It is narrated that in the time of Imam Abu Hanifa two shias were passing by a big gathering of people. After enquiring they found that it's time for Imam Abu Hanifa's class.
The narrator (one of the two shias) says: my friend (Fadhl ibn Hasan) who was a learned man told me: “I want to attend this majlis and then discuss with their Imam”.
I told him: he's a great scholar, you can't debate with him. He replied: I believe in Haq which cannot be defeated. We entered the class and sat there and at the right time Fadhl stood up and told Abu Hanifa: O' sheikh, I have a brother who is a Shia and everytime I try to convince him that after the Holy Prophet (SAW) Abu Bakr was the greatest person in Islam and rightfully the caliph, he disagrees and says Hazrat Ali ibn Abi talib(AS) is the right successor. Now you give me an answer so that I can convince him.
Abu Hanifa replied : tell your brother that the best reason is that the Holy Prophet(SAW) in the time of wars used to keep Abu Bakr and Omar next to himself and send Ali to the battlefield and this shows that they were the favorite people for the Holy Prophet(SAW) since He had planned for them (Abu bakr and Omar) to become his successors. And because he didn’t like Ali as much, he used to send him to the battlefield so that he would be killed and this is the best reason for Abu Bakr and Omar to be better than him.
Fadhl replied: Yes sheikh, I’ve already told my brother this reason but he replied from Quran: “Allah has preferred the mujahideen over those who remain [behind] with a great reward “ according to this verse since Ali was the Mujahid (the one who fights) he is preferred over Abu Bakr and Omar who remained behind.
Abu Hanifa replied: Any better reason than the issue that Abu Bakr and Omar are buried next to the Holy Prophet(SAW)'s grave, while Ali’s grave is in Iraq?
Fadhl replied: I’ve told him the same, but he replied to me that they have been buried without Holy Prophet(SAW)'s permission because in Quran God says that: “O’ believers do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted” (33:53) and we know the Holy Prophet(SAW) is buried in his house and Abu Bakr and Omar are buried in his house too, but without his permission and they usurped the place of their grave.
Abu Hanifa who was now annoyed thought a bit and then replied: tell your stupid brother that they’ve not been buried without permission, since Aisha and Hafsa, the daughters of those two great people and the wives of Holy Prophet(SAW) owed their Mahr (dowry) by Holy Prophet(SAW) and therefore they buried their fathers as their expected dowry.
Fadhl replied: I’ve already said this, and my brother replied from Quran that: “O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their dowries” (33:50) according to this verse, the Holy Prophet(SAW) had paid the dowry of his wives to them and when he passed away, he was not owing any of his wives.
Abu Hanifa replied: Tell your brother, although his wives were not owed their dowries, they had a right in the Holy Prophet(SAW)'s inheritance, so what was left from him after his demise was his house and according to jurisprudence, they had right to inherit from that house, and since Aisha and Hafsa were his inheritors, they buried their fathers using their rights from that house. So there was no usurping .
Fadl replied: Yes I also said this, but he replied: You sunnis say “Prophets are not inherited” and you quote from the Holy Prophet(SAW) that: “we prophets are not inherited and anything remains from us is sadaqah (charity)” so according to yourselves, Aisha and Hafsa cannot inherit. For the same reason you banned Lady Fatimah from her Fadak land and said prophets are not inherited, Aisha and Hafsa also have no right in the inheritance. A daughter has no right to inherit, but his wives have this right?! Plus assuming they had the right to inherit, the rule is that if the dead person has a child, the quota of his wives is one eighth, here the Holy Prophet(SAW) had only one room, which if we divide it into eight parts, one part of that is for all his wives who were 9 in number. So the quota of Aisha and Hafsa is less than a foot! So how could Abu Bakr and Omar fit in a few centimeter space?!
Abu Hanifa got angry and shouted: kick this man out, he is a Shia and has no shia brother!!!
