I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say to Ali, when he left him behind on one of his military expeditions. Ali asked, "Are you leaving me behind with the women and children?"He replied, "Ali, are you not pleased to be to me in the position that Harun was to Musa, except that there will be no prophet after me?"I also heard him say on the day of Khaybar, "I will surely give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and whom Allah and His Messenger love."We all stretched our necks hoping for it, but he said, "Call Ali for me."Ali was brought to him suffering from sore eyes, so he spat into his eye and handed him the banner, and Allah granted him victory.When this verse was revealed, "Let us call our sons and your sons" [Al Imran 3:61], the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn, and said, "O Allah, these are my family."
حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد حدثنا حاتم بن إسماعيل عن بكير بن مسمار
سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول له وخلفه في بعض مغازيه فقال علي أتخلفني مع النساء والصبيان قال يا علي أما ترضى أن تكون مني بمنزلة هارون من موسى إلا أنه لا نبوة بعدي وسمعته يقول يوم خيبر لأعطين الراية رجلا يحب الله ورسوله ويحبه الله ورسوله فتطاولنا لها فقال ادعوا لي عليا فأتي به أرمد فبصق في عينه ودفع الراية إليه ففتح الله عليه ولما نزلت هذه الآية {ندع أبناءنا وأبناءكم} دعا رسول الله ﷺ عليا وفاطمة وحسنا وحسينا فقال اللهم هؤلاء أهلي
Its isnad is sahih. Hatim bin Ismail Madani is trustworthy, reliable, and prolific in hadith. Muslim narrated this hadith, and Tirmidhi said, the hadith is hasan, gharib, sahih from this angle. At the beginning of it, according to both of them, Muawiya ordered Saad, saying, "What kept you from cursing Abu Turab?" He replied, "As for what you mentioned, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said three things about him, so I will never curse him, for having just one of those qualities would be dearer to me than red camels."This addition was narrated by Hakim, with the same meaning, in 3/108-109, through the route of Abdullah bin Ahmad, from his father, from Abu Bakr Hanafi, from Bukayr bin Mismar, but it is not found in the Musnad.