Bismillah hir rehman nir raheem, As Salam Alaikum wa rehmat Allah e wa barkatoh Dear sisters and brothers .This write up was published on Dec 8 , 2008 on the occassion of Eid e Ghadeer and is herewith reproduced from my site : www.zaheerhusain.multiply.com/blog Innamah uridul lahe le yuzhiba ankumur rijsah Ahlal bayte wa youtehhrakum tathirah God has decided to keep the progeny of Mohammad(s) and Aale Mohammad (s) away from every kind of pollution ( filth and sin) . | |
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EID –E - GHADEER
Wednesday the 17th of Dec. 2008 is a very special Eid , far superior than all the other days and it commemorate the blessed Monday,18th of ZillHijjah 10 Hijri coinciding with 16th of March 632 AD.This is undoubtedly the most auspicious day of the Islamic History, which is celebre--rated as YAUM E GHADEER E KHUM, 8 days after the culmination of Hajj .This day is also the day of last revelation on which 2 important Aayaat were revealed .One ,O Prophet if you had not conveyed the message of today , it will be as if you have not done your work of Risalat , and second that this day I have finalised and completed your deen. Here is an excerpt from various sources primarily from the internet in which there have been hardly any controversy and both ulma e Ahle Sunnah and shia agree of the event which happened, for there is innumerable narrations on this topic and why not so because the main event of Ghadeer e Khum was witnessed by none less than One Lac Twenty thousand Hajees who had the privilege to perform all the Hajj rites in the company of the Rasool Akram Salaallahe Alaihe wa Sallam.
Amir al-Momenin al-Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) is the second most important person after the Holy Prophet (saaws), not just in the Islamic history, but, in the entire human history.
Ghadir is an Arabic word meaning pond or stream of water. There is a place called Khum between Makkah and Madinah and there was a water pond at that place which was called Ghadir of Khum or Ghadir e Khum. It was at this place the Holy Prophet (PBUH) delivered a very famous sermon known as Khutbat al-Ghadir (Sermon of Ghadir). This sermon originated because of the following verse of the Holy Qur'an: "Ya ayyuhar Rasoolu balligh ma unzila elaika min Rabbika wa in lam taf a'l fama ballaghta risalatahu Wallaho ya'semoka minan nas Wallaho la yahdil qawmal kafireen."(5:67) "O (our) Prophet (Mohammad) deliver you what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and if you do it not, then (it will be as if) you have not delivered His Message (at all); and surely Allah will protect you from (the mischief of) men; surely Allah does not guide the unbelieving people."
Eminent commentators of the Holy Qur'an hold that this verse was revealed on the 18th of Zil- Hijja 10 A.H. when the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was about to reach the place Khum on his way back from Makkah after having performed his Hajj-a-Wida (Farewell Pilgrimage). All the traditionists of Ahle Sunnah agree that this verse relates to the declaration by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) about Amir al-Momenin Imam 'Ali (AS) to be the Successor, Viceregent and Caliph after him. It is noteworthy that the verse refers to some very important message which Allah commands the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to convey to the people and that message is so important that if not conveyed it would mean that the function of Prophethood was not carried out.
The words "ma unzila alayka" (what has been sent down to you) give a clear indication that a particular message had already been communicated to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and now it was to be conveyed to the people at large. The action taken by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in compliance to this command shows that this particular message referred to in this verse related to the declaration of Imam 'Ali (AS) as the Successor, Guide and Caliph of the Muslims after the Holy Prophet. Upon revelation, the Holy Prophet got down immediately from his camel and ordered the area to be cleared for people to assemble, and a pulpit to be prepared using the wooden saddles of the camels.
