Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter Six: Final and Formal Announcement or The Successor

Knowing that he was approaching his end, the prophet (p) determined to make a farewell pilgrimage to MAKKA. On the 25th DHU AL-QI'DA, A.H.10 (corresponding to 23rd February, A.C.632), he left Medina with a large concourse of Muslims, estimated to number between 90,000 and 140,000 souls. On the return journey after the performance of the Hajj, at a place called KHUM, the following divine injunction was received:

'O Apostle, proclaim the message which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord. If thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission. And God will defend thee from men (who mean mischief). For God guideth not those who reject faith". (SURA V,70).

On receipt of this peremptory command, the prophet (p) ordered a halt; those who had proceeded ahead were called back. The place was cleared of its thorny bushes, and a pulpit was made out of camel seats. The prophet (p) ascended it accompanied by Imam Ali, and raising him aloft, he proclaimed Ali's succession. He had barely finished it when the verse announcing the completion of his mission was revealed. A special turban was placed on the head of Imam Ali, who was seated in a separate camp, and all the UMMA, including the wives of the Prophet (P), were ordered to go there and make the "BAI'AT" (acknowledgment of over-lordship) to him. This caused a great commotion in the camp of the opposition.

The whole of the proceedings fall into six well-defined topics, each of which requires careful consideration. They are:

1. The divine injunction.

2. The place and the formalities.

3. The Proclamation.

4. The BAI'A and the congratulations.

5. The completion of the execution of the entire mission.

6. The commotion in the opposition camp.

I proceed to discuss each of these topics in turn, though the sixth item will fall under a separate chapter.

1. The Divine Command:

The words of this divine mandate have been set out above. It is abundantly proved from the statements of eminent traditionalists that this verse was revealed on the return journey from the Farewell Pilgrimage near KHUM, and that as soon as it was revealed, the Prophet (P) called a half. AS-SYYUTI says:

"IBN ABI HATIM, IBN MARDAWEIH and IBN ASAKIR have quoted the "RIWAYA" traced from ABU SAI'D AL-KHUDARI that this verse was revealed to the prophet on the day of KHUM in respect of ALI IBN ABI TALEB. This is also traceable to ABDALLAH IBN MAS'UD. Three companions of the prophet (p), namely A'MASH, ABU SAI'D AL-KHUDARI and ABDALLAH IBN ABBAS, have been reported to have declared that this verse was revealed to the prophet (p) in respect of Imam Ali on the day of KHUM.

I quote the following from TAFSIR (commentary on the QUR'AN) called "KASHF AL-BAYAN" by ABU ISHAQ AHMAD ATH-THA'ALIBI, in the exposition of this verse he says:

"When this AYA "O Apostle proclaim the message…." Was revealed to the prophet, he caught hold of the arm of Ali, and said, "Ali is the master and ruler of whomsoever I have been the master and ruler… etc. I have been told by ABU AL-QASIM YA'QUB IBN AHMAD IBN ASSARI who was told by ABU BAKR MUHAMMAD IBN ABDALLAH IBN MUHAMMD… and so on till ADIL IBN THABIT, who was told by AL-BARA'' IBN AZIB, a companion of the prophet (p), that we were in the company of the prophet (p) during the Farewell Pilgrimage. When we arrived near KHUM, suddenly a call to prayer was made, and a pulpit was arranged for the prophet under two trees. The prophet (p) caught hold of the arm of Imam Ali and asked of the congregation, "Am I not the master of the souls of the Muslims"?

They replied, "Yes, you are". The prophet (p) then said, "This Ali is the master of the souls of all of whom I am the master. O God, be the friend of him who is Ali's friend, and be an enemy to his enemy". UMAR met Ali and congratulated him in these words: "O son of Abu TALIB, congratulations to you. You have become the MAWLA of all the Muslims, men and women". IBN-ABBAS says (I have omitted the names of the intervening RUWAT) that the verse "O Apostle proclaim the message…" was revealed to the prophet in respect of Ali; the prophet (p) accordingly caught Imam Ali by the arm and said, "This Ali is the MAWLA of all of whom I have been the MAWLA. O God, be a friend to Ali's friend, and be an enemy to his enemy".

