Brother if you can’t see a reason in these debates.. or if you want to come up with excuses to ignore the facts that are recorded in your own sahih books Please do not refer to these arguments as silly…
I can give you examples why these arguments can be fruitful…
There is a population of muslim ummah that refer to these personalities, their deeds to get the sunnah of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. As muslims we need to make sure our sources are rightful and trust worthy… becaue the source of sunnah splits us among a number of sects and it is our Prophet P.B.U.H. who mentioned after him islam will be divided in a number of sects and of it only one would go to heaven… Now let me ask you something…
- Don’t we all believe in Quran
- Don’t we all pray five times a day
- Don’t we all do hajj and pay Zakat…
What makes all the sects different…? Alot of people after the death of Prophet P.B.U.H. look up to the khilafat as a source of guidance and even called some of the khaleefa as Ameer ul Momineen… but lets see if this is the right choice… besides the incident that I quoted you above… Sahibh Bukhari also narrates Hazrat Umar introducing Bidats and praising it… Here is an example:
Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227:
'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abd ul-Qariy said, “I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, ‘In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)’. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka’b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, ‘What an excellent Bid’a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.’ He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night.”
Here is another example, I found when I was reading a debate on number of rakats that should be prayed… The following narration was used as an argument to pray 20 rakats because that is how Hazrat Umar ordered it:
Theevidence which proves that Umar (radiallahu anhu) ordered the practise of 20 rak’ahshas been recorded by Shaykh Ali al-Muttaqi al-Hindi[10] in the largest collection ofHadith available today: Kanz al-Ummal fi Sunan al-aqwal wal Af’al[11], as follows from Ubayy ibn Ka’b(radiallahu anhu):
“Umar (radiallahu anhu) ordered him (Ubayy) to leadthe people in prayer at night in Ramadan, because the people fast during theday and can not recite (the Qur’an) well, therefore it is better that youshould recite (the Qur’an) during the night. I (Ubayy) asked: “O commanderof the believers, this thing was not done before”; He said: “;I know,but it is a good practise”;, and so (Ubayy) led (the Companion’s) for 20 rak’ahs”;
Similarly, if you look at Hazrat Abu Bakar, following is a narration in Sahih Bukhari about him:
Al-Bukhari narrates similar traditions on the authority of Hudhayfah (no 1435), Abd Allah (no.1435), Sahl ibn Sad (no. 1442), Abu Said al*Khudri (no 1442), Ibn Abbas (no.1442), Abu Hurayrah (no 1443), and Asma’ bint Abi Bakr (no. 1449) in “Kitab al-ruqaq”, as well as elsewhere in “Kitab al tafsir” and “Kitab bad’ al-khalq”. The same tradition with various wordings is also recorded by Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, alNasa’i, Ibn Majah, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in their books (as well as Imam Malik in alMuwatta’, "Kitab altaharah", hadith no.28) from several Companions. Imam Malik reports the following tradition in his alMuwatta’, “Kitab al*jihad”, hadith no.32:
"The Prophet (S) said concerning the martyrs of Uhud, “I shall bear witness for them (i.e. their faith).” Thereupon Abu Bakr said, “O Messenger of Allah, aren’t we their brethren, who embraced Islam like them and did jihad like them?” The Prophet (S) replied, “Yes, but I don’t know what you will do after me …”
If you look more into Sahih Bukhari, you’ll find folloiwng two narrations that shows Hazrat Abu Bakar… made Prophet P.B.U.H angry…
“Fatimah is a part of me. Whoever makes her angry, makes me angry.”
Sunni references:
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English, v5, Traditions #61 and #111
- Sahih Muslim, section of virtues of Fatimah, v4, pp 1904-5
al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Aisha that:
… Fatimah became angry with Abu Bakr and kept away from him, and did
not talk to him till she died. She remained alive for six months after
the death of the Prophet. When she died, her husband 'Ali, buried her
at night without informing Abu Bakr and he said the funeral prayer by
himself.
Sunni references:
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter of “The battle of Khaibar”, Arabic-English,
v5, tradition #546, pp 381-383, also v4, Tradition 325
Please refer to www.abubakr.org to learn more about him
I wouldn’t use this hadith to point fingers at any particular companions but Prophet P.B.U.H did warn about the actions of some companions after him in the following hadith:
Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 8.578
Narrated 'Abdullah:
The Prophet said, “I am your predecessor at the Lake-Fount.” 'Abdullah
added: The Prophet said, "I am your predecessor at the Lake-Fount, and
some of you will be brought in front of me till I will see them and
then they will be taken away from me and I will say, ‘O Lord, my
companions!’ It will be said, ‘You do not know what they did after you
had left.’
On the other hand Prophet P.B.U.H. gave the following hadith narrated in Sahih Muslim
“Zayd said: ‘O brother, by God, I have become aged and old and I have forgotten some of what I used to remember from the Messenger of Allah , upon whom be Allah’s peace and benedictions. So accept what I narrate to you and as to what I don’t, trouble me not regarding it.’ Then he said: ‘One day the Messenger of Allah , upon whom be Allah’s peace and benedictions, addressed us near a pond called Khumm between Makkah and Madinah. He praised God and extolled Him and preached and reminded (us). Then he said, “Lo, O people, I am only a human being and I am about to respond to the messenger of my Lord . I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you. The first of the two is the Book of Allah. In it is guidance and light. So get hold of the Book of Allah and adhere to it." Then he urged and motivated (us) regarding the Book of Allah . Then he said, "And my Ahl alBayt (family). I urge you to remember God regarding my Ahl alBayt. I urge you to remember God regarding my Ahl alBayt. I urge you to remember God regarding my Ahl al*Bayt”’” …
(*Sahih Muslim, *part 7, Kitab fada’il alSahabah *[Maktabat wa Matbaat Muhammad Ali Subayh wa Awladuhu: Cairo] pp. 122-123.)
If you look in the history, Ahleybait has always been there to defend the islam. They never ran from the battle fields, in the era where people looked at khaleefa’s as Ameer ul Momineen. Imam Hussain stood up when khilafat came in the hands of people like Yazid.. and sacrificed his family in the way of Allah SWT to defend islam. They have served as the best source of knowledge. The teaching of all the Imams of Ahleybait never contradicted each other… They were there since the time of Prophet, infact some of the reknowned sunni Imam’s such as Imam Hanafia .. who came years after the death of Prophet P.B.U.H happens to be students of Imam Jaffar Sadiq A.S.
As far as leadership of Hazrat Ali AS is concerned the Prophet P.B.U.H. declared him Mawla during his life time.
“For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla).”
Please refer to the following web site for references