Hadith Ghadeer p1 – Introduction

On the 18th of Dhil-Hijjah in the middle of the hot Arabian desert, whilst returning from his final Hajj, the Prophet was ordered to declare Imam Ali his successor to the Muslim masses.  After informing them of his coming death, and the importance of following the Qur’an and Ahlul Bayt, he raised Imam Ali’s hand and said:

من كنت مولاه فهذا علي مولاه

”Whoever’s master (mawla) I am, Ali is also his master”.

This took place in an area known as Ghadir Khumm, half way between Mecca and Medinah and near present day al-Juhfa.

The occurrence of this event is universally accepted by all Muslims, but there has been much controversy over its significance.  Whilst Shia Muslims take it to be  a decisive proof of Imam Ali’s successorship, Sunnis interpret it to mean Imam Ali’s friendship with the believers – ”Whoever I am his friend, Ali is his friend”.

In a series of short posts I will demonstrate the baselessness of the Sunni interpretation, which is nothing more than a futile attempt at rejecting the Prophet’s [s] decisive declaration.  I will prove that the Shia interpretation is the correct one by using 2 lines of evidence:

1. The context of the Hadith

2. The understanding of the Sahaba

I will then address common objections, and will show that many of the points brought up by Sunnis actually count against them, and further prove the correctness of the Shia interpretation.

Hadith Thaqalayn

The authenticity of Hadith Thaqalayn is universally accepted, but Sunnis try and explain it away by saying that the Prophet [sawa] was commanding the Muslims to love the Ahlul Bayt, or to accept their narrations only.  The following ahadith have been authenticated by some of the biggest scholars in Sunnism, and leave no room for this interpretation.  They prove that the Prophet made them the premier source of guidance for the Muslims

ورواه الحاكم فى المستدرك 3\148 قال:حدثنا ابو بكر محمد بن الحسين بن مصلح الفقيه بالرى حدثنا محمد بن ايوب حدثنا يحيى بن مغيرة السعدى حدثنا جرير بن عبد الحميد عن الحسن بن عبيد الله النخعى عن مسلم بن صبيح -ابو الضحى- عن زيد بن ارقم قال قالرسول الله صلى الله عليه واله وسلم (انى تارك فيكم الثقلين:كتاب الله واهل بيتى وانهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا على الحوض) انتهى قال الحاكم:هذا حديث صحيح على شرط الشيخين ولم يخرجاه انتهى واقر الذهبى على تعنته بصحة الحديث فى تلخيصه للمستدرك وحتى المحدث السلفى اليمنى مقبل الوادعى لم يسعه فى تعليقه على المستدرك الا الاقرار بصحة هذا الحديث على شرط مسلم

The Prophet [sawa] said: I am leaving two weighty things, the book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt, and they will never seperate until they reach me at the fountain.
AlHakim and Dhahabi authenticated the above. Mustadrak 3/148

ورواه الحافظ يعقوب بن سفيان الفسوى فى المعرفة والتاريخ 1\295 قال حدثنا يحيى -الحمانى- قال حدثنا جرير عن الحسن بن عبيد الله عن ابى الضحى عن زيد بن ارقم قال قال النبى صلى الله عليه واله وسلم(انى تارك فيكم ما ان تمسكتم به لن تضلوا كتاب الله عزوجل وعترتى اهل بيتى وانهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا على الحوض)انتهى واسناده ايضا صحيح و وصححه شعيب ارنؤوط فى تعليقه على عواصم ابن الوزي

The Prophet [sawa] said: I am leaving that which if you hold onto you will never go astray: the book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt, and they will never seperate until they reach me at the fountain.

Shu’ayb Arnaut authenticated the above.

ورواه الامام الطحاوى فى مشكل الاثار 2\307 :حدثنا ابراهيم بن مرزوق حدثنا ابوعامر العقدى حدثنا كثير بن زيد عن محمد بن عمر بن على بن ابى طالب عم ابيه عن على :ان النبى صلى الله عليه واله وسلم حضر الشجرة بخم فخرج اخذا بيد على فقال*)ايها الناس الستم تشهدون ان الله ربكم ؟-قالوا بلى -قال :الستم تشهدون ان الله ورسوله اولى بكم من انفسكم وان الله ورسوله مولاكم ؟-قالوا بلى- قال:من كنت مولاه فعلى مولاه انى قد تركت فيكم ما ان اخذتم لن تضلوا بعدى كتاب الله واهل بيتى انتهى وقد صحح اسناده الحافظ ابن حجر العسقلانى فى المطالب العالية 4\65

At Ghadeer Khum the Prophet [sawa] said: ‘‘O people do you not bear witness that Allah is your Lord?” They said yes. ”Do you not bear witness that Allah and his Prophet have greater authority over you than your own selves?” They said yes. He said ‘‘Whomever I am his mawla, Ali is his Mawla. I have left that which if you take you will never go astray after me, the book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt”.
Ibn Hajar authenticated the above.

AlNisai has narrated in his Sunan…from Zayb ibn Arqam that when the Prophet returned from Hijatul Wada and stopped at Ghadeer Khum he said: It is as if I have been called (to death) and have answered that call. I leave you to weighty things the Book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt, so be careful how you treat them both after me, and they will never separate until they reach the fountain. Then he said: Allah is my Mawla, and I am the Wali of every believer. Then he took the hand of Ali and said: ”Whoever I am his mawla, Ali is his Wali. O Allah befriend his friends and be an enemy to his enemies”.

Ibn kathir said: Our sheikh Dhahabi said this hadith is sahih. Bidayah vol 5.

