Ali Mamsus Fi Zat Allah (hadith)
Is the hadith *ʿAlī is absorbed in the essence of God* (ʿAlī(yun) mamsūs(un) fī dhāt Allāh) authentic? What does *mamsūs fī dhāt Allāh* mean?Template:End of question
The hadith *"Do not curse ʿAlī; for he is absorbed and captivated in the essence of the Almighty God"* is attributed to Prophet Muhammad (s) and interpreted to mean that Imam Ali (a) was enamored with and deeply immersed in God's essence. Though the chain of narration is considered weak due to the presence of unknown narrators, the **content is supported** by other authentic traditions.
Some scholars have interpreted *mamsūs fī dhāt Allāh* as a reference to Imam ʿAlī’s bravery and fearlessness, or that his flesh and blood were infused with divine love. The hadith is mentioned in *Al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ* by the 4th-century Sunni scholar Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī, and in *Al-Arbaʿīn ʿan al-Arbaʿīn* by the 6th-century scholar Montajab al-Dīn al-Rāzī.
Text and Translation
It is narrated from the Prophet (s): Template:Arabic Large
Chain of Transmission
The hadith *"For he (Ali) is absorbed in the essence of God"* is narrated in *Al-Arbaʿīn ʿan al-Arbaʿīn fī Faḍāʾil Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)* by the 6th-century scholar Montajab al-Dīn al-Rāzī.[1] Some biographical scholars identify Montajab al-Dīn as a Shia[2][3] while others list him among Sunnis.[4]
The narrators in the chain are:
- **Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad**: Not mentioned in Shia biographical sources; considered unknown.
- **Hārūn ibn Sulaymān al-Baṣrī**: Not found in Shia or Sunni biographical works.
- **Sufyān ibn Bishr al-Kūfī**: Absent in Shia works; considered unknown by Sunni scholars.[5]
- **Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād**: Regarded as unknown in biographical sources.[6]
- **Isḥāq ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah**: Considered unknown by Sunni scholars.[7]
- **Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah** (father of Isḥāq): Companion of Prophet Muhammad (s) and Imam Ali (a).[8]
- **ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥuṣayrī al-Baṣīr**: Regarded as trustworthy (thiqah) by some Sunni hadith scholars.[9][10]
Hadith scholars consider narrations with one or more unknown transmitters to be weak or unreliable.[11]
The hadith also appears in Sunni works such as *Al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ* by Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī (d. 360 AH)[12] and *Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ wa Ṭabaqāt al-Aṣfiyāʾ* by Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī (d. 430 AH).[13] Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, a Salafi scholar (d. 1420 AH), judged the narration to be weak.[5]
Meaning of *mamsūs fī dhāt Allāh*
- Fayḍ Kāshānī, an 11th-century Shia philosopher and traditionist, interpreted *mamsūs fī dhāt Allāh* as one who has detached from self and united with God—seeing all powers as reflections of divine power.[14] He believed such a person sees all knowledge and perfection as emanating from God.[14]
- Sayyid ʿAlī Khān al-Madanī, a 12th-century Shia scholar, argued that such a person should not be insulted, as all his attributes and perfections are divine.[15]
- Some have interpreted *mamsūs* as being passionately in love or deeply attracted. ʿAllāma Majlisī interpreted this hadith as reflecting Imam ʿAlī’s deep love for God, to the extent that he appeared *madly in love* with Him. He also suggested that it may mean that Ali’s flesh and blood were imbued with divine love.[16]
- Others believe that the Prophet (s) described Imam ʿAlī (a) as *mamsūs fī dhāt Allāh* to mean “madly in love with God,” as someone who—like a madman—fears no one’s judgment in the path of God.[17]
References
- ↑ Montajab al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *al-Arbaʿūn Ḥadīthan...*, p. 54, hadith no. 26.
- ↑ Khwānsārī, Muḥammad Bāqir, *Rawḍāt al-Jannāt*, ed. Asad Allāh Ismāʿīlīān, Qom, Dihāqānī (Ismāʿīlīān), 2011, vol. 4, p. 317.
- ↑ Afandī, ʿAbd Allāh, *Riyāḍ al-ʿUlamāʾ*, ed. Aḥmad Ḥusaynī Ashkūrī, Beirut, Muʾassasat al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī, 2010, vol. 4, pp. 141–142.
- ↑ Āqā Riḍā Qazwīnī, *Ḍiyāfat al-Ikhwān*, quoted in Afandī, *Riyāḍ al-ʿUlamāʾ*, vol. 4, pp. 141–142.
- ↑ Jump up to: 5.0 5.1 Albānī, Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn, *Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ḍaʿīfa wa al-Mawḍūʿa*, Riyadh, Dār al-Maʿārif, 1992, vol. 2, p. 299.
- ↑ Jawāhirī, Muḥammad, *al-Mufīd min Muʿjam Rijāl al-Ḥadīth*, p. 669.
- ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb*, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2nd ed., 1995, vol. 1, p. 84.
- ↑ Khuʾī, Abū al-Qāsim, *Muʿjam Rijāl al-Ḥadīth*, vol. 14, p. 117.
- ↑ Dhahabī, Muḥammad, *al-Kāshif fī Maʿrifat man lahu Riwāya fī al-Kutub al-Sitta*, Jeddah, Dār al-Qibla, 1st ed., 1992, vol. 1, p. 632.
- ↑ Subkī, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, *Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya al-Kubrā*, n.p., Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabiyya, n.d., vol. 7, p. 150.
- ↑ Islamic Jurisprudence Encyclopedia, Persian Fiqh Dictionary, under supervision of Sayyid Maḥmūd Hāshimī Shāhrūdī, vol. 3, p. 269.
- ↑ Ṭabarānī, Abū al-Qāsim, *al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ*, ed. Ṭāriq ibn ʿAwad Allāh & ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Ḥusaynī, Cairo, Dār al-Ḥaramayn, n.d., vol. 9, p. 142.
- ↑ Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, *Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ*, Cairo, al-Saʿāda Press, 1974, vol. 1, p. 68.
- ↑ Jump up to: 14.0 14.1 Fayḍ Kāshānī, Muḥammad Muḥsin, *al-Wāfī*, Isfahan, Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn Library, 1st ed., 1986, vol. 3, p. 515.
- ↑ Kabīr al-Madanī, ʿAlī Khān, *Riyāḍ al-Sālikīn fī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīfat Sayyid al-Sājidīn*, Qom, Islamic Publishing Office, 1st ed., 1989, vol. 1, p. 34.
- ↑ Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir, *Biḥār al-Anwār*, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 2nd ed., 1983, vol. 39, p. 313.
- ↑ Raḥmānī Hamadānī, Aḥmad, *Imām ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib*, n.p., Munir Cultural Publishing Center, 1st ed., 1998, p. 132.