Under his orders Bilal the Muazzin (prayer-caller) called out to the people in the words, "Hayya ala khayr al-'amal", meaning "O' people, collect together for the virtuous act". Those who had gone ahead were required to come back while those who were lagging behind were asked to quicken their pace and reach the halting place as the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was to address them. When all the people had assembled as ordered, the Holy Prophet ascended the improvised pulpit prepared for him for the occasion and delivered a long lecture during the course of which he said:
"All praise is due to Allah Who is the Creator and Lord of the entire Universe. It is the bounden duty of everyone to offer Him thanks in comfort as well as distress, in ease as well as hardship. I acknowledge to be His servant and creature and bear witness that He is my Master and Lord. I convey to the people all that He reveals to me for their guidance, of I do fear that if I do not do so and fail to carry out His behest I shall have to face chastisement which no one shall be able to avert from me by any device whatsoever."
"O' people, what has been revealed to me by Allah just now is so important that if I do not convey it to you it would mean as if I have not carried out His Mission at all while Allah has guaranteed to me that he would protect me against the evil of the people. Allah has commanded that whatever has been revealed to me in respect of Ali (AS) should be conveyed to you. Now therefore, O' people bear in mind that (Imam) Ali (AS) has hereby been appointed Imam over you so that obedience to him is obligatory on the migrants (the Muhajerin) and the locals (the Ansars), on the countrymen and the townsmen, on the Arabs and the non-Arabs, on the freemen and the slaves, on the young and the old, on the white and the black. In short his authority is to be effective on everyone who believes in the Unity and Oneness of Allah."
"O' people, this is the last occasion and the last place that I proclaim Ali (AS) to be my successor. Listen and obey the Command of Allah. Allah is your Creator, your Sustainer and your Guardian. After Allah, His Prophet Mohammad is your Guardian and he is standing before you and addressing you. After me, by Allah's behest this Ali (AS) is your Guardian and your Imam. Therefore till the Day of Judgement when you will be made to present yourselves before Allah and His Prophet, this Guardianship and Imamate would remain in my progeny born through Imam Ali (AS). O' people, there is no issue of knowledge which Allah did not entrust to me and which was not entrusted by me to (Imam) Ali (AS). I have given him all the knowledge. He is the Imam al-Mubin, the Manifest Guide."
"O' people do not abandon him for following others and do not dislike making him your ruler for he alone would strengthen Truth and act on Truth. No reproach of any person can keep him away from Truth. O' people, ponder over the Holy Qur'an. Understand its verses. Go deep into the firm ones and do not follow the ambiguous ones. By Allah no one would teach you the implications of its verses with clarity except the person whose hand I am holding whom I am drawing close to me and whose arm is in my arm. No one will be able to divulge to you its commentary save this Ali (AS).
Mun Kunto Maula Fa Haza Ali an Maula
( VERILY FOR WHOMSOEVER I AM THE MASTER THIS ALI IS HIS MASTER).
This Ali Ibn Abi Talib (AS) is my brother, and my successor, and bear in mind that his appointment as my successor is from Allah and Allah has revealed this fact to me."
"O' people this Ali (AS) and the other infallibles in my progeny constitute the Siql al-Asghar, the junior of the weighty two weighty things while the Holy Qur'an is the Siqlul-Akbar, the Senior one, and these two would not get separated from each other till they join me at the Cistern of Kausar (Hawz al-Kausar) on the Day of Judgement (Yawm al-Qiyamah). Beware the I have discharged my duty; beware that I have conveyed what I was charged by Allah to convey, take note that I have clarified everything and note that whatever Allah revealed to me has been faithfully conveyed by me to you. Take note that no one except this, my brother Ali (AS) would be the Amir al-Momenin, the Commander of the Faithful, for after me it is not lawful for anyone except Imam Ali (AS) to wield authority over the Faithful."
"O' people I have clearly explained all the matters before you. Now after me this Imam Ali A.S would be explaining to you these matters. After finishing my speech I would call you to pay allegiance (Bay'at) to him, and to acknowledge him. Beware that I have paid allegiance (Bay'at) to Allah while Imam Ali (AS) has paid allegiance to me. Now I am taking your allegiance for Imam Ali (AS) under the Command of Allah. Now you should also proclaim that in this matter you bow before the Command of Allah and would obey Him, and obey me, and obey Imam Ali (AS), Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Husayn (AS) and the other Imams (AS) in Husayn (AS)'s line as mentioned by me."
