VICEGERENTS ARE FROM GOD
Caliphate became the chief cause of discord after the death of the Prophet. Even to this day, this subject remains a hotly debated issue among the various sects of Muslims. Let us deal with the subject of the Caliphate itself and what does it mean.
Khalifa (Caliph)
The Holy Quran says:
These are they whom We gave the book and the authority and the prophethood;
These are they whom Allah has guided, so, follow their guidance.
Quran, Surah An-Am 89-90
The literal meaning of khalaf is to come after, follow, succeed etcetera. In this verse it has been used in the sense of succeeding, in fact, representing Allah on the earth, to exercise His authority in terms of “reacting” to His will, as His vicegerent. This is the basis of prophethood. Some schools of thought hold the view that reason and intellect, at the disposal of man, are enough to represent God, and there is no need of the delegation of authority. In this verse however the necessity of a vicegerent of God on the earth has been conclusively proved, appointment of whom cannot and shall not be made by any one save God. Khalifatullah, the representative of Allah, is he whom God Himself delegates His authority.
It is evident that Vicegerent is a position higher than that of prophethood. That God Himself delegate authority mean that they are given authority over certain actions that are otherwise related only to God. Surely, neither the consensus of public opinion, nor a group, nor an individual has the right to represent the will of God. God does not allow anyone to interfere with the execution of His will, nor can any one question Him, but only those who are delegated the authority on His behalf.
We know from our study of the Upanishads that the One God of the universe, even prior to creation of the cosmos, first created His Manifest Self, which created a Noor or Spirit that divided to produce 7 or 14 Selfs and it is through them that He created all beings including man. Upanishads have even said that it is these Devatas or Manus who are joined to our souls and control our life breaths and consciousness. There can be no doubt therefore that all prophets of Allah too must be having at least this relationship with the Devatas, if not greater.
The Muslims are of the opinion that the Noor of Mohammad (Indra or Prajapati) was put inside Adam and passed in his progeny till it reached Mohammad. On the contrary, we have shown that it didn’t pass in the progeny. Instead, the Noor descended in pious bodies who became Rasool (Messenger or Avatar) when the Noor started using the bodies as its office. This we believe is the difference between a Nabi (Prophet) and Rasool. Prophet is one who has elevated his self through piety, meditation, supplication, etc. to attain certain level of purity while a Messenger is one where one the 7 Noorani Roohs [Divine Spirits] use that pious and pure body as their office on earth, in the midst of mankind. Islamic traditions talk of 124,000 Prophets out of which 315 were Messengers.
The hadith of Abuzar Ghaffari may be cited as proof as per which the Prophet was asked about the number of Anbiya (plural of Nabi) and Rasool. He replied that there were 124,000 Prophets among whom 315 were Messengers. This hadith is collected in Musnad Ahmad and the collections of at-Tabarani, and ibn Hibban.
In other words, the difference may be that those pious men and sages, who reached a certain level of purity that Devatas guided them either in dream, or in trance or directly appearing before them in person, are called Anbiya (Prophets) while when the Noor of one or the other Devatas itself descended or took birth in human bodies on earth, they are called Rasool. Rasools have a direct communion with the Manifest Self and the Manifest Self uses their body as its office. While Anbiya are guided and led by the Devatas. Quran says there are certain Rasools with whom the God Himself spoke. If there is a small number with whom God spoke, question arises who was guiding and speaking with the rest? Naturally it was the Manifest Self who, we will show, was speaking from the body of Krishna and Mohammad.
One thing, which we know with certainty, is that Vicegerency is an even higher designation than Prophethood. Verse 124 of Chapter Baqarah says that Allah appointed Ibrahim (Abraham) as the Imam after He had tried Ibrahim with a number of things, which he fulfilled, with the clear provision that although there would be Imams in his progeny, but those who were unjust would not receive this authority. It is to be noted that Ibrahim was appointed Imam when he was already a Prophet and Rasool.
It is possible for a same person to get elevated to a higher designation. As we said, Abraham was a Prophet who after passing certain tests got elevated as Rasool and then at a later stage, he was made a Vicegerent (Caliph) of God, which shows this is higher position.
In verse 947 of Chapter Baqarah, Saul is appointed as an authority over the people because of his wisdom and strength, in preference to those who claimed to be more worthy than him on account of their worldly position. In verses 17 to 25 of Chapter al-Sad, Allah appointed Dawud (David) as His vicegerent on the merit of wisdom, power of judgment and obedience to Allah’s will. These verses make us believe that vicegerency may not, in all cases, be given at birth, but even comes at later stage. What is certain though is that this is a guarantee of merit higher than the rest of creation.
