About the Author

Husein Khimjee is a PhD student at the University of Toronto.He frequently leads Juma' prayers at the Jafri Islamic Center inThornhill, Ontario.

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Chapter 4 : The Theological Aspects of Ghadir

By Husein KhimjeeAll Praise and Glory belong to Allah, Lord of the universe andthe Only True Sovereign. I praise Allah, and from Him do Icrave support and guidance. And I seek refuge in Allah from themalice of my nafs and from any evil act; whomever Allah guidescan nver go astray; and whomever is misguided by Allah istruly lost and can never find guidance.I testify that there is no god but Allah, the Only One, and Hehas no partner of any sort, and I testify that Muhammad is HisSlave and Messenger sent by Allah with total guidance and truefaith so that he should proclaim it over all the other ideologies;and in this Allah Himself is the Witness.And peace and blessings of Allah be on our Leader and theProphet, the Seal of the Prophets, sent as a blessing to mankind,Muhammad (Abul-Qasim). And peace and blessings of Allah beon his progeny, the purified, just as Allah Himself has revealedin the Qur'an: 'Verily, Allah intendeth but to keep off from you(every kind of) uncleanliness, 0 ye People of the House, andpurify you (with) a thorough purification' (33:33).I thank Allah for making me into a Muslim and for HisBounteous Help, for indeed without His Bounteous Help thisarticle would not have been possible. I pray to Allah that Heguides us all and increases our faith and knowledge and bringsabout our death in no other state except as Muslims. Amen.One of the most unique things in any aspect of Islamic theologyis that its truth manifests itself in our daily lives. all that isrequired to see this is a little pondering. Take, for example, thetheology expanded in the Qur'an that all things have their ownterm appointed. Thus, the Qur'an tells us: 'What! Reflect theynot within themselves; (to see clearly that) created not Allah theheavens and the earth and what is between them two exceptwith truth, and for an appointed term?' (30:8)The principle - ajal, or more precisely, fi ajalin musammah --manifests itself very clearly in our daily lives. Thus we find thateverything around us has an appointed term of its own, whetherit belongs to the animal, vegetable or mineral kingdom.With this principle, it becomes very interesting when we notethat even prophethood had a life cycle of its own; for it startedwith Prophet Adam, upon whom be peace, and ended with theSeal of the Prophets, Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessingsbe upon him and his family. Indeed this aspect of prophethoodis popular with many Muslim thinkers and scholars of the past.Thus we are shown in one source, ( 1 )

  for example, that a Sufi poet,Mahmud Shabistari, wrote in his book Gulshan-i-Raz, thefollowing couplet in Farsi:'Nabuwwat ra zuhur ra az Adam amad Kamalash dar wujudKhatam amad.' (The first appearance of prophethood was inAdam and its perfection was in the Seal of the Prophets.)We find in this couplet a reference pointing clearly to the lifecycle prophethood went through beginning with Adam andflowering with the Last Prophet.But this has posed a dilemma for mankind because whileprophethood reached its optimum, the history of humanity hasoutlived the term of prophethood. