The Attempt to Distort the Truth of Ghadir
¶1 Recently, in some statements and writings, an attempt has been made to deny and distort the true message of the event of Ghadir Khumm — namely, the proclamation of the wilayah (divinely appointed authority) and Imamate of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) by the command of Allah and on behalf of His Messenger — and to attribute the Ghadir sermon of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF) to the affair of Yemen and the complaint of certain individuals against Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) brought to him. As a result, the statement of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) is reduced to a recommendation of friendship with and support for Imam Ali (AS).
Exploiting an Opportunity!
¶2 Discussion of historical subjects requires consulting various texts and carefully examining different — and sometimes mutually contradictory — accounts and assessing their authenticity. For this reason, a researcher or writer who brings such discussions into his speech or book must base his view on documented and reasoned evidence, and must discuss the matter so comprehensively and rigorously that it encompasses the various reports.
¶3 On the other hand, the audience of such discussions typically does not have the time or expertise for this task; they do not consult each report and chain of transmission one by one, and they take as a starting point the truthfulness of the speaker or writer and the accuracy of his claim — whereas this premise is not always true.
¶4 Within this gap, some malicious individuals exploit the opportunity and take to distorting historical realities. The event of Ghadir is one such case.
A Sample from a Distorting Text
¶5 The summary of one such writing is as follows:
¶6 “The summary of this event, as it has come down in the Islamic histories, is this: In the tenth year of the Hijra, when the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) set out for the Sacred House of Allah to perform and teach the Islamic Hajj, he sent letters to the chiefs of the Arab tribes and to the lands of the Muslims, including Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS), who was in Yemen engaged in collecting zakat. Ali (AS) entrusted the goods to some of his companions and swiftly set off toward Mecca, and on the seventh or eighth of Dhul-Hijja reached the Messenger of Allah. After performing the Hajj and its rites, he returned to his mission, which was the conveyance of the property of the public treasury. Upon his return, Amir [Ali] (AS) observed that those individuals had appropriated some of the goods belonging to the public treasury, so he rebuked and reproached them, which weighed heavily upon them, and after rejoining the rest of the Muslims they began to speak ill of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) before the Prophet (PBUH&HF) and others. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF), observing this situation, deemed it incumbent upon himself — so that Ali would not be known for ill — before the Muslims dispersed and before the waves of this event reached Mecca and Medina and influenced the people, to defend the eminent and distinguished personage of Ali (AS) and to introduce him with his lofty virtues to the Muslims, and to settle the matter then and there. Thus, in the gathering of Ghadir Khumm, he undertook to introduce that noble one and to declare the obligation of loving him upon all Muslims.”
Summary of the Distorters’ Claims
¶7 The summary of the claims of those who distort the truth of Ghadir is as follows:
¶8 — The Ghadir sermon was the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) reaction to the complaint of Imam Ali’s (AS) companions on the Yemen expedition against him.
¶9 — The intent of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) in the Ghadir sermon and in the phrase “man kuntu mawlahu fa-hadha Ali mawlahu” was to announce that whoever is a friend of mine should also be a friend of Ali.
The Aim of This Article
¶10 In this article we intend to show, in brief:
¶11 — On the testimony of major Sunni sources, the Yemen affair and the complaint of some against Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) — and the response of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) to them — pertain to before the Hajj rites, and at least ten days before Ghadir Khumm.
¶12 — On the basis of contextual indications and evidence from the event of Ghadir as recorded in Sunni books, the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) intent in the Ghadir sermon was the proclamation of the wilayah, caliphate, and Imamate of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS).
Ibn Hisham Places the Yemen Affair Before the Hajj Rites
¶13 The book Sirat Ibn Ishaq is among the most important historical sources of the Sunnis. Ibn Hisham, in his Sirat Ibn Hisham / The Biography of Ibn Hisham, citing Sirat Ibn Ishaq, records the affair of the complaint of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali’s (AS) companions to the Messenger of Allah after the return from Yemen as follows:
¶14 «لما أقبل علی رضی الله عنه من الیمن لیلقی رسول الله صلی الله علیه و [وآله] سلم بمکه تعجل إلی رسول الله صلی الله علیه[وآله] وسلم واستخلف علی جنده الذین معه رجلا من أصحابه فعمد ذلک الرجل فکسا کل رجل من القوم حله من البز الذی کان مع علی رضی الله عنه فلما دنا جیشه خرج لیلقاهم فإذا علیهم الحلل قال: ویلک ما هذا قال: کسوت القوم لیتجملوا به إذا قدموا فی الناس قال:: ویلک انزع قبل أن تنتهی به إلی رسول الله صلی الله علیه[وآله] وسلم. قال: فانتزع الحلل من الناس فردها فی البز قال وأظهر الجیش شکواه لما صنع بهم.
قال ابن إسحاق [ سلسله سند] عن أبی سعید الخدری قال: اشتکی الناس علیا رضوان الله علیه فقام رسول الله صلی الله علیه[وآله] وسلم فینا خطیبا فسمعته یقول: أیها الناس لا تشکوا علیا فوالله إنه لأخشن فی ذات الله (أو فی سبیل الله) من أن یشکی.
قال ابن إسحاق: ثم مضی رسول الله صلی الله علیه[وآله] وسلم علی حجه فأری الناس مناسکهم و أعلمهم سنن حجهم»
¶15 “When Ali (AS) set out from Yemen toward Mecca to meet the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF), he hastened ahead to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) and appointed one of his companions as his deputy over the army that was with him. That man took it upon himself, and from the cloth (which was with Ali (AS) as zakat or as booty in the caravan) he clothed each of the men of the troop with a garment.
¶16 When the army drew near to Mecca, Ali (AS) came out of the city to meet them, and suddenly saw the garments upon them. He said to the commander he had appointed, ‘Woe to you, what is this state?’ He said, ‘I clothed the men so that they would appear becoming when they enter among the people.’ He said, ‘Woe to you, take them off before we reach the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF).’ So the man stripped the garments from the people and returned them with the cloth. And the troops voiced complaint over this act.
¶17 Ibn Ishaq reports from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, who said: ‘The people complained against Ali (RA). Then the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) rose among us as a preacher, and I heard him say: O people, do not complain against Ali, for by Allah he is too rigorous in the matter of Allah (or in the path of Allah) to be complained against.’
¶18 Ibn Ishaq said: ‘Then the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) passed beyond this matter and turned to his Hajj; he showed the people their rites and taught them the practices of their Hajj.'”
¶19 As is evident, Ibn Hisham has made it explicit that those dispatched to Yemen complained against Ali (AS) to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF); the Prophet (PBUH&HF), in reaction to the complaints, delivered a sermon and defended Amir al-Mu’minin (AS); then he turned to the rites of Hajj and taught the Muslims the practices of Hajj.
¶20 According to this report, the affair of the complaint against Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) and the Messenger of Allah’s (PBUH&HF) reaction to it — in the form of delivering a sermon in defense of the Imam (AS) — took place before the rites of Hajj, that is, at least ten days before Ghadir Khumm. Yet the distorters give the impression that Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) only after the rites of Hajj returned to the contingent dispatched to Yemen and took them to task, and naturally it was only then that those individuals went to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) and complained against the Imam (AS).
¶21 This distortion is aimed at shortening the temporal distance between the Ghadir sermon and the complaint affair, so that the connection between these two matters may be made to appear more natural.
¶22 Perhaps the distorters learned this method of distortion from Ibn Kathir. For he too, like Ibn Hisham, at first reports the above affair from Sirat Ibn Ishaq, but he has omitted the closing sentences which say, “ثم مضی رسول الله صلی الله علیه[وآله] وسلم علی حجه فأری الناس مناسکهم و أعلمهم سنن حجهم” — so that it would not become clear that the people’s complaint against Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) and the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) response to them pertain to before the Hajj rites, and so that he could connect the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) Ghadir sermon to this affair and regard it as its continuation!
¶23 And this is one of the clear instances of the words of Allah, who said:
¶24 إِنَّ الشَّیاطینَ لَیُوحُونَ إِلی أَوْلِیایِهِمْ لِیُجادِلُوکُمْ (Quran ۶:۱۲۱)
“Indeed the satans inspire their friends to dispute with you.”