"O' people, now say what I have told you to say and from now onwards you should offer salutation to Imam Ali (AS) by the title Amir al-Momenin. Now confirm that you have heard and accepted what I have told you, and also say: All praise is due to Allah who gave us guidance for if He had not given us guidance we would have remained without it"."
The entire crowd then cried loudly and confirmed, "Yes, O' Prophet of Allah (PBUH), we have heard you fully and are ready and prepared to obey every Command of Allah and every Command of the Prophet of Allah with heart, tongue and limbs." The people then thronged to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Imam Ali (AS) from all sides. The first who held out their pledge to the Holy Prophet in the matter were Abu Bakr, Omar and Usman. Then they were followed by other Migrants (Muhajerin) and the Locals (Ansar) and the rest of the people of all classes, groups and grades, so much so that the Maghrib and Isha Salat were offered together because of the function having extended till it was fairly dark.
Umar bin Khttab is reported to be the first who greeted Imam Ali (AS) on this occasion in the following words: "Greeting be to you O' 'Ali son of Abu Talib; you have become my Master and the master of every believer (faithful) man and woman". The tradition of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) whereby he declared that of whomsoever he himself is the Master,(Imam) Ali (AS) is his Master is called the Hadees-al-Wilayat or the Tradition of Vicegerency or succession. It has been narrated by such a continuous and authentic chain of narrators that there can be no iota of doubt in its authenticity, veracity or genuineness. The Tradition has been mentioned by all eminent writers on Islam right from the 2nd century Hijrah up to present 14th century. It is also said that right on this occasion the kalema e Alian wali Allah was recited in the azaan and Rasool Akram Sallalaho Alaihe wa sallam approved it by his appreciative smile.
These writers include commentators of the Holy Qur'an, historians, traditionalists, theologians, litterateurs and others. Many of these writers have written regular books on this single tradition in order to do full justice to such questions as the names and life particulars of each of its narrators, their authenticity and truthfulness in the matter of narration of traditions, their status among the scholars of Islam and so on. Even the scholars and writers of the Indo-Pak subcontinent have not lagged behind in this matter. Leaving out the writers of Arabic and Persian (Farsi) books on the subject, it may be useful to quote from Maulana Shibli No'mani's great book Sirat an-Nabi, as he was one of the most widely acknowledged historian and scholar of Islam in the Indo-Pak subcontinent in the late generation. Giving an account of the return of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) from his farewell Hajj, Maulana Shibli writes:
"The Holy Prophet (PBUH) then set off on his return journey towards Madinah along with Muhajerin and Ansar. On the way he came to a place called Khum three miles from Haifa. Here there is a pond. The Arabic for a pond is Ghadir. For that reason usually it is mentioned as Ghadir Khum in narrations. The Prophet (PBUH) collected all his companions here and delivered a short sermon: After praising Allah he said, "O' people, I am also a human being. Maybe the angel of Allah (that is, death) comes soon and I may have to respond to him. I am leaving among you two weighty things namely first the Book of Allah which is full of Divine Guidance and Light; you should hold fast to the Book of Allah, and second the People of my House (Ahl al-Bayt); I recall Allah to you about my Ahl al-Bayt."
