remained. They narrated what Fatima (A.S.) had told them adding, “We felt too embarrassed to enter without permission.”+
`Omer then was angry and said, “Why should we pay attention to women?!” Then he ordered some men to carry firewood, and `Omer, too, carried firewood with them, placing it around the house where Ali (A.S.) and Fatima (A.S.) and both their sons (A.S.) lived. Then `Omer called out so Ali (A.S.) and Fatima (A.S.) could hear him saying: “By Allah! You shall have to come out, O Ali (A.S.), and you shall have to swear the oath of allegiance to the successor of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) or else I shall set your house ablaze!”
Fatima (A.S.) said, “O `Omer! What feud is there between us and you?” He said, “Open the door or else I shall burn your house!” She said, “O `Omer! Do you not fear Allah so you want to enter my house by force?” He refused to leave.
`Omer now ordered fire to be lit at the door. Then he pushed the door and forced himself inside. He found himself face-to-face with Fatima (A.S.) who called out: “O father! O Messenger of Allah (A.S.)!” `Omer raised his sword which was still inside its scabbard, hitting her side with it. She screamed: “O father!” `Omer raised his whip and hit her arm. She called out: “O Messenger of Allah (A.S.)! How badly have Abu Bakr and `Omer succeeded you!”
Ali (A.S.) leaped and pulled `Omer’s clothes, then he pulled him and wrestled him to the ground, fracturing his nose and neck and was about to kill him. Then he remembered what the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) had told him and how he admonished him to deal with those folks. Ali (A.S.), therefore, said to `Omer, “I swear by the One Who honored Muhammed (A.S.) with Prophethood, O son of Sahhak10, that had it not been because of a Book from Allah and a covenant entrusted to me by the Messenger of Allah (A.S.), you would have come to know that you are not such who would enter my house!”
`Omer cried out for help. People came and entered the house. Ali (A.S.) took to his sword, so Qunfath returned to Abu Bakr fearing that Ali (A.S.) would kill him, knowing his might and prowess.
Abu Bakr said to Qunfath, “Go back. If he comes out, that is alright, otherwise, enter his house by force. If he refuses to come out, set their house to fire.” The accursed Qunfath set out. He and those in his company entered Ali’s house by force and without permission.
Fatima (A.S.) intercepted them at the door. The cursed Qunfath hit her with the sword. When she died, her wrist had a mark looking like a bracelet because of being whipped by that damned slave.
Ali (A.S.) was taken by force and brought to Abu Bakr. `Omer was standing next to him with his sword unsheathed. Khalid ibn al-Walid, Aba `Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, Salim (slave of Aba Huthayfah), Mu`th ibn Jabal, al-Mugharah ibn Shu`bah, Aseed ibn Hasan, Bashar ibn Sa`d and other people were all sitting around Abu Bakr, all armed.
I said to Salman, “Did they really enter the house of Fatima (A.S.) without permission?!” He said, “Yes, by Allah, and she did not have a veil, so she cried out, `O Father! O Messenger of Allah (A.S.)! O how badly you have been succeeded by Abu Bakr and `Omer while your eyes can still see though you are in your grave!’ She called that out as loudly as she could. I saw Abu Bakr and those around him weeping (as they heard her say those words). They all wept except `Omer, Khalid ibn al-Walid and al-Mugharah ibn Shu`bah. `Omer kept saying, `We have nothing to do with what women say.’ They took Ali (A.S.) to Abu Bakr as he was saying, `O by Allah! Had I had my sword in my hand, you would surely know that you would not be able to do what you are doing at all. By Allah! I do not blame myself if I fight against you. Had I only had forty supporters, I would have been able to disperse all the people you have rallied behind you. But the curse of Allah be on people who swore the oath of allegiance to me then betrayed me. When Abu Bakr saw Ali (A.S.), he shouted, ‘set him free!’ Ali (A.S.) said, `O Abu Bakr! How swiftly you have transgressed against the Messenger of Allah (A.S.)! What gives you the right or which status permits you to invite the people to swear the oath of allegiance to you? Did you not yourself swear the oath of allegiance a few days ago as ordered by Allah and as enjoined by the Messenger of Allah (A.S.)?’”
