One of the final nails in the Rafidi coffin regarding the hadith of al-Ghadir is the following statement by none other than one of Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) own grandsons:

Muhammad bin Asim al-Thaqafi al-Asbahani (a great Persian Sunni scholar from Isfahan) in his Juz (42) narrates authentically from Shababah from Fudhayl ibn Marzuq the following encounter between a Rafidi who exaggerated about the Ahlul-Bayt and al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (also known as al-Hasan al-Muthallath):

حدثنا محمد بن عاصم حدثنا شبابة حدثنا الفضيل بن مرزوق قال: سمعت الحسن بن الحسن أخا عبد الله (ويسمى الحسن المثلث أيضًا) بن الحسن وهو يقول لرجل ممن يغلو فيهم: ويحكم أحبونا لله، فإن أطعنا الله فأحبونا، وأن عصينا الله فأبغضونا، قال: فقال له الرجل: إنكم ذوو قرابة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأهل بيته. فقال: ويحكم، لو كان الله نافعاً بقرابة من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بغير عمل بطاعته لنفع بذلك من هو أقرب إليه منا: أباه وأمه، والله إني لأخاف أن يضاعف الله للعاصي منا العذاب ضعفين، والله إني لأرجو أن يؤتى المحسن منا أجره مرتين. قال: ثم قال: لقد أساءتنا آباؤنا وأمهاتنا إن كان ما تقولون من دين الله، ثم لم يخبرونا به ولم يطلعونا عليه ولم يرغبونا فيه، فنحن والله كنا أقرب منهم قرابة منكم، وأوجب عليهم حقاً، وأحق بأن يرغبونا فيه منكم، ولو كان الأمر كما تقولون: إن الله ورسوله اختار علياً لهذا الأمر والقيام على الناس بعده. إن كان علي لأعظم الناس في ذلك حظية وحرماً، إذ ترك أمر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يقوم فيه كما أمره، ويعذر فيه إلى الناس. فقال له الرافضي: ألم يقل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعلي: من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه. قال: أم والله، أن لو يعني رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بذلك الإمرة والسلطان والقيام على الناس لأفصح لهم بذلك، كما أفصح لهم بالصلاة والزكاة وصيام رمضان وحج البيت، ولقال لهم: أيها الناس، إن هذا ولي أمركم من بعدي، فاسمعوا له وأطيعوا، فما كان من وراء هذا؟ فإن أنصح الناس كان للمسلمين رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

جزء ابن عاصم – محمد بن عاصم الأصبهاني – الصفحة ١٢٥

“Woe unto you! If we obey Allah, then love us, but if we disobey Allah, then hate us.” He (i.e. the Rafidi) then said to him (i.e. al-Hasan al-Muthallath): ‘You are the kinsmen of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his Ahlul-Bayt.’ He then said: ‘Woe unto you! If Allah was going to benefit anyone because of his relation to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), without obedience, then it would have benefitted those who were closer to him than us: his father and his mother. By Allah, I fear that Allah will double the punishment for the sinner among us (i.e. Ahlul-Bayt), and by Allah, I hope that al-Muhsinun (the good-doers) amongst us will be given double the reward by Him.’ Al-Hasan al-Muthallath then said: ‘Our fathers and mothers have offended us if what you (i.e. Rafidis) say is from the religion of Allah, yet they have not told us about it, nor have they told or informed us about it, nor have they desired it from us. We [Ahlul-Bayt], by Allah, are closer to them than you [Rafidah] are […]’ The Rafidi then said to him (i.e. al-Hasan al-Muthallath): ‘Didn’t the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say to Ali, ‘Whosoever I am his mawla then Ali is his mawla?’ He replied: ‘Behold! By Allah, if the Messenger of Allah’s (ﷺ) intended purpose was leadership over the people and successorship after him then he would have been clear about it in the same way that he was clear about prayer, alms, fasting Ramadan, and the pilgrimage; he would have said, ‘This is the person in charge of your affairs after me so listen to him and obey him.’ In this statement, which Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would more likely have said due to him being the best well-wisher for the Muslims, there would have been no ambiguity whatsoever.'”

This sahih narration can be found in the following sources: Juz ibn Asim al-Thaqafi al-Asbahani, p. 125-126; al-Bayhaqi’s al-Itiqad, p. 182-183; Tahdhib Tarikh Dimashq, 4/169 by Ibn Asakir; Abu Hamid al-Maqdisi’s Risalah fī al-Radd ala al-Rafidah p. 222-223; and others.

One of the foremost Hadith scholars, the Syrian Imam al-Mizzi (742 AH), the teacher of Imam al-Dhahabi, says regarding this narration in his Tahdhib al-Kamal 6/88:

وهذا من أصح الأسانيد وأعلاها المزي في تهذيب الكمال (6|88)

“And this is from the highest and most authentic chains of transmission.”