Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

The book Nahj al-Balaaghah is one of the books that

are attributed to Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allah be

pleased with him), but it contains many things concerning which those who

claim to be Muslims have disputed. Following the great scientific principle

which was followed by the imams of Islam in obedience to the shar’i command

to verify reports, we have no choice but to refer to the scholars and

specialists to check on the veracity of the things that are attributed to

‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), because what is narrated from the

Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) has an effect on sharee’ah,

especially in the case of someone like Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (may Allaah

be pleased with him), concerning whom some people have exaggerated or fallen

short, but Allaah guided the Ahl al-Sunnah to follow a middle course.

By referring to the words of the scholars concerning this

book and comparing its contents with what has been proven with saheeh

isnaads from ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), it becomes clear that

there is material in this book that contradicts what was proven from him

(may Allaah be pleased with him). So we should look at what some of these

great scholars have said:

Imaam al-Dhahabi (may Allaah be pleased with him) said in his

biography of al-Murtada ‘Ali ibn Husayn ibn Moosa al-Moosawi (d. 436 AH): I

said, he was the compiler of the book Nahj al-Balaaghah which is attributed

to Imam ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), but the reports contained

therein have are no isnaads. Some of it is false and some of it is true, but

it contains some frabricated reports of things that the Imam would never

have said. But who is the fair-minded man who would look at it in an

objective manner?! It was said that it was compiled by his brother Shareef

al-Radiy. It includes slander against the companions of the Messenger of

Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); we seek refuge with

Allaah from knowledge that is of no benefit.

Siyar A’laam al-Nubala’, 17/589

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)

said: “Most of the khutab (sermons) that the author of Nahj al-Balaaghah

includes in his book are lies against ‘Ali. ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with

him) is too noble and too worthy to have uttered such words. But these

people fabricated lies and thought that they were praise, but they are

neither truth nor praise. Whoever says that the words of ‘Ali or any other

human being are above the words of any other created being is mistaken, for

the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

are above his words, and both of them are created beings. Moreover the

correct meanings that are to be found in the words of ‘Ali are to be found

in the words of others, but the author of Nahj al-Balaaghah and his

ilk took many of the things that people say and made them the words of ‘Ali.

There are some words narrated from ‘Ali that he did say, and some of them

are true words that would have been befitting for him to say, but in fact

they are the words of others. Hence in Kalaam al-Bayaan wa’l-Tabyeen

by al-Haafiz and in other books there are words narrated from people other

than ‘Ali and the author of Nahj al-Balaaghah attributed them to

‘Ali. If these sermons which were transmitted in Nahj al-Balaaghah

were really spoken by ‘Ali, they would have been found in other books that

existed before this book was written, and they would have been narrated from

‘Ali with isnaads and otherwise. It is known from those who are well versed

in the study of narrations that many of them (these sermons) – indeed most

of them – were unknown before this, therefore it may be concluded that they

are fabrications. So the narrator should state in which book they are

mentioned, who narrated it from ‘Ali, and what its isnaad is. Otherwise,

anybody could say something and claim that it was said by ‘Ali. Those who

are well-versed in the knowledge of the hadeeth scholars and of reports and

isnaads and are able to tell what is sound and what is not sound would know

that these people who transmitted reports from ‘Ali are the least likely

people to know about reports and be able to distinguish the sound from the

unsound.

Manhaaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah,

8/55.

Other scholars who pointed out the lies in this book was

al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadi, in al-Jaami’ li Akhlaaq al-Raawi wa Adaab

al-Saami’, 2.161; al-Qaadi Ibn Khalkaan; al-Safadi, and others. The

things that have been said against it may be summarized in the following

points:

1.There are seven generations of

narrators between ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) and the author of

this book, and he did not mention any name whatsoever. Hence we cannot

accept his words without an isnaad.

2.If these narrators are

mentioned, it is essential to research about them and find out whether they

are trustworthy.

3.The fact that most of these

sermons did not exist before this book was written indicates that they were

fabricated.

4.Al-Murtada – the author of the

book – was not one of the scholars of reports, rather he was one of those

whose religious commitment and competence were debatable.

5.The slander that it contains

against the leading Sahaabah is sufficient to count it as false.

6.The insults and slander that it

contains are not the characteristics of the believers, let alone their

leaders such as ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him).

7.It contains contradictions and

clumsy expressions from which it may be known for certain that it was not

produced by one who was prominent in eloquence and fluency.

8.The fact that the Raafidah

accept it and are certain that it is as true as the Qur’aan, despite all

these objections, indicates that they do not pay attention to verifying

sources and ensuring that they are sound with regard to the matters of their

religion.

Based on the above, it is clear that this book cannot be

attributed to ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), therefore nothing in it

can be used as evidence in matters of sharee’ah, no matter what the issue

is. But whoever reads it in order to find out what it contains of eloquence,

the ruling is the same as that on all other books on Arabic language,

without attributing its contents to Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (may Allaah be

pleased with him).

See Kutub hadhdhara minha al-‘Ulama’, 2/250