THE HOLY PROPHET’S FULL SUPPORT FOR CALIPHATE
The signs of flight towards Almighty Allah began to arrive on the scene in a row, making the Holy Prophet (s) learn with certainty about his imminent departure from this world. However, the Holy Prophet (s) had perfectly conveyed the message of his Lord to the servants, liberated their intellects, awakened their mentalities, and saved them from the abysmal maze in which they were sinking, such as idolatry and worship of statutes that they used to make with their own hands and then stand in humility before these statutes to offer them sacrifices. Indeed, the Holy Prophet (s) unshackled these people and washed their brains from such absurdity. Thanks to him, these people were now worshipping the Almighty Lord Who created the universe and gifted all nice things, including lives.
The Holy Prophet (s) established his great State that adopted the human rights as a goal to be materialized and defended. In the speed of light, this State began to extend to include the biggest area on this globe, since the main concern of the founder of this State was to establish justice among people, eliminate the ghosts of poverty and destitution, and distribute the fortunes gifted by Almighty Allah to humanity with utter equality. Hence, no social class should be preferred to another and no certain people should be preceded to another.
Now that the great Messenger of Allah (s) had made miraculous efforts and achieved his goal by the support, grace, and will of Almighty Allah, there was one thing left for him to achieve, although this thing is his most precious expectation and most desirable hope; namely, he was yet to unify his community and save it from all the coming seditions and calamities. This goal could not be achieved unless he would declare full support for his successor, who is also the chief of his community and the head of his household, Imam ‛Ali ibn Abi-Talib (‛a). In order to remove the hesitation and suspicion of any person about the destiny of succession to him, the Holy Prophet (s) decided to refer to and nominate the next leader in the presence of the crowded masses during the season of the ritual Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy House of God.
The Holy Prophet (s) had already been ascertained that huge dangers would attack his community immediately after his departure from this life and joining the Sacred Yard. About this matter, Almighty Allah had previously informed him, saying in the Holy Qur'an:
And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; the messengers have already passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels? And whoever turns back upon his heels, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least; and Allah will reward the grateful. (3/144)
The Holy Prophet (s) thus understood that there was to come a devastating quake that would blow away the existence of his community and cast it into a great evil.
Before his eyes, the horrible events that were yet to come immediately after his departure presented themselves. Expressing the menace of these events that would badly affect his nation, the Holy Prophet (s), during his visit to the graves in the cemetery of Baqi‛, talked to the dead people there, saying,
Congratulations for your conditions! Seditious matters have come in a row, following each other. The last of them is eviler than the first.
Creepy groups of people who were the source of every evil had surrounded the Holy Prophet’s community. They were as follows:
The Jews
The Jews had never stopped intriguing against Islam and Muslims every possible plot and planning to do harm to them, because Islam had destroyed them and imposed upon them the most onerous losses. Furthermore, Islam had conquered their fortresses, terminated their heroes, killed their warriors, and inflicted on them the most horrible defeats.
The Hypocrites
By hypocrites we mean those who declared being Muslims although Islam had never penetrated to their hearts and the bottoms of their mindsets. However, their tongues had uttered the professions of Islam, fearing lest the swords of Muslims would harvest their heads.
In al-Madinah, the capital, these hypocrites once built a mosque to take it as their center of contriving conspiracies against Muslims. As a result, the Holy Prophet (s) ordered his followers to set their mosque on fire. About these hypocrites, an entire Qur'anic chapter (i.e. Surah) was revealed to speak of their viciousness and corruptive innermost. Of course, the danger of these people on Islam is more serious than the others’ dangers. As a general rule, an interior enemy is always more fatal than an exterior.
The People of Quraysh
The bitterest and most vehement enemies of Islam, the people of Quraysh antagonized the Holy Prophet (s) openly and persecuted physically and mentally all those who had followed him and believed in his divine mission, making them leave their country and migrate to Abyssinia. After the Holy Prophet (s) had been stricken by the demise of his uncle Abu-Talib the defender of Islam, he had to migrate to Yathrib. Changing its name into al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (the illuminated city), the Holy Prophet (s) took this city as his center and capital. This matter annoyed the people of Quraysh unbelievably and filled their hearts with rancor; they therefore mobilized troops to fight against him and extinguish the light of Islam. As a result, such combats like the Battle of Badr, the Battle of Uhud, and others broke out between the two. Yet, Almighty Allah refuted the conspiracies of the polytheists of Quraysh and gave His Prophet victory over them. When the Muslim troops occupied Makkah, these people, coerced and forced, had to join the religion of Islam against their wills, since they did not have any faith or insight about this religion that is full of noble values and sublime principles.