Contextual Indications and Evidence Within the Sermon
¶25 In addition to the above, what took place at Ghadir Khumm has many preliminaries, indications, and pieces of evidence that block any fabricated interpretation or distortion of its reality — which is the proclamation of the wilayah and Imamate of Imam Ali (AS) — and in light of them it cannot be accepted that the Ghadir sermon was the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) reaction to the complaint against Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) and that it is reducible merely to a recommendation of friendship with and support for Imam Ali (AS).
¶26 Some of these indications and pieces of evidence, in brief, are as follows:
The Lack of Connection Between the Content of the Ghadir Sermon and the Complaint Against Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS)
¶27 In the expressions reported in both Sunni and Shia sources from the Prophet (PBUH&HF) in reaction to the complaints against Imam Ali (AS), there appear phrases such as «لا تشکّوا علیاً» (“Do not complain against Ali”), «إرفعوا ألسنتکم عن علی» (“Restrain your tongues from Ali”), and the like — meaning “do not complain against Ali (AS),” “hold back your tongues from reproaching Ali (AS).” But in what has been reported from the Ghadir sermon, there is no indication whatsoever connecting the discourse with any complaint against Amir al-Mu’minin (AS).
The Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) Announcement of the Nearness of His Own Death in Order to Deliver an Important Bequest
¶28 The Prophet (PBUH&HF) at the beginning of the Ghadir sermon said to the people: «کأنی دعیت فأجبت» — “It is as though I have been summoned and have answered” — or «یوشک ان ادعی فاجیب» (“Soon I shall be called and shall answer”).
¶29 The fact that the Prophet (PBUH&HF), before the expression «من کنت مولاه فهذا ولیه اللهم وال من والاه وعاد من عاداه», gives news of the nearness of his own death, means that he was about to deliver an important bequest to the gathering of several tens of thousands of Muslims at Ghadir Khumm. And this is consistent with nothing but the designation of a successor for himself in the matter of Imamate, caliphate, and stewardship.
The Prophet’s Taking of Acknowledgement from the People Regarding His Own Status as the One Holding Authority — the Highest Divine Station — in Order to Designate the One Who Would Hold Authority Over the Community After Him
¶30 The Prophet (PBUH&HF), before pronouncing the expression «من کنت مولاه فهذا ولیه اللهم وال من والاه وعاد من عاداه», reminded them of his own highest divine station, namely “being more entitled to authority over the believers than they themselves are” — the content of verse ۶ of Surah al-Ahzab.
The Pronouncement of the Hadith of Thaqalayn and the Specification of the Community’s Duty Until the Day of Resurrection
¶31 The Prophet, in the Ghadir sermon, pronounced the Hadith of Thaqalayn, and in it paired his Ahl al-Bayt with the Book of Allah, and declared that these two will not separate from one another until the Day of Resurrection.
The Expression “Appointment” (nass / nasb)
¶32 It has been reported from Umar ibn al-Khattab that he said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) appointed (nasaba) Imam Ali (AS) as a standard, and said: «من کنت مولاه فعلی مولاه» (“Whoever I am his mawla, Ali is his mawla”).
¶33 Likewise, it has been reported from Imam Ali (AS) that he said: Allah commanded His Prophet to appoint me over the people.
¶34 It is clear that the expression of appointment (nasb) is consistent with the station of Imamate and stewardship.
The Fear of the Prophet (PBUH&HF)
¶35 Suyuti has reported:
¶36 «یا أَیُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ ما أُنْزِلَ إِلَیْکَ مِنْ رَبِّکَ وَ إِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَما بَلَّغْتَ رِسالَتَهُ وَ اللَّهُ یَعْصِمُکَ مِنَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا یَهْدِی الْقَوْمَ الْکافِرینَ»
“O Messenger! Convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you do not, you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed Allah does not guide the disbelieving folk.”
¶37 Why was the Prophet (PBUH&HF) fearful, and of what did he have apprehension? Does conveying the matter that Ali (AS) is your friend and supporter carry any fear? Never! It was only the conveyance of the wilayah, stewardship, and caliphate of Imam Ali (AS) that the Prophet (PBUH&HF) feared to convey to the people, for he knew that the Quraysh harbored enmity toward Imam Ali (AS) — because he is the very one who had slain their fathers and kinsfolk in the battles!