The most important qualifications, mentioned in the Quran, are given below:
i. Untiring and continuous remembrance of Allah, with no drift or diversion under any type of circumstance.
ii. Never giving in to the demands motivated by self-oriented interests.
iii. Following only the divine revelations.
iv. Being the first and the foremost in establishing and carrying out every virtue to the point of perfection.
v. Awareness and wisdom of all laws (physical and moral) made by Allah, and their operation, so as not to make any mistakes; and for this awareness received no guidance or education from any one save Allah.
vi. No type of adversity, crisis or temptation should affect the tranquillity of the mind and the heart, described as sakinah in the Quran.
vii. The purity of birth, character and conduct because of which they are the most honoured with Allah (Surah Hujurat: 13), the foremost in faith and virtue, in receiving the rewards, and in their nearness to Allah (Surah Waqi-ah: 10,11).
viii. Ruling over the people with justice as pointed out in verse 26 of Surah al Sad.
Keeping in view the above-noted qualities, Allah, in verses 33 and 34 of Surah Al-e-Imran, says that He had, on account of certain basic qualities, chosen Adam, Nooh, the descendants of Ibrahim and Imran and the Holy Prophet, the descendant of Ibrahim through Ismael. The Quran does not advocate hereditary rights of succession but asserts that this lineage had a distinctive divine peculiarity for which they had been chosen as vicegerents of Allah. The reason for bestowing this privilege on the descendants of Ibrahim is known to Allah only, because as said by Allah in the event of appointing Adam as khalifa (caliph), He knows that which His creatures do not know. We must accept the limitations of our knowledge and glorify the grace and justice of Allah.
We have given to Ibrahim’s children the book and the wisdom and We gave them a great kingdom.
Quran, Nisa: 54
The above-noted verse refers to the Holy Prophet as the last prophet and Rasool in the lineage of Prophet Ibrahim.
The vicegerency of Allah did not come to an end after the Holy Prophet. It continued. In verse 77 of Surah Bani Israel it is said:
This was Our way with Our messengers whom We had sent before you, and you shall not find any change in our way.
So it is confirmed that there is no change or modification in the principle and the method of appointing vicegerent. In verse 55 of Surah al-Noor it is further made clear that the vicegerency continues after the Holy Prophet in the same way and manner as was in vogue before him. According to verses 31 and 32 of Surah Fatir the holy book, in completed form, was given in inheritance to those servants of Allah whom He had selected. They belong to the children of Ibrahim excluding those who were zalimin, (unjust) meaning those who, at any time in their lives, had neither worshipped a ghayr-allah (other than Allah), nor committed an act that was contrary to the laws of God.
The Holy Prophet was the perfector of Adam’s mission of khalifatullah (caliph of Allah) on the earth and the executor of the final will of the Lord of the worlds. Therefore his khalifa was also chosen and appointed by Allah to carry out the responsibilities of the divine office. The choice was not left to the fancy of the people, nor was any consultation needed. “Inni ja-ilun fil ardi khalifah” in Quran is an open declaration of God’s will and decision. Likewise the successor of the Holy Prophet could neither be chosen by the companions nor by the Holy Prophet himself. From the “feast of the near relations” to the event of “Ghadeer-e-Khum”, it was the will and command of Allah that the Holy Prophet had carried out in choosing Ali as his successor.
History also testifies to the fact that on all occasions, it was Ali who came forward to meet the challenge, and proved his qualities for the entitlement to the divine office of vicegerency, although all the companions had equal opportunities to rise to the occasion.
After the conclusion and the termination of the office of prophethood, the infinite mercy of the merciful Lord did not leave mankind to go astray, misled by false leaders who usurped temporal authority, but commanded the Holy Prophet to declare the vicegerency of Ali and his progeny (the twelve Imams). The Holy Prophet, therefore, appointed Ali b. Abu Talib as his and Allah’s khalifa on the earth.
Now the people had the freedom of choice either to follow the divinely chosen Imams or run after the self-appointed false leaders.
Verily, We have shown him (man) the (right) way, be he thankful (and follow it), or be ungrateful (reject it).
Quran, Surah Dahr: 3
There are countless merits and qualifications of Ali, mentioned and discussed on the authority of well-known Muslim scholars, in several publications like “The Right Path”, “Peshawar Nights” and other books that can be studied to know the truth. It is not possible to refer to all of these here. (We will recount a few of Ali’s merits and qualifications in the next chapter titled Ali ibn Abu Talib.)
Those who discount Ali’s claim and accept Abu Bakr as the rightful caliph say that after the Holy Prophet, the authority for the application of divine legislation has been delegated by Allah to the faithful followers of Islam in general, therefore, every Muslim is the vicegerent of Allah, to exercise His authority according to the book and the sunnah (doings and sayings) of the Holy Prophet. They do not say who would decide whether the person is faithful or not. It is not written on the face whether the person is faithful or not? Or else there would have been no talk of Munafiq in Quran. Moreover, Shaytan (Zulmat or the Force of Darkness) is continuously at work and it is very much possible that the person who appears to be faithful today would succumb to Zulmat’s tricks the next day.