The Prophet’s [sawa] will the to Ummah was two things – The Holy Qur’an and the Ahlul Bayt [a].  This is what the Prophet left for his Ummah – ”I leave you AThaqalayn”, and he named them ‘the Two Weighty Things’, putting them side by side and telling all Muslims to adhere to them.  He told us that they would always be together from that day until the Day of Judgement, implying the infallibility of the Purified Household as every sin is a separation from the Qur’an, and the Ahlul Bayt will never seperate from it.

How can any reasonable person say that the hadith simply means we should love them?  Or simply accept their narrations?  If it was only about accepting the narrations, what about the Sahaba?  Why haven’t they been mentioned in this hadith which is the Prophet’s will to the Ummah? Don’t sunnis take the majority of their Deen from the narrations of the Sahaba?   The reason they haven’t been mentioned is that they’re not the primary source of Islam after the Prophet.  They will seperate from the Qur’an, commit major sins, spill the blood of thousands and thousands, many of the victims being Sahaba themselves!

And if what some sunni  scholars insist is correct, then this is further proof of their infallibility and that they are the principal source of guidance for the Ummah, along with the Qur’an.

Raj’ah – The Return before the Day of Judgement

Al-Raj’ah literally means ‘the return’, and refers to the Shia doctrine that certain people will return back to life before the Day of Judgement. Narrations from Ahlul Bayt [as] have identified these people as the best of humanity and the worst of humanity.

الإمام الصادق عليه السلام قال: وإن الرجعة ليست بعامة وهي خاصة ، لايرجع إلا من محض الايمان محضاً ، أو محض الشرك محضاً . البحار:53/ 36

Imam ASadiq [as]: The Raj’ah isn’t general, rather it is specific. Only those that were absolute believers will return, or those that were absolute Mushriks (polythiests). Bihar AlAnwar 53/36

The exceptionally evil will be brought back to life and will recieve their just punishments in this life before the hereafter. Some narrations have mentioned that martyred Imams of Ahlul Bayt [as] will be brought back to rule after the death of Imam Mehdi [aj]. These details have all been mentioned in the hadith, but the purpose of this article is to prove the concept of Raj’ah from the Qur’an, so has the Qur’an mentioned that certain people will be resurrected before Qiyamah? In Surah Naml we read:

وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فَوْجًا مِّمَّن يُكَذِّبُ بِآيَاتِنَا فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ {83

[27:83] And on the day when We will gather from every nation a group from among those who rejected Our communications, then they shall be kept in ranks.

Imam Sadiq [as] asked one of his companions what the people say regarding the above quoted verse. His companion replied: They say it’s about the Day of Judgement. The Imam replied: Would Allah gather [yahshur] (only) a group of every people and leave the rest?! Rather the verse is referring to Raj’ah, and the verse of Qiyamah is this : and We will gather them and leave not any one of them behind [18:47]. Bihar AlAnwar 53/40

عن الإمام الصادق عليه السلام أنه سئل عن قوله تعالى: وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ مِنْ كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فَوْجاً مِمَّنْ يُكَذِّبُ بِآياتِنَا فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ؟ فقال: ما يقول الناس فيها ؟ قلت يقولون إنها في القيامة . فقال: يحشر الله في القيامة من كل أمة فوجاً ويترك الباقين ؟! إنما ذلك في الرجعة ، فأماآية القيامة فهذه:وَحَشَرْنَاهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَداً.. الى قوله: موعداً. البحار:53/40

The Imam’s argument is clear. The verse is saying that the hashr (gathering after resurrection) will be limited to a group of people and will not be for everyone, whilst in Qiyamah everyone will be resurrected and gathered, not just a group from amongst the people. As 18:47 says: ‘Hasharnahum fa lam nughadir minhum Ahada’ . This proves that the verse is not referring to the resurrection of the Day of Judgement, but is referring to an event that will occur before it.

Allamah Tabataba’i [r] in his tafsir of this verse offers another proof. He says that if we read the verses that follow 27:83, we will see that they go on to talk about the blowing of the trumpet and other events that will be in Qiyamah.

[27:87] And on the day when the trumpet shall be blown, then those who are in the heavens and those who are in the earth shall be terrified except such as Allah please, and all shall come to him abased.
[27:88] And you see the mountains, you think them to be solid, and they shall pass away as the passing away of the cloud– the handiwork of Allah Who has made every thing thoroughly; surely He is Aware of what you do.

The famous Sunni exegete Ibn Kathir says the following about the blowing of the Trumpet:

The Sur (trumpet), as described in the Hadith, is, «قَرْنٌ يُنْفَخُ فِيه» (a horn which is blown into.) According to the Hadith about the Sur (Trumpet), it is (the angel) Israfil who will blow into it by the command of Allah, may He be exalted. He will blow into it for the first time, for a long time. This will signal the end of the life of this world. (see Tafsir ibn Kathir, verse 27:87)

So if the blowing of the trumpet will cause the end of all life, this means that whatever occurs before the blowing will be in this life, not the hereafter. The context therefore shows that the resurrection of certain groups of people will occur during this life and not the hereafter, as it will be before the blowing of the Trumpet according to the sequence of events that are described by the verses. This leaves no doubt that the verse is referring to Raj’ah before the Day of Judgement.

The doctrine of Raj’ah is clearly in the Qur’an, but like every other belief, we must refer to the hadith for the specific details. It is only the hadith of Ahlul Bayt [as] that have been narrated in the books of Shia Muslims that have mentioned these details. Everyone else has overlooked them, and denied this reality in its entirety. We thank Allah swt for blessing us with the Wilayah of Ahlul Bayt [as]. May we live long enough to see their return.