عَنْ اَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ جَالِساً وَ عِنْدَهُ نَفَرٌ مِنْ اَصْحَابِهِ فِيهِمْ عَلِيُّ بْنُ اَبِي طَالِبٍؑ اِذْ قَالَ مَنْ قَالَ لَا اِلَهَ اِلَّا اللهُ دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَالَ رَجُلَانِ مِنْ اَصْحَابِهِ فَنَحْنُ نَقُولُ لَا اِلَهَ اِلَّا اللهُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ اِنَّمَا تُقْبَلُ شَهَادَةُ اَنْ لَا اِلَهَ اِلَّا اللهُ مِنْ هَذَا وَ مِنْ شِيعَتِهِ الَّذِينَ اَخَذَ رَبُّنَا مِيثَاقَهُمْ فَقَالَ الرَّجُلَانِ فَنَحْنُ نَقُولُ لَا اِلَهَ اِلَّا اللهِ فَوَضَعَ رَسُولُ اللهِ يَدَهُ عَلٰى رَاْسِ عَلِيٍّؑ ثُمَّ قَالَ عَلَامَةُ ذٰلِكَ اَنْ لَا تُحِلَّا عَقْدَهُ وَ لَا تَجْلِسَا مَجْلِسَهُ وَ لَا تُكَذِّبَا حَدِيثَهُ
Abu Saeed al-Khudri narrates, “One day, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) was sitting and with him were a few of his companions, among them was Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). He (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, ‘Whoever says there is no god but Allah will enter Paradise’. Two of his companions (apparently referring to the first and the second rulers) said, ‘We proclaim that there is no god but Allah’. At this, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) remarked, ‘The testimony of there is no god but Allah will ONLY be accepted from him and his Shiites those whose covenant Allah has taken (in Aalam-e-Zarr).’ The two said, ‘But we believe that there is no god but Allah’. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) placed his hand on the head of Ali (peace be upon him) and said, ‘The sign of this is that both of you don’t untie his knot (of allegiance), don’t sit in his place (of caliphate) and don’t deny his word.”
Note:
Abu Saeed al-Khudri is from the tribe of Khudrah, an Arabian tribe. He was a venerable companion and Imam Husain (peace be upon him) has remembered him on the Day of Aashuraa.
Generally, in traditions, when name is not taken in the negative connotation, it is due to the fear for the life of the narrator because this person (the one who is not named) is highly respected by some and hence, will lead to some problems for the narrator. His followers will try to take revenge from the narrator. Hence, here the two refers to the first and the second rulers.
Untying the knot of allegiance which was taken in Ghadeer and other occasions. Don’t usurp his position of caliphate and don’t deny his sayings. But they did all that was prohibited and even worse.
Question: This tradition proves the Imamate of Ali (peace be upon him) but how does it prove the Imamate of the other Imams (peace be upon them)?
Answer: Divine texts amply testify that whatever is applicable for Ali (peace be upon him) is also relevant for the remaining Imams (peace be upon them) from his progeny like obligatory obedience, knowledge of the unseen, divine appointment, etc. اَوَّلُنَا مُحَمَّدٌ وَ اَوْسَطُنَا مُحَمَّدٌ وَ آخِرُنَا مُحَمَّدٌ وَ كُلُّنَا مُحَمَّدٌ (Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 26, p. 16, H. 2). All of them are one light.
Apparently, every criminal is a Muslim. Does it make him eligible for paradise? This tahleel (saying there is no god but Allah) is not sufficient for a person to go to Paradise. Umar killed a person for drinking wine. Obviously, that person was a Muslim and eligible for Paradise. So why did Umar kill him while he was a man for paradise? Thus, merely this statement for a person to go to Paradise.
Imam Reza (peace be upon him) during his journey to Neshaapoor recited the famous narration of the golden chain (السلسلة الذهبية) in front of a huge gathering of Sunni scholars. He (peace be upon him) clarified that there are conditions for it and that he (peace be upon him) is one of the conditions. That is, Imamate is one of the conditions for a person to enter Paradise. No learned person – regardless of his sect – will ever accept that a person like Saddam (may Allah curse him) will go to Paradise just because he has uttered that there is no god but Allah. Saddam himself will not accept such a logic otherwise he would not have killed so many of his rivals like Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr or waged a war against Iran as all of them were reciters of the kalemah.
References:
1. Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 23, p. 84, H. 25
2. Sawaab al-A’maal of Shaikh al-Saduq (r.a.), p. 7