Response To: "Dishonourable Lineage of Sunni Caliphs"

A response to "The Shi'ite Offensive", their article can be found here.

"The Shi'ite Offensive" began by invoking the following report:

"Abu Bakr's Father was a poor drunkard: Abu Quhafa (Abu Bakr's father) was nicknamed due to his intense drinking, his real name is Uthman. He was so poor that he would resort to eating flies. History books are full of reference to his poverty and practice of eating flies. [Tarikh Madinat Dimashq by Ibn Asakir]"

Response: This report is inadmissible due to the presence of two entirely anonymous transmitters, Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Anbari and Hibatullah ibn Ibrahim ibn `Umar, in its route of transmission. Furthermore, the reliability of the transmitter, Ahmad bin `Abd al-Jabbar, remains contentious. Esteemed scholars such as Abu Hatim al-Razi, al-Dhahabi, and ibn Hajar al-Asqalani have expressed reservations about him. Nonetheless, it is rather paradoxical that "The Shi'ite Offensive" would endeavor to tarnish the lineage of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (Radiya-llahu-`an-hu). The reason for this Ni`matullah al-Jaza`iri writes in his al-Anwar al-Nu`maniyya:

Translation: "As for Abu Bakr, no one has slandered his bloodline with bad from neither the khasa (Shia), nor the `ama (Ahl al-Sunna) [...] And as for not slandering his bloodline with bad unlike the bloodlines of other than him, perhaps this is due to the fact the Imams are from his bloodline, and this is because `Umm Farwa, the mother of Ja`far al-Sadiq, is the daughter of al-Qasim, the son of Muhammad, the son of Abu Bakr."

"The Shi'ite Offensive" subsequently directed criticisms toward the ancestry of `Umar ibn al-Khattab (Radiya-llahu-`an-hu):

"Umar's father was an incestual fornicator: "Al-Khattab, father of Umar b. al-Khattab, was both his uncle and brother from his mother. That was because Amr b. Nufayl had had a child by his father's wife after his father. She had had his brother al-Khattab by Nufayl." [Al Sira Al Nabawiyyah, Ibn Kathir, page 110 (English translation)]"

Response: The sole primary sources that convey this account are either transmitted by notorious fabricators or, are of questionable attribution. Nonetheless, if one were to overlook the historical authenticity for the sake of argument, this assumption does not serve to discredit `Umar ibn al-Khattab. Within the Islamic tradition, it is deemed unacceptable to judge an individual based on their ancestry or the actions of their forefathers. Consider the following tradition:

Translation: Abu Ja`far said: "The Prophet ascended the pulpit on the day of victory over Makkah, and he said: `O you people! Allah has taken away from you the pride of the era of the ignorance, and what you are boasting of with regards to your forefathers (lineages). Indeed! You are from Adam, and Adam is from clay. Indeed! The best of the servants of Allah is a pious servant. The Arabic is not by a father and (grand) father, but it is a spoken tongue (language). So the one who is deficient in his deeds, his lineage would not help him. Indeed! Every blood (shed) during the era of ignorance, or feud – and the feud is the enmity – so it is now under my feet. This is how it will be up to the Day of Judgement." [It was declared 'Hasan-Muwathaq' by Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi in Mir`at al-`Uqul]

Lastly, "The Shi`ite Offensive" said:

"Uthman's father was homosexual: Hisham narrates from his father: Among those people that men used to play with (i.e. were passive homosexuals) and hermaphrodites were:..., Affan Ibn Abil Aas Ibn Umayya (the father of Caliph Uthman),..."

Response: This report is transmitted by Hisham bin Muhammad al-Kalbi. He is an infamous transmitter who has been discredited as a forger. Consequently, al-Daraqutni included him in his al-Du`afa wa al-Matrukin and characterised him as matruk, or forsaken.

End.