Imam FAKHR-ED-DINE-RAZE, in his AT-TAFSIR AL-KABIR MAFATIH AL-GHAIB", while commenting on this verse says exactly the same thing as has been reproduced above, with the addition of the congratulations of UMAR.

The message spoken of in this verse was the one requiring the prophet (p) to announce that Imam Ali had been appointed to succeed him. Two relevant questions arise in this connection, viz. (1) Where is the proof of this assertion, and (2) Why was the name of Imam Ali not mentioned expressly? I proceed to answer these questions.

In connection with the first question, the first thing to remember is that this was the penultimate verse of QUR'AN. Only one more AYA-revealed just a few minutes afterwards- and the QUR'AN was closed. The inclusion in the verse of the words, "…. God will defend thee…" reveals that, for the necessity to have arisen of assuring the prophet of divine protection, the message referred to must have been of such a nature as would give umbrage to a strong party. Now consider what that message could have been. This was only about two months before the death of the prophet (p), by which time almost the whole of Arabia had been cleared of the pagans; the Jews had been humbled, and the Christians had finally made peace with the prophet.

MAKKA had been conquered, and had accepted Islam. Thus it was not from these quarters that any danger was to be apprehended. Moreover, what message could have been more offensive to these groups than what had already been publicly communicated to them; the forty verses of SURAT AT-TAWBA contained terrible threats to the pagans and unbelievers, and had been announced to them By Imam Ali at the Hajj preceding this Last Hajj. They had done their worst and failed; the danger from them had already come and gone, and no such assurances of divine protection were needed at that time in their case. All this shows, therefore, that this new message was of such a nature that it could be the cause of a new danger from a particular quarter, a danger of such a sinister and formidable nature as to require special assurances of divine protection.

I cannot lay too much emphasis on the fact that the conquest of Arabia by Muhammad was almost complete by the time that this verse was revealed, as it is a pointer to the outcome of the present enquiry, namely, what the nature of the message referred to in the verse was. There had been a time when the prophet had been alone, preaching his mission to a hostile world, driven from place to place, stoned, teased, harassed and injured, with no shelter, no helper, until at last obliged to leave his native town.

All those dangers encountered had been successfully overcome; yet no such divine assurances had been needed then. The danger at this final stage must therefore have been of a peculiar kind not experienced before, and be from a quarter so insidious and sinister as to be inconspicuous and not easily discerned. The danger arising from the suddenness of the impending attack was formidable, and the nature of the quarter from which it was to come was uncertain. It was for these reasons that divine assurances became necessary.

All these factors combine to indicate that the danger implied in the verse must be from the Muslims themselves, and must be in consequence of a matter which had come to the surface recently, brought on by the likelihood of the succession opening in the near future. God alone knew exactly what plans the people with an eye on the Caliphate had made, what their details were, and how they were to be executed. As I have stated above, there were many classes of men among the Muslims; but all of them, except the true Muslims who were few, were unanimous in their hatred of Imam Ali. This Proclamation was bound to unite them all in their efforts to harm the prophet (p).

Another important point in the verse is the threat that if the message was not proclaimed forthwith, it would be as if the entire mission had not been executed. This also has a very significant implication. Islam was to continue after the death of the prophet (p); in fact, it was the last message of God to man, and was meant to continue till the end of the world. This was the entire mission. The arrangement regarding the successor was the basis for the future continuation of that mission, and if that arrangement was not made, then the mission would not continue in its purity after the death of the prophet (p), and would come to an end.

For the complete discharge of the mission, it was necessary that the arrangement for its continuation after the death of the prophet should also be made. It was absolutely essential that the complete message should be delivered and proclaimed to the world; it would then be for the people to accept it or reject it, as Islam has allowed freedom of will in the matter of religion. It says in the QUR'AN, "There is no compulsion in the matter of religion" if the people accept it, it is for their own good, if they reject it, it will be they alone who will have to bear the consequences. It was therefore said by God to the prophet that if he did not complete the mission by proclaiming this particular message, it would be tantamount to the non-execution of the entire mission.