If God bestowed the responsibility of choosing caliph on Muslims, what we find in history is that some of worst dictators came to occupy his position of caliph of Islam. The self-designated caliphs ruled over the Islamic world till the dissolution of Ottoman Empire in early 20th century. Ottoman empire to this day is blamed for ordering execution of a great number of European subjects. Ottoman caliphs killed several of their innocent brothers and sisters in order to become Caliphs. Could caliph of Allah commit such an act? If Islamic laws had been in place and followed, such a Caliph would have been executed for murdering an innocent even before he became a Caliph. The great mistake that some people committed at the demise of the Prophet continued to digress Muslims to the extent that we find self-designated caliphs like Baghdadi denigrating the name of Islam and Muslims. If the Muslim world, self-confessedly, couldn’t find pious Caliphs after the Khilafat-e-Rashida and barring Omar bin Abdul Aziz, it was their own doing.
The reference to the book of Allah and the sunnah of the Holy Prophet, for the sake of justifying their conduct after the Holy Prophet, appears self-defeating and contradictory, when these two agencies (they purport to follow), as explained above and at many suitable occasions in this book, have irrefutably established the vicegerency of Ali and his progeny, which only the followers of Mohammad and Ali faithfully accept and follow.
Moreover, when the Muslims had no choice in selecting Rasoolallah (Prophet of Allah) and the Quran says in clear words that if you had your choice you would have chosen any one of the big names of your clan as Prophet (as they did in the case of choosing a caliph), how could there be a choice in choosing the Khalifatullah (vicegerent of Allah).
Events of Ghadeer-e-Khumm give a clear example which not only confirms that it was the wish of Mohammad that Ali be appointed his successor but also the wish of God.
Verse 5:67 of the Quran states:
(O’ Our Apostle Mohammad!) Deliver thou what hath been sent down unto thee from Thy Lord; and if thou dost it not, then (it will be as if) thou hast not delivered His message (at all); and surely will God protect thee from (the mischief) of men; Verily, God guideth not an infidel people.
When the huge caravan of several thousands of the pilgrims along with the Holy Prophet was on its march, returning from Makkah after the ‘Hajjatul-Wida’ (the last Haj performed by the Prophet) and the Caravan was at the place called Ghadeer-e-Khumm in Juhfa, his urgent command of God arrived, which finds a place in the Quran till this day. Immediately on the receipt of the revelation, the Holy Prophet ordered halt to the marching Caravan and called back those who had gone ahead and waited for those who were coming behind. When all the caravans had gathered, the Holy Prophet ordered a pulpit of the Kajawas (the seats used at the back of the camels) to be prepared. The acacia thorns were swept away. The day was very hot; people had to stretch their cloaks under their feet and over their heads. The Holy Prophet mounting the pulpit delivered a long sermon, which is as follows:
O you people! Know it well that Gabriel came down to me several times bringing me orders from the Lord, the Merciful, that I should halt at this place and inform every man, white and black, that Ali, the son of Abu Talib, is my brother and my wasiyy (successor) and my caliph, and the Imam after me. His position to me is like that of Harun to Musa, except that there is to be no prophet after me, and he is your master next to Allah and His Prophet.
O you people! Verily, Allah has appointed him to be your Imam and ruler. Obedience to him is obligatory alike on all the muhajirun (Emigrants) and ansar (Helpers) and on those who follow them in virtue, and on the dwellers in cities and the nomads, the Arabs and the non-Arabs, the freeman and the slave, the young and the old, the great and the small, the white and the black. His command is to be obeyed, his word is binding and his orders obligatory on everyone believing in the One God. Cursed is the man who disobeys him and blessed is he who follows him, and he who believes in him is a true believer.
O you people! This is the last time I shall stand in this assembly. Therefore, listen and obey and surrender to the command of your Lord. Verily, Allah, He is your Lord and God; then after Him, His Prophet, Mohammad, who is addressing you, is your Master, then after me Ali is your Master and your Imam, according to Allah’s command. Then after him the Imamate will continue through my descendants begotten by him till the day you meet Allah and His Prophet. O you people! Meditate on the Quran and understand its verses; reflect over its clear verses and do not go to the ambiguous ones. For, by Allah, none will properly explain to you its warnings and expound to you its meanings except this man (i.e., Ali) whose hand I am lifting up in front of myself. And I say unto you that whoever whose Master I am, Ali is his Master; and he is Ali, the son of Abu Talib, my brother and wasiyy (successor); and wilayah (obedience to him and love for him) has been made obligatory by Allah, the Powerful, the Exalted.
The other Imams to follow have also been briefly referred to in this address; and they are mentioned in precise detail in many traditions. For example, on one occasion addressing Imam Husain the Prophet said:
You are an Imam, the son of an Imam, the Brother of an Imam, nine of your lineal descendants will be pious Imams; the ninth of them being their Qaim (he who will rise).