Qunfath, the curse of Allah be upon him, hit Fatima (A.S.) with the whip when she threw herself between him and her husband. `Omer had instructed him thus: “If Fatima (A.S.) intercepts you from reaching him (reaching Ali [a]), you should whip her.” Qunfath, the curse of Allah be upon him, cornered her at the knob of her house’s door, pushed her and broke one of her ribs, so she miscarried a fetus. She remained in bed since then till she (A.S.) died as a martyr in the aftermath.
When Ali (A.S.) was brought to Abu Bakr, `Omer rebuked him and rudely said to him: “Swear the oath of allegiance (and leave such falsehood of yours aside).” He (A.S.) said to `Omer, “And if I do not, what are you all going to do?” They said, “We shall kill you in the most humiliating and contemptible way.” He (A.S.) said, “You will then kill a servant of Allah and a Brother of His Messenger.” Abu Bakr said, “As regarding you being a servant of Allah, yes, I agree with that. But as regarding you being the Brother of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.), we do not recognize you as such.” Ali (A.S.) said, “Do you deny that the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) had established Brotherhood between himself and myself [when he established brotherhood between the Ansar and the Muhajiran in Medina in the first Hijri year]?!” Abu Bakr said, “Yes.” Ali (A.S.) repeated his question to them three times! Then Ali (A.S.) said, “O Muslims! O Muhajiran and Ansar! I ask you in the Name of Allah (A.S.), have you heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) on the Day of Ghadir Khumm say such-and-such?! And have you heard him in the Invasion of Tabuk say such-and-such?!” Ali (A.S.) continued reminding them of what the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) had said about him. They said, “Lord! We testify that he (A.S.) said it.”
When Abu Bakr was afraid of a change of public opinion in favor of Ali (A.S.) and that they would now oppose him, he said to Ali (A.S.), “Any word of truth you have said we have heard it with our ears and recognized it, and our hearts have understood it. But we have also heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) say, `We are members of a House whom Allah chose and honored, choosing for us the Hereafter over the temporal life. Allah decreed not to grant us both Prophethood and Caliphate.” Ali (A.S.) asked Abu Bakr, “Has any of the sahaba of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) ever heard the Prophet (A.S.) says so besides yourself?” `Omer immediately said, “The successor of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) has said the truth, and I have heard it just as he stated it.” Aba `Ubaydah, Salim (slave of Aba Huthayfah) and Mu`ath ibn Jabal said, “He said the truth; we, too, heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) say it.” Ali (A.S.) said to all of them, “You have all fulfilled the promise which you had vowed as recorded in your (damned) sahifa to whose contents you swore at the Ka`ba saying, `If Allah causes Muhammed (A.S.) to be killed, or if he dies, we shall shift this matter (caliphate) from Ahl al-Bayt.’”
Abu Bakr asked Ali (A.S.), “How do you know about it and we never acquainted you with what is in it?!” Ali (A.S.) said, “You, Zubayr, and you, Salman, and you, Abu Tharr, and you, Miqdad! I ask you in the Name of Allah (A.S.) and in the name of Islam, did you hear the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) say as you heard: ‘so-and-so, till he counted the names of these five individuals, wrote a covenant and made a pledge and an agreement to which they all swore to do such-and-such if I am killed or if I die’”? They all said, “We invoke Allah to witness that yes, we have heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) say so to you, that they made an agreement and a covenant to do what they have already done, writing a document to this effect that if the Prophet (A.S.) was killed or if he died, they would oppose you and shift this (caliphate) from you, O Ali!” You yourself said, “May my parents be sacrificed for your sake, O Messenger of Allah (A.S.)! What do you order me to do if this comes to pass?” He (A.S.) said to you, “If you find supporters, you should oppose and fight them. But if you do not find enough supporters, you should swear fealty and safeguard your own blood.”
Ali (A.S.) then said, “By Allah! Had those forty men who swore allegiance to me fulfilled their promise, I would have fought you, but by Allah! None of your offspring shall ever achieve it till the Day of Judgment. What proves that you have told a lie about the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) is the verse of the most Exalted One wherein He says, `Or do they envy the people for what Allah has bestowed upon them of His grace? But indeed We have given Abraham’s children the Book and the wisdom, and We have given them a grand kingdom’ (Holy Qur’an, 5:54), for the Book, the Prophethood, the wisdom, the Sunnah, the kingdom and the caliphate are all ours, for we are from the family of Abraham.”
Al-Miqdad stood up and said, “O Ali (A.S.)! What do you order me to do? By Allah! If you order me to strike anyone with my sword, I will do it. And if you do not, I shall refrain.” Ali (A.S.) said, “Stop it, Miqdad, and remember the covenant with the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) and what he ordered you to do.”
I stood up and said, “By the One in Whose hand my life is, had I known that I keep away oppression and thus strengthen the creed of Allah, I would have take out my sword and strike with it one after another. Do you really all leap like that on the Brother of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) and his successor over his nation and the father of his offspring?! Then receive the good news of tribulation and lose hope of prosperity!”
Abu Tharr stood up and said, “O nation confused after its Prophet (A.S.), betrayed because of its mutiny, Allah says, ‘surely Allah chose Adam and Noah and the descendants of Abraham and the descendants of `Imran (Amram) above all nations: offspring, one of the other, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.’ (Holy Qur’an, 3:33-34). The Progeny of Muhammed (A.S.) are the descendants of Noah, the family of Abraham are he descendants of Abraham, and the elite from among the lineage of Ishmael, the family of Prophet (A.S.) Muhammed (A.S.)! They are the household of Prophethood and the place of the Message. Angels visit them, and they are like the raised heavens, the fixed mountains, the veiled Ka`ba, the pure spring, the guiding stars, the blessed tree which emits light and whose decoration is blessed! Muhammed (A.S.) is the seal of all the prophets, the master of the offspring of Adam, while Ali (A.S.) is the wasi of all wasis, the Imam of the righteous, the leader of the good ones, the greatest Siddaq, the greatest Faraq, the wasi of Muhammed (A.S.), the heir of his knowledge and the one who has more authority over the believers than the believers have over their own selves just as the Almighty says, `The Prophet (A.S.) has a greater claim on the Faithful (A.S.) than they have on their own selves, and his wives are their mothers; and those of kinship have better claim in the ordinacne of Allah (A.S.) to inheritance, one with respect to the other than (other) believers, and (than) those who have fled (their homes), except that you do some good to your friends; this is written in the Book’ (Holy Qur’an, 33:6). So now you should prefer those whom Allah has preferred, and let others behind you, those whom Allah left behind, and make the authority and inheritance to those for whom Allah assigned them.”
`Omer stood up and said to Abu Bakr as the latter was sitting on the pulpit, “What keeps you sitting on this pulpit since this man is fighting you and not swearing the oath of allegiance to you? Do you issue an order to kill him so we may strike his neck with the sword?” Al-Hasan (A.S.) and al-Husain (A.S.) were both present... When they both heard what `Omer said, they wept. Ali (A.S.) hugged them and said, “Do not weep, for by Allah, they both (`Omer and Abu Bakr) shall never be able to kill your father.”
Umm Ayman, who nursed the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) in his childhood, came in and said, “O Abu Bakr! Who swiftly you have revealed your envy and hypocrisy!” Abu Bakr ordered her to be kicked out of the Mosque saying, “Why should we bother about women?”
Buraydah al-Aslami stood up and said, “O `Omer! Do you really leap against the Brother of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) and the father of his offspring while you are one whom we, Quraishites, know very well who he is?! Are you both not the Ones (A.S.) to whom the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) said, `Go, both of you, to Ali (A.S.) and address him as the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.)’ and you both asked him, `Is this an order from Allah and His Messenger?’ and he said to you, `Yes,’?” Abu Bakr said, “This did, indeed, take place, but the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) said after that, `My Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) shall not have both Prophethood and caliphate’.” He said, “By Allah do I swear that the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) never said so! By Allah do I swear that I shall never live in a town where you sit in charge.” `Omer ordered him to be beaten and expelled! Then `Omer said, “Stand up, O son of Aba Talib, and swear the oath of allegiance.” Ali (A.S.) said, “And what if I do not?” `Omer said, “Then by Allah we shall kill you.” Ali (A.S.) argued with them in vain three times after which he stretched his hand without opening it. Abu Bakr slapped on it and accepted it as a token of his allegiance. But before doing so, Ali (A.S.), while the rope was still around his neck, loudly recited this verse: “O son of my mother! Surely the people deemed me weak and almost killed me” (Holy Qur’an, 7:150)
Al-Zubayr was told to swear the oath of allegiance, but he refused, whereupon `Omer, Khalid ibn al-Walid, al-Mugharah ibn Shu`bah and other people leaped at him and took his sword away from him, hitting it on the ground and breaking it. Al-Zubayr, while `Omer was on his chest, said to the latter, “O son of Sahhak! By Allah! Had my sword been in my hands, you would not have had the courage to stand in my way.” Then he was forced to swear it.