The second question is the omission of any mention of the name of Imam Ali. There are other instances of a similar nature. For example, the details of the rules and calculations of the ZAKAT are not given in the QUR'AN, nor even the mode of the prayers, such as the number of RAK'AT for each prayer time; the RUKU' and SUJUD are not mentioned. Another instance with the greatest significance to the present case is that of the involvement of AISHA in a false accusation; when the matter reached an acute stage, an AYA was revealed to clear her of the accusation. But in none of the AYAT is her name actually mentioned. We know that they relate to her simply because of the traditions that have reached us regarding them. As she belonged to the fouling party, these traditions were assiduously promulgated without let or hindrance, with the result that no one now feels the necessity to prove that they relate to her. But the traditions showing that the AYAT under discussion relates to Imam Ali were against the interests of the ruling party, and therefore are now put to the proof.

There is also another point. They were bent upon disobeying this order. If the name of Imam Ali had been mentioned in any AYA, they would certainly have omitted such verses when compiling the QUR'AN, this compilation being in their hands. Soon after their accession to the throne, they undertook to prepare an official edition of the QUR'AN, and it is this edition which is in vogue now.

2. The Place and the Formalities:

The prophet (p) started out on his Last Hajj with a great concourse of men, estimated to number up to one hundred and forty thousand, and it greatly increased on the way as people continued joining him from the vi9llages en route to MAKKA. He started on the return journey from MAKKA at the end of the Hajj with the same large array of men. It may be noted that at the Arafat before the Hajj, the prophet gave a lengthy speech in which he reiterated all the principles of Islam and gave much advice regarding their conduct as Muslims. On the return journey near GHADIR KHUM, the verse mentioned above was revealed, in compliance with which the prophet ordered a halt.

It is to be remembered that the place where this verse was suddenly revealed and where therefore the halt was ordered, was not a regular "MANZIL" for caravans and travelers to stop at; it was a desert place, full of thorny bushes and kicker trees, which he ordered the place to be cleared of. The choice fell on this uninviting place because from it many paths branched out in different directions, and the whole array of men would split up there. The message had to be delivered to the undivided UMMA. Before the Proclamation, the prophet (p) placed on the head of Imam Ali a turban, the emblem of authority and succession in eastern countries. The prophet (p) himself wound it around Imam Ali's head. I quote this from "KANZ AL-UMMAL":

"Ali says that on the day of the GHADIR, the prophet wound a turban round his head, and that both ends of the turban were left dangling on his shoulders, and the prophet added that on the day of BADR. God had sent for his succor the array of angels wearing turbans in this fashion, and that the turban was a screen between the Muslims and the unbelievers".

"ABD AL A'LA BIN ADI says that on the day of KHUM, the prophet sent for Ali9 and wound a turban round his head, leaving both the ends of the turban lying on his shoulders". "On the day of KHUM, the prophet wound round the head of Ali a turban, and then said "Come forward", then said "Go back", and then said that the angels had come to his succor on the day of BADR in that way. Then he proclaimed, Ali is the master and ruler of everyone of whom I have been the master and ruler".

3. The Proclamation:

AMIR Ali writes:

"It is generally supposed that the prophet did not expressly designate anyone as his successor in the spiritual and temporal government of Islam; but this notion is founded on a mistaken apprehension of facts, for there is abundant evidence that many a time the prophet indicated Ali for the vicegerency, notably on the occasion of the return journey from the performance of the "Farewell Pilgrimage" during a halt at a place called KHUM. He convoked an assembly of the people accompanying him, and used words which could leave little doubt as to his intention regarding a successor. "Ali", said he, "is to me what Aaron was to Moses, O Almighty God, be a friend to his friends and a foe to his foes; help those who help him, and frustrate the hopes of those who betray him"

For a description of the event, AMIR Ali relies on KHALLAKAN, whom he has mentioned as his authority. This extract, besides being an apt illustration of the reluctance with which the historians of Islam, when they see no way out of it, admit the facts which go against their accepted views, and even then half-heartedly, taking care to minimize their effect as much as they can, is a good instance of the difficulties which beset the impartial seeker after truth who wants to ascertain the true facts of the disputed event. AMIR Ali chooses not a historian or traditionalist, but a biographer, IBN KHALLAKAN, having inclinations like his own, in order to find an authority for his having suppressed the part of the Proclamation which was its very soul, viz.

