The Answering-Ansar team writes in their article entitled ‘Khalid bin Walid; Portrait of a War Criminal’:

Regardless of discussing the inaccuracy of this quote, readers should know that the Answering-Ansar team has once again shown their reliability by fearlessly, and deceptively, attributing a Shī`ī text to the Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamā`a.

The Real Status of Ibn A`tham

Neither was Ibn A`tham al-Kūfī (d. 314) a Sunnī historian nor is he considered reliable by them.

The known Sunnī scholar Şalāĥ al-Dīn al-Şafadī (d. 764) explicitly mentions him in al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt as:

أحمد بن أعثم الكوفي أبو محمد الأخباري المؤرخ الشيعي قال ياقوت هو عند أصحاب الحديث ضعيف له كتاب المألوف وكتاب الفتوح معروف ذكر فيه إلى أيام الرشيد

“Aĥmad ibn A`tham al-Kūfī, Abū Muĥammad: The Shī`ī chronicler and historian. Yāqūt [al-Ĥamawī] said: ‘He was a Shī`ī and is considered weak by the masters in the field of narrations. He authored the books al-Ma’lūf and the known al-Futūĥ, in which he mentioned up to the reign of al-Rashīd.’”

·         al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt, of Şalāĥ al-Dīn al-Şafadī (d. 764), volume 6, page 160 [Beirut]

Ibn Ĥajar al-`Asqalānī (d. 852), one of the most renowned Sunnī scholars, has clearly stated in Ibn A`tham’s biographical entry:

أحمد بن أعثم الكوفي الاخباري المؤرخ قال ياقوت كان شيعيا وعند أصحاب الحديث ضعيف وصنف كتاب الفتوح إلى أيام الرشيد

“Aĥmad ibn A`tham al-Kūfī: The chronicler and historian. Yāqūt said: ‘He was a Shī`ī, and he is weak according to the masters of narrations.’ He compiled the book al-Futūĥ that covered up to the reign of al-Rashīd.”

·         Lisān al-Mīzān, of Ibn Ĥajar al-`Asqalānī (d. 852), volume 1, page 407 [Beirut]

Whereas al-Sayyid Shihāb al-Dīn al-Ālūsī (d. 1270) says while refuting the fabrications about Umm al-Mu’minīn `Ā’isha’s (ra) anathematizing of `Uthmān ibn `Affān (ra):

وما زعمته الشيعة من أنها رضي الله تعالى عنها كانت هي التي تحرض الناس على قتل عثمان وتقول اقتلوا نعثلا فقد فجر تشبهه بيهودي يدعى نعثلا حتى إذا قتل وبايع الناس عليا قالت ما أبالي أن تقع السماء على الأرض قتل والله مظلوما وأنا طالبة بدمه فذكرها عبيد بما كانت تقول فقالت قد والله قلت وقال الناس فأنشد فمنك البداء ومنك الغير ومنك الرياح ومنك المطر وأنت أمرت بقتل الإمام وقلت لنا إنه قد فجر كذب لا أصل له وهو من مفتريات ابن قتيبة وابن أعثم الكوفي والسمساطي وكانوا مشهورين بالكذب والافتراء ومثل ذلك في الكذب زعمهم أنها رضي الله تعالى عنها ما خرجت وسارت إلى البصرة إلا لبغض علي كرم الله تعالى وجهه فإنها لم تزل تروي مناقبه وفضائله ومن ذلك ما رواه الديلمي أنها قالت قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حب على عبادة وقالت بعد وقوع ما وقع والله لم يكن بيني وبين علي إلا ما يكون بين المرأة وأحمائها

“All that is claimed by the Shī`a—that she (ra) was the one who used to incite people to murder `Uthmān and say: ‘Kill Na`thal, for he has transgressed!’ while likening him to a Jew called Na`thal, insofar that the people killed [`Uthmān] and gave oath of allegiance to `Alī because of that; and that she then said: ‘I do not care if the sky falls down, for by Allāh, he was killed unjustly and I demand a requital of his blood!’ while when `Ubayd reminded her of what she used to say, she replied: ‘Yes, I did indeed say that;’ and that the people said and rhymed: ‘From you was the beginning and the plan, from you winds blew and rain pressed; you ordered us to kill the Imām, by saying to us: ‘He has transgressed!’—is a lie that has no basis, and it is from among the fabrications of Ibn Qutayba, Ibn A`tham al-Kūfī and al-Simsāţī, who were famous for lying and slandering.

