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**The Multiplicity (Tawātur) of Narrations Concerning the Revelation of the Verse of Wilāyah**
**Question:**
Are the narrations about the occasion of revelation of the **Verse of Wilāyah** regarding **‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (peace be upon him)** — in Shi‘i sources — considered **mutawātir (mass‑transmitted)**?
**Answer:**
Peace be upon you, and God’s mercy and blessings.
There are numerous chains of transmission for several narrations in our sources indicating that the verse:
> **“Your guardian (wali) is only Allah, His Messenger, and those who believe — those who establish prayer and give alms while they are bowing.”**
> *(Qur’an 5:55)*
was revealed concerning **Imam ‘Alī (peace be upon him)**, and that it refers to him and to the Imams (peace be upon them). Among these chains are the following:
1. In **al‑Kāfī**: from Aḥmad b. ‘Īsā, who said: Ja‘far b. Muḥammad (peace be upon him) narrated to me from his father, from his grandfather…
2. In **al‑Kāfī**: from Aḥmad b. ‘Īsā, from Abū ‘Abd Allāh (peace be upon him)…
3. In **al‑Kāfī**: from al‑Ḥusayn b. Abī al‑‘Alā’, who said: I said to Abū ‘Abd Allāh (peace be upon him)…
4. In **al‑Kāfī**: from ‘Umar b. Udhaynah, from Zurārah, al‑Fuḍayl, Bukayr, Muḥammad b. Muslim, Burayd, and Abū al‑Jārūd, all from Abū Ja‘far (peace be upon him)…
5. In **al‑Kāfī**: from Zurārah, from Abū Ja‘far (peace be upon him)…
6. In **al‑Kāfī**: from al‑Ḥusayn b. Abī al‑‘Alā’, who said: I mentioned to Abū ‘Abd Allāh (peace be upon him)…
7. In **Amālī of al‑Ṣadūq**: Kathīr b. ‘Ayyāsh, from Abū al‑Jārūd, from Abū Ja‘far (peace be upon him)…
8. In **Amālī of al‑Ṣadūq**: al‑Rayyān b. al‑Ṣalt said: Imam al‑Riḍā (peace be upon him) attended the gathering of al‑Ma’mūn in Marw…
9. In **al‑Khiṣāl**: from al‑A‘mash, from Ja‘far b. Muḥammad (peace be upon them)…
10. In **al‑Khiṣāl**: from Makhḥūl who said: Amīr al‑Mu’minīn (peace be upon him) said…
11. In **Kamāl al‑Dīn**: from ‘Umar b. Udhaynah, from Abān, from Sulaym, who said: I saw ‘Alī (peace be upon him)…
12. In **Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn**: from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ‘Abbās…
13. In **Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn** (another chain regarding ‘Alī’s charity): from Abū Ṣāliḥ, the freedman of Umm Hānī’, from Ibn ‘Abbās…
14. In **Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn** (a third chain concerning the revelation of the verse “Indeed your guardian is only Allah…”): from ‘Abd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. al‑Ḥanafiyyah, from his father…
15. In **Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn**, in the chapter titled: “Custom and legal judgment when a Qur’anic expression is general, absolute, or ambiguous and explained by the Prophet.”
16. In **Kitāb Sulaym ibn Qays**, in the account of the arguments of Amīr al‑Mu’minīn with the Muslims at Ṣiffīn.
17. In **Amālī of al‑Ṭūsī**, in the second session.
18. In **al‑Iḥtijāj** by al‑Ṭabrisī.
19. Also in **al‑Iḥtijāj**, in the letter of Imam al‑Hādī (peace be upon him) to the people of Ahwāz.
20. In **Kitāb al‑Mazār**.
21. In **al‑Rawḍah fī Faḍā’il Amīr al‑Mu’minīn**.
22. In **al‑Yaqīn** by Ibn Ṭāwūs.
23. In **Tafsīr al‑Qummī**.
24. In **Tafsīr Furāt**.
These constitute a collection of transmission chains that are sufficient to establish **tawātur (mass transmission)**, and there are even more beyond these. Therefore, there is no need to examine the reliability of the individual narrators in each chain when such numerous independent transmissions exist.
And may you remain under God’s care.
**References**
1. *Al‑Kāfī* by al‑Kulaynī, vol. 1, p. 427, hadith 77, Book of Proof (Kitāb al‑Ḥujjah), chapter: “Selections from the Revelation concerning Wilāyah.”
2. *Al‑Kāfī*, vol. 1, p. 288, hadith 3.
3. *Al‑Kāfī*, vol. 1, p. 189, hadith 16.
4. *Al‑Kāfī*, vol. 1, p. 289, hadith 4.
5. *Al‑Kāfī*, vol. 1, p. 146, hadith 11.
6. *Al‑Kāfī*, vol. 1, p. 187, hadith 7.
7. *Amālī al‑Ṣadūq*, p. 186, hadith 193, session 26.
8. *Amālī al‑Ṣadūq*, pp. 615–624, hadith 1, session 79.
9. *Al‑Khiṣāl* by al‑Ṣadūq, p. 479, hadith 46.
10. *Al‑Khiṣāl*, p. 572, hadith 1.
11. *Kamāl al‑Dīn* by al‑Ṣadūq, p. 274, hadith 25.
12. *Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn* by Muḥammad b. Sulaymān al‑Kūfī, vol. 1, p. 150, hadith 15.
13. *Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn*, vol. 1, p. 169, hadith 100.
14. *Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn*, vol. 1, p. 189, hadith 110.
15. *Manāqib Amīr al‑Mu’minīn*, vol. 2, p. 415, hadith 896.
16. *Kitāb Sulaym ibn Qays*, p. 296.
17. *Amālī al‑Ṭūsī*, p. 59, hadith 55, session 2.
18. *Al‑Iḥtijāj* by al‑Ṭabrisī, vol. 1, p. 66.
19. *Al‑Iḥtijāj*, vol. 2, p. 251.
20. *Kitāb al‑Mazār* by Ibn al‑Mashhadī, p. 268.
21. *Al‑Rawḍah fī Faḍā’il Amīr al‑Mu’minīn*, p. 161.
22. *Al‑Yaqīn* by Ibn Ṭāwūs, p. 223.
23. *Tafsīr al‑Qummī*, vol. 1, p. 170.
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