Ali is henceforth the MAWLA of every one of whom I have been the MAWLA Not content with this, in order to minimize the effect of his own admission, the great historian of Islam says, "On the other hand, the nomination of ABU BAKR to lead the prayers during the prophet's illness might point to a different choice".

This is also an instance of the anxiety of these historians to shield the leaders of their fancy at the expense of the Prophet (P). If both the above quoted statements of AMIR Ali are read together, the result is absurd. On the hand he says that the general assumption that the Prophet did not designate anyone as his successor is entirely wrong, and that "many a time the prophet (P) indicated Imam Ali for the vicegerency", yet on the other hand he says that the prophet (P) selected ABU BAKR for the vicegerency.

What does this amount to? Does it not reflect badly on the prophet's good sense and straightforwardness? Is this action credible for one who claims to receive his instructions directly from God? Anyone acting like this could well be accused of vacillation, or even of being unjust without good reason (if there can ever be a reason for doing injustice), as Imam Ali had deserved to succeed him on account of his manifold qualities, and what is more had also been proclaimed as his successor at KHUM. Where was the reason to set aside Imam Ali's nomination during his last illness, a nomination which had been made after due consideration and evaluation of the qualities and abilities of all the Companions, and make a "different choice"?

One hears of doting husbands doing many unreasonable things at the time of their death under the influence of their wives, but it is untenable to hear this implied of any prophet, let alone the prophet of Islam. The true, simple fact is that the prophet (p) did not contradict himself by appointing ABU BAKR to lead the prayers; it was, rather, a game played by AISHA in the interests of her father, as I shall presently show. But this is the truth, which these historians will not admit, even if the attitude they have adopted puts their prophet in a bad light. The great historian and traditionalist, AT-TABARI, relates this Proclamation from RUWAT through ABU SAI'D AL-KHUDARI, as ALI MUTTAQI does from RUWAT through ZAID IBN ARQAM. ALI MUTTAQI says:

"When the prophet returned from the Last Hajj and came to GHADIR KHUM, he ordered that the ground should be leveled, and then stood up and said, "I am shortly to leave this world. I am leaving behind me two precious things among you, the one greater than the other, the Book of God and my Children. You must treat them well. They shall ever remain linked together until they come to me at the HAWD on the Day of Resurrection".

He continued, "God is my MAWLA and I am the MAWLA of all the Muslims, and (holding Ali up by the arm) similarly this Ali is the MAWLA of all of whom I have been the MAWLA. O God, be a friend to his friends, and a foe to his foes, and frustrate the hopes of those who betray him". I asked ZAID whether he himself had heard this from the prophet. He replied that everyone who was there saw this with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears. Muhammad IBN JARIR AT-TABARI has related this very "RIWAYA" through ATIYYA AWFI from ABU SAI'D AL-KHUDARI".

This Proclamation has been related by both historians and (traditionists). They divide it into two parts, one mentioning the two precious things, the QUR'AN and the Children of the prophet, called "HADITH- ATHAQALAIN', and the other containing the declaration called "HADITH- AL-GHADIR". ("THAQALAIN" means "two precious things").

I repeat in other words the HADITH of THAQALIN; "I am shortly to leave this world. I am leaving behind me two very previous things among you, the one greater than the other, the Book of God and my Children. They shall ever remain linked together until they come to me at my HAWD on the Day of Resurrection. You shall never go astray up to the Day of Judgment if you follow them both after me".

I also repeat in other words the HADITH of GHADIR:

"God is my MAWLA, and I am the MAWLA of the Muslims, having control over their lives; this Ali is the MAWLA of every one of whom I have been the MAWLA; O God Almighty, be a friend of his friends and a foe of his foes" ("MAWLA", remember, means "master and ruler"). SHAIKH ABD AL HAQ of Delhi, speaking of the HADITH of GHADIR, writes thus:

"This HADITH is undoubtedly correct and genuine; no less than sixteen, and according to Ahmad IBN HANBAL thirty companions of the prophet who had themselves heard it from the prophet Testified to its correctness and genuineness when called upon by Ali to mention it on oath. Many eminent traditionalists, for example AL-NISA'I, AT-TIRMIDHI, and Ahmad have related it and testified to its genuineness; it has been related through many channels, and most of its "ASANID" (RUWAT, references are correct and unimpeachable. No attention should be paid to those who criticize it, nor to those who say that the sentence "O God, be a friend to his friends and a foe to his foes" is an interpolation, as that sentence is also reported through unimpeachable authorities, most of which have been scrutinized by ADH-DHAHABI and IBN HIJIR and found correct".

