Hadith about Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) being the greatest truthful
Al-Islam.org says
“I am the servant of Allah and the brother of the Holy Prophet and the greatest truthful one [as-Siddeeq al-Akbar], and none will utter this sentence after me except one who is a liar. I offered prayers along with the Holy Prophet for seven years before anyone else did so.” The Shia propagandists oftentimes make use of this Hadith, in which Ali ibn Abi Talib was alleged to have said (with minor variations): “I am a man of Allah, the brother of the Prophet, and the great truthful one (as-Siddeeq al-Akbar); anyone who claims this other than me is a liar, I offered Salah seven years before anyone else in this Ummah prayed.” The above narration is Mawdoo (fabricated). It is found in al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim and “Khasais” of Nasai: [ 4584 ] حدثنا أبو العباس محمد بن يعقوب ثنا الحسن بن علي بن عفان العمري وحدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي دارم الحافظ ثنا إبراهيم بن عبد الله العبسي قالا ثنا عبيد الله بن موسى ثنا إسرائيل عن أبي إسحاق عن المنهال بن عمرو عن عباد بن عبد الله الأسديعن علي رضى الله تعالى عنه قال إني عبد الله وأخو رسوله وأنا الصديق الأكبر لا يقولها بعدي إلا كاذب صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين قبل أن يعبده أحد من هذه الأمة Imam adh-Dhahabi stated: “This (Hadith) is a lie against Ali.” (Mizan al-Iti’dal, #4126.) Shaykh al-Albani declared in “Silsila adh-Dhaeefa” (Vol.10, #4947; Online Ref.) that this Hadith was fabricated. Ibn Katheer said: “This narration is Munkar (rejected and denounced) from all points.” (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nahayah, 3/26; Online Ref.) Imam Ibn al-Jawzi said: “This (Hadith) is a fabrication, and responsible for that is Abaad ibn Abdullahعباد بن عبد الله .” (al-Maudu’at, 1/341 , also see Ma tamas ilaihil hajah ما تمس الیہ الحاجۃ , Page 38) Imam al-Shawkani said: From Tahtheeb al-Kamal, we read: [ 3087 ] ص عباد بن عبد الله الأسدي الكوفي روى عن علي بن أبي طالب ص روى عنه المنهال بن عمرو ص قال البخاري فيه نظر وذكره بن حبان في كتاب الثقات روى له النسائي في خصائص علي وفي مسنده أحاديث [3087] “Abaad ibn Abdullah al-Asdi al-Kufi was reporting from Ali ibn Abu Talib, and from him was reporting Minhal ibn Amir.” (Tatheeb al-Kamal) This is the same chain found in the Hadith from al-Mustadrak, wherein Abaad ibn Abdullah reported from Ali ibn Abi Talib and Minhal ibn Amir narrated from Abaad ibn Abdullah, as follows: المنهال بن عمرو عن عباد بن عبد الله الأسدي عن علي رضى الله Imam adh-Dhahabi referred to this Abaad ibn Abdullah al-Kufi as “weak according to Ali ibn al-Madini.” (Mugni fi Duafa, #3041; also refer to Tatheeb at-Tahtheeb by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar, Vol. 5, #165,Online Ref. , also talkhees almustadrik 3/112) Imam al-Bukhari declared that “there is a doubt concerning his reliability.” (Tahtheeb al-Kamal, Vol.14, #3087; Online Ref.) Ibn Hazm said: “He is unknown.” (Tahtheeb al-Tahtheeb) Imam Jalaluddin Sayuti has also called it a fabrication in اللؤ الی المصنوعۃ فی الاحادیث الموضوعۃ . It should be noted that this man, Abaad ibn Abdullah al-Asdi al-Kufi, was from Kufa, the hotbed of Shi’ism; he was accused of being a fabricator of Hadith. Therefore, the Ahlus Sunnah cannot at all accept this absurd narration. It is well-known that as-Siddeeq al-Akbar refers to Abu Bakr. Furthermore, it is not realistic to say that Ali ibn Abi Talib prayed seven years before anyone else; logic dictates that there were many others who prayed with the Prophet of Islam in the first seven years of his noble mission. This is a typical example of Shia Ghuloo (exaggeration), for which their sect is famous for. It does not befit the modesty of Ali ibn Abi Talib to boast about himself in such a manner. In conclusion, the Hadith in al-Mustadrak is fabricated because it is narrated by Abaad ibn Abdullah al-Asdi al-Kufi, one accused of being a fabricator. The same narration is found in a few other books, but all are narrated by the same Abaad ibn Abdullah and are thus rejected as Mawdoo (fabricated). See below: Ad-Dahhak in “al-Ahad wa al-Mathani” And by Thalaabi in “Kashf wal bayan” (6/209): Ibn Maja in “Sunan”: Ibn Abu Shayba in “Musannaf”: Nasai in “Sunan al-Kubra”: Sayed Nuri in “Mosnadu jami”(31/289): Ibn Abi Asim in “Kitab as-Sunna”:
ﻪﻌﺿﻮﺑ ﻢﻬﺘﻤﻟﺍ ﻮﻫﻭ ﻱﺪﺳﻷﺍ ﷲﺍ ﺪﺒﻋ ﻦﺑ ﺩﺎﺒﻋ ﻩﺩﺎﻨﺳﺇ ﻲﻓﻭ ﺺﺋﺎﺼﺨﻟﺍ ﻲﻓ ﻲﺋﺎﺴﻨﻟﺍ ﻩﺍﻭﺭ
“(This Hadith) is narrated by Nasai in Khasais, (and) in the chain is Abaad ibn Abdullah al-Asdi, and he is accused of fabrication.” (al-Fawaid al-Majmua, Chapter “Dhikr Ali”, #42, Online Ref.)
