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.

Imamah in the Qur’an p4: The Medium Ummah

 

In parts 2 and 3 it was shown that the Earth cannot be devoid of a Witness who witnesses the deeds of the people.  These witnesses will bear witness on the people and the Prophet will bear witness on them. 

The Prophet > Witnesses > People

[16:89] And on the day when We will raise up in every people a witness against them from among themselves, and bring you as a witness against these

As the witnesses are in between the Prophet [sawa] and the People in their witnessing, they are known as the Ummatun Wasata – the intermediary or medium group.  They are in the middle, linked to the Prophet on one side and to the people on the other.  In the Qur’an we read:

[2:143] And thus We have made you a medium nation that you may be the witnesses on the people and (that) the Messenger may be a witness on you

The title of medium nation is usually misinterpreted to mean a nation between two extremes: between the extremes of polythiesm on one side and christianity on the other for example.  But being a medium nation in this sense doesn’t have any relation with being witnesses on the people, and the Prophet being a witness on them.  Allamah Tabataba’i [r] has said:

What this exegete has said is true in itself, but it does not explain the wordings of this verse. The ummah, by virtue of its position in the middle, may be called a criterion to judge the extremes, as well as a point to which the people of the two extremes should return. But it does not make it a “witness” for the two extremes, nor it gives the ummah ability to observe the said extremes. Apparently, there is no correlation between being a medium (in the above-mentioned sense) and being a witness. Also, there is no reason why the Messenger of Allah should be made a witness for them; there is no correlation between the two witnessing. But the verse clearly says that the Messenger of Allah shall be a witness for the ummah, because the ummah shall be a witness for the people, and it shall acquire that status because it is a medium ummah. 

Moreover, when the Qur’an has in so much detail discussed the reality of witnesses and witnessing (as shown in parts 2 and 3), there is no reason to interpret the verse otherwise.

This mediumship has been mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an:

[22:77] O you who believe! bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your Lord, and do good that you may succeed.
[22:78] And strive hard in (the way of) Allah, (such) a striving a is due to Him; He has chosen you and has not laid upon you an hardship in religion; the faith of your father Ibrahim; He named you Muslims before and in this, that the Messenger may be a bearer of witness to you, and you may be bearers of witness to the people; therefore keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and hold fast by Allah; He is your Guardian; how excellent the Guardian and how excellent the Helper!

Here Allah swt has introduced this group as:

1) Chosen

2) Named by Ibrahim [as] as ‘Muslims’

It will be proven in part 5 that the group that was named by Ibrahim [as] as Muslims was not the whole Muslim nation, but a select few from his offspring that had reached the peaks of submission.  This will be further proof that the Medium group is not the entirety of the Ummah.

Objections:

1) Allah swt says Medium Ummah, so how can you say it’s only a small group from the nation and not everyone?

Answer:  Apart from what has been mentioned about them being witnesses on the people, and the Prophet being a witness on them, the questioner should know that ‘…the original meaning of this word is “people”, “nation”, “group”, as Allah says: and blessing on, you and the people (umam = plural of ummah) from among those who are with you; and there shall be people (umam)… (11:48). This word is sometimes used even for one person; Surely Ibrahim was an Ummah obedient to Allah (16:120). Therefore, it is the context or the intention of the speaker which decides how big or small a circle this word describes in a sentence.’ (AlMizan)

2) Verse 22:77 starts with ‘O you who believe…’ so this is referring to all Muslims, not a select few.

Answer: This is not necessarily so; the context tells us who these believers are.  Secondly, there is no harm in saying the verse is addressed to all the believers.  Sometimes when a nation has people with certain positive traits, these traits are applied to the nation as a whole.  For example, it is correct to say that the Arabs were the fathers of Chemistry, eventhough in reality it was only one Arab – Jabir Ibn Hayyan – who was the father of Chemistry.  As Allamah Tabataba’i says, ‘A distinction enjoyed by a group is attributed to the whole nation, because the group is a part of the nation.’

Traditions:

We’ll end by looking at what the Ahlul Bayt [as] have said regarding the verses.

alBaqir (a.s.) that he said: “Only the Imams and the Messengers will be witnesses for the people. And as for the (general) ummah, it is unthinkable that Allah would call them as witnesses – and there are among them those whose testimony is not accepted for a bundle of vegetable.” (al-Manaqib)

aSadiq (a.s.) said about the verse, that you may be witnesses…: “(It is) then (wrong) if you think that Allah in this verse means all the monotheists, the people of qiblah (i.e., the Muslims). Do you think that a person whose evidence is not acceptable in this world about a as-sa’ (= a weight about 3 kilogram) of date, Allah will call him as a witness on the Day of Judgment and will accept his evidence in presence of all the previous nations? Certainly not. Allah does not mean (here) such of his creatures; He means only that ummah in which the prayer of Ibrahim was granted; you are the best ummah raised up for the (benefit of) men (3:110); and they are the medium ummah and they are the best ummah raised up for the men.” (al-`Ayyashi)