1.Ihtijaj- sheikh Tabrasi, vol.2, page 149
2.Al-fosoul al mukhtarah- sharif Murtaza, page 74
3.Kanzul fawaed, page 135
The narrator (one of the two shias) says: my friend (Fadhl ibn Hasan) who was a learned man told me: “I want to attend this majlis and then discuss with their Imam”.
I told him: he's a great scholar, you can't debate with him. He replied: I believe in Haq which cannot be defeated. We entered the class and sat there and at the right time Fadhl stood up and told Abu Hanifa: O' sheikh, I have a brother who is a Shia and everytime I try to convince him that after the Holy Prophet (SAW) Abu Bakr was the greatest person in Islam and rightfully the caliph, he disagrees and says Hazrat Ali ibn Abi talib(AS) is the right successor. Now you give me an answer so that I can convince him.
Abu Hanifa replied : tell your brother that the best reason is that the Holy Prophet(SAW) in the time of wars used to keep Abu Bakr and Omar next to himself and send Ali to the battlefield and this shows that they were the favorite people for the Holy Prophet(SAW) since He had planned for them (Abu bakr and Omar) to become his successors. And because he didn’t like Ali as much, he used to send him to the battlefield so that he would be killed and this is the best reason for Abu Bakr and Omar to be better than him.
Fadhl replied: Yes sheikh, I’ve already told my brother this reason but he replied from Quran: “Allah has preferred the mujahideen over those who remain [behind] with a great reward “ according to this verse since Ali was the Mujahid (the one who fights) he is preferred over Abu Bakr and Omar who remained behind.
Abu Hanifa replied: Any better reason than the issue that Abu Bakr and Omar are buried next to the Holy Prophet(SAW)'s grave, while Ali’s grave is in Iraq?
Fadhl replied: I’ve told him the same, but he replied to me that they have been buried without Holy Prophet(SAW)'s permission because in Quran God says that: “O’ believers do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted” (33:53) and we know the Holy Prophet(SAW) is buried in his house and Abu Bakr and Omar are buried in his house too, but without his permission and they usurped the place of their grave.
Abu Hanifa who was now annoyed thought a bit and then replied: tell your stupid brother that they’ve not been buried without permission, since Aisha and Hafsa, the daughters of those two great people and the wives of Holy Prophet(SAW) owed their Mahr (dowry) by Holy Prophet(SAW) and therefore they buried their fathers as their expected dowry.
Fadhl replied: I’ve already said this, and my brother replied from Quran that: “O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their dowries” (33:50) according to this verse, the Holy Prophet(SAW) had paid the dowry of his wives to them and when he passed away, he was not owing any of his wives.
Abu Hanifa replied: Tell your brother, although his wives were not owed their dowries, they had a right in the Holy Prophet(SAW)'s inheritance, so what was left from him after his demise was his house and according to jurisprudence, they had right to inherit from that house, and since Aisha and Hafsa were his inheritors, they buried their fathers using their rights from that house. So there was no usurping .
Fadl replied: Yes I also said this, but he replied: You sunnis say “Prophets are not inherited” and you quote from the Holy Prophet(SAW) that: “we prophets are not inherited and anything remains from us is sadaqah (charity)” so according to yourselves, Aisha and Hafsa cannot inherit. For the same reason you banned Lady Fatimah from her Fadak land and said prophets are not inherited, Aisha and Hafsa also have no right in the inheritance. A daughter has no right to inherit, but his wives have this right?! Plus assuming they had the right to inherit, the rule is that if the dead person has a child, the quota of his wives is one eighth, here the Holy Prophet(SAW) had only one room, which if we divide it into eight parts, one part of that is for all his wives who were 9 in number. So the quota of Aisha and Hafsa is less than a foot! So how could Abu Bakr and Omar fit in a few centimeter space?!
Abu Hanifa got angry and shouted: kick this man out, he is a Shia and has no shia brother!!!
1.Ihtijaj- sheikh Tabrasi, vol.2, page 149
2.Al-fosoul al mukhtarah- sharif Murtaza, page 74
3.Kanzul fawaed, page 135