178 - حدثنا أبو بكر نا بن نمير عن العلاء بن صالح عن المنهال بن عمرو عن عباد بن عبد الله قال سمعت عليا رضي الله عنه يقول : أنا عبد الله وأخو رسوله وأنا الصديق الأكبر لا يقولها بعدي إلا كذاب مفتري ولقد صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين
By Abu Nuaym Isfahani in “Marifatu sahaba”:
322 - حدثنا أبو بحر محمد بن الحسن ، ثنا محمد بن سليمان بن الحارث ، ثنا عبيد الله بن موسى ، ثنا العلاء بن صالح ، عن المنهال بن عمرو ، عن عباد بن عبد الله الأسدي ، قال : سمعت عليا ، يقول : « أنا عبد الله ، وأخو ، رسوله وأنا الصديق الأكبر ، لا يقولها بعدي إلا كذاب ، صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين »
وروى عبد الله بن موسى عن العلاء بن صالح عن المنهال بن عمرو عن عباد بن عبد الله قال : سمعت عليا يقول : أنا عبد الله وأخو رسوله وأنا الصديق الأكبر لا يقولها بعدي إلا كذاب مفتر،
صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين.
125 - حدثنا محمد بن إسماعيل الرازى حدثنا عبيد الله بن موسى أنبأنا العلاء بن صالح عن المنهال عن عباد بن عبد الله قال قال على أنا عبد الله وأخو رسوله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- وأنا الصديق الأكبر لا يقولها بعدى إلا كذاب صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين.
32084 - حدثنا عبد الله بن نمير عن العلاء بن الصالح عن المنهال عن عباد بن عبد الله قال سمعت عليا يقول انا عبد الله وأخو رسوله وأنا الصديق الأكبر لا يقولها بعدي إلا كذاب مفتر ولقد صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين
8395 - أخبرنا أحمد بن سليمان قال حدثنا عبيد الله بن موسى قال حدثنا العلاء بن صالح عن المنهال بن عمرو عن عباد بن عبد الله قال قال علي : أنا عبد الله وأخو رسوله صلى الله عليه و سلم وأنا الصديق الأكبر لا يقولها بعدي إلا كاذبا صليت قبل الناس بسبع سنين
10326- عن عباد بن عبد الله ، قال : قال علي : أنا عبد الله ، وأخو رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وأنا الصديق الأكبر ، لا يقولها بعدي إلا كذاب ،
صليت قبل الناس لسبع سنين
1125 - ثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة ، حدثنا عبد الله بن نمير ، عن العلاء بن صالح ، عن المنهال ، عن عباد بن عبد الله ، قال : سمعت عليا ، رضي الله عنه ، يقول : أنا عبد الله ، وأخو رسوله ، وأنا الصديق الأكبر ، لا يقولها بعدي إلا كذاب مفتر ، ولقد صليت قبل الناس بسبع سني
Now answering-islam.org found this print from somewhere! Carefully see it.
If you can read Arabic, you can see that Abaad bin Abdullah is present in this chain of narration too, but the additional statement below that:
"According to al-Zawaid, this isnad is sahih. Its transmitters are sound and reliable. Hakim has transmitted it in al-Mustadrak on the authority of Minhal and has said, "It is sahih in accordance with the condition laid down by Shaikhain (i.e Imam Bukhari and Muslim)
Well every person who is involved with the science of hadith will know that Imam Hakim is not careful in calling a hadith sahih. And when scholars like Imam Dhahabi and Imam Bukhari criticize a person, than it is well known to the students of ahadith that their judgement is indeed more preferred. It is also one of the rules of the science of hadith that when a person is criticized, than criticism is given more preference than the appraisal by someone else. Anyhow, this hadith is not authentic.
For the sake of the satisfaction of the reader, I have also a scan of Ibn Majah , published with translation in Urdu, in which it is clearly written that this hadith is unauthentic and that Abaad is a weak narrator.
A part from this , logically if you think, it is indeed false that Ali prayed 7 years before other people. This is totally wrong from the historic point of view also, as we know that Khadijah was the first to embrace Islam amongst all the people. This is what shiites and sunnis both agree. And the differences between sunnis and shiites are whether the second person was Ali or Abu Bakar. But there is no differences on Khadija being the first Muslim lady. And she must have prayed before Ali also.