Someone related to me, casting doubt on the hadith (O Ahmad, were it not for you, I would not have created the celestial spheres (al-aflak); were it not for ʿAli, I would not have created you; and were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both), that this hadith did not exist before twenty years ago, that its only source is Mustadrak Safinat al-Bihar by al-Namazi, and that when he added the last two sentences, he said: “and some of them added.” So who are these people who added [them]?!
And how can we take our narrations in this way, when this is widespread on the tongues of the orators, abundantly, without awareness or reflection? This diminishes the standing of the Prophet (s), because by the import of the hadith he has become the weakest link in the origin of creation, since the first origin is Fatimah, then ʿAli, then the Prophet (s)—while we acknowledge the station of the Imamate and the station of Lady Fatimah al-Zahraʾ (a).
Are these objections sound?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
And blessings and peace be upon the noblest of creation, our master Muhammad, and his pure progeny.
This hadith in its entirety was cited by the author of al-ʿAwalim in his hadith encyclopedia more than three hundred years ago, and he transmitted it from a book earlier than it, namely (al-Janna al-ʿAsima); he said:
Al-Janna al-ʿAsima: He said: I saw a precious manuscript copy of the book “Kashf al-Laʾali” by Salih ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-ʿArandas, and when I leafed through the book I came across the aforementioned hadith in it with this chain of transmission: Shaykh Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan al-Dharraq, from Shaykh ʿAli ibn Hilal al-Jazaʾiri, from Shaykh Ahmad ibn Fahd al-Hilli, from Shaykh Zayn al-Din ʿAli ibn al-Hasan al-Khazin al-Haʾiri, from Shaykh Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Makki al-Shahid, through his connected chains to Abu Jaʿfar Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn Musa ibn Babawayh al-Qummi, through his chain to Jabir ibn Yazid al-Juʿfi, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Ansari, from the Messenger of Allah (s), from Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, that He said: O Ahmad! Were it not for you, I would not have created the spheres; were it not for ʿAli, I would not have created you; and were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both. (ʿAwalim al-ʿUlum, vol. 11, part 1, p. 43).
And from the book (Shifaʾ al-Sudur fi Sharh Ziyarat al-ʿAshur) by Mirza Abu al-Fadl al-Tihrani, he said:
(And in the book (Majmaʿ al-Nurayn) by al-Fadil al-Marandi, p. 14, he said: And in the Hadith Qudsi: Were it not for you, I would not have created the spheres, and were it not for ʿAli, I would not have created you—as al-Wahid al-Bihbahani mentioned it. And it is narrated in (Bahr al-Maʿarif): Were it not for you, I would not have created the spheres, and were it not for ʿAli, I would not have created you. And in (Diyaʾ al-ʿAlamin) by Shaykh Abu al-Hasan, the maternal grandfather of Shaykh Muhammad Hasan, the author of al-Jawahir, with the addition of the clause “and were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both”—[and similarly on p. 187 of al-Marandi’s book]. . . End of what is in (Majmaʿ al-Nurayn). And another source for the hadith “were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both” has preceded in vol. 1 of Shifaʾ al-Sudur, p. 225, so refer to it. (vol. 2, al-Hajj Mirza Abu al-Fadl al-Tihrani, p. 83).
As for the objection to the authenticity of the hadith, it has become clear that the author of Mustadrak Safinat al-Bihar did not originate the hadith himself; and he is a trustworthy scholar, expert in his field.
This is sufficient for the possibility of its having been issued [by the Infallible], and the claim of fabrication requires evidence to prove it. Moreover, the possibility of its issuance obliges us to an understanding of its meaning that is consistent with the Book and the Sunna. It is clear that what the objector understood from the import of the narration—that it establishes the superiority of Imam ʿAli (a) over the Prophet (s), and the superiority of our Lady Fatimah al-Zahraʾ (a) over her father and her husband—is utterly far-fetched.
Let us come to the understanding we put forward for this narration:
Its first part says: (O Ahmad, were it not for you, I would not have created the spheres). This is the purport of a hadith well known among the scholars as a Hadith Qudsi, as mentioned in (Manaqib Al Abi Talib), (Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin), (Taʾwil al-Ayat al-Zahira), (al-Wafi) and (Bihar al-Anwar).
This part shows that the purpose of creating the spheres (which is a metonym for all the worlds) is the creation of the Prophet Muhammad (s); were it not for him, the purpose of creating the spheres would be negated, since (lawla) indicates the non-occurrence of the second because of the existence of the first, as they have said in the language.
This shows the centrality of the Muhammadan message in the creation of all existence: the purpose is that Allah inherit the earth and whoever is on it, and that religion become exclusively for Allah through the message of the Prophet (s). So “were it not for you” does not mean “were it not for your effort” or “were it not for your merit”; rather, it speaks of the very origin of his creation, which is connected to the creation of the world. This is what leads us to say that what it refers to is the purpose of creation.
In the second part, (were it not for ʿAli, I would not have created you), it shows the sequence that realizes that supreme purpose. Since the wilāyah of Imam ʿAli (a) is a fundamental part of the continuation of the message of the Prophet (s), this part shows that Allah would not have created the Prophet (s) without a successor (wasi) to carry the burden of the message after him.
In the third part, (were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both), it continues the connection of the message, with its light, in the succession of the Imamate, whose title is (Fatimah), as she is al-Kawthar from which the Imamate descends, which realizes the purpose of the creation of creatures.
So were it not for her, Allah would not have created the Prophet and the successor; that is, Allah would not have created a prophet and a successor without the rest of the infallible lights, up to the last of them, who is their Qaʾim, through whom Allah’s inheritance of the earth and whoever is on it, and the purpose of creation, are realized.
Thus the import of the hadith shows that there is a chain that realizes the purpose of creation. The expression (lawla) in the three parts does not show the superiority of the first over the second by virtue of its being a condition for its realization; rather, it indicates realities upon which the order of the universe is founded. This chain consists of interconnected parts that cannot be separated, and one cannot believe in some of them without the others.
In order to bring these meanings to light more firmly, and to grasp the implications of the narration in harmony with the givens of the constants of religion, we say:
1 - Allah the Exalted made mercy the purpose of creation, for He, the Exalted, created the creatures in order to have mercy on them.
Allah the Exalted says: “except those on whom your Lord has mercy—and that is why He created them” (Qurʾan 11:119)
2 – And He made the realization of mercy confined to the message of the Prophet (s).
And the Exalted said: “We did not send you but as a mercy to all the nations.” (Qurʾan 21:107)
3 – From this it has become clear to us that the purpose of creation is to have mercy on them through the message of the Prophet (s); for this He created them, and were it not for the Prophet (s), He would not have created the creatures.
4 – Allah has made the message of the Prophet (s), which represents Allah’s wilayah in creation, extend through the wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful (a).
The Exalted said: “Your guardian is only Allah, His Apostle, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down.” (Qurʾan 5:55).
The message cannot be divided by separating it from the wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful (a). Just as it is correct to say that were it not for prophethood and the message, there would have been no wilayah of Imam ʿAli (a), likewise, were it not for his wilayah, Allah would not have created the Prophet (s) who undertakes the burdens of the message, since there is no message without wilayah according to the divine order.
So the phrase “were it not for ʿAli” does not mean “were it not for his efforts” or “were it not for his merit”; rather, it means “were it not for his creation by Allah the Exalted”, which is an act pertaining to Allah Almighty, corresponding to another act, namely the creation of the Prophet (s). That is why we said that it is an expression of the order of creation and its purpose, as a complete, connected order that does not admit separation.
In other words, Allah the Exalted, in the origin of creation, made the divine order in His divine wilayah—which realizes His purposes in creation through mercy—(the Prophet (s) and the successor (a)) as a single case. This is supported by the narrations about the creation of the light of the Prophet (s) and the light of Imam ʿAli (a) before Allah created all of creation.
5 – In the same sense, the light of the Prophet extends into the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). Allah the Exalted created Fatimah (a) as a match for Imam ʿAli (a), and so that from her would come the twelvefold continuation that realizes the purpose of the message on earth, and so that Allah would inherit the earth and whoever is on it, and religion would become exclusively for Allah, through Imam al-Hujjah, the Awaited (aj).
So al-Zahraʾ (a)—given that the continuation of the light of wilayah is realized through her, and given that she is a proof (hujjah) over them, as in the hadith—it is correct to say (were it not for Fatimah, Allah would not have created the Prophet (s) and the successor (a)), since without her the purpose of creation would not be complete through the realization of mercy in creation; for they (a) are the loci of Allah’s mercy.
Refuting the Objection of Superiority
As for the claim that the phrase (were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both) indicates her superiority over her father and her husband—which is false by the necessity of doctrine—then, as we said earlier, it is refuted by the fact that superiority is understood if the relationship connected with (lawla) goes back to personal efforts attributable to the one mentioned, as when you say: (were it not for your rescuing me, I would have perished). Here a merit for the rescuer over the other is understood from the expression: had he not rescued him, perdition would have befallen him. Or you say: (were it not for me, you would not have become rich), so the credit for the wealth you enjoy goes back to me, and this is a superiority in this respect.
But if you say: (were it not for fire, there would be no heat), you do not intend superiority between them; rather, you are setting out the cause and the effect, that is, the real, inseparable relationship between them—an expression of a certain reality—so superiority is not understood. Yes, it is understood that fire is the cause of heat, according to their expressions, but superiority is not intended by that.
The linguists have stated, regarding the meaning of (lawla), that it conveys the non-occurrence of what follows due to the existence of the first; as for the type of relationship between the first and what follows, it is an additional meaning understood rationally from the nature of the relationship between them, as we have illustrated.
By this application, the meaning of the phrase (O Ahmad, were it not for you, I would not have created the spheres; were it not for ʿAli, I would not have created you; and were it not for Fatimah, I would not have created you both) is an exposition of the reality of the purpose of creation, and that it lies within an interconnected divine order that does not admit separation.
In other words, its import confirms that Allah the Exalted willed to realize His purpose in creation only by creating the interconnected whole from the beginning of creation.
Accordingly, disbelief in the Messenger negates faith in Allah: (“Whoever obeys the Apostle certainly obeys Allah; and as for those who turn their backs [on you]; We have not sent you to keep watch over them.” (Qurʾan 4:80)).
Disbelief in the wilayah negates faith in the message, and disbelief in Fatimah and her twelve offspring negates faith in the wilayah and the message: “O Apostle! Communicate that which has been sent down to you from your Lord, and if you do not, you will not have communicated His message, and Allah shall protect you from the people. Indeed Allah does not guide the faithless lot.” (Qurʾan 5:67)
Complete faith is realized through complete faith in the message and the wilayah in all their extensions. This supports the content of many narrations indicating that they (a), as a whole, are the purpose of creation, that were it not for them Allah would not have created creation, and were it not for them Allah would not have created Paradise and Hell, and so on.
This is what we deduce as the apparent meanings; other meanings may be derived from the narration, or the treatments may be carried out in other ways.
And Allah is the All-knowing and the One who grants right guidance.
