Ibn Hajar on Love and Hatred in Islam
The Hadith of “Love” and “Hatred” and the Explanation of Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him)
It is narrated in a hadith from Muslim that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
« لَا يُحِبَّنِي إِلَّا مُؤْمِنٌ، وَلَا يُبْغِضَنِي إِلَّا مُنَافِقٌ»
“None but a believer will love me, and none but a hypocrite will hate me.” [Muslim 78]
This hadith undoubtedly highlights the great virtue of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). However, those who call themselves Ahlus Sunnah and try to use this hadith as a basis to accuse the Sahaba (Companions) and Tabi’in (Successors) who differed with Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) of hypocrisy should carefully read the following hadith and the explanation of Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him):
In a hadith agreed upon by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
« الأَنْصَارُ لاَ يُحِبُّهُمْ إِلَّا مُؤْمِنٌ، وَلاَ يُبْغِضُهُمْ إِلَّا مُنَافِقٌ، فَمَنْ أَحَبَّهُمْ أَحَبَّهُ اللَّهُ، وَمَنْ أَبْغَضَهُمْ أَبْغَضَهُ اللَّهُ »
“None but a believer loves the Ansar, and none but a hypocrite hates them. So whoever loves them, Allah will love him, and whoever hates them, Allah will hate him.” [Bukhari 3783, Muslim 75]
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) (d. 852 AH) writes:
● «وقد كنت أستشكل توثيقهم الناصبي غالياً وتوهينهم الشيعة مطلقا ولا سيما إن عليا ورد في حقه لا يحبه إلا مؤمن ولا يبغضه إلا منافق. ثم ظهر لي في الجواب عن ذلك أن البغض هاهنا مقيد بسبب وهو كونه نصر النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم لأن من الطبع البشري بغض من وقعت منه إساءة في حق المبغض والحب بعكسه وذلك ما يرجع إلى أمور الدنيا غالبا والخبر في حب علي وبغضه ليس على العموم فقد أحبه من أفرط فيه حتى ادعى أنه نبي أو أنه إله تعالى الله عن إفكهم والذي ورد في حق علي من ذلك قد ورد مثله في حق الأنصار وأجاب عنه العلماء أن بغضهم لأجل النصر كان ذلك علامة نفاقه وبالعكس فكذا يقال في حق علي وأيضا فأكثر من يوصف بالنصب يكون مشهورا بصدق اللهجة والتمسك بأمور الديانة بخلاف من يوصف بالرفض فإن غالبهم كاذب ولا يتورع في الأخبار والأصل فيه أن الناصبة اعتقدوا أن عليا رضي الله عنه قتل عثمان أو كان أعان عليه فكان بغضهم له ديانة بزعمهم ثم انضاف إلى ذلك أن منهم من قتلت أقاربه في حروب علي»
[ تهذيب التهذيب 8/ 458]
Translation:
● I used to find it problematic that the Muhaddithin (hadith scholars) generally consider the “Nasibi” as trustworthy while unconditionally weakening the “Shi’a” (Rafidi), especially when there is a hadith reported in favor of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that “Only a believer will love Ali, and only a hypocrite will hate him.”
Then, the answer to this problem became clear to me that the “hatred” in this hadith is restricted to a specific reason, which is Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) “support and aid” to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (and not for other worldly reasons). Because it is human nature for a person to harbor hatred (from a worldly perspective) towards someone from whom they have received harm, and the opposite is true for love, and these matters are often related to worldly affairs.
And the “hatred” and “love” mentioned in the hadith concerning Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is not general, because among those who loved him were people who went to such extremes in their “love” that they claimed he was a prophet or a deity – may Allah be exalted above their falsehood.
Furthermore, the same thing that is reported about Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) (regarding love and hate) is also reported for the Ansar. The scholars have answered this by stating that if someone hates the Ansar because of the “support and aid” they gave to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then this would be a sign of his hypocrisy, and if someone loves them for this reason, it would be a sign of their faith. The same should be said concerning Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).
Moreover, most of those who are described with “Nasb” (hatred of Ali) are known for their truthfulness and for adhering firmly to the matters of the religion, unlike those who are described with “Rafd” (rejection, i.e., Rafidah Shi’ism), as most of them are liars and do not show trustworthiness in narrating reports.
In fact, the Nawasib believed that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) or assisted in it, so they hate Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) on the basis of their supposed religiosity. In addition to that, another reason is that some of their relatives were killed in the wars with Ali. (Meaning, the Nawasib do not hate Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) because of his support and aid to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but rather due to a misunderstanding concerning the blood of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and due to worldly matters, they have fallen prey to hatred).
[Tahdhib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar: 8/458]
It should be clear that the disagreement of the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) who differed with Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was purely a political disagreement; they were not victims of hatred for one another. Furthermore, Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) has discussed here concerning general narrators.
(Abul Fawzan Kifayatullah Sanabili)