The Revelation of the Verse of Ikmal After the Ghadir Sermon
¶38 By the agreement of the reports of both sects regarding what has been transmitted under the verse of Ikmal, Allah the Exalted sent down this verse after the event of Ghadir and the completion of His Messenger’s sermon:
¶39 … الْیَوْمَ أَکْمَلْتُ لَکُمْ دینَکُمْ وَ أَتْمَمْتُ عَلَیْکُمْ نِعْمَتی وَ رَضیتُ لَکُمُ الْإِسْلامَ دینا…
“… Today I have perfected your religion for you, and have completed My favor upon you, and have approved Islam as your religion …”
¶40 From this verse it is derived that Allah the Exalted has given His approval to Islam together with the wilayah of Imam Ali (AS), and that, likewise, religion will be perfected through his wilayah and favor will be completed through his wilayah — and this is consistent with the Imamate and stewardship of Imam Ali (AS). For this reason, according to some reports, after the revelation of the verse of Ikmal and before the people had dispersed, the Prophet (PBUH&HF) said:
¶41 «الله اکبر علی اکمال الدین و اتمام النعمه و رضی الرب برسالتی و الولایه لعلی من بعدی»
“Allah is greater for the perfection of religion, the completion of favor, the Lord’s approval of my messengership, and the wilayah for Ali after me.”
Congratulations to the Prophet (PBUH&HF)
¶42 According to some reports, after the event of Ghadir and the completion of his sermon, the Prophet (PBUH&HF) ordered the people to offer congratulations and felicitations to Imam Ali (AS).
¶43 This command is consistent with the appointment (nasb) of Imam Ali (AS) to the Imamate, and these expressions of congratulation are consistent with the understanding of that very station.
Harith and the Request for the Descent of Punishment
¶44 Harith ibn Nu’man al-Fihri, after the news of Ghadir had spread, came to the Messenger of Allah and said: O Muhammad! You commanded us on behalf of Allah to bear witness to the oneness of Allah and to acknowledge you as the Messenger of Allah — we accepted that. You commanded us to zakat, fasting, and Hajj — we accepted these too. You were not content with this much until you raised the hand of your cousin and gave him preference over us and said, “man kuntu mawlahu fa-Ali mawlahu.” Is this matter from you or from Allah? The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: By the One besides whom there is no god, I have conveyed this matter from Allah. At this, Harith ibn Nu’man turned back and headed toward his mount, muttering to himself: O Allah, if what Muhammad says is true, then send down upon us a stone from the sky or afflict us with a painful punishment. He had not yet reached his mount when Allah sent down a stone upon him; it struck the crown of his head and exited from his back, and he went to perdition. At this point, this verse was revealed: «سَأَلَ سایِلٌ بِعَذابٍ واقِع» (“A questioner asked about a punishment about to befall”).
¶45 Why did Harith ibn Nu’man al-Fihri request punishment from Allah the Exalted? If the hadith of Ghadir merely gave news of love for Imam Ali (AS) and supporting him, what occasion was there to request punishment from Allah? Was this not because of the understanding of the meaning of the wilayah and stewardship of the Imam after the passing of the Prophet (PBUH&HF), which some were not prepared to accept?
The Incompatibility of Translating the Sentence as “Friendship with and Support for Imam Ali (AS)” with the Meaning of the Word *mawla* in the Lexicons
¶46 The Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) intent in the sentence «من کنت مولاه فهذا علی مولاه» is not merely to bind the people to love and friendship with Imam Ali (AS), because none of the lexicons has taken mawla to mean “beloved” such that the sentence might accordingly be translated as: “Whoever loves me, let him love Ali (AS) too.” Rather, in the lexicons one of the meanings of mawla is “lover/befriender” (muhibb), and on the basis of that meaning the above sentence would be translated as: “Whoever I am his lover and befriender, Ali too is his lover and befriender!” — a translation no one accepts, and the meaninglessness of which needs no explanation!
¶47 It is precisely because of this incompatibility that the distorters refrain from a precise translation of the above sentence and resort to vague generalities, saying that its intent is love for and support of Imam Ali (AS)!
