Musnad Ahmad 656

Translation

✧ O mushaf, narrate to the people. The people called out to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, what do you ask of it when it is only ink on paper, and we speak about what we have narrated from it? So what do you want? He said: These companions of yours who went out—between me and them is the Book of God, Mighty and Majestic. God the Exalted says in His Book concerning a woman and a man: 'And if you fear dissension between the two, send an arbitrator from his people and an arbitrator from her people; if they both desire reconciliation, God will bring about accord between them' (Qur'an 4:35). The community of Muhammad ﷺ is greater in blood and sacredness than a woman and a man. They condemned me for writing to Mu'awiya: 'Ali b. Abi Talib wrote.' Suhayl b. 'Amr came to us while we were with the Messenger of God ﷺ at al-Hudaybiya when he made peace with his people, Quraysh. The Messenger of God ﷺ wrote: 'In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.' Suhayl said: Do not write 'In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.' He said: How should we write? He said: Write 'In Your name, O God.' The Messenger of God ﷺ said: Then write 'Muhammad is the Messenger of God.' He said: If I knew that you were the Messenger of God, I would not have opposed you. So he wrote: 'This is what Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah has agreed with Quraysh.' God the Exalted says in His Book: 'You have in the Messenger of God a good example for whoever hopes in God and the Last Day' (Qur'an 33:21). 'Ali sent to them 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas, and I went out with him until when we reached the middle of their camp, Ibn al-Kawwa' stood up addressing the people and said: O bearers of the Qur'an, this is 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas. Whoever does not know him, I will introduce him from the Book of God by what he knows of it. He is among those about whom it was revealed, and about his people: 'a contentious people' (Qur'an 43:58). So return him to his companion, and do not engage him in debate over the Book of God. Their orators stood up and said: By God, we will debate him with the Book of God. If he comes with truth we recognize, we will follow him, and if he comes with falsehood, we will refute him with his falsehood. They debated the Book with 'Abd Allah for three days, and four thousand of them returned, all of them repentant, including Ibn al-Kawwa', until he brought them to 'Ali in Kufa. 'Ali sent to the rest of them and said: You have seen what has happened between us and the people. So stop wherever you wish until the community of Muhammad ﷺ gathers between us and you, that you do not shed forbidden blood, or cut off a road, or wrong a protected person. For if you do, we have declared war against you on equal terms. God does not love the treacherous. 'A'isha said to him: O Ibn Shaddad, he did kill them. He said: By God, he did not send against them until they cut off roads, shed blood, and violated protected people. She said: By God? He said: By God, besides whom there is no deity, it was so. She said: What about something that has reached me from the people of Iraq that they talk about, saying: 'the one with the breast,' the one with the breast? He said: I saw him, and I stood with 'Ali over him among the slain. He called the people and said: Do you recognize this one? Many came saying: I saw him in the mosque of Banu So-and-so praying, and I saw him in the mosque of Banu So-and-so praying, but they did not bring any clear proof about him except that. She said: What did 'Ali say when he stood over him, as the people of Iraq claim? He said: I heard him say: God and His Messenger have spoken the truth. She said: Did you hear him say anything else? He said: O God, no. She said: Yes, God and His Messenger have spoken the truth. May God have mercy on 'Ali. It was part of his speech that he did not see anything that pleased him except he said: God and His Messenger have spoken the truth. The people of Iraq go and fabricate lies against him and add to the hadith.

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