The Hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) constitute a vital foundation of our faith. Therefore, anyone who seeks to understand Islamic history must inevitably confront this question.

Imam Ali opened his eyes in the lap of the Messenger of Allah, spent his childhood with him, and was raised under his direct guidance. He was by his side for roughly 10 years before the declaration of prophethood, and for nearly 23 years after it until the Prophet’s passing—making a total companionship of roughly 33 years. There was scarcely any critical phase in the life of the Prophet in which Ali did not participate. Yet, according to the widely cited Sunni counts, only about 586 traditions are reported from him.

On the other hand, consider Abu Huraira. He embraced Islam around 7 AH and spent only about three years in the company of the Prophet before his demise. However, the number of Hadiths transmitted from him is reported to be 5,374.

The question is simple: How did Ali, who spent roughly 33 years with the Prophet, narrate only 586 traditions, while someone who was with him for roughly three years narrated 5,374? Why did this happen?

Is this disparity a mere coincidence? Or must we open those silent pages of history where it was perhaps decided how much access the Ummah would have to the "Gate of Knowledge," Ali? Could it be that the gate of knowledge stood before us, yet at some point in history, the path to reaching that gate was restricted?

All this while the Messenger of Allah declared:

"I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate; whoever wishes to enter the city must come through the gate."
— Al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, Al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihayn, Kitab Ma‘rifat al-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 137, Hadith 4637.

If all of this were mere coincidence, the question becomes even more pressing: 586 traditions from 33 years of companionship versus 5,374 from nearly three years—does history not allow us to ask for a clear explanation of this extraordinary disparity?

This is neither an insult nor an accusation against anyone. It is merely a question—one that compels us to re-examine our history, our corpus of Hadith, and the channels through which the Prophet’s knowledge reached us.

Muslim world, pause and reflect for a moment… This is not merely a difference between 586 and 5,374; it is a question of which path the Ummah took to reach the Prophet's knowledge, and which path it was deprived of.

If the Gate of Knowledge, Ali, stood right before us, why was our access to this gate made so limited? Was it simply a coincidence, or was the path of knowledge redirected at a certain turning point in history?

Muslim world, do not look solely at the numbers; read the history concealed behind them.

Then judge for yourselves: Is this merely a difference in narrations, or a difference in the history of narration itself?