[1] This is one of the authentic traditions (aḥādīth) of the Holy Prophet whose authenticity the scholars of traditions had never doubted. It was narrated by certain companions of the Holy Prophet such as ‘Abdullāh ibn al-‘Abbās, ‘Imrān ibn al-Ḥusayn, Umm al-mu’minīn Umm Salamah and others, such as Amīr al-mu’minīn himself, also narrated that: By Him Who split the seed and created the soul, verily the Messenger of Allāh, peace be upon him and his progeny, gave me a promise that no one but a (true) believer will love me, and none but a hypocrite will hate me. (aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, Muslim, vol. 1, p. 60; [Muslim, in his book, regards the love of ‘Alī as an ingredient of īmān or faith and one of its signs; and the hatred of ‘Alī as the sign of dissemblance] al-Jāmī‘ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 5, pp. 635, 643; as-Sunan, Ibn Mājah, vol. 1, p. 55; as-Sunan, an-Nasā’ī, vol. 8, pp. 115 — 116, 117; al-Musnad, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, vol. 1, pp. 84, 95, 128; vol. 6, p. 292; ‘Ilal al-ḥadīth, Abū Ḥātim, vol. 2, p. 400; Ḥilyah al-awliyā’, Abū Nu‘aym, vol. 4, p. 185; Jāmi‘ al-uṣūl, Ibn al-Athīr, vol. 9, p. 473; Majma‘ az-zawā’id, vol. 9, p. 133; Manāqib ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Ibn al-Maghāzilī, pp. 190—195; al-Istī‘āb, vol. 3, p. 1100; Usd al-ghābah, vol. 4, p. 26; al-Iṣābah, vol. 2, p. 509; Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 2, p. 255; vol. 8, p. 417; vol. 14, p. 426; at-Tārīkh, Ibn Kathīr, vol. 7, p. 354) It was in this way that the companions of the Holy Prophet used to test the faith (īmān) or hypocracy (nifāq) of the Muslims through their love or hatred towards Amīr al-mu’minīn, as is related from Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd and Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh that: We (the companions of the Holy Prophet) used to distinguish the hypocrites by their hatred of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. (at-Tirmidhī, vol. 5, p. 635; al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 129; Ḥilyah al-awliyā’, vol. 6, p. 294; Majma‘ az-zawā’id, vol. 9, pp. 132—133; Jāmi‘al-uṣūl, vol. 9, p. 473; ad-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 6, pp. 66—67; Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 13, p. 153; ar-Riyāḍ an-naḍirah, vol. 2, pp. 214, 215; al-Istī‘āb, vol. 3, p. 1110; Usd al-ghābah, vol. 4, pp. 29-30)