In fact, the sins, cruelty, and evils of the pre-Islamic era of ignorance had blackened the hearts of these people so entirely that Islam would never find any space in their hearts. Besides, Muslims had operated their swords in the heads of the chiefs and heroes of these polytheists and spread sadness, grievance, and mourning in their houses, filling their hearts with hatred towards Islam.
When they were informed about the Holy Prophet’s passing away, they decided to apostatize and abandon Islam. However, they changed their minds after they had known that Abu-Bakr became the caliph.
In coming chapters, more light will be shed on this topic.
Contention of the Ansar
There was another problem that stood against the Holy Prophet (s) and deterred him from declaring full support for Imam ‛Ali (‛a) as his successor and next leader of the Muslim community. This problem was namely the contention between the two tribes of al-Aws and al-Khazraj who, altogether, formed the unshakable base of Islam and the basic elements of the Islamic armed forces. Although the Holy Prophet (s) could remove the majority of the forms of animosity between the people of these two tribes, who formed the Ansar, there were still the roots of contention in their inner selves - a phenomenon that was about to be used for sowing disunity among them. Actually, the people of Quraysh did make use of this contention to jump to power.
The Farewell Pilgrimage
After the Holy Prophet (s) had become ascertained about his imminent departure from this world, he decided to go on pilgrimage to the Holy House and declare the sound attitude in order to save his community from seditions and discrepancies. He also aimed at highlighting the indispensable importance of the supervision of his Household over all fields of social reformation, presenting them as the leaders of this nation to every progress and prosperity.
For the purpose of pulling off this important point, the Holy Prophet (s), in the tenth year after his migration (i.e. Hegira), went on a Hajj pilgrimage, which was his last one; therefore, it is called the Farewell Pilgrimage (Hijjat al-Wada‛).
In Makkah, he was warmly received by the people of this city and the performers of the Hajj pilgrimage. While performing the rituals of this pilgrimage, he informed the Muslims that this would be their last meeting with him, saying, “In fact, I do not know whether I will be able to meet you after this year and after this meeting.”
Before their circumambulating the Holy Ka‛bah, waves of sorrow and sadness circumambulated the hearts of these performers of Hajj, sweeping pain stormed in their hearts, and clouds of heavy tears overshadowed their eyes, since they knew for sure that the shattering misfortune would be very soon taking lodgings at them and the Holy Prophet (s), their leader and educator, was in the final chapter of his blessed lifetime.
To establish for them the best method that will guarantee their pleasure and success in this world and the other world, the Holy Prophet (s) declared,
O people! I am leaving amongst you the two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my progeny; i.e. my Household.
These two weighty (i.e. precious) things were the unwavering guarantee that would procure the Muslim community from deviation and divergence. In other words, nothing would save them except the Book of Allah when they would act upon it and the Holy Prophet’s Household when they would act loyally towards them and receive practically their laws and educational instructions. Hence, nothing else save these two would ever bring about prosperity to the nation of Islam.
The Holy Prophet’s Sermon at Spring Zamzam
Near the historical well, known as Spring Zamzam, the masses surrounded the Holy Prophet (s) who, at these moments, was too tired to raise his voice with a sermon. He therefore ordered Rabi‛ah ibn Khalaf to declare to the masses what the he would say. So, beginning his sermon, the Holy Prophet (s) ordered Rabi‛ah to convey to the people his next words. So, Rabi‛ah said,
O people, the Messenger of Allah (s) says to you:
Perchance, you will not be able to meet my in this very condition of mine after this. Do you realize what a country this is? Do you realize what a month this is? Do you realize what a day this is?
Congregationally, the people shouted, “This is the inviolable country, the inviolable month, and the inviolable day.”
Reciting before them the noble values and the high moral idealities with which he came, the Holy Prophet (s) said,
Verily, Allah the All-exalted has considered your shedding the blood of each other to be as inviolable as this country, this month, and this day. Have I conveyed?
They all shouted, “Yes, you have.”
He said,
O Allah, please be the witness (that I have conveyed to them Your messages).
Presenting the most binding laws of the religion, the Holy Prophet (s) added,
Fear Allah, defraud not men their things, and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief. Whoever keeps a trust of another with him, must fulfill it.
Remark: In this section, the Holy Prophet (s) presented the following points before the masses:
1. They must fear Almighty Allah and be pious, because piety is the fortress of man and the protective tool against exposing oneself to His wrath.
2. People must not defraud people their things; rather, they must weigh up their things as exactly as they are.
3. People are required to stop making mischief in the land, thus contravening the public security, cutting the road for travelers (i.e. committing robbery in the highway), and shedding the blood.