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) repeated the last sentence thrice. This is as recorded in the Sahih Muslim of Muslim. However, Nisa'i, Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal, Tirmizi, Tibrani and Tabarri have related some further sentences relating to the merits of Imam Ali (AS). The most common sentence is the following, "Of whomsoever I am the Master Ali (AS) is his master; may Allah keep friendship with everyone who keeps friendship with Ali (AS) and bear enmity with everyone who bears enmity with Ali (AS)" Sirat an-Nabi, p.165-6
In short, when this great sermon of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was over and the sacred function of declaring Imam Ali (AS) as the Master of all the Faithful had finished, then according to the narration of several eminent historians and authentic scholars of Islam, the well-known poet of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)'s audience named Hassan ibn Sabit sought permission to recite an encomium in praise of Imam Ali (AS) befitting the occasion and recited a long poem a few couplets of which are preserved in the relevant books.
In that poem Hassan ibn Sabit mentioned all salient points of the Tradition of Wilayat (Vicegerency) namely that on enquiry of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) all the people present on the Day of Ghadir Khum confirmed that Allah was their Master and after Allah, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was their Master, and then the Holy Prophet announced that for whomsoever he was the Master Ali (AS) was his Master. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) then directed all of them to truthfully adhere to Imam Ali (AS) and then prayed to Allah to be friendly to him who is friendly to Imam Ali (AS), and enemy to him who is enemy to Imam Ali (AS).
After the Holy Prophet had finished all this affair the following verse was revealed, and it is the last verse of the Holy Qur'an in the order of revelation: "This day have I perfected for you your religion and have completed my favour on you, and chosen for you Islam (to be) the religion." (5:4) The fact that this verse was revealed on the 18th of Zil-Hijjah at Ghadir-a-Khum after he had made the declaration relating to Imam Ali (AS) being his Successor, Imam and Master of the Faithful is also recorded by famous historians, commentators and traditionalists.
For example Ibn Wazih has written that it is well established through authentic traditions that soon after the Holy Prophet (PBUH) declared Imam Ali (AS) to be the Master of whomsoever the Holy Prophet himself was the Master, and had finished his sermon, this verse was revealed as the last verse of the Holy Qur'an. It is known as the verse of Perfection of Religion and Completion of Divine Favour.
The tradition - "of whomsoever I am the Master Ali (AS) is his Master", is so authentic and has been related by so many scholars of all times in Islam that it has not been possible to deny it. So people who do not feel happy with recognising the merits of Imam Ali (AS) or to acknowledge his position as Successor of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) have tried to undermine his position by giving lighter interpretation to the word "Maula" used by the Holy Prophet. Some of them say that Maula means friend, others say it means helper etc.. The real significance of the word Maula is however quite clear from the declaration of the Holy Prophet that of whomsoever he was the Maula Ali (AS) is his Maula. Evidently the Holy Prophet can not be called a mere friend or helper of the Muslims. He was their Guide, their Master and the Head of their polity duly appointed by Allah .It is authentically accepted that he never spoke any thing on his except what what Allah wished him to say.To say that he was a mere friend or helper is derogatory. Since the Holy Prophet (PBUH) declared Imam Ali (AS) to be Maula as he himself was, it follows that Imam Ali (AS) would be Maula in the same sense in which the Holy Prophet is to be regarded Maula. Therefore this historic declaration puts a final seal on appointment of Imam Ali (AS) as his own Successor, Viceregent and Caliph.
It may be pertinently recalled that first of all it was at the close of the Feast of Kinsmen known as Dawat az-Zul Ashirah in Islamic history, that is, when the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had invited his chief kinsmen to a feast and disclosed before them that he was the Prophet of Allah (Rasoul Allah) who had commanded him to invite them to the Divine Message, the Holy Prophet announced, "This Ali (AS) is my Brother (Akhi), my Inheritor (Wasi) my Successor (Warisih) and my Deputy (Khalifah) over you. You should listen to him and obey him".
