MUSLIMS & THE STRAIGHT PATH: Part - 3-C - What Happened at Ghadeer-e-Khumm?

Muslims & The Straight Path  [Published 2010]

Part - 3-C

WHAT HAPPENED AT GHADEER-E-KHUMM?

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, the angel Gabriel brought him this urgent command of God. 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 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 fulfillment 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 Taleb 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.

(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 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. 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 came 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 that some commentators do not talk of the background of these verses; when and under what circumstances were they revealed?]

Descending from the pulpit, the Holy Prophet commanded everyone of the huge gathering to pay his ‘bayat’ or homage or allegiance to Ali. The first one to pay 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 Taleb but as ‘Ameerul-Momineen’, i.e., the Commander of the Faithful. Every one paid his bayat and the Holy Prophet commanded every one in the audience to receive ‘bayat’ for Ali as the ‘Ameerul-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 Ameerul-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 Ameerul-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, the scholars and the divines 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 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.

The Holy Prophet had already preached the Unity of God.

All the Divine attributes had also been preached.

The faith in all the previous apostles of God and in the Holy Prophet himself being the last of God’s Apostles had also been established.

The faith in the Last Day i.e., the Day of Resurrection for the Final Judgment had also been preached.

This was all about the fundamentals of the theoretical side of the religion, Islam. As regards to the practical side of the faith –

‘Salat’ or the prescribed prayer had already been taught and it was being regularly offered.

‘Saum’, i.e. fasting was being done.

‘Haj’, i.e. pilgrimage to Ka’aba; that was being done and the multitude was returning only after performing it.

‘Zakat’, i.e., the prescribed poor-rate was being paid and daily collected.

‘Khumms’, i.e., the 1/5th of the net gain was being duly paid and collected.

‘Jehad’, i.e. the Fight for the cause of God was already being done whenever the believers were called to do it.

‘Amar ibn Maaroof’, i.e., Enjoining of good and ‘Nahih anil munkar’, i.e., the preaching of abstinence from evil, was being done. There was nothing of the fundamentals of the doctrines of the faith or its practice was left unconveyed to the people.

The succeeding words of Quran raise the importance of the object of the revelation to the climax.

Wa in lam taf’al fama ballaghta risalateh

[and if thou doeth it not, then thou hast not discharged His apostleship at all.]

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 fulfillment 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 some 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 fulfillment of the mission of the Holy Prophet.

Immediately as this revelation was revealed, 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 at the hands of the Jews and the Christians.

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 remolded 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.

[Those disbelieving are invited to search and tell the background of the verse from Quran; where it was revealed and what happened on that day that was so important that God had to tell Prophet that if he did not do so, it would be akin to giving no teaching at all. Also search when was the verse 5:3 revealed and under what conditions?]

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.]

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 an 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.

(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.

(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 every triumphant ‘Lion of God’ are the distinctions exclusively held by Ali and none else. 

General Meaning of Maula

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? And was Ali ‘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 travelers 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 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. . .”