Re: psyah’s signature
The Shi’ah believe that the twin legacy of Prophet Muhammad (s) is the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt (specific members of his family).
The Ahl al-Bayt are the source for the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (s).
Only by obtaining instruction from both these sources can a Muslim hope to attain true guidance.
Prophet Muhammad’s Legacy
This authentic hadith from the Prophet Muhammad (s) is narrated by over 30 of his Companions and recorded by a large number of Sunni scholars.
**Some of the famous sources for this hadith include:
alHakim alNaysaburi, alMustadrak `ala al-Sahihayn (Beirut), volume 3, pages 109-110, 148, and 533). He expressly states that the tradition is sahih in accordance with the criteria of alBukhari and Muslim; alDhahabi has confirmed his judgement
Muslim, al-Sahih, (English translation), book 031, numbers 5920-3
alTirmidhi, al-Sahih, volume 5, pages 621-2, numbers 3786 and 3788; volume 2, page 219
al-Nasa’i, Khasa’is’Ali ibn Abi Talib, hadith number 79Ahmad b. Hanbal,
al-Musnad, volume 3, pages 14, 17, 26; volume 3, page 26, 59; volume 4, page 371; volume 5, pages 181-2, 189-190
Ibn al’Athir, Jami` al’usul, volume 1, page 277Ibn Kathir,
alBidayah wa alnihayah, volume 5, page 209. He quotes al-Dhahabi and declares this hadith to be sahih. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim , volume 6, page 199
Nasir al-Din al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha (Kuwait: al-Dar al-Salafiyya), volume 4, pages 355-8. He lists many chains of narration that he considers reliable.**
There are many more sources for this hadith than it is possible to list here.
Didn’t the Prophet (s) say “I leave behind the Book of God and my Sunnah” ?
This is a popular misconception.
The fact is that there is no reliable basis for this statement attributed to the Prophet’s (s) Final Sermon.
It is completely absent from any of the six Sihah books!!
The version in Malik’s Muwatta’, Ibn Hisham’s Sirat Rasul Allah,
and from him in al-Tabari’s Ta’rikh,
all suffer from incomplete chains of narration with several links in the chain missing!
The other versions that have a full chain of narration (isnad) - of which there are very few - all contain narrators that are unanimously considered to be highly unreliable by leading
Sunni scholars of rijal.
These remarkable facts can be confirmed by those interested in research by referring to the relevant books.
Clearly, no one is suggesting that the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) should not be followed.
As stated before, the Prophet (s) wished for the Muslims to refer to his Ahl al-Bayt as a reliable, pure and inerrant source for his Sunnah.