The following is an observation about the article by Shiapen.com entitled: Alleged Shia Texts in Praise of the Shaykhayn and Others, which can be found here.
In this article, ShiaPen does a good job of collecting various Shia texts implying some sorts of praise for some of the major Sahaba. Then, they correctly point out the weaknesses of those narrations, and in some cases quote the full text in order to demonstrate that portions of the text were not included by the Sunni authors, and that the full hadith, is in fact, in condemnation of those Sahaba.
We, the twelvershia.net team, condemn such actions by Sunni authors, and do not approve of the half-quoting of texts. The twelvershia.net team prides itself in its objectivity and passion for truth and invites readers to point out mistakes, misquotations, and mistranslations on our site, and we will make those corrections as soon as we are notified of such.
We would also like Sunni authors to be aware that it is extremely rare to find an authentic narration, let alone any narration, in praise of Abu Bakr or `Umar in Shia books, for the authors of Shia books avoided quoting such narrations since such narrations are strictly against their extreme beliefs.
In any case, even though ShiaPen did a decent job for the most part in this article, we have stumbled upon a dishonest statement in the article that readers should be aware of.
ShiaPen stated:
Tradition Twelve: Imam Ali (as) wished to merge Umar’s deeds with his own
”There is no other person on earth with whose deeds I desire to merge with my deeds, except the man in this coffin (referring to Umar, May Allah be pleased with him )”
Reference: This has been recorded by many Shia scholars:
Sayyid Murtadha in Kitab ush Shaafee, (Page 171)
Aboo Jafar at-Toosee in Talkhees ash Shafee (Iran: Volume 2, Page 428)
Ibn Babwee, Ibn Abee’l-Hadeed and Sudooq in Ma’ani ul Akhbaar (Iran: Page 117)
Reply One: This is a Sunni tradition
This is a Sunni text that can be found in various orthodox Sunni works such as:
- Musnad Ahmad, v1, p109
- Al-Mustadrak, v3, p94
- Al-Musanaf, by ibn Abi Shayba, v7, p486
- Tarikh Dimashq, v30, p442
- Tabaqat ibn Saad, v3, p396
Reply Two: Even Sunni version of this tradition is weak
This tradition has been declared as weak by Sunni scholars, such as Ahmad Shakir, in the footnote of Musnad Ahmad and Darqutni in al-Elal.
When returning to Musnad Ahmad, we found that Ahmad Shakir did weaken one of the chains of the narration, which comes through Abu Ma`shar. However, Ahmad Shakir points readers to the very next narration, which comes through a different chain, which he authenticates. (Musnad Ahmad 1/540, Dar Al-Hadith, Al-Qahira, 1994)
As for Al-Daraqutni, in Al-`Ilal, we find him weakening the chain of Ja`far bin Mohammad from his father from Jabir. He says that it should be Ja`far bin Mohammad from his father from Ali, without the inclusion of Jabir, and is therefore disconnected. Al-Daraqutni is correct in his conclusion; however, he is speaking about this chain alone, and is not referring to all chains.
The narration is also authentic in each of the Saheehain (Muslim & Bukhari) in the chapter of the merits of `Umar.
It is shameful for the ShiaPen team to make such a false claim soon after condemning Sunnis for their lack of objectivity.
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