Salman said, “Then they took me and crushed my neck till they left it like a goiter. Then they took my hand and twisted it, so I swore the oath of allegiance even against my wish.”
Then Abu Tharr and al-Miqdad swore it against their will. Only Ali (A.S.) and these four men were forced to swear the oath of allegiance against their will. Al-Zubayr was the toughest in his speech. Having sworn it, he (addressing `Omer ibn al-Khattab) said, “O son of Sahhak! By Allah! Had it not been for the tyrants who supported you, you would never have had the courage to face me while my sword is with me due to your well known cowardice and meanness. But you found oppressors whereby you deem yourself strong, so you use them as your weapon.” `Omer was angry and asked him, “Do you mention the name of Sahhak (at this place)?” “And what stops me from mentioning her?!,” answered al-Zubayr, and she was a prostitute. Do you deny it?! Was she not a slave woman from Ethiopia and the property of my grandfather `Abd al-Muttalib?! Your grandfather, Nufayl, committed adultery with her, so she gave birth to your father al-Khattab. `Abd al-Muttalib then gave her away to your grandfather after the latter had committed adultery with her, so she gave birth to him [to al-Khattab]. Is he not a slave of my grandfather and the son of a prostitute?!” Abu Bakr interceded between both men, pushing each one of them aside from the other.
SALIM ibn Qais said, “I asked Salman [al-Farisi], `Did you really swear the oath of allegiance, O Salman, to Abu Bakr without saying anything at all about that?’ He said, `Having sworn it, I said, `Woe unto you for eternity! Do you not know what you have committed against your own souls? You hit the mark while missing it! You followed the way of the people before you, the people of dissension and disunity, and you missed the Sunnah of your Prophet (A.S.), so much so that you took this Sunnah out of its substance and out of the hands of its people.’” `Omer said, “O Salman! Since your friend has sworn it, and since you yourself have done likewise, you may say whatever you wish to say, and you may do whatever you please, and let your friend, too, say whatever he likes.” Salman said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) saying that upon you (O `Omer!) And upon your fellows fall the like of the sins of all his [Prophet ‘s] nation till the Day of Judgment and the like of all their torment.” He (`Omer) said, “Say whatever you wish to say. Have you not sworn the oath of allegiance and Allah did not cool your eyes by seeing your friend [Ali (A.S.)] taking charge of it?” Salman said, “I testify that I have read in some of the Books revealed by Allah about the people of this Household that you, in your name and in your lineage and characteristics, are one of the Gates of Hell.” `Omer said to Salman, “Say whatever you wish to say. Has Allah not removed it [caliphate] from the people of this House which you chose as lords besides Allah?” Salman said, “I testify that I heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) that you yourself are implied in the following verse about which I asked him (A.S.): `On that Day, no one shall chastise with (anything like) His chastisement, and no one shall bind with (anything like) His binding’ (Holy Qur’an, 89:25-26).” `Omer said, “Shut your mouth, may Allah shut it forever, you slave and son of the stinking woman!” Ali (A.S.) said to Salman, “O Salman! I ask you in the Name of Allah (A.S.) to remain silent.”
This lengthy text is quoted from pp. 584-594 of Vol. 2 of the book by Salam ibn Qais which al-Ansari edited. Refer to pp. 210-16, Vol. 1, of al-Tibrisi’s Al-Ihtijaj and to Jala’ al-`Uyan. Also refer to pp. 319-320, Vol. 5, of Mir’at al-`Uqal. Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 28, pp. 261, 268, 270, 299 and Vol. 43, pp. 197-200. Also refer to pp. 400-404, Vol. 11, of Al-`Awalim. Refer to Diya’ al-`alaman (manuscript), Vol. 3, pp. 63-64.
