Chapter 15-Ammar would be Killed by Transgressors
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Chapter 15
‘Ammar would be Killed by Transgressors
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Ibn Hanbal says:
Abu Mu‘Äwiyah has related to us from A‘mash from ‘Abd al-RahmÄn bin ZiyÄd who quotes ‘AbdullÄh bin Harth as saying:
I was with Mu‘Äwiyah (ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn) when he was returning from (the Battle of) SiffÄ«n and I was riding between him and ‘Amr bin ‘As, when ‘AbdullÄh the son of ‘Amr bin ‘As said:
Don't you remember the Messenger of Allah had told ‘AmmÄr
“Waihaka yÄ ibn al-Sumayyah, taqtuluka al-fi’ah al-bÄghiyah (Bravo O son of Sumayyah! You will be killed by a group of transgressors).”
‘Amr bin ‘As turned to Mu‘Äwiyah and said:
Did you not hear what he says?
Mu‘Äwiyah replied:
You find fault with us! Did we kill him? Those who brought him here are responsible for his death![58]
This hadith has been recorded over twenty times in the Musnad on the authority of eight companions of the Prophet with variations in its text.[59] Ahmad ShÄkir considers this hadith not only sahÄ«h but mutawÄtir (regularly transmitted throughout the first three generations of Muslims by a large number of transmitters) and says that scholars have never doubted its veracity. Explaining the word hannahu (finding fault) as used by Mu‘Äwiyah, he writes:
It is clear that Mu‘Äwiyah is not disputing this hadith but is censurng ‘AbdullÄh bin ‘Amr (bin ‘As) for remembering it in this situation (when ‘AmmÄr has been killed by his troops), since he fears that if his army knows that he is on the wrong track they would desert him. In view of this fact, Mu‘Äwiyah was trying to misinterpret and give a wrong connotation to this hadith by saying that the killers of ‘AmmÄr are those that brought him to the battlefield.
Ahmad ShÄkir, quoting Ibn Hajar ‘AsqalÄnÄ«’s comments in Fath al-BÄrÄ« fÄ« TafsÄ«r SahÄ«h al-BukhÄrÄ« (vol. 1, p. 452), further writes:
This hadith has been related by several companions of the Prophet including QatÄdah bin Nu‘mÄn, Umm Salamah, AbÄ« Hurayrah, ‘AbdullÄh bin ‘Amr bin ‘As, ‘UthmÄn bin ‘AffÄn, Hudhayfah al-YamÄnÄ«, Abu Ayyub al-AnsÄrÄ«, Abu RÄfi‘, Khuzaymah bin ThÄbit, Mu‘Äwiyah, ‘Amr bin ‘As, Abu al-Yasar and ‘AmmÄr bin YÄsir himself. This hadith is a firm proof of the virtues of (Imam) ‘AlÄ« [(‘a)] and ‘AmmÄr and their standing with the Prophet. It is also a fitting reply to the enemies of (Imam) ‘AlÄ« (nawÄsib pl. of nÄsib) who accuse him of error in his wars (during his caliphate).[60]
Notes:
[58] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 6499 (Ahmad ShÄkir).
[59] Also refer to hadith nos. 6500, 6926, 6927. For other instances of its recording in the Musnad refer to al-SalafÄ«: Murshid al-MuhtÄr, vol. 2, p. 39. For details on the Prophet’s prophecy and ‘Ammar’s martyrdom refer to Muhammad bin JarÄ«r al-TabarÄ«: TÄrÄ«kh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, vol. 5, pp. 38 to 42, annotated by Muhammad Abu al-Fazl IbrahÄ«m, 2nd edition, DÄr al-Ma‘Ärif, Egypt, 1971.
[60] Al-Musnad, hadith nos. 209, 210.