ADH-DHAHABI says in his "TADKHIRAT-AL-HUFFAZ", while narrating the events of the life of the great historian AT-TABARI, that AT-TABARI wrote a book spreading over many volumes dedicated exclusively to proving the correctness and genuineness of the HADITH of GHADIR, and its words "Ali is the MAWLA of every one of whom I have been the MAWLA", and ADH-DHAHABI says that he was wonderstruck when he saw the many unimpeachable authorities of this HADITH in that book of AT-TABARI. Similarly, while writing the life of AL-HAKIM, ADH-DHAHABI says that this HADITH is genuine beyond any doubt, and that he too had written a book solely on this HADITH of GHADIR in which he collected all the unimpeachable authorities on it. MIRZA MUHAMMAD IBN MO'TAMID KHAN says:

"The HADITH of GHADIR is genuine and very well known. No-one doubts its genuineness and authority except a bigoted person, and no reliance can be placed on the word of a bigoted person".

The famous Sunni writer, QAZI SANA'-ALLAH of PANIPAT writes thus about the HADITH of GHADIR:

"This HADITH is no doubt genuine; it has reached the degree of "TAWATUR" (being repeated very frequently by numerous unimpeachable authorities). Thirty of the companions of the prophet, e.g. Ali, ABU AYYUB, ZAID IBN ARQAM, AL-BARA IBN AZIB, AMR IBN MURRA, ABU HURAIRA, IBN ABBAS, "AMARA IBN BURAID, SAI'D IBN WAQQAS, IBN UMAR, ANAS, JARIR IBN ABDALLAH-AL-BAJALI, MALIK IBN HUWAIRITH, ABU SA'ID AL-KHUDARI, ABU TUFAIL, HUDHAIFA IBN ASYUD and others have mentioned this HADITH in their books, and have verified its genuineness".

IBN-UQDA, AT-TABARI, AL-HASAKANI, MAS'UD AL-SAJISTANII and ADH-DHAHABI, have each written book on this HADITH alone, mentioning its various sources and narrating its different authorities, and have verified its genuineness.

4. Homage and Congratulations:

I quote below, in English translation, from "HABIB AS-SAYYAR":

"After the Proclamation, Ali, in accordance with the orders of the prophet, sat in a separate tent to receive homage and congratulations from all the people. One of those who came to congratulate him was UMAR, who said, "Congratulations to you. O son of Abu TALIB, you have become my MAWLA and the MAWLA of all the Muslims, men and women". After this, the Mothers of the Muslims, that is, the wives of the prophet, under orders from the prophet, went to him and congratulated him".

UMAR'S congratulating Ali on this occasion has been mentioned by many historians and traditionalists. The prophet (p) ordered his poet, HASSAN IBN THABIT, to compose poems to commemorate the event. He complied, and his poems have been copied in the "HABIB AS-SAYYAR" and other books. Other poets also wrote poems to celebrate the event. Imam Ali himself was a good poet, and he has written much on the subject, urging his own claims to the Caliphate one the basis of this event. One of his couplets runs as follows: "For this reason the prophet installed me as their Imam, And proclaimed this to them at GHADIR KHUM".

5. The Complete Execution of the Entire Mission:

After the prophet (p) had made the Proclamation, he was still on the pulpit when the following verse declaring the completion of the mission was revealed:

"Today I have perfected for you your religion and have completed my favors on you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion". (SURA V,4). The fact of this verse being revealed just after the Proclamation is mentioned by eminent historians and traditionalists. AS-SAYYUTI says: "ABU HURAIRA says that on the day of GHADIR KHUM, 18th DHU AL-HIJJA, the prophet said that Ali was the MAWLA of all of whom he had been the MAWLA; just then the AYA "Today I have perfected for you your religion…" was revealed".

There are other authorities to the same effect. This shows that the mission was perfected and completed only when the Caliphate had been bestowed, and proclamation there of had been made.