The Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, on various occasions, has addressed ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, upon whom be peace, saying: Your rank in relation to me is that of Aaron in relation to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. The Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, has enunciated the foregoing Hadith on the following occasions:

1-On the Day of Fraternization. [1]

2-On the Day of Badr Battle.

3-On the Day of the Conquest of Khaybar.

4-On the Day of the Expedition of Tabuk. [2]

5-On the Day of the Contest of Prayer (al-Mubahalah).

6-During the Farewell Pilgrimage.

7-On the Day of Ghadir Khumm.  

The Wide and Successive Transmission of the Hadith of the Rank

Here we shall refer to a number of the scholars who maintain the wide and successive transmission of the Hadith of the Rank.

1-Shams al-Din al-Shafi‘i Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Jazri (d. 833 A.H) in his book Asna al-Matalib.[3]

2-Al-Tabrizi Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah Al-Khatib in his book  Mishkat al-MasAbih.[4]

3-Al Suyuti Jalal al-Din ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr in his book Qatf al-Azhar al-Mutanathirah fi al-Akhbar al-Mutawatirah. [5]

4-Al-Mansur Billah al-Husayn ibn Amir al-Mu'minin al-Qasim ibn Muhammad (d. 1050 A.H) in his book Hidayat al-‘Uqul ila Ghayat al-Sa’ul fi ‘Ilm al-Usul. [6] 

The Hadith of the Rank and the Traditionists

Those who narrated the Hadith of the Rank and made mention thereof in their books exceed fifty. Here we shall refer to a number of them by way of example:

Al-Bukhari Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Isma‘il (d. 256 A.H) in his book Sahih:

1-al-Bukhari: Shu‘bah related to us from Sa‘d. he said: I heard Ibrahim ibn Sa‘d report from his father. He said: The Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Are you not well pleased to be in relation to me as Aaron is to Moses (in rank)? [7]

He also transmitted it in another place from his Sahih from Mus‘ab ibn Sa‘d, from his father. who said: The Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, went froth to Tabuk and appointed ‘Ali as deputy, so he said: Do you leave me behind in the company of children and women? To which he replied: Are you not well pleased to be in relation to me as Aaron is to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me?! [8]

2-Al-Tirmidhi Abu ‘Isa Muhammad ibn Surah (d.279 A.H): He reported from Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah that the Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Your rank in relation to me is that of Aaron in relation to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. He said: It has also been narrated from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, from Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, who said: The Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Your rank in relation to me is that there is no Prophet after me.[9]

3-Muslim Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri (d. 261 A.H): He reported from 'Amir ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, from his father, who said: The Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Your rank in relation to me is that of Aaron in relation to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. [10] He also transmitted the hadith in other modes of expression and through several paths.

4-Al-Kharizmi al-Muwaffaq ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Makki (d. 568 A.H.): He reported from Zayd ibn Abi Awfa that he said: When the Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, united his Companions with one another (by the brotherhood of Islam and faith), ‘Ali said: My spirit perished and my back was cut off when I saw you do to your Companions what you did to the exclusion of me. If this comes from displeasure at me, to you belongs pleasure and honour. So the Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said: By Him who has sent me forth with the truth, I only kept you back for myself. Your rank in relation to me is that of Aaron in relation to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. You are my brother and my heir too. He asked: What shall I inherit from you, O Prophet of God? To which he replied: That which the Prophets before me had bequeathed. He said: What is it? He said: The Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet.[11]

5-Al-Hakim al-Haskani ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad, known as al-Hakim al-Haskani, one of the scholars of the fifth century: He reported from Mujahid that he said with regard to His words: “O you who believe!”: That is, attest to the Unity of God; as for His words “obey God”, he said: That is, in His obligatory observances; “and obey the Messenger”, that is, in his Sunnah. In respect to His words, “and the holders of authority from among you” [12] he said: They were revealed concerning the Commander of the Faithful when the Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, appointed him as deputy in Medina, so he said: Do you leave me behind as successor over women and children? To which he replied: Are you not well pleased to be in relation to me as Aaron is to Moses when he said to him: “Be my successor among my people, and put things right” (7:142).[13] [14]

6-Ahmad ibn Hanbal Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Hilal al-Shaybani (d.271 A.H): He reported from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri that he said: The Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Your rank in relation to me is that of Aaron in relation to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. [15] He also reported from Asma’ bint ‘Umays that the Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Your rank in relation to me is that of Aaron in relation to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me. [16] As well, he reported from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: The Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Are you not well pleased to be in relation to me as Aaron is to Moses, except that you are not a Prophet. It is not proper that I should leave without your being my successor. [17] 

Crucial Points

The explicitness of the Hadith in question in the clear statement of the following points should not be hidden for any fair scholar:

1-The superior rank of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.

2- He is entitled to succession to the Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing.

3- It has been made manifest that the rank of succession with the exception of Prophethood has been conferred upon ‘Ali, upon whom be peace. What corroborates this point is that which Ahmad ibn Hanbal brought in his Musnad, namely, he reported from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: The Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, said to ‘Ali: Are you not well pleased to be in relation to me as Aaron is to Moses, except that you are not a Prophet. It is not proper that I should leave without your being my successor. [18]

4-The hadith makes it clear that all the ranks of Aaron are affirmable of ‘Ali, upon whom be peace, as confirmed by the common usage of language. In light of this, it is not right to give it a limited implication, for the linguistic usage does not allow of specification in such modes of expression. In any case, this Hadith conveys that all the stations and ranks appertaining to Aaron, as indicated by the Qur’an, have been affirmed of ‘Ali, upon whom be peace, by the Prophet, upon whom and whose household be blessing, with the exception of Prophethood. Now, according to the Qur’an, Aaron had the rank of a Prophet18, a caliph (i.e. successor) [19], and a minister (wazir) [20] at the time of Moses, and this Hadith points out that ‘Ali, upon whom be peace, clearly had the rank of a caliph and a minister, like Aaron, but not that of a Prophet, for the Messenger of God, upon whom and whose household be blessing, is the Seal of the Prophets and the final Messenger. It is for this reason that this Hadith is called ‘the Hadith of the universal rank’. For the rank of brotherhood, ministership, cooperation in the communication of the divine message, call, and succession characteristic of Aaron are all affirmable of ‘Ali, upon whom be peace, in this hadith.

Source: darolhadith