Even a casual observer would not fail to realize that it was a matter of vital importance to Islam and that is why the Prophet, under the Divine Command, made all the possible preparations to accomplish it. Exposed to the scorching rays of the midday sun, he mounted the pulpit to make the important pronouncement.
First of all, he informed the audience of his approaching end and then called them to witness and acknowledge his services towards the fulfilment of his mission as the Apostle of God, He asked if he had conveyed the Commands of God about the faith and its practice enumerating them one after another. The gathering in one voice replied to each question saying ‘Yes’ (O’ Apostle of God we do acknowledge that thou hast conveyed the commands of the Lord to us). At last he asked ‘Alasto Aulo bil Momineen min anfosihim? (33:6) i.e., Am I not superior or the Master to the believers more than their own selves? The huge crowd in one voice shouted ‘Certainly, O’ Apostle of God!’ Again he asked ‘Alasto Aula Kulle Momineen min Anfusehim’ i.e., Am I not superior (or Master) to every faithful one than his self? Every one of the huge gathering shouted ‘Certainly, O’ Apostle of God!’ Then the Holy Prophet called Ali son of Abu Talib to mount the pulpit and raised him with the miraculous strength of his apostolic hands so much that the whole gathering could see the white under his armpit and declared:
Man kunto Maulaho fahaza Aliyun Maulahu
To whosoever I am the Maula (the Lord – the Master) this Ali is his Maula (the Lord – the Master).
Having said this he prayed:
Allahomma Waa’le man Waa’lahu’
Aade man aadahu
Wansorman nasarahu
Wakhzul man Khuzalahu
O’ God! Be Thou a friend to him who is a friend to him (Ali). (Be Thou) an enemy to him who is enemy to him (i.e. Ali). Help the one who helps him (i.e. Ali). Forsake the one who forsaketh him (i.e. Ali).
As the Holy Prophet completed this declaration, the Verse 5:3 of Quran was revealed:
This day have I perfected your religion for you and have completed my bounties on you and am pleased your religion to be Islam.
Quran, 5:3
This Divine Communication clearly shows that because of Ali’s appointment to the Imamate the religion was perfected; the bounty and favour of Allah completed, and Islam as a path approved by Allah. On the arrival of this glad tiding from heaven the believers congratulated Ali in the Prophet’s presence and many poets composed poems on this event. These entire facts stand recorded in books of tradition.
[See how the two verses 5:67 and 5:3 that were revealed on the same day have been placed so far apart in the Quran. What was the motive of putting these verses so far apart at the time of compilation of Quran is not certain? What is evident however is the fact that the Muslims have certainly got confused due to this. We know for sure that the verse that was revealed later has come towards the beginning (5:3) and the verse which was revealed a few minutes earlier has come after a gap of 63 verses in Quran (5:67) and the intervening verses were not revealed at Ghadeer-e-Khumm at all. Why is it that some commentators do not talk of the background of these verses; when and under what circumstances were they revealed?
Imagine what would have happened if the verses had clearly talked of Ali being the caliph and successor. Would the Umayyads in whose reign Ali was cursed from nearly 70,000 mosque pulpits all across the Islamic world, that too for 90 years, allowed the name of Ali to remain in the book? The purpose of the Ahlulbayt was to lead to the worship of One God and that was happening even though man had forsaken those who constituted the rope to salvation. They knew man was not elevated enough to understand their role and position. It will only be later that man will realize his folly.That day is about to come!]
Descending from the pulpit, the Holy Prophet commanded every one of the huge gathering to pay his ‘bayat’ or homage or allegiance to Ali. The first one to p1ay the bayat was Omar ibn Khattab (who later became the 2nd Caliph) saying:
Bakhkhin Bakhkhin laka yabna Abu Talib, Asbahta Maulaee wa Maula Kulle Momineen wa mominatin.
Hurrah, Hurrah, O’ Son of Abu Taleb thou hast now become my Maula (Master) and the Maula (Master) of every faithful man and faithful woman
Ghuzzali, Sirrul-Alameen
Hearing the words with which Omar felicitated Ali, the Holy Prophet commanded Omar not to address Ali as son of Abu Talib but as Ameer-ul-Momineen, i.e., the Commander of the Faithful. Everyone paid his bayat (allegiance) and the Holy Prophet commanded every one in the audience to receive ‘bayat’ for Ali as the ‘Ameer-ul-Momineen’ in their own places on their return from the Haj.
Like his other titles, viz. ‘Asadullah’ – the Lion of God, ‘Abu Turab’ – the Father of the Earth, ‘Akho Rasullah’ – The Brother of the Apostle of God, etc., the title of Ameer-ul-Momineen also was bestowed upon Ali exclusively for him by the Holy Prophet himself, for none else held any of the titles during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, particularly the title Ameer-ul-Momineen.
