عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّي اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهٖ أَوْصِنِي قَالَ عَلَيْكَ بِمَوَدَّةِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ وَ الَّذِي بَعَثَنِي بِالْحَقِّ نَبِيّاً لَا يَقْبَلُ اللهُ مِنْ عَبْدٍ حَسَنَةً حَتَّى يَسْأَلَهُ عَنْ حُبِّ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ وَ هُوَ تَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ فَإِنْ جَاءَهُ بِوَلَايَتِهِ قَبِلَ عَمَلَهُ عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْهُ وَ إِنْ لَمْ يَأْتِ بِوَلَايَتِهِ لَمْ يَسْأَلْهُ عَنْ شَيْءٍ ثُمَّ أَمَرَ بِهِ إِلَى النَّارِ يَا ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ وَ الَّذِي بَعَثَنِي بِالْحَقِّ نَبِيّاً إِنَّ النَّارَ لَأَشَدُّ غَضَباً عَلَى مُبْغِضِ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ مِنْهَا عَلَى مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّ لِلهِ وَلَداً يَا ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ لَوْ أَنَّ الْمَلَائِكَةَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ وَ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى بُغْضِهِ وَ لَنْ يَفْعَلُوا لَعَذَّبَهُمُ اللهُ بِالنَّارِ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ وَ هَلْ يُبْغِضُهُ أَحَدٌ قَالَ يَا ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ نَعَمْ يُبْغِضُهُ قَوْمٌ يَذْكُرُونَ أَنَّهُمْ مِنْ أُمَّتِي لَمْ يَجْعَلِ اللهُ لَهُمْ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ نَصِيباً يَا ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ إِنَّ مِنْ عَلَامَةِ بُغْضِهِمْ لَهُ تَفْضِيلَهُمْ مَنْ هُوَ دُونَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ الَّذِي بَعَثَنِي بِالْحَقِّ مَا بَعَثَ اللهُ نَبِيّاً أَكْرَمَ عَلَيْهِ مِنِّي وَ لَا أَوْصِيَاءَ أَكْرَمُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ وَصِيِّي عَلِيٍّ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ فَلَمْ أَزَلْ لَهُ كَمَا أَمَرَنِي رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّي اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهٖ وَ أَوْصَانِي بِمَوَدَّتِهِ وَ إِنَّهُ لَأَكْبَرُ عَمَلِي عِنْدِي
Ibn Abbas reports, “I requested the Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny), ‘Advise me’.” He (peace be on him and his progeny) ordered,
‘It is obligatory upon you to love Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be on them both). I swear by the One Who raised me as a Prophet! Allah will not accept any good deed from a person till He will question him about the love of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be on them both) while He – the Highest – knows the best. If he (the servant) brings his (Ali’s) mastership, his actions will be accepted as they are (i.e. regardless of their quality) but if he does not bring his mastership, Allah will not ask him about anything else and order that he be taken to the hell.
O son of Abbas! I swear by the One Who raised me as a Prophet with truth! Verily, the hell-fire will be more intense in punishment on the one who hates Ali (peace be on him) than the one who thinks that Allah has taken a son for Himself.
O son of Abbas! If all the proximate angels and sent messengers gather on his (Ali’s) hatred – which they will never do – Allah will certainly punish them with hell’.
I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Will someone (actually) hate him (Ali)?’
He (peace be on him and his progeny) retorted,
‘O son of Abbas! Yes. A group will hate him who will be remembered as being from my nation while Allah has not made for them any portion from Islam.
O son of Abbas! The sign of their hatred for him is their giving preference (i.e. considering superior) to someone else other than him. I swear by the One Who sent me with the truth! Allah has not raised a Prophet nobler in His eyes than me nor from the successors nobler in His eyes than my successor Ali’.
Ibn Abbas says, “Thereafter, I continuously followed as the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him and his progeny) ordered me and advised me for his (Ali’s) love. Surely, it (Ali’s company and his love) was my greatest action near me.”
References:
1. Al-Amaali of al-Shaikh al-Toosi (r.a.), p. 105, 4th Majlis
2. Al-Fazaael, p. 5
3. Kashf al-Ghummah, vol. 1, p. 380
4. Kashf al-Yaqeen, p. 462
5. Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 27, p. 219, H. 4
Notes:
1) The above tradition proves that the love and mastership of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be on them both) is first and last.
2) Comparison of punishment of the denier of Ali’s mastership with the one who believes that Allah has taken a son for Himself and then saying that the former’s punishment will be worse than the latter shows the intensity and seriousness of the matter.
3) The hatred of Ali (peace be on him) destroys all the good deeds of a person, based on the principle ‘Surely the bad deeds destroy the good deeds’. So, regardless of the prayers, fasting, etc. of a person, if he bears an iota of malice against Ali (peace be on him), all his deeds will be rendered null and void.
4) The criterion of malice and hatred has also been clearly spelt out in the tradition. That is, to believe that others are prior to and superior to Ali (peace be on him). So, even if a person apparently claims to love Ali (peace be on him) but does not believe him as the immediate successor of the Holy Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) and as the most superior of his companions, then it will imply that he does not love Ali (peace be on him) but hates him.