¶48 The sentence «اللهم وال من والاه و عاد من عاداه» — in which there is talk of friendship with Imam Ali (AS) as opposed to enmity toward him — also cannot serve as evidence that the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) intent in the sentence «من کنت مولاه فهذا علی مولاه» is merely to bind the people to love, friendship with, and support of Imam Ali (AS). For the proclamation of the wilayah of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) by the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) is in no way at variance with praying that Allah the Exalted befriend the lovers of Imam Ali (AS) and hold the enemies of that noble one in enmity — for love is one of the components of accepting wilayah, and harboring enmity was one of the main and effective causes of the confrontations that took place against Amir al-Mu’minin (AS).
¶49 Moreover, in many reports, in the continuation of the Messenger of Allah’s (PBUH&HF) supplication these expressions also appear:
¶50 « وانصر من نصره واخذل من خذله»
“O Allah, help whoever helps Ali, and forsake whoever forsakes him.”
¶51 The combination of “loving,” “not showing enmity toward,” “helping,” and “not abandoning or forsaking” Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) — toward which the Messenger of Allah’s (PBUH&HF) supplication is directed — fully accords with the mawla-ship and stewardship of Imam Ali (AS) over the believers.
The Understanding of the Companions
¶52 By referring to history we will come to realize that the companions who were present at Ghadir Khumm and heard the words of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) all understood from them the meaning of stewardship, of priority in disposal (awla bi-l-tasarruf), and of Imamate.
¶53 As an example: a group in Kufa came into the presence of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) and said, “Peace be upon you, O our mawla.” The Imam said to them, “How am I your mawla, when you are a people of the Arabs?” They replied, “Because we heard the Messenger of Allah at Ghadir Khumm say: ‘man kuntu mawlahu fa-Ali mawlahu.'”
¶54 The understanding of those who were in the era of the explicit textual designation (nass) and grasped the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) intent can be authoritative for us — an understanding which no one has opposed; rather, later generations have followed this understanding and have included it in their poetry and verse.
¶55 Persons such as Imam Ali (AS) in his reply to Mu’awiya, Hassan ibn Thabit, Qays ibn Sa’d ibn Ubada al-Ansari, Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Himyari, Abd al-Kufi, Abu Tammam, Di’bil al-Khuza’i, al-Himmani al-Kufi, Ibn Abi Firas, and Alam al-Huda, and others, have understood from this hadith the meaning of stewardship and have alluded to it in their poetry.
The Argumentations of the Imams and Their Companions Citing Ghadir Khumm in Establishing the Imamate and Wilayah of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS)
¶56 Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) and the other Imams and their companions have, on many occasions, argued by appeal to the event of Ghadir and the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) proclamation of the wilayah and Imamate of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) at Ghadir Khumm.
¶57 Allamah Amini, in the first volume of his weighty work al-Ghadir / Ghadir, reports thirty cases of recorded argumentations citing the affair of Ghadir Khumm carried out by Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) and others.
¶58 The contemporary scholar Mr. Muhammad-Baqir Ansari, in his book Asrar al-Ghadir / Secrets of Ghadir, has also recorded thirty-two cases of argumentation by Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) citing Ghadir, and dozens of cases of argumentations by the other infallible Imams (AS) and their companions citing Ghadir.
Those Who Concealed the Hadith of Ghadir
¶59 According to some reports, Amir al-Mu’minin, in gatherings of the companions, called upon those who had been present on the day of Ghadir Khumm and had heard the hadith of Ghadir from the Prophet (PBUH&HF) to rise and give testimony in the midst of the assembly. A number of people rose and gave testimony, but some, without any particular cause, refused to give testimony and offered pretexts, and as a result were afflicted with diseases that could never be cured. Among these the following may be mentioned:
¶60 Anas ibn Malik was afflicted with leprosy (baras) on account of concealing the hadith of Ghadir.
¶61 Bara’ ibn Azib went blind on account of concealing the hadith of Ghadir.
¶62 Zayd ibn Arqam went blind on account of concealing the hadith of Ghadir.
¶63 Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali, on account of concealing the hadith of Ghadir, with the imprecation of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) reverted to the state of pre-Islamic ignorance (jahiliyya).