As to the revelation of this verse and the action taken by the Holy Prophet at Ghadeer-e-Khumm, it will be unnecessarily swelling of the note on this verse to give the whole list of the great traditionists, historians and the scholars who have related this event with its true significance. The number of such authorities is innumerable. One of the most famous and the celebrated historians has collected them in a book called ‘Kitabul Vilayat’ about which the great critic Zahabi remarks that when he looked at the book, he was thunder-struck at the number of the authentic sources through which the author has brought the event to be recorded. Ibne-Uqda has written a book named ‘Hadeesul-Wilayat’, entirely devoted to this event, in which he cites the authorities of no less than 120 ‘Sahabas’ (companions of the Holy Prophet) giving the names of 101 Sahabas. Of the long list of the named Sahabas, only a few who are well-known ones, is given here: (1) Abu Bakr, (2) Omar, (3) Uthman, (4) Talha, (5) Zubair, (6) Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, (7) Salman Farsi, (8) Saad, (9) Khazimah, (10) Abu Ayyub, (11) Sahl ibn Hunaif, (12) Zaid ibn Sabit, (13) Hassein ibn Sabit, (14) Abul Tufail, etc. As a matter of fact, there is not a single event of the Islamic history nor even of revealing of any other Quranic verses which has earned so much of unanimous, universal, unquestionable and doubtless attention from such great authorities in such a huge manner.
The event was so much known to every one during the time of the Holy Prophet and so many of the great personalities have witnessed and vouched it that none could ever venture to deny, excepting that some with vested interest have only attempted to misinterpret the meaning of the word ‘Maula’ to mean an ordinary friend but a Persian poet has given an apt reply to such perverted interpretation saying:
Abbas dar mana-e-mankomto Maula Meeravi harsoo
Ali Maula ba-on ma’na ke paighambar bowad Maula
In vain, for the interpretation of the expression of whomsoever can the Maula dost thou run in every direction, Ali is Maula in the very same sense as the Holy Prophet himself was.
The very word and the construction of the verse is sufficiently eloquent about the actual meaning and the object of the revelation.
‘Ma’ Onzila ilaik’ – that which has already been sent down to thee (O’ Our Apostle) – It clearly indicates that ‘that’ which the Holy Prophet had then been commanded by God to convey had already been communicated to him on earlier occasion.
This means that the thing which the Holy Prophet was now under this revelation commanded to convey, was the life and soul or the chief object of his apostleship on the discharge of which duty, depended the fulfilment of the object of his apostleship. The concluding words of the revelation reveal the cause of the Holy Prophet having deferred the conveyance of that which had already been sent down to him ‘Wallaho Ya’simuka Minan-nas’ – verily will God save thee (O’ Our Apostle Mohammad) form the mischief of the people.’
This assurance from Quran to Prophet Mohammad against the mischief of the people makes the whole situation quite clear that the Holy Prophet had received something very important to be conveyed but it was something in his own knowledge which would have never been relished or even accepted by a certain group of mischief-mongers, the hypocrites who were powerful elements, for it would have frustrated all their hopes in their plans for the future (i.e., after the departure of the Holy Prophet). The Holy Prophet apprehending some great flare-up and awaiting some suitable opportunity to discharge the duty in a safer way had deferred the action as the revelation already received would have demanded any immediate action then and there as it has now imperatively demanded. But the matter was of such an important and vital one that without it, the faith was not a faith complete and all that the Holy Prophet had done for it would have been of no effect or of any avail at all for humanity. And what the Holy Prophet did immediately on the receipt of this revelation must be the object of this revelation and that alone would by all reasoning be the matter upon which depended the fulfilment of the mission of the Holy Prophet.
Immediately as this revelation came, the Holy Prophet halted the whole caravan. Certainly this speaks very eloquently clarifying the position, the value and the greatness of the significance of the object of the revelation. It appears that the Divine Plan was to leave the security of the message conveyed by the Prophet in the hands of the Divine Representatives only and since the Message was to be valid till the Day of Judgment, God wanted to safeguard from misinterpretations and sabotage, as had happened with the previous scriptures.
Thus without the faith in the Imamat, i.e., continuation of the divine guidance, the religion Islam remains incomplete, to be nothing but what the fancy of the corrupt minds would have remoulded it to suit their own selfish ends.