4. Trusts must be paid back to their owners, since it is illegal to seize them by means of wrong and transgression.
Demonstrating the laws decreed by Almighty Allah, the Holy Prophet (s) then said,
In Islam, all people are as equal to each other as the scales of a balance.
All of you have come from Adam and Eve. No Arab individual is superior to a non-Arab and no non-Arab is superior to an Arab except by degrees of fear of Allah. Have I conveyed?
All of them answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
Remark: In this section, the Holy Prophet (s) declared fair equality of all Muslims: equality in duties and rights and equality before the law. The Arabs have no excellence over the non-Arabs and the non-Arabs have no excellence over the Arabs. The only thing that may distinguish one from the other is piety and obedience to Almighty Allah.
Revealing a number of the features of this great religion, the Holy Prophet (s) then said,
Do not come to me carrying your lineages; rather, you must come carrying your deeds. Only then, I will treat everyone according to one’s own deeds. Have I conveyed?
They all answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
Remark: Islam has been founded on the righteous deeds, since in its view, lineages become worthless when deeds are corruptive and actions are wrong.
Exposing more laws of Almighty Allah, the Holy Prophet (s) further said,
Verily, the vengeance upon every blood that was shed wrongfully before Islam should now be under my feet. The first revenge I want to revoke is the bloodshed of Rabi‛ah ibn al-Harith ibn ‛Abd al-Muttalib.
Have I conveyed?
They all answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
Remark: In this section, the Holy Prophet (s) discussed the issue of revenge upon the killings that were habitually made before Islam (i.e. in the pre-Islam era known as Jahiliyyah –era of ignorance) in revenge. Hence, innocent people were killed wrongfully and mutual combats would last for ages during which the blood of huge number of the people of the two, or more, tribes engaged in such a combat would be shed. Such acts and conflicts have been deemed forbidden by Islam. Hence, this religion has saved the Arabs from this improper phenomenon.
The Holy Prophet (s) then said,
Every usurious transaction that was common in the pre-Islamic era is now under my feet. The first usurious profit that I revoke is the usury of al-‛Abbas ibn ‛Abd al-Muttalib. Have I conveyed?
They all answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
He then (‛a) added,
O people, “Postponing (of the sacred month) is only an addition in unbelief, wherewith those who disbelieve are led astray, violating it one year and keeping it sacred another, that they may agree in the number (of months) that Allah has made sacred. (9/37)”
Remark: This holy Qur'anic verse, quoted by the Holy Prophet in this section, decides the illegality of postponing the sacred months (i.e. nasi'). In the pre-Islamic era, people used to permit fighting during the four sacred months; namely, Dhu’l-Qa‛dah, Dhu’l-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab. Instead, they would deem sacred other months instead of these months. For instance, they would not commit themselves to the sacredness of the month of Muharram; therefore, they would postpone it to the next month; i.e. Safar.
Referring to another important issue, the Holy Prophet (s) said,
I advise all of you to act kindly towards women (i.e. your wives). They are restrained at you, for they do not have any control over themselves. You have only taken them by the trust of Allah and consummated their private parts by the word of Allah. They have duties towards you and you have duties towards them. Your duties are that you must procure their alimonies and clothing in an acceptable way. Their duty towards you is that they must not permit anyone you dislike to occupy your beds and they must not permit anyone to enter your houses before they inform you and obtain your permission. Have I conveyed?
They all answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
Remark: In this section, the Holy Prophet (s) discussed the issue of women whom used to be disgraced and deemed weak before Islam. Thus, the Holy Prophet (s) came to honor and dignify women and to order men to treat them kindly.
In another section of this sermon, the Holy Prophet (s) said,
Verily, Muslims are brothers of one another. Hence, a Muslim must never cheat on, betray, or backbit his brother-in-faith. Likewise, it is illegal for any Muslim to shed the blood of his brother-in-faith or to make disposition of his property before he obtains his satisfaction. Have I conveyed?
They all answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
Remark: The Holy Prophet (s) founded the Islamic tie on terms of mutual love and brotherhood. In the logic of the Holy Prophet (s), Muslims are brothers of one another. They thus help each other in the worldly affairs and protect each other against vicissitudes of time. Besides, according to this section, the following matters are forbidden to the community of Muslims: (1) Cheating, (2) betrayal, (3) bloodshed, and (4) seizure of the personal properties.
Before ending his sermon, the Holy Prophet (s) established the educational, ethical, and social methods that Muslims are required to apply to their daily activities.