Another one of such lies is their claim that she (ra) did not come out and go to Başra except due to hatred for `Alī (kw), for she never stopped narrating his virtues and merits—among which is what is narrated by al-Daylamī that she said: ‘The Messenger of Allāh (saws) said: ‘Loving `Alī is worship!’—and she also said after the occurrence of whatever occurred: ‘By Allāh! There was nothing between me and `Alī except what ensues between the woman and her in-laws.”

·         Rūĥ al-Ma`ānī fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-`Ažīm wa al-Sab` al-Mathānī, of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Ālūsī (d. 1270), volume 22, page 11 [Cairo]

Note: The Ibn Qutayba mentioned by al-Ālūsī in the quote above is the extremist Shī`ī author of al-Imāma wa al-Siyāsa and the forged al-Ma`arif, not the Sunnī scholar Ibn Qutayba (d. 276) and author of the real al-Ma`arif and other works such as Ta’wīl Mukhtalif al-Ĥadīth.

This clearly shows the view of Sunnī scholars about Ibn A`tham. Not only do they consider him a Shī`ī, but they also find him weak [đa`īf] in relating narrations and count him among those accused of slandering and lying. If, however, the Answering-Ansar team suggests that “Nasibis” have tampered Sunnī texts—as they ought to do in response to their exposure—and mislead their readers again, then one should also read the expressions of the Shī`ī Ithnā’ `Asharī scholar and author of over a dozen works, `Alī ibn Muĥammad al-Namāzī al-Shahrūdī (d. 1405).

He writes in his voluminous Mustadrakāt `Ilm Rijāl al-Ĥadīth:

أحمد بن أعثم الكوفي أبو محمد الأخباري المؤرخ له كتاب التاريخ إلى أيام المقتدر وكان شيعيا وهو عند أصحاب الحديث ضعيف كما عن الحموي في أدبائه وله كتاب في كتاب الغارات

“Aĥmad ibn A`tham al-Kūfī: Abū Muĥammad the chronicler and historian. He authored a book of history that covered up to the reign of al-Muqtadir. He was a Shī`ī, and he is considered weak by the masters of narrations, as related from al-Ĥamawī in his Udabā’. He also has a book in Kitāb al-Gharat.”

·         Mustadrakāt `Ilm Rijāl al-Ĥadīth, of `Alī al-Namāzī al-Shahrūdī (d. 1405), volume 1, page 264 [Tehran]

This should leave no more room to believe in the lie that Ibn A`tham is one of the “pioneer reliable Sunni historians” as stated on Answering-Ansar.

Nūr Allāh al-Tustarī’s Bequeathed Dissimulation

Readers should keep the above in mind and now slightly turn their attention to a famous and renowned scholar and polemicist of the Shī`a Imāmiyya Ithnā’ `Ashariyya, to observe how Answering-Ansar’s dissimulative methodology of attributing Shī`ī works to Sunnīs is, in actuality, a bequeathal of their clergy.

He is the Qāđī al-Sayyid Nūr Allāh ibn Muĥammad Sharīf al-Dīn al-Tustarī [Shūstarī] (d. 1019). His lofty and distinguished status, coupled with efforts as a propagandist and polemicist, earned him the place of the most revered martyrs and the title of al-Shahīd al-Thālith [“The Third Martyr”] among the Shī`īs. To this day, he is considered one of the greatest scholars of his era by them.

Grand Āyat Allāh al-Sayyid Muĥsin al-Amīn al-`Āmilī (d. 1371) copies the following interesting details about him from the Shī`ī biographical text of another respected Ithnā’ `Asharī scholar and researcher, `Abd al-Nabī al-Qazwīnī (d. 1208), known as Tatimmat Amal al-Āmil:

“One of the pillars of the time and giants of the era, the polymath [`allāma], the emblem [`alam], the rare speculative theologian [mutakallim], the distinguished debater [munāžir], the fortunate striver [mujāhid], the ocean of knowledge, silencer of enemies, and the profound scholar of every science and author of works in all fields; well-spoken orator, excellent writer and pure in (his) diction; a researcher [muĥaqqiq], a scrutinizer [mudaqqiq], a person of might, efficiency, and great conversance; belonging to the household of nobility, knowledge, rule, virtue, politics, and forefathers that were scholars, doctors and venerable leaders.

He migrated from his home country to the sacred city of Mashhad, where al-Riđā’ is buried, during his youthful days to attain Islamic knowledge. The migration for the sake of knowledge on that day was only until there. When he reached to the point that he had willed, he travelled to India, where his virtue gained fame and he became well-known, all while he was garbed as a Shāfi`ī. When the king Akbar Shāh witnessed his knowledge and virtue, he requested him to be appointed as a judge with the condition, as it was said, that he will issue verdicts according to what coincides the four Sunnī schools of jurisprudence from his own scholarly judgements. He was an expert in the jurisprudence of the four schools and so he was accepted by the king for the position with the condition that he will not issue verdicts except in accordance to the four schools.

He continued on that position for years until Akbar Shāh died and his son, Jahāngīr Shāh, took the king’s place. The latter was informed against the Qāđi, that he is a Shī`ī who doesn’t give a verdict except upon the Ja`fari school of jurisprudence and ascribes it to one of the four Sunnī schools. He didn’t accept this from the (informants) and said: ‘This does not prove his Shī`ism! He accepted the condition from my father that he will issue verdicts from his own scholarly judgement while not leaving the boundaries of the four schools of jurisprudence.’ So they send for someone who would manifest his Shī`ism to the king and had long accompanied him until he was satisfied from him. That person took the book ‘Majālis al-Mu’minīn’ with him to the (informants) and they all went to the king with it. The king then said: ‘What must be his reward?’ They replied: ‘He must be lashed certain amount of times.’ The king said: ‘The matter is in your hands.’ Thus, they stood up furiously until they went to him and beat him to death in Akbarabad. His shrine is in the same city; it is known and visited even until today.”

·         A`yān al-Shī`a, of al-Sayyid Muĥsin al-Amīn (d. 1371), volume 10, page 228-229 [Beirut]

Note: Shī`ī apologists often argue that taqiyya is “expedient dissimulation” because it is done only under fear. Nūr Allāh’s intentionally travelling to a land other than his own, taking the position among the Sunnīs as a judge for years while pretending to be one of them and cunningly propagating his beliefs in secret demonstrates how Ithnā’ `Asharī scholars understand taqiyya and practice it.

This revered scholar of the Ithnā’ `Asharīs, Nūr Allāh al-Tustarī, preceded the Answering-Ansar team in lying about Ibn A`tham al-Kūfī in order to attribute him and his works to the Sunnīs. He mentions Ibn A`tham in the following words in Majālis al-Mu’minīn, while relating stories concerning the martyrdom of `Uthmān (ra):

در تاريخ احمد بن اعثم كوفى كه شافعى مذهب واز ثقات متقدمين ارباب سير

“It is in the history of Aĥmad ibn A`tham Kūfī, who was a follower of the Shāfi`ī school and among the trustworthy early masters in the field of biographical history.”

·         Majālis al-Mu’minīn (Persian), of Nūr Allāh al-Tustarī (d. 1019), page 119 [Tehran]

Today, Answering-Ansar adopts the same dissimulative approach by declaring Ibn A`tham “one of the pioneer reliable Sunni historians.” This, again, should be a reminder to all unbiased researchers who seek the truth, about the untrustworthiness of Shī`ī Ithnā’ `Asharī scholars and propagandists.

It is only Allah (swt) who gives success, and blessings and peace be on the Seal of the Prophets, his Pure Progeny and his Noble Companions

♦        ♦        ♦

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Works Cited

Shī`ī texts:

1.       Mustadrakāt `Ilm Rijāl al-Ĥadīth

`Alī al-Namāzī al-Shahrūdī (d. 1405)

Matba`a Shafaq

Tehran, Iran

2.       A`yān al-Shī`a

al-Sayyid Muĥsin al-Amīn (d. 1371)

Dar al-Ta`aruf

Beirut, Lebanon

Sunnī texts:

3.       al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt

Şalāĥ al-Dīn al-Şafadī (d. 764)

Dar Ihya Turath al-`Arabi

Beirut, Lebanon

4.       Lisān al-Mīzān

Ibn Ĥajar al-`Asqalānī (d. 852),

Dar al-Bashair

Beirut, Lebanon

5.       Rūĥ al-Ma`ānī fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-`Ažīm wa al-Sab` al-Mathānī

Shihāb al-Dīn al-Ālūsī (d. 1270)

Idarat al-Tiba`a al-Muniriyya

Cairo, Egypt