Part of Last will of Hazrat Ali (a.s) In his last will hazrath Ali (a.s) said...I advise you, and all my children, my relatives, and whos...
Part of Last will of Hazrat Ali (a.s)
In his last will hazrath Ali (a.s) said...I advise you, and all my children, my relatives, and whosoever receives this message, to be conscious of Allah, to remove your differences, and to strengthen your ties. I heard your grandfather, peace be upon him, say: "Reconciliation of your differences is more worthy than all prayers and all fasting. Maintain communication and exchange of opinion among yourselves. Beware of disunity and enmity. Do not desist from promoting good deeds and cautioning against bad ones. Should you do that,the worst among you would be your leaders, and you will call upon Allah without response.
Najul Balagha
Day of Ghadir
O Messenger, Proclaim what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not delivered His Message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people (Qur'an: Chapter 5, Verse 67)
Did the Prophet (s) Appoint a Successor?
The Shi'ah believe that the proclamation mentioned by the Qur'anic verse was fulfilled by the Prophet (s) when he appointed Imam 'Ali bin Abi Talib (a) as his successor on the day of Ghadir Khumm.
What happened on the day of Ghadir Khumm?
Ghadir Khumm is a location some miles from Makkah on the road to Madinah. When the Prophet (s) was passing by this place on 18 Dhu'l Hijja ( 10 March 632 ) on his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage, the verse "O Messenger, Proclaim what has been sent down..." was revealed. He therefore stopped to make an announcement to the pilgrims who accompanied him from Makkah and who were to disperse from that junction to their respective destinations. By the orders of the Prophet (s) a special pulpit made of branches of trees was erected for him. After the noon prayer the Prophet (s) sat on the pulpit and made his last public address to the largest gathering before his death three months later. The highlight of his sermon was when, taking Imam 'Ali (a) by the hand, the Prophet (s) asked his followers whether he was superior in authority (awla) to the believers themselves. The crowd cried out in one voice: "It is so, O Apostle of Allah". He then declared:
"He of whom I am the master (mawla), of him 'Ali is also the master (mawla). O God, be the friend of him who is his friend, and be the enemy of him who is his enemy."
Immediately after the Prophet (s) finished his speech, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favor upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion. (Qur'an 5:3) After his speech, the Prophet (s) asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to 'Ali (a) and congratulate him. Among those who did so was 'Umar bin al-Khattab, who said: "Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the master of all believing men and women." An Arab, having heard of the event of Ghadir Khumm, came up to the Prophet (s) and said: "You commanded us to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. We obeyed you. You ordered us to perform the prayers five times a day and we obeyed. You ordered us to observe fasts during the month of Ramadhan and we obeyed. Then you commanded us to offer pilgrimage to Makkah and we obeyed.
But you are not satisfied with all this and you raised your cousin by your hand and imposed him upon us as our master by saying 'Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla.' Is this imposition from Allah or from you?"
The Prophet (s) said :
"By Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious." On hearing this reply the man turned back and proceeded towards his she-camel saying: "O Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture." He had not reached his she-camel when Allah flung at him a stone which struck him on his head, penetrated his body and left him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the exalted, caused to descend the following verses: A questioner questioned about the punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it, from Allah the Lord of the Ascent . (Qur'an 70:1-3)
Do the Sunni scholars consider this event authentic?
The number of Sunni authorities who narrate this event, both in detail and in summary, is mind boggling! This historic event was narrated by 110 Companions of the Prophet (s), 84 Successors from the following generation and then by many hundreds of scholars of the Islamic world, from the first to the fourteenth century AH (seventh to twentieth century CE).
These statistics only include transmitters appearing in narrations recorded by Sunni scholars!
