Why did imam Ali name his sons after the Sahaba? Firstly the question you should ask is what evidences that exist where imam Ali apparently named his children after the 3 caliphs? Youll find contradictory evidences and we shall see who imam Ali named his sons after. Lets start shall we: Firstly did imam Ali call one of his sons Abu Bakr? The answer is no. The term Abu Bakr is a kunya (title) which many people were called. If imam Ali was to name one of his sons after the first caliph they would call him by his proper name. Its really rare to leave their children unnamed with just kunya. Anyhow we will see the scholars opinion on what imam Alis child was actually called: Scholars had different opinions on the name of imam Alis son. Some say he was called Muhammad. Some say he was called Abdullah or Ubaidullah. For example, Ibn al-Sabbagh al-Maliki, a Bakri scholar, has reported: …and Muhammad al-Asghar whose secondary name (i.e. Kunya) was Abu Bakr and [another son of Amir al-Mumineen] Abdullah. They had been martyred with their brother Hussain in Karbala. Their mother is Laila daughter of Masoud… (al-Fusul al-Muhimmah, vol. 1 p. 644). Similarly, al-Masudi, a well-known historian accredited by both parties, has reported that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) had: eleven sons, al-Hassan and al-Hussain their mother was Fatima daughter of Allahs Apostle peace be upon him and his family further on he mentioned: …and Muhammad al-Asghar, his secondary name was Abu Bakr… (al-Tanbih wa-l-Ashraf, p. 258). al-Sheikh al-Mufid from our side has reported: Amir al-Mumineen may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him had a total of twenty-seven sons and daughters… further on he mentioned: Muhammad al-Asghar, whose secondary name was Abu Bakr, and Ubaidullah, both had been martyred alongside their brother Hussain peace be upon him in Taff, their mother is Laila daughter of Masoud al-Darimiyyah. (al-Irshad, vol. 1, p. 354). From among the Bakri scholars who have reported his name to be Ubaidullah is Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi: …from Laila daughter of Masoud [Imam Ali] had Ubaidullah who is Abu Bakr… (al-Basair wa-l-Dhakhair, vol. 1, p. 214). While Ibn Atham al-Kufi believes his name was Abdullah. He has reported about the battle of Karbala: … al-Hussains brothers thereupon came forward. They were intent on sacrificing their lives for his sake. Abu Bakr son of Ali, whose name was Abdullah, was the first to come forward. His mother was Laila daughter of Masoud… (al-Futouh, vol. 5, p. 112). In addition, al-Mujdi has reported: Abu Bakr, whose name was Abdullah was killed during the [battle] of Taff along with Abu Ali, who is Ubaidullah. Their mother is [Laila] al-Nahshaiya al-Darimiyyah (i.e. Laila daughter of Masoud). (Ansab al-Talibiyyin, p. 198). According to the above narrations, one should commit to the fact that Abu Bakr son of Alis actual name was either Muhammad, Abdullah or Ubaidullah. Abu Bakr was nothing but his Kunya, which was not necessarily given to him by Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him). There is not a single narration that suggests that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) did give his son the Kunya of Abu Bakr in reverence for such tyrant or that he actually named him after Abu Bakr. In fact, had he truly wanted to name his son after Abu Bakr, he would have named him Ateeq. It might also be worth mentioning that there were many individuals back then who had the same Kunya of Abu Bakr. Amongst them were in fact righteous men such as Abu Bakr son of Hazim al-Ansari who had lived in the time of both the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) and Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him). He was an Arab originally from Yemen. In addition, he was one of Amir al-Mumineens close companions. If we presuppose that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) gave his son this Kunya, then there would be a possibility that it was given to him in reverence for Abu Bakr son of Hazim al-Ansari. Lets move onto Umar shall we: Moving on to the second son, Umar son of Ali. Some suggest that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) had a son called Umar commonly known as Umar al-Atraf. The Bakri cult claimed that he was named after Umar bin Suhak (may the wrath of Allah be upon him), but we cannot find a single narration that supports their claim, in fact, we can find a number of narrations reported in their books that suggest otherwise! Ibn Shabbah has reported: Narrated Isa b. Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Umar b. Ali bin Abi Talib on the authority of his father on the authority of his father on the authority of Ali bin Abi Talib, a son was born to me on the day Umar assumed the leadership. I went over to him early in the morning and said, A son was born to me last night. He said, [who bore the child]? I said the Taghlibiyyah. He said, I shall name him after my own name and give him my slave as a present. (Tareekh al-Madinah, p. 755). This narration is totally false and fabricated. It has no narration reported to back it up in our books of hadith. However, if one were to presuppose that the above narration is actually true, then it would only suggest that Umar was in fact the one who named Amir al-Mumineens son after himself! In addition, if one were to do a little bit more research, then he would know that scholars from both parties have also differed on the exact name of this son of Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him). Some have reported his name to be Umar while others suggested that it was Amr. Amongst those scholars are the following: 1. al-Qadhi al-Numan al-Maghribi in his book Sharh al-Akhbar. 2. al-Yaqubi in his book Tarikh al-Yaqubi. 3. al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan. In addition, even if one were to presuppose that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) had actually a son by the name of Umar, then this by no means suggests that he was particularly named after Umar bin al-Khattab. In fact, a quick look into Ibn Hajar al-Asqalanis book titled al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba can help one find thirty-five different companions of the Prophet by the name of Umar. The Prophets foster son (i.e. Rabeeb Rasoulillah), Umar b. Abi Salama is one of them. He was a companion of Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) who fought alongside him against Aisha (may the wrath of Allah be upon her) in the battle of Camel. He participated in Siffin and was appointed by Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) as the governor of the province of Bahrain. In a letter written to Umar b. Abi Salama, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) stated the following: let it be known to you that I have appointed Numan as the Governor of the province of Bahrain and have removed you from the post not because I was dissatisfied with your work or there was any charge against you. Undoubtedly you have discharged your duties satisfactorily and have done full justice to the trust reposed in you. I am quite satisfied with your work and I neither doubt your honesty nor do I consider you to be inefficient and blameworthy. Come to me immediately. The fact is that I have resolved to face the Syrian tyrants and oppressors and I want you to be with me because you are one of those men whom I can trust to help me in facing the enemies of Allah and in the establishment of the Islamic State. (Nahj al-Balagha, letter 42). This suggests that there is a likely possibility that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) might have named his son after this noble man. Similarly, Uthman son of Amir al-Mumineen was named after a noble man by the name of Uthman bin Mathoun. Abu Faraj al-Asfahani has reported: it has been narrated that Ali said: I named him [Uthman son of Ali] after my brother Uthman bin Mathoun (Maqatil al-Talibiyeen, p. 55). In addition, it has been reported in Bihar al-Anwar: [Imam Ali peace be upon him] called to his son Uthman. He said, O Uthman. Then he said, verily I have not named him after Uthman the Kafer Sheikh but rather after Uthman bin Mathoun. (Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 31, p. 307). It might be worth mentioning that this fact has also been supported by Imam al-Mehdi (peace be upon him and may Allah the Most Exalted hasten his reappearance). In Ziyarat al-Nahiya al-Muqadasa, which was reported by al-Mash-hadi in al-Mazar (p. 489) one finds: Peace be upon Uthman son of the commander of the faithful who was named after Uthman bin Mathoun. Uthman was also martyred during the battle of Karbala. From the above narrations one would conclude that Amir al-Mumineen (peace be upon him) did not name his sons after the first three tyrants Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman (may the wrath of Allah be upon them) as we cannot find a single evidence that supports such claim. These names were commonly used among Arabs back then. In addition, Imam Alis son Uthman was the oldest of the three. This shows that the order of the sons did not chronologically follow the order of the three tyrants.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 09:28:38 +0000
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