Response to a Question
¶64 It may be said: If the intent of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) in the sentence «من کنت مولاه فهذا علی مولاه» was the Imamate of Imam Ali (AS), why did he not state this matter in the sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage in Mecca — so that, in addition to the thousands of pilgrims who had gathered from all regions of the Islamic domain, the people of Mecca too would be apprised of the Imamate and the proof would be completed upon them — or why did he not state it in Medina so that all the people of Medina, who played the foremost and fundamental role in bringing the caliph to power, would hear it?
¶65 In response one must say: Granting that the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) intent in his sermon was the command to love Imam Ali (AS) and support him, abundant evidence shows that he, after the Prophet (PBUH&HF), was not only not the object of love and support, but that great wrong was done to him.
¶66 Consider some samples of the complaints of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) reported in Nahj al-Balagha / The Peak of Eloquence:
¶67 The Imam, in Letter 28 of Nahj al-Balagha, in reply to Mu’awiya, has written:
¶68 «… وَ قُلْتَ: إنّی کُنْتُ اُقادُ کَما یُقادُ الجَمَلُ الـمَخْشُوشُ حَتّی اُبایِعَ وَلَعَمْرُ اللّهِ لَقَدْ أرَدْتَ أنْ تَذُمَّ فَمَدَحْتَ وَ أنْ تَفْضَحَ فَافْتَضَحْتَ وَ ما عَلَی المُسْلِمِ مِنْ غَضاضَهٍ فی أنْ یَکوُنَ مَظْلُوماً ما لَم یَکُنْ شاکّاً فی دینِهِ وَ لا مُرْتاباً بِیَقینِهِ.»
¶69 “… And you said: I was led like a bridled and haltered camel until I pledged allegiance. By the life of Allah! You meant to censure but you praised, and you meant to disgrace but you yourself were disgraced. There is no shame upon a Muslim in being wronged, so long as he is not in doubt regarding his religion nor wavering in his certainty.”
¶70 In Sermon 217 he also says:
¶71 «اللّهُمَّ إنّی أسْتَعْدیکَ عَلی قُرَیْشٍ وَ مَنْ أعانَهُم فَإنَّهُمْ قَدْ قَطَعوُا رَحِمی وَ أکْفَؤوُا إنایی وَأجْمَعُوا عَلی مُنازَعَتی حَقّاً کُنْتُ أولی بِهِ مِنْ غَیری وَقالُوا: إنَّ فِی الحَقِّ أنْ تَأخُذَهُ وَ فِی الحَقِّ أنْ تُـمْنَعَهُ فَاصْبِرْ مَغْمُوماً أوْ مُتْ مُتَأسِّفاً. فَنَظَرْتُ فإذا لَیْسَ لی رافِدٌ وَ لاذابٌّ وَ لا مُساعِدٌ إلاّ أهْلَ بَیْتی فَضَنِنْتُ بِهِمْ عَنِ المَنِیَّهِ فَأغْضَیْتُ عَلَی القَذی وَ جَرِعْتُ ریقی عَلَی الشَّجا و صَبَرْتُ مِنْ کَظْمِ الغَیْظِ عَلی أمَرَّ مِنَ العَلْقَمِ وَ آلَمَ لِلْقَلْبِ مِنْ وَ حزِِّ الشِّفارِ.»
¶72 “O Allah! I seek Your aid against the Quraysh and those who assisted them, for they have severed my kinship-tie and overturned my vessel, and have united in contending with me over a right of which I was more entitled than any other. They said: Part of right is that you take it, and part of right is that you be barred from it. So either bear it in sorrow, or die in regret. I looked about, and saw I had no helper, no defender, no supporter — none save my family. So I begrudged them to death, and shut my eye upon the speck within it, and swallowed my saliva past the bone lodged in my throat, and endured, in restraining wrath, what is bitterer than the colocynth and more painful to the heart than the cut of blades.”
¶73 Thus the recommendations of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) regarding Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) met with serious challenges, and one cannot simply, without attention to the social conditions of that day, declare that “if the Messenger of Allah’s (PBUH&HF) intent had been the Imamate of Imam Ali (AS), he should have stated this matter in the sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage in Mecca.” The next point makes the dimensions of the matter clearer:
¶74 Verse ۷۴ of Surah al-Tawba, in the course of descriptions of the hypocrites and their actions, says: «وَ هَمُّوا بِما لَمْ یَنالُوا» — “And they intended that which they did not attain.”