A very small selection of these sources is given below. Many of these scholars not only quote the Prophet's declaration but also call it authentic:
alHakim alNaysaburi, alMustadrak `ala al-Sahihayn (Beirut), volume 3, pp. 109-110, p. 133, p. 148, p. 533. He expressly states that the tradition is sahih in accordance with the criteria of alBukhari and Muslim; alDhahabi has confirmed his judgment.
alTirmidhi, Sunan (Cairo), vol. 5, p. 633
Ibn Majah, Sunan , (Cairo, 1952), vol. 1, p. 45
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari bi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari , ( Beirut , 1988), vol. 7, p. 61
Al-'Ayni, 'Umdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari , vol. 8, p. 584
Ibn al'Athir, Jami` al'usul , i, 277, no. 65;
Al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur , vol. 2, p. 259 and p. 298
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Tafsir al-Kabir , (Beirut, 1981), vol. 11, p. 53
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Qur'an al-'Azim , ( Beirut ), vol. 2, p. 14
Al-Wahidi, Asbab al-Nuzul , p. 164
Ibn al-'Athir, Usd al-Ghaba fi Ma'rifat al-Sahaba , (Cairo), vol.3, p. 92
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib , (Hyderabad, 1325), vol. 7, p. 339
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah , (Cairo, 1932), vol. 7, p. 340, vol. 5, p. 213
Al-Tahawi, Mushkil al-Athar , (Hyderabad, 1915), vol. 2, pp. 308-9
Nur al-Din al-Halabi al-Shafi'i, al-Sirah al-Halabiyya , vol. 3, p. 337
Al-Zurqani, Sharh al-Mawahib al-Ladunniyya , vol. 7, p. 13
Jabir Ibn Abdullah Ansari, the honourable associate of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) relates :" I was in the service of the Messenger of Allah (s.aw.) near Kaaba, when Hazrat Ali (a.s.) joined us. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) kept his hand on the wall of the Kaaba and said :
"I swear by God in whose possession is my life, surely he (Ali) and his followers (Shias), are the successful ones on the Day of Judgement." Then Prophet (s.a.w.) said : "He is the first person to pay allegiance to me, the most firm amongst you, the most obedient creature of God, the most beneficent towards others, the most just, the equal distributor of the public treasure, the most dignified, the most accurate in measuring, and a noble soul in front of God. His friendship is the measure for belief. He is the teacher of Qur'anic teachings. He is the only cure of the human diseases, both apparent and concealed. He is the voice of the social court of hu-manity. He is the most self-sacrificing and selfless soul in the path of understanding. He is perfec-tion personified who was created by Allah, the Almighty, to display His Prowess to the ordinary human beings."
The Sermon of Ghadeer
Wise men are of the opinion that time does not stand still. It comes into existence with the constant movement of the heavenly bodies. Time, upto some extent, is having no value by itself. Its importance is underlined by those incidents and events which take place in it.
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), on his return from his last Hajj, delivered a sermon at a place called Ghadeer, which, because of its contents, is invaluable. It was this sermon that bestowed on that time unlimited importance and even shot into prominence a deserted valley called Ghadeer-e-Khum which is located amongst the mountainous deserts of Johfaa. The 18th of Zil-hajj is famous as the day of proclamation of Hazrat Ali.(a.s.)'s caliphate. The contents of the Ghadeer sermon are a perfect example of self-evident explanation and divine wisdom. It is introduced in the capacity of the basic reason of the divine laws as per the Qur'anic origins.
This sermon is a sufficient indication towards the fact that all divine Islamic laws are holding Wilayat only as the condition of acceptance of all kinds of worship.
It gave all the listeners a deep insight into the difficulties that would follow after the demise of Holy Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.a.) and also their solutions. It also hints as to who would be the guiding and radiant personalities amongst the Muslims to see them through these perils. The exact relation and narration of these future incidents is in itself a great miracle.
The sermon of Ghadeer is most significant amongst all the worldly events. For, had this lesson not been imparted in that noble gathering, mankind would have strayed further into the dark pit of ignorance and would have forgotten the very cause of its existence.