Besides the others, the following great authorities of even the accredited Sunni Scholars, have reported this event with all its details:
(1) Ahmad ibn Hambal, (2) Abdullah ibne Ahmed, (3) Abdullah ibne Mohammad ibne abi Shaiba Asdi, (4) Abdul Abbas Nasvi, (5) Abdul Malki Farkoosh, (6) Abu Ishaq Naishapuri, (7) Ismail Ali as Ibne Samam, (8) Abdul Karim Sam’aani, (9) Moaffaq ibn Ahmad, (10) Omar ibn Mohammad, (11) Yousuf ibn Qari Ali Sibt ibne Jawzi, (12) Moheb-Tabari, (13) Ibrahim ibne Mohammad, (14) Mohammad ibne Abdullah, (15) Jamaluddin Karandi, (16) Ibne Kathir, (17) Ali ibne Shahabuddin-e-Hamadani, (18) Ahmed ibn Ali Maqreezi, (19) Ibne Sabbagh Malliki, (20) Allama Maiband, (21) Aseeluddin Waiz, (22) Mahmood ibn Mohammad, (23) Mohammad ibn Abdur Rasool Barzanji, (24) Mirza Mohammad ibn Mo’tamed Khan Hadsi, (25) Mohammad ibne Sadre Alam, (26) Mohammad ibne Ismail ibn Salatul Amir, (27) Sulaiman ibn Dawar, (28) Ahmed ibn Manee’ Baghavi, (29) Ibrahim ibne Mohammad Jovaini, (30) Jalaluddin-e-Suyuti, (31) Jamaluddin, (32) Atauddin, (33) Fazlullah Mohaddis, (34) Alauddin Muttaqi, (35) Mahmood ibn Ali Subhani Qadri, (36) Ahmed ibn Mohammad Qushas, (37) Ibne Uqdah.
Some books which have repeated this event:
(1) Sirrul Aalamam-Ghuzaali, (2) Asadul Ghaba, (3) Kitabul Masool - Mohammd ibn Talha-e-Shafayi, (4) Tazkirah-e-Khawasul-Umma – Sibt ibne Jawazi, (5) Manaqib-e-ibne Maghazili – Faqeeh Shafayi, (6) Tafsir Thalabi, (7) Tafsir Abu Saud, (8) Tafsir-e-Durrer Manthur, (9) Moaddatul Qurba – of Syed Ali Hamadani, (10) Kitabul Rasul wal Malook – Tabarri, (11) Sawaeq-e-Moharriqa – Ibne Haja-e-Macci, (12) Nuzulul Abrar – Mirza Md. Motamad Khan, (13) Hisn-e-Haseenul Mataleb – Shamsuddin Mohammad ibne Mohammad Jazari, (14) Arbayeen – Hafiz Jamaluddin, (15) Tazkiratul Haffaz – Hafiz Zahabi, (16) Sharhe Mishqat – Mullah Ali, (17) Insaanul Oyoona – Hafiz Nooruddin Halbi, (18) Abqathul-Masdooh – Allama Ziauddin Salah-ibn Mahdi Muqbih, (19) Zainul Fata – Hafiz Ahmed ibn Mohammad Asemi, (20) Siratus Sawa – Hafiz Mahmood ibn Mohammad ibn Ali – Shaikhani Qadri, (21) Lam’ate Sharhe Mishkat – Shaik Abdul Huq-e-Muhaddis Dahlavi, (22) Nawaqizur Rawafiz – Mirza Maqdom ibn Mir Abdul Baqi, (23) Rawzatun Nadiah – Mohammad Ismail ibne Salahut, (24) Ma’arijul Ola – Allama Mohammad Sadrul-Alam, (25) Saiful Maslool – Qazi Sanaull Panepatti, (26) Do’atul Hadat ila Ada-el-Haqqul Mo’aalat – Allama Abul Qasim-Ubaidullah ibne Abdul Alhaskani, (27) Diraya-e-Hadeesul Wilaya – Allama Abu Syeed Masibn Nasir Assanjari (28) Miftahul-Kanzul Daqaiq – Hafiz Shamsuddin Abu Abdullah Mohammd ibn Nasir Assanjari, (29) Musnad-Imam-e-Ahmed Hambal, (30) Shawahidun Nubuwwath – Mullah Jami, (31) Tawzihul-Dalail – Syed Shahabuddin, (32) Yanabiul-Mo’addah – Sheikhi Sulaiman-Qandozi Hanafi, (33) Rauzatus Safa, (34) Tarikhe Kamil, (35) Tarikhe-ibnul Wardi, (36) Kitabul Saniul Mataleb – Allama-Jarazi, (42) Istee-aab – Abdul Bar, etc.
A complete list of all the historians and the traditionists (Mohaddesin) is impossible to give here. Only the well-known and the leading ones whose position is universally accepted by the Sunni School have been given. In spite of so much of the doubtless and the unchallengeable acknowledgement of the facts it is only a wonder how man could ever insist upon his own fanciful notions and hold himself fast to them, unless his conscience and reasoning cease to work or he does not want to be corrected.
