Hadith No: 1
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani - Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari - Book of the Virtues of the Companions
Chapter: The Prophet's (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) Statement, "Close the doors except for the door of Abu Bakr"
Volume: (7) - Page Number: (12/13)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
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(Note): There are narrations about closing the doors around the mosque that contradict the apparent meaning of the hadith in this chapter, including the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) commanded us to close the doors opening into the mosque and leave the door of Ali. This was narrated by Ahmad and al-Nasa'i, and its chain is strong.
- .... And in a narration from al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, its men are trustworthy, which adds that they said: "O Messenger of Allah, you have closed our doors." He replied: "I did not close them, but Allah closed them." And from Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: There were a few men among the Companions who had doors opening into the mosque,
and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said: Close these doors except for the door of Ali. Some people spoke about this, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said: "By Allah, I neither closed anything nor opened it, but I commanded something, and it was followed." This was narrated by Ahmad and al-Nasa'i, and al-Hakim, and their men are trustworthy.
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And from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) commanded that the doors of the mosque be closed except for the door of Ali. And in another narration:
He commanded the doors to be closed, except for the door of Ali. He would enter the mosque while in a state of ritual impurity (junub) with no other way to do so. Both of these were narrated by Ahmad and al-Nasa'i, and their chains are trustworthy.
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And from Jabir ibn Samura, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) commanded us to close all the doors except for the door of Ali, and he would sometimes pass through it while in a state of ritual impurity (junub). This was narrated by al-Tabarani.
- .... And from Ibn Umar, who said: We used to say during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny): "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) is the best of people, then Abu Bakr, then Umar. And Ali ibn Abi Talib was given three qualities; having one of them would be more beloved to me than red camels: He married the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), and she bore him children,
he closed the doors except for his in the mosque, and he was given the standard on the day of Khaybar." This was narrated by Ahmad, and its chain is sound.
- .... And al-Nasa'i narrated through the path of al-'Ala ibn 'Arar with omitted narrators, who said: So I said to Ibn Umar: "Tell me about Ali and Uthman" - and he mentioned the hadith, which includes - "As for Ali, do not ask anyone about him, but look at his position with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny);
he closed our doors in the mosque and kept his door open." Its men are the men of sahih except for al-'Ala, and Yahya ibn Ma'in and others have deemed him trustworthy. These hadiths support one another, and each chain is sound for use as evidence, not to mention their totality.