Therefore the Qur'anic verse.
"(O Prophet) If you do not do so, then as if you have done nothing to convey the message of Prophethood," is a clear indicator toward this reality.
The aim of Islam in to train the human being and strengthen the able ones. And this training will be ineffective if one does not have faith in the Unseen and the total command of Allah, the All-Powerful.
Those who believe in the Holy Qur'an and the divine books which preceded it, who have unshakable faith in the hereafter, who establish prayers and pay the poor, possessed these characteristics and could execute this plan after the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.a.) was one and only, Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). Due to this reason, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) innumerable times vowed in the name of God that: "This is divine selection. It is God's command and I am only its conveyer. If Hazrat Ali (a.s.) will not be present to impart Qur'anic teachings to you, the entire shariat will be nullified in such a manner as if no prophet had ever arrived nor a book called Qur'an was revealed."
The role played by the Umayyad and Abbaside Caliphs in Islamic History is clear cut example of the fact that if the Al-Ghadeer sermon had not been shaking the conscience of man and had not possessed innate spirituality, then definitely those who were fickle minded and with weak faith would have toyed with the religion of Allah and Qur'an to serve their own purposes. If one refers to history in detail, he will instantly conclude that it was Hazrat Ali (a.s.) and his sons, especially the brave undaunted and courageous Imam Husain (a.s.), who gave away his life, property and possessions to protect the divine law of Islam from perversion and stressed upon the importance and greatness of Qur'an and Islam, whose living example was none other than their great and noble father, Hazrat Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.). They proved to the world and to humanity that they were indeed the rightful heirs of Islam.
The profound and lofty teachings of the sermon of Ghadeer are of such tremendous value that its each and every word is the base for living and the bearer of human morality and spirituality. If the prophet of Islam (s.a.w.a.) had not introduced Hazrat Ali (a.s.) at Ghadeer-e-Khum, then who could have solved important social problems and the perennial difficulties faced by the Muslim community after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.)? Abu Bakr Ibn Qahafa? Who while expressing his inability to solve the problems of the community, would frustratingly say:
"Leave me, Leave me, I am not the best of you when Abul Hasan is among you."
Does this not prove the superiority of Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) over other companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.)?
Umar Ibn Khattab? Who while declaring himself to be incapable of solving the community's problems, had committed in writings and saying both at least twenty six times :
"If Hazrat Ali (a.s.) had not been alive, Umar would have perished".
Uthman Ibn Affan? According to famous traditionalists, his lavish approach towards life, unconcerned behavior for Islamic laws, unequal distribution of Baitul-Mal, giving undeserved special consideration to his relatives and intimates, all these factors created enemies against him and was ultimately forced to turn to Hazrat Ali (a.s.) and ask for his help. But it was too late. He was killed for his injustice while Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was elevated to the status of martyrdom because of his just and impartial rule.
The content of the Ghadeer sermon was selecting of a caliph, minister, successor and heir from God's side and the person who was thus honored was the noble personality of Hazrat Ali (a.s.).
Jabir Ibn Abdullah Ansari, the honorable associate of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) relates:" I was in the service of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) near Kaaba, when Hazrat Ali (a.s.) joined us. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) kept his hand on the wall of the Kaaba and said: "I swear by God in whose possession is my life, surely he (Ali) and his followers (Shias), are the successful ones on the Day of Judgement." Then Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said: "He is the first person to pay allegiance to me, the most firm amongst you, the most obedient creature of God, the most beneficent towards others, the most just, the equal distributor of the public treasure, the most dignified, the most accurate in measuring, and a noble soul in front of God. His friendship is the measure for belief. He is the teacher of Qur'anic teachings. He is the only cure of the human diseases, both apparent and concealed. He is the voice of the social court of humanity. He is the most self-sacrificing and selfless soul in the path of understanding. He is perfection personified who was created by Allah, the Almighty, to display His Prowess to the ordinary human beings."
