In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful
The ‘Hadith of the bird’ is one not often mentioned in Shia-Sunni debates, mainly due to attempts by its opponents to conceal it from the Muslims, yet that authentic tradition on the virtue of Imam Ali serves as proof for his high rank amongst the companions as well as his leadership after the Prophet Mohammed, and Inshallah shall act as a door to the truth.
The text of the Hadith, as found in al-Mustadrak by Hakim, is as follows:
Anas Ibn Malik narrated:
I was serving the Messenger of Allah and a roasted bird was presented to the Messenger of Allah. He said, “O Allah, bring me the most beloved of your creation to share with me this bird.” I said, “O Allah, make it a man from the Ansar.” Ali, May Allah be pleased with him, came and I said to him, “The Messenger of Allah is engaged in something.” He came again and I said, “The Messenger of Allah is engaged in something.” He came again and the Messenger of Allah said, “Open the door,” and so he entered and the Messenger of Allah said, “What is your business, O Ali?” He said, “This is the third time I came by and each time Anas sent me away. He claimed you were engaged in something.” He said, “Why did you do what you did?” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I heard your supplication and I liked it to be someone from my people.” The Messenger of Allah said, “The man loves his people.” (This Hadith is authentic to the standards of the two Sheikhs Bukhari and Muslim but they do not report it. It was narrated from Anas by more than thirty companions and the Hadith has been authentically narrated through Ali, Abu Saeed al-Khudhri, Safeena and Thabit al-Banani)
(Mustadrak alal Sahihain, Volume 3, #4650, page 119)
Al-Hakim Al-Nisapoori mentions this narration is authentic to the standards of Bukhari and Muslim, and was narrated by thirty companions! Another narration of this Hadith is as follows:
Al-Saddi narrated from Anas Ibn Malik that the Prophet had a bird and he said, “O Allah, bring me the most beloved of your creation to eat this bird with me.” Abu Bakr came and he turned him away. Omar came and he turned him away. Ali came and he was called in.
(Khasais, Nisaii, #10, page 29 and Musnad Ibn Yaala, 7/105, #4052, with the same isnad and included Uthman Ibn Affan in the narration)
The hadith is also found in:
1) History of Damascus, Ibn Asakir, Volume 2, Page 106
2) Abu Naeem Esfahani, Haliya al-Awliya, Volume 4, Page 356
3) Ibn Katheer, Bidaya wal Nihaya, Volume 7 Page 354, two different isnads
4) Ma’jam al-Kabeer, Tabarani, 10/343, narrated by Ibn Abbas
This noble hadith has around 20 different isnads, and amongst its narrators were the like of Abdul Razzaq al-Sanaani, Bukhari’s teacher, Imam Al-Auzaii and others. It is indeed authentic to both Sunni and Shia standards, and we have already shown Hakim’s comments regarding this Hadith, and there is no room for doubt.
As the Hadith of the bird deals with who is the most beloved individual to Allah and His Messenger, it is fair to say it acts as proof to the Imamah of Ali Ibn Abu Talib, and him being the best person for his successor. The Hadith reflects the high position of Imam Ali and his relationship with the Prophet, and the position is emphasised by the fact that in some narrations, Aisha was present and wished for the man to be her father Abu Bakr.
On his deathbed, Omar Ibn al-Khattab said, “If Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfa, was still alive I would have appointed him as my successor.” When pressed for the reason he added, “He is a strong lover of Allah.” Omar is telling us that a person’s love of Allah is certainly an important criterion in deciding who should succeed you. So who better to succeed the Prophet than the one who was the most beloved to him and the most beloved to Allah?
Furthermore, in the accounts of what occurred in Saqifa, Omar said, “We shall give allegiance to you (Abu Bakr), you are the best of us and the most beloved to the Prophet.” In fact, Abu Bakr supposedly being the most beloved to the Prophet is something frequently mentioned by Sunnis within their circles, and is why they and Omar think he was the best companion and thus the best person to be caliph. However, Omar’s comments about Abu Bakr run in complete contradiction to the Hadith of the bird, and it was Ali who was the most beloved to the Prophet, and thus the best companion.
The Hadith also brings up the issue of the jealousy some companions had of Imam Ali. We see Anas Ibn Malik lie not once, but twice, due to him not wanting Ali to have this honour. We ask you as Muslims, which pious individual lies to Ali Ibn Abu Talib and sends him away. What kind of betrayal and cunningness is this? It is important that light is shed on the true nature of the people who has something in their hearts against Ali Ibn Abu Talib, and would later raise their swords to fight him in Jamal and Siffin.
Naturally, many Sunni scholars have attempted to cast doubt on this Hadith. Not surprisingly we find Ibn Taymiyya and his disciples Dhahabi and Ibn Kathir on the list of those who have meaninglessly rejected an authentic event due to their whims and desires.
Ibn Kathir mentions his opinion on this hadith in his book Bidaya wal Nihaya where he says, “My heart has something that weakens this hadith.” Bravo, O Ibn Kathir. You have the ability to throw hadiths out of the window simply because your heart cannot accept them. Is this the talk of the intellectual? Is this the talk of a wise person? Is this not similar to the thoughts of Abu Jahl who rejected the Holy Quran simply because his heart could not accept the truth!?
Ibn Kathir and his like have the nasty habit of rejecting ahadith related to the virtues of the Ahlel Beit mainly on the basis of its content rather than its isnad. In al-Mustadrak Volume 3 Page 151, Hakim reports and authenticates the following hadith:
Ali narrated, “The Prophet told me that the first to enter paradise are I, Fatima, Hassan and Hussain.’ I said, “What about those who love us?” He said, “They are behind you.”
Dhahabi, in his Talkhis, says, “This tradition is rejected as the saying goes against the heart.” He does not discuss the chain of narrators or anything intellectual like that, but rejects it because of its supposedly dubious content. We would like to ask what is so dubious and wrong about this hadith. Does Dhahabi doubt the love of Ahlul Bayt is essential to go to Paradise? Does he doubt Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hussain will be the first to enter Paradise?
It is for this reason Hakim al-Nisapoori was labelled a Shia, and locked in his house, for reporting the virtues of Ahlul Bayt. As for Nisaii, he was savagely killed by a mob on the streets of Damascus for writing “Khasais al-Alawiya”, on the virtues of Ali Ibn Abu Talib.
Back to the topic, one Sunni scholar did indeed try to weaken the hadith of the bird by its isnad. Abu Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi presents a few of the chains of narrators and pinpoints weaknesses in them. However, as the hadith has 20 different chains of narrators, and this particular scholar only mentioned a fraction of them, his attempts are inconclusive as many of the 20 have no weaknesses, and are sahih.
And Allah Knows Best
Hadith of the Bird
