Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Qibla.com » Why Say ‘Allah Ennoble his Face’ when Sayyiduna Ali is Mentioned?  

Why Say ‘Allah Ennoble his Face’ when Sayyiduna Ali is Mentioned?  

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Your answer to the previous question about Ali reminded me of an issue that I have often wondered about. What’s the most a Sunni can say about Ali in terms of his character, ability, qualities and status, and still be Sunni? What does it mean that he’s the door to the city of knowledge? Since even many of Sunni Sufi tariqas (except for the Naqshbandis) trace their descent through Ali rather than Abu Bakr, is he in some sense a successor to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? What does it mean that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), ‘You are to me what Haroon was to Musa, except that there will be no prophet after me?’

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

1. The simple answer would be: we can say anything that has been historically established to be true, and avoid that which has not, based on the well-established standards of hadith methodology. The Shi`as are notorious for their hadith fabrications.

2. The authentic hadith collections contain numerous hadiths on the virtues of Ali (Allah be pleased with him). In English, a sample may be found in the translation of Imam Suyuti’s Tarikh al-Khulafa (TaHa Publications).

3. There is a Prophetic hadith, “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its door.” There is difference of opinion as to its authenticity, though many major Sunni hadith masters deemed it sound. I believe Shaykh Gibril Haddad wrote something on this.

4. The established position of Sunni Islam is that the best of creation after the prophets is Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Uthman, and then Ali (Allah be pleased with them all).

At the same time, each Companion reached their high rank because of a set of reasons. Now, Abu Bakr died not so long after the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace), for example, so the amount of time he taught and guided others was more limited than other Khalifas. Umar was Khalifa for a long time, but this vital task (which he fulfilled most brilliantly!) busied him from other matters, such as teaching. Uthman, likewise, coupled with his shy personality. Ali had the benefit of living for a long time after the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) without the burden of being Khalifa, in which he was able to teach and guide others, and left a deep spiritual impact on the successive generations.

And Allah knows best.

Walaikum assalam,
Faraz Rabbani

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.