Chapter 5
Hadith al-Thaqalayn
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Ahmad bin Hanbal says:
Aswad bin ‘Amir has related from AbÄ« IsrÄ’Ä«l, i.e. IsmÄ‘Ä«l bin AbÄ« IshÄq Malaie, from ‘Atiyyah from AbÄ« Sa‘Ä«d who quotes the Prophet as saying:
“InnÄ« tÄrikun fÄ«kum al-thaqalayn, ahaduhumÄ akbaru min al-akhar, KitaballÄh hablun mamdudun min al-samÄ’-i ilÄ al-arz wa ‘itratÄ« Ahl-i BaytÄ«, wa annahumÄ lan yaftaraqÄ hattÄ yaridÄ ‘alayya al-hawz” (I am leaving among you two precious things, one of which is greater than the other. The Book of Allah which is the rope extending from the sky to the earth and my progeny my Ahl al-Bayt. And the two will never part with each other until they return to me at the pool (of kawthar in paradise).[33]
Notes:
[33] Ibid, vol. 3, p. 14. Hadith al-Thaqalayn has been recorded extensively in the Musnad, e.g. vol. 3, pp. 17, 26 & 59; vol. 4, p. 367; vol. 5, pp. 181, 189, 190.