When the Holy Prophet declared about Ali being the ‘Maula’ or the Lord or the Commander of the Faithful, one of the hypocrites – Harith ibn No’man Fehri could not tolerate the appointment of Ali in the place of the Holy Prophet and got upon his camel and deciding to leave the gathering, approached the Holy Prophet and said:
O’ Apostle of God, thou wanted us to discard idolatry, we did it. Thou wanted us to pray, fast, to go on pilgrimage, give the poor-rate, the Khumms, to fight in the way of God, we did everything.
And now thou art placing Ali over and above us. Is this what thou doest of thine own accord or in accordance with the command from God?
The Holy Prophet said:
Whatever I have done is nothing, but the execution of the revealed will of God.
Then the hypocrite prayed God saying that if what the Holy Prophet said was true then let a torment come from heaven and kill him. Immediately a stone came from heaven and passing right through the man’s body killed him. [This event shows how God fulfilled His promise of protecting Holy Prophet from the mischief of infidels. Surely, had there been no stone from heaven, a lot many more would have stood up in rebellion. But the very incident of the death of this hypocrite must have stunned others into silence and showed to one and all that it was God’s command that the Prophet had obeyed when he made the announcement.]
The aforementioned incident is also to be seen in the light of another Quranic Verse, as per which the word of the Holy Prophet is final.
And it is not for a believer man or woman to have a choice in their affair when God and His Apostle have decided a matter; and whoever disobeyed God and His Apostle, indeed he hath strayed off a manifest straying.
Quran.33:36
The following verse even suggests that God keeps appointing leaders (Imams) from amongst men.
Verily God has chosen him (last) in preference to you and has increaseth him abundantly in knowledge and physique and God granteth His Kingdom to whosoever he pleaseth, and God is Ample Giving, All Knowing.
Quran.2:247
We invite you to note that abundant knowledge and physique are the parameters chosen by God for granting His Kingdom. Search the entire history of Islam and you will find that ‘the Gate of the City of Knowledge’ and the ever triumphant ‘Lion of God’ are the distinctions exclusively held by Ali and none else.
Those who cannot deny the authenticity of the hadees of Ghadeer try to downplay its significance by saying that the word maula in this hadees means ‘friend’, and that the Holy Prophet wanted to announce that: “Whoever whose friend I am, Ali is his friend!”
The trouble is that not a single person who was present in Ghadeer grasped this alleged meaning. Hassan ibn Thabit, the famous poet of the Holy Prophet composed a poem and recited it before the audience, in which he said:
The Prophet then said to him: “Stand up, O Ali, as I am pleased to make you Imam and Guide after me.”
Omar ibn Khattab, who later played an important part in the choice of Abu Bakr as the first Caliph on the very day the Prophet died, and who later became the second Caliph of the Muslims, himself congratulated Ali in these words:
Congratulations, O son of Abu Talib, this morning you became maula of every believing man and woman.
If maula means ‘friend’ then why the congratulations? Was Ali an ‘enemy’ of all believing men and women before that time, so that Omar said that ‘this morning’ you became friend of them all?
Imam Ali himself wrote to Muawiya:
And the Messenger of Allah granted to me his authority over you on the day of Ghadeer-e-Khumm.
And there are many other Companions of the Holy Prophet who used in their poems the word “maula” in connection with Ghadeer-e-Khumm in the sense of “master”.
Moreover, if a word has more than one meaning, the best way to ascertain its true connotation is to look at the association (qarinah) and the context. There are scores of “associations” in this hadees which clearly show that the only meaning fitting the occasion can be “master”. Some of them are as follows:
First: The question which the Holy Prophet asked just before this declaration: He asked them: “Do I not have more authority upon you than you have yourselves?” When they said: “Yes, surely,” then the Prophet proceeded to declare that:
Whoever whose maula I am, Ali is his maula.
Without doubt, the word maula in this declaration has the same meaning as “having more authority upon you” has in the preceding question. At least 64 Sunni traditionalists have quoted that preceding question; among them are Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Majah, an-Nasai and at-Tirmidhi.
Second: The following prayer which the Holy Prophet uttered just after this declaration:
O Allah! Love him who loves Ali, and be the enemy of the enemy of Ali; help him who helps Ali and forsake him who forsakes Ali.
This prayer shows that Ali, on that day, was entrusted with a responsibility which, by its very nature, would make some people his enemy (and that responsibility could not be that except of a ruler); and in carrying out that responsibility he would need helpers and supporters. Are helpers ever needed to carry on a ‘friendship’?
Third: The declaration of the Holy Prophet that:
It seems imminent that I will be called away (by Allah) and I will answer that call.”
This clearly shows that he was making arrangements for the leadership of the Muslims after his death.
Fourth: The congratulations of the Companions and their expressions of joy do not leave room for doubt concerning the meaning of this declaration.