Thereafter the Holy Prophet (PBUH) continued announcing to the people off and on the high merits and achievements of Imam Ali (AS) and reminding them Imam Ali (AS) was to be regarded as the best and most distinguished among the Muslim community after the Holy Prophet and to be accepted as his Successor and Khalifah over them after him. Two of the many sayings are as follows:
First on the occasion of the Ghazwa of Tabook. It is well known that in all the Ghazwa (battle or encounter with the unbelievers in which the Holy Prophet himself participated), previous to this Ghazwa, Imam Ali (AS) was invariably the standard bearer of Islam. In this Ghazwa however, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) left Imam Ali (AS) behind in Madinah as his Deputy to look after the local affairs as there was serious apprehension of trouble due to the underground activities of the hypocrites. The mischief-mongers took this opportunity to malign Imam Ali (AS) by spreading the rumour that the Holy Prophet was not happy with Imam Ali (AS). Imam Ali (AS) therefore decided to have the real position made publicly clear through the Holy Prophet; accordingly he set off after fully arming himself and overtook the Holy Prophet (PBUH) at a place called Jaraf.
There he appraised the Holy Prophet of what the hypocrites were saying about his staying behind in Madinah. The Holy Prophet then clarified within the gathering surrounding him that he had made Imam Ali (AS) his Deputy (Khalifah) and left him there to act on his behalf. Then addressing Imam Ali (AS) he said: "Are you not satisfied that you hold the same position to me as Haroun (AS) held to Musa (AS), except that there would be no Prophet after me?" Now it is a historical truth that Nabi Haroun (AS) was the Deputy of Nabi Musa (AS) and served as such during the absence of Nabi Musa (AS) at Miqat. The Holy Prophet (PBUH)'s above utterance would therefore clearly imply that just as Nabi Haroun (AS) acted as Deputy of Nabi Musa (AS) during his absence even though he himself was a Prophet, Imam Ali (AS) was also Rasoul Allah (PBUH)'s Deputy with the only difference that Imam Ali (AS) would not be a Prophet after him.
The second event we recall relates to the reading out of certain verses of the Surat al-Bara'at also called Taubah. These verses were revealed in Madinah before the fall of Makkah and were intended to be read out to the unbelievers of Makkah. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) sent Abu Bakr with the task and he left with a party of 300 men. Abu Bakr was yet on the way when the Holy Prophet (PBUH) sent for Imam Ali (AS) and giving him his own camel named Asba ordered him to overtake Abu Bakr, take back the aforesaid verses of the Holy Qur'an and to deliver and read them over to the unbelievers. Imam Ali (AS) did accordingly.
When Abu Bakr returned back to Madinah after Hajj, he enquired from the Holy Prophet (PBUH) why he was not allowed to complete the mission entrusted to him to convey the verses, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) replied: "It was revealed to me from Allah that no one except you yourself or a person from you should discharge the obligation.(Imam) Ali (AS) is from me and I am from him; he is my brother, my viceregent, my successor and my caliph among my family and my Ummat after me so as to pay my debts and fulfil my promises; no one save (Imam) Ali (AS) can discharge my obligation".
In this way again the Holy Prophet introduced Imam Ali (AS) among the people at large as his own Successor, Viceregent and Caliph after him. The Tradition of Ghadir namely: "Of whomsoever I am the Master Ali (AS) is his Master" serve as the last link in the whole chain of these announcements. No such declaration was ever made about any other person and you cannot find even in the weakest hadees..This day namely the 18th of Zil-Hijjah is accordingly celebrated as a day of rejoicing among the lovers and followers of Ahlebait (a s) and is known as Eid Ghadir e Khum.
How I wished the entire Muslim ummah would have accepted these true facts and there would have been just one deen the true deen of Islam based on the Hadees-e- Saqlain and on the basis of the happening of Ghadeer e Khum . .
I am so highly indebted to all of those who researched and added in this article and pray that they may be rewarded by almighty for each and every word of their wisdom. No one can challenge the authencity of this hadees as it is mutawatir and has been narratoted by hundreds of narrator of Ahle Sunnah wa Ahle Tashie .
Zaheer Husain Khan
www.asl-islam.org
www.safinatulhidaya.org
www.zaheerhusain.multiply.com/blog
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