Ali (AS) in the Eyes of Ahmad ibn Hanbal

After the assassination of Uthman, a current called the Ottomans appeared in the Muslim community, who not only considered Ali (AS) a partner in the blood of the slain caliph, but also denied the legitimacy of his caliphate while the general Muslim community had pledged allegiance to him as caliph, and thus they spread the seeds of hatred towards him in society. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as the leader of the Baghdad Ahl al-Hadith movement in the third century AH, was able to institutionalize the legitimacy of the caliphate of Ali (AS) in the Muslim community through the theory of Tarbi‘ (squaring). This success can be regarded as the beginning of the recognition of the Ahl al-Hadith movement with the new name of "Ahl Sunnah wa Jamaat" and as the greatest sign of Ahmad's confrontation with the Ottoman movement. In addition, it can be said that Ahmad had a loving and devoted view of Ali (AS) and the reasons for his attribution to the Ottoman current had transmission and textual problems that could not prove his accusation of being Ottoman.