In the book Return to Islam (pp. 176 and 180), His Eminence Mansoor has said that the Sahabah prevented compiling and writing down hadiths with exhortation and the motivation for protecting Islam; because they knew that these hadiths were conjectural and that there were many evil consequences in compiling and writing them down. Is there any report in Shia sources that Ali and his sons prohibited compiling or writing down hadiths, similar to the reports from the Sahabah? The Shias are not convinced by what has been reported in Sunni sources, and they say that it could be a plot to conceal the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt or for other reasons.
Ali was among the Sahabah at the time when they prohibited the writing down of ahad reports, and there is no record of him disagreeing with them in this matter. If he had disagreed, he would have openly expressed his disagreement because of the obligation to enjoin right and forbid wrong. This is called “taqrir,” meaning tacit approval in Shia jurisprudence, and it is one of the things used to prove the doctrine of the Ahl al-Bayt. It cannot be said that Ali was afraid or cautious about this matter; because it is established that he disagreed with Umar on matters greater than that, and the matters about which he disagreed with Umar cannot be counted. Also, Umar often deferred to his view, and he said without envy or pride: «لَولَا عَلِيٌّ لَهَلَكَ عُمَرُ»; “If it were not for Ali, Umar would have perished.” What harm would there have been for him if he had advised Umar to write down ahad reports, just as he advised him on those matters?! Furthermore, when he was given the pledge of allegiance for the caliphate, he continued with the previous order and did not invite people to write down the ahad reports that they had in their possession, while if it had been good, he would have invited them to do so because of the obligation to invite people to do good. He only invited them to obedience and urged them to ask him questions, saying: «سَلُونِي قَبْلَ أَنْ تَفْقِدُونِي»; “Ask me before you lose me.” This is clear evidence of the correctness of the view of His Eminence Mansoor, may Allah Almighty protect him, that people must go to the Imam of their time and should not be preoccupied with the ahad reports that they have in their possession, which contradict each other and are not free from error and falsehood[1]. This is from the perspective of narration. As for the rational perspective, it is impossible that the Ahl al-Bayt would have invited people to pay attention to ahad reports, let alone write them down; because ahad reports lead to nothing but conjecture, ﴿وَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾[2]; “while conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth” according to the text of the Book of Allah, and it is well-accepted among the Shias that the Ahl al-Bayt do not separate from the Book of Allah in anything until they go to the Pond, as indicated by Hadith al-Thaqalayn. Also, it has been authentically narrated from them that they said: «مَا أَتَاكُمْ عَنَّا مِنْ حَدِيثٍ لَا يُصَدِّقُهُ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ بَاطِلٌ»[3]; “Whatever hadith comes to you from us that is not confirmed by the Book of Allah is false.”