Fifth: The occasion, place and time: Imagine the Holy Prophet breaking his journey in midday, and detaining nearly one-hundred-thousand travellers under the burning sun of the Arabian desert, making them sit in a thorny place on the burning sand, and making a pulpit of camel saddles; then imagine him delivering a long lecture and at the end of all those preparations coming out with an announcement that: “Whoever loves me should love Ali,” or “Whoever whose friend I am, Ali is his friend!”
Sixth: Last, but not the least. Allah too knew the gravity of the announcement that He was commanding the Prophet to make and the differing impact that it will have on different people. That is why, Allah pacified any fear that may have been in the mind of His Prophet by saying “. . . if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people. . .”
However, it seems that the Muslims neither took their Prophet’s words seriously nor the words of Allah. This can be understood by the fact that Caliphate was denied to Ali after the death of Prophet and till today a good number of Muslims continue to accept Ali as an ordinary man, like themselves. Some think the same for the Prophet as well!
Even Quranic injunctions were taken in their superficial context. For instance, see the following verse from Quran.
We have revealed unto thee (Mohammad) that thereby thou mayst bring forth mankind from darkness unto light.
Majority of Muslims believe that Mohammad was bestowed with prophethood when he was 40 years of age and consequent to that this verse was revealed which talked of Mohammad leading mankind from darkness unto light. These Muslims are of the opinion that this role of Mohammad commenced when he was given that position at a certain time in his life. This is in spite of the fact that at no point it is said that this honour was bestowed on Mohammad at a certain place and time. On the contrary, Mohammad is reported to have said that he was the Prophet even when Adam was created and this is reference to leading mankind from the clutches of Zulmat to the path of Noor. But such comments regarding Mohammad himself and his progeny were ignored. The aforementioned verse too is accepted to be applicable only to the time of Prophet’s life on earth.
Muslims who believe this forget that if they believe Quran to be a book of guidance for all times, if they claim that Quranic text was written on Loh-e-Mahfouz even prior to the creation of Adam, then they should have also seen the verses related to Prophet and the Ahlubayt as absolutist in nature. After all, when they say that God is Just, they claim that not an iota of injustice can be found in His character, when they say that God is Knowledgeable, they claim that not an iota of ignorance is found in Him, but contrary to their own beliefs when Quran say that the Ahlulbayt are pure or showers similar other praises on Prophet Mohammad and the rest of Ahlulbayt, they do not want to see this in an absolutist manner. This was handiwork of the kings who captured the power after Prophet Mohammad in the name of Caliphate. With the great and pious Ahlulbayt living in their physical domain, they did their best to malign their character, so much so that there was a time when the Caliph’s officials from more than 70,000 mosques were vilifying Ali during each Friday prayers. Fact is that the Muslims, inclusive of the Shias who claim to hold on to the Ahlulbayt, never gave the position to the Ahlubayt that they truly deserved. Those who claim to be their rightful followers too didn’t understand the purpose of their creation, which was to lead mankind to the worship and obedience of God. If they had understood the role of Ahlulbayt, they would have themselves become the most ardent worshippers of God.
We are of the opinion that it is only through the study of Gita, Vedas and Upanishads that the Muslims would come to know the true position of their Ahlulbayt [Divyatmas or Devatas, the Noorani Spirits or the Noorani Roohs]. Therefore, none of the sects of Muslims can claim that they have a right over the Ahlulbayt. It is the Upanishads that are highlighting the role of Ahlulbayt in attaining salvation, it is the Upanishads that are talking of their creation and their consequent role in the creation of the rest of the beings, their role in guiding the mankind towards the worship of God and how our self (rooh) has a direct relationship with the Noorani Rooh of the Ahlulbayt. Truth is that mankind will return to the path of Ahlubayt only because of the Upanishads and the Vedas.
The Upanishads have clearly stated the Devatas took upon themselves the task of leading mankind towards the true path and showing them the best way to attain proximity with their Creator. If we take in consideration the aforementioned verse from Quran again in its absolutist context, you will realize that Quran too is confirming that Mohammad’s role was to guide and show the way to all mankind.
This is just a stray example to prove that the present study of Upanishads and Vedas is sure to change the entire perspective of Muslims regarding Mohammad and the rest of Ahlulbayt. We are sure that by now you have realized the subject of discussion in the Upanishads is to identify and clarify the true position of Ahlulbayt with God on one side and we, the humans, on the other.
However, the greatest of surprise – the Vedas – is still in store for you. A little later – in Book-III – you will find that the entire Vedas talk of the incidents from the lives of these Devatas, when they would take birth on earth. You will be amazed to hear that even the subject of Caliphate has been discussed in the Vedas. But to know what the Vedas talk about and to verify its wordings, you ought to know the incidents from the lives of Ahlulbayt when the Noor of the Devatas descended in human bodies, one after another. In the remaining portion of Book-II, we will give you the incidents from the lives of Ahlulbayt, which are generally accepted by the Muslims, so you are better aware about them by the time you read what the Vedas have to say on the subject.
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