Hadith I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the door

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most Merciful Most Kind

Short Answer

No, there is no authentic Hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the door’. This is the opinion of major Hadith scholars like Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Yahya bin Ma’een.

Classical Scholars

سمعت يحيى بن معين وسئل عن عمر بن إسماعيل بن مجالد بن سعيد، فقال: كذاب، يحدث أيضاً بحديث أبي معاوية، عن الأعمش، عن مجاهد، عن ابن عباس، عن النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم-: أنا مدينة العلم وعلي بابها ، وهذا حديث كذب، ليس له أصل. (سؤالات ابن الجنيد لأبي زكريا يحيى بن معين)

Yahya bin Ma’in was asked about Umar bin Ismail bin Mujalid bin Saeed. He said, he is a liar. He narrated the Hadith of Abu Muawiyah, from al-A’mash, from Mujahid, from Ibn Abbas (May Allah Most High be pleased with them both), from the Prophet ﷺ: I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. This is a fabricated Hadith. It has no basis. (Imam Yahya bin Ma’een, Su’alaat Ibn al-Junayd).

وَهَذَا الْحَدِيثُ مِمَّا وَضَعَهُ عَلَى أَبِي مُعَاوِيَةَ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَازِمٍ الضَّرِيرِ، وَلَمْ يُحَدِّثْ بِهِ قَطُّ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَلا مُجَاهِدٌ وَلا الأَعْمَشُ وَلا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ. وَقَدْ سَرَقَهُ مِنْهُ جَمَاعَةٌ مِنَ الْكَذَّابِينَ. (تذكرة الحفاظ)

This narration is from amongst that which he (Abu Salt) fabricated against Abu Muawiyah Muhammad bin Khazim al-Dareer.  Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, al-Amash, or Abu Muawiyah never narrated it. Then a group of liars took it from him. (Tadhkiratu al-Hufaadh, Imam Ibn al-Qaysarani).

Imam Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Rahman bin al-Jawzi went into great detail in his highly regarding book on fabrications. He presented five chains from Sayidina Ali, ten from Sayidina Ibn Abbas and others besides. He demonstrated the deep flaws in each chain. He concluded that the Hadith is baseless despite the numerous chains.

والْحَدِيث لَا أصل لَهُ. (الموضوعات)

The Hadith is baseless. (Imam Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Mowdo’aat).

The fact that this narration has numerous chains should not surprise anyone. Imam Ibn al-Qaysarani clarified (above) that the fabricators took this narration from Ibn al-Salt. Thereafter, they fabricated numerous chains for it. The narration has been disseminated in different words.

وأما الحديث المروى عن الصنابحى، عن على، قال: قال رسول الله – صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -: “أنا دار الحكمة، وعلى بابها” . وفى رواية: “أنا مدينة العلم، وعلى بابها”، فحديث باطل. (تهذيب الأسماء واللغات)

As for the Hadith narrated on the authority of al-Sanabihi, from Ali that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “I am the house of wisdom, and at its door,” and in a different narration: “I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate,” it is a fabrication. (Imam Abu Zakariyah al-Nawawi, Tadheeb al-Asmaa wa al-Lughaat).

In the Nass (text) above, Imam al-Nawawi clarifies that this variant of the narration is also false and baseless. Often, Hadith fabricators would attempt to cause confusion by narrating the same fabrication with variant chains and different wording. By the grace of Allah (Most High) the Hadith scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah were aware of such schemes and remained vigilant.

Although the Hadith mentioned is a fabrication and baseless according to major Hadith scholars, this does not undermine the rank or knowledge of Sayidina Ali in the slightest. Further, there are countless authentic Hadith narrations that speak to the virtue and rank of Sayidina Ali.

A minority opinion

It is worth noting that some notable scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah did consider the Hadith to have a basis. However, if someone wants to follow this minority opinion, then he would have to find it in an original book of narration without the problematic narrators mentioned above.

وهذا الحديث له طرق كثيرة في مستدرك الحاكم أقل أحوالها أن يكون للحديث أصل فلا ينبغي أن يطلق القول عليه بالوضع. (لسان الميزان)

This Hadith has many chains in Mustadrak al-Haakim. At the very least, the Hadith should have a basis. Therefore, it should not be considered fabricated. (Imam Ahmad bin Ali ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, Lisaan al-Mizaan).

“أَنَا مَدِينَةُ الْعِلْمِ وَعَلِيٌّ بَابُهَا” الترمذي من حديث عليّ وقال منكر، وأنكره البخاري رأسا، والحاكم في مستدركه من حديث ابن عباس وقال صحيح. قال الذهبي: بل هو موضوع. قال أبو زرعة: كم خلْق افتُضِحوا فيه. وقال يحيى بن معين: لا أصل له، وكذا قال أبو حاتم بن سعيد. وقال الدارقطني: غير ثابت. وقال ابن دقيق العيد: لم يثبتوه، وذكره ابن الجوزي في الموضوعات

وقال الحافظ أبو سعيد العلائي: الصواب أنه حسن باعتبار طرقه لا صحيح ولا ضعيف، فضلا عن أن يكون موضوعا. قلت: وكذا قال شيخ الإسلام ابن حجر في فتوى له: وقد بسطت كلام العلائي وابن حجر في التعقبات التي لي على الموضوعات، انتهى. (الدرر المنتثرة في الأحاديث المشتهرة)

I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. (Imam) al-Tirmidhi narrated the Hadith from (Sayidina) Ali and said it is Munkar (rejected). (Imam) al-Bukhari completely rejected it. (Imam) al-Hakim narrated it in his Mustadrak from (Sayidina) Ibn Abbas and said it is Sahih. However, (Imam) al-Dhahabi said, ‘Rather, it is fabricated.’

(Imam) Abu Zur’ah said, ‘How many people have been exposed by it!’ (Imam) Yahya bin Ma’in said, it is baseless. (Imam) Abu Hatim bin Saeed said the same. (Imam) al-Darqutni said, it is not proven. (Imam) Ibn Daqiq al-Eid said, they did not consider it established. (Imam) Ibn al-Jowzi mentioned it in the book of fabrications (al-Mowdo’aat).

The Hafiz Abu Saeed al-Ala’i said: The correct view is that is Hasan, due to the various chains. It is neither Sahih nor weak. It is certainly not fabricated. I say: Likewise was the view of Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Hajr in his fatwa. I have explained the words of al-Ala’i and Ibn Hajar in the comments that I have on al-Mawdoo’at. (Imam Jalal al-Deen al-Sayuti, al-Durar al-Manthoorah).

And Allah Most High Knows Best.

–Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen Rashid (18.09.23)