Sealing his sermon, the Holy Prophet (s) said,
After me, do not abandon your faith and return to infidelity, beheading each other. Verily, I am leaving amongst you the two things that will save you from deviation forever if you only adhere to them; namely, the Book of Allah and my progeny - my Household. Have I conveyed?
They all answered, “Yes, you have.”
The Holy Prophet (s) said,
O Allah, be the witness.
He then faced the attendants and say,
The present must convey this to the absent.
The Holy Prophet’s sermon was full of all constituents of promotion and advancement of the Muslim world. In this sermon too, he (s) put the Muslims under the obligation of adhering to the great Book of Allah and the infallible progeny so that the highest political and social positions would be held by them.
The Congregated Meeting at Ghadir Khumm
The incident of the Holy Prophet’s historical statement at Ghadir (i.e. spring) Khumm is one of the most important events in the political history of Islam. At this place, the Holy Prophet (s) made all Muslims pay homage to Imam ‛Ali (‛a) as their next leader and appointed him as the general ruler and referential authority to whom the entire community should refer in order to be guided to the most proper way.
After he had accomplished the rites of the Hajj pilgrimage, the Holy Prophet (s) was on his way back to al-Madinah mending his pace when Archangel Gabriel descended to him, carrying a very important message from the All-exalted Lord, relating to the destiny of the Muslim community as well as its cultural and social future. Hence, Almighty Allah ordered His Prophet to settle in that place and appoint Imam ‛Ali (‛a) as his successor and the general authority of Muslims and to order all Muslims to swear allegiance to him. The Holy Prophet (s) was not permitted to postpone that declaration even for one moment. So, the Almighty Allah revealed to him this holy Qur'anic verse:
O Messenger! Deliver what bas been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message, and Allah will protect you from the people. Surely, Allah will not guide the unbelieving people. (5:67)
This holy Qur'anic verse holds a clear indication of passionate warning against any dereliction. It impresses that if the Holy Prophet (s) did not carry out this mission, this would mean that he had not delivered the message of his Lord and that all his efforts and endeavors would be considered worthless.
With firm determination and resolved will, the Holy Prophet (s) rushed to carry out the command of Almighty Allah.
The Holy Prophet (s), carrying out this mission, put aside all the encumbrances of his journey, decided to halt at that place; namely Ghadir Khumm, and ordered all the caravans that carried the performers of the Hajj pilgrimage to gather there. It was terribly hot that men had to put a part of their shirts under their feet so as to protect themselves from the burning ground.
The Holy Prophet (s) then led a congregational prayer. Upon accomplishment, he ordered his followers to gather the loads of their camels and make a pulpit-like height on which he would climb and deliver a message from the All-exalted Lord.
The masses, who were more than one hundred thousand -as maintained by historicists-, paid attention to what the Holy Prophet (s) would say to them.
First, he praised and thanked the Lord and then reminded the audience of the troubles he had suffered for the sake of the religion. He then referred to a number of laws, regulations, and teachings of Islam.
He then asked,
See how you will regard me on the subject of the two weighty things.
“What are the two weighty things?” one of them asked.
Clarifying the matter so unmistakably and without any obscurity or confusion, the Holy Prophet (s) answered,
The major weighty thing is the Book of Allah. One of its edges is in the hand of the Almighty and All-exalted Lord and the other edge in your hands. So, adhere to it firmly and you will never be misled. The minor weighty thing is my progeny. Allah the All-gentle and All-aware has informed that these two shall never separate from one another until they both join me on the Divine Pond. I also besought my Lord to grant me the favor that these two shall never separate from one another. So, do not precede them lest you will perish, and do not leave them behind you lest you will perish, too.
Thus did the Holy Prophet (s) elucidate the sound course that would save his people from deviation and straying off the truth forever.
Immediately after that, the Holy Prophet (s) grasped the hand of his successor and the leader of the faithful believers after him, raised it so highly that the whiteness of their armpits was seen by all people, and with a high tone said,
O People, whose right is preceded to the people’s rights upon themselves?
They answered, “Allah and His Messenger know best.”
The Holy Prophet (s) then declared and repeated three times,
Verily, Allah is my master, I am the master of the believers, and I have more right over them than what they have over themselves. Now, ‛Ali is the master of whomever has regarded me as his master.
He then added,
O Allah, be the friend of whomever befriends ‛Ali, be the enemy of whomever incurs his animosity, bear love to whomever loves ‛Ali, bear hatred against whomever hates ‛Ali, give victory to whomever supports ‛Ali, disappoint whomever disappoints ‛Ali, and turn the truth to follow him wherever he turns. Behold! The present must convey this to the absent.
Thus did the formal manner of proposing Imam ‛Ali (‛a) for the position of the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community come to an end. Verily, with the exception of the Holy Prophet (s), Imam ‛Ali (‛a) is the best of all of the saints of Almighty Allah.
In this way, the Holy Prophet (s) carried out the message of his Lord perfectly and appointed the person who would succeed him to the religious and political leadership of his community. He thus entrusted Imam ‛Ali ibn Abi-Talib (‛a) with the greatest guardianship and the general authority over all Muslims - the same general authority that the Holy Prophet (s) enjoyed during his lifetime.
The General Pledge of Allegiance to Imam ‛Ali
By the command of the Holy Prophet (s), Muslims hurried to swear allegiance to Imam ‛Ali (‛a) and to congratulate him on this position. Among those congratulators were the wives of the Holy Prophet
and ‛Umar ibn al-Khattab who said his famous statement, “Felicitations, O son of Abu-Talib! You have become the master of me and the master of all believing men and women!”
It is sadly unfortunate that a few days after the passing away of the Holy Prophet (s), the same ‛Umar ibn al-Khattab raided on Imam ‛Ali’s house to force him to pay homage to Abu-Bakr and the caliph and set fire to the house of Lady Fatima.
The details of this incident will be shortly presented in this book.
Back to the main topic, the pledge of allegiance to Imam ‛Ali (‛a) was so general and famous that many poets composed poems on this occasion.
Hassan ibn Thabit, the poet of Islam, who was present there, composed some poetic verses on this occasion. He thus said after he had obtained the permission of the Holy Prophet (s),
On the day of Ghadir, their Prophet called them in Khumm.
How great the Prophet’s call was!
Saying: Who is you master and leader?
They answered and showed no negligence:
Your Lord is our Master and you are our Leader.
And none of us will disobey you in this regard.
He said: Stand up ‛Ali, for I will appoint you the Imam and the guide after me.
This is the leader of him whose master was I.
Hence, be faithful and sincere followers of him.
And then he prayed: O Allah! Support his supporter and be the enemy of him who will oppose ‛Ali.
Al-Sayyid al-Himyari, an inspired Arab poet, composed these poetic verses on this event:
Muhammad, in Spring Khumm, stood up and called out to declare with a strong voice
Before those who came to him, Arabs and non-Arabs, and gathered sitting around his lofty tree:
Behold! Whoever’s master was I, then this one must now be his master; and he must regard this with much welcome.
As for al-Kumayt, the greater poet of Islam, he composed these verses:
On that day under the huge tree of Ghadir Khumm, he (i.e. the Holy Prophet) clarified the leadership of him (i.e. Imam ‛Ali); yet, only if he had been obeyed!
However, these men confiscated this leadership. Actually, I have never seen such a violated right!
Actually, no entitlement in the whole world has been violated like the violation of Imam ‛Ali’s right of holding the position of leadership. This position was impounded by these men, pretending to have never heard of the Holy Prophet’s binding statements.
To sum up, the event of Ghadir Khumm is seen as one of the most important events in the history of Islam. The grand scholar, Shaykh al-Amini, has recorded in his encyclopedic book entitled al-Ghadir all historicists and men of letters who dealt with this event since its beginning and up to the author’s age.
Revelation of the Verse ofPerfecting the Religion
On that day too, this holy verse was revealed to immortalize this occasion and this day, which is annually celebrated as the Ghadir Feast:
This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion. (5/3)
By the religious and political leadership (i.e. Imamate) of Imam ‛Ali (‛a) the chief of the pious and the principal of the monotheists, the religion came to its perfection and the greatest divine grace was completed. All praise be to Allah for this.
The Holy Prophet (s) established the sound method of protecting his community from deviation in all ages. So, he did not leave this crucial issue (i.e. the issue of succeeding him) to chance; lest, the greedy ones and those infatuated with sovereignty and power would play in it. On the contrary, the Holy Prophet (s) blocked all doors in their faces and did not leave for them any gap to pass through.
He (s) appointed the next leader and educator of his nation. Once again, he never neglected this sensitive issue, because negligence of this issue cannot be explained but as defamation of the Holy Prophet’s perfect personality. In the conception of all sane people, the issue of succeeding the Holy Prophet (s) was one of the most tactful issues in Islam.
Finally, the pledge of allegiance to Imam ‛Ali (‛a) on that day in Ghadir Khumm is inseparable part of the message of Islam and one of its unshakable pillars. Hence, whoever denies this event has in fact denied Islam as a whole.
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Author: Baqir Sharif al-Qarashi