¶75 The exegetes of both Shia and Sunni have written under this verse that the intent of the verse is “the assassination attempt against the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) on the way to Tabuk.”
¶76 Fakhr al-Razi, in commenting on this verse, writes:
¶77 «و أما قوله: وَ هَمُّوا بِما لَمْ یَنالُوا المراد إطباقهم علی الفتک بالرسول و اللّه تعالی أخبر الرسول علیه السلام بذلک حتی احترز عنهم و لم یصلوا إلی مقصودهم.»
¶78 “The meaning of «وَ هَمُّوا بِما لَمْ یَنالُوا» is that they (the hypocrites) banded together to assassinate the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF), and Allah the Exalted informed His Messenger so that he was on his guard against them and they did not attain their purpose.”
¶79 The like of this is recorded by Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur fi al-Tafsir bi al-Ma’thur / Scattered Pearls in Tradition-Based Exegesis.
¶80 Thus, the hypocrites were in such a position that they were prepared even to kill the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF), and naturally the matter of the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF) announcement of a successor and the taking of allegiance for Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) would have left the hypocrites despairing of seizing power, and would have created the strongest motive in them for plotting.
¶81 The revelation of the Verse of Tabligh, which charged the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) with proclaiming the wilayah of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS), also testifies to the existence of dangers:
¶82 «یَأَیهَُّا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَیْکَ مِن رَّبِّکَ وَ إِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ وَ اللَّهُ یَعْصِمُکَ مِنَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا یهَْدِی الْقَوْمَ الْکَافِرِین» (Quran ۵:۶۷)
¶83 “O Messenger! Convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you do not, you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed Allah does not guide the (obstinate) disbelieving folk.”
¶84 The Prophet (PBUH&HF), who for twenty-three years had engaged in propagating the religion without any apprehension — in the lonely days in Mecca, amid a throng of enemies, having feared nothing — but now, when he is among more than a hundred thousand of his own followers, Allah the Exalted reassures him: “Convey the divine message, and I will protect you from the people.” This shows how serious the danger was.
¶85 Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) had to take into account multiple considerations in order to convey the divine message, and the selection of a location in the middle of the road — one that prevented some of the conspiracies of the hypocrites and, on the other hand, owing to its special circumstances and position, drew all attention to itself — was entirely reasonable.
¶86 It is also useful to recall that, according to the reports, the Prophet (PBUH&HF) had even given orders that the Yemeni pilgrims — whose route was in the opposite direction from Medina — and five thousand of the people of Mecca should accompany the caravan of Hajj-pilgrims returning from Mecca.
¶87 This was one of the Prophet’s measures to draw the Muslims’ attention to the message that was to be conveyed at Ghadir.
And In Closing…
¶88 Despite the fact that some speakers and writers are intent on rising up against the wilayah and Imamate of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) by spreading such distortions, their efforts — however wide-ranging — are an instance of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
¶89 یُریدُونَ لِیُطْفِؤُا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْواهِهِمْ وَ اللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْکافِرُون (Quran ۶۱:۸)
“They wish to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will complete His light, though the disbelievers be averse.”
Baydawi says: The Prophet (PBUH&HF) in all matters is more entitled to the believers than they themselves are; for, unlike others, he will neither command nor consent to anything in which there is not the welfare of the people. Anwar al-Tanzil / Lights of Revelation, under verse 6 of al-Ahzab.
Zamakhshari says: The Prophet (PBUH&HF) is more entitled to the believers in every matter of this world and of religion than they themselves; that is why it has come absolutely and is not restricted. Therefore it is incumbent upon the believers that the Prophet (PBUH&HF) be the most beloved of persons to them, and that his ruling be more enforceable than their own ruling, and that his right take precedence over their own rights. al-Kashshaf / The Revealer, vol. 3, p. 523.
The same exegesis has been transmitted from Nasafi and Suyuti as well. Madarik al-Tanzil / Sources of Revelation (Nasafi), vol. 3, p. 294; Tafsir al-Jalalayn / Commentary of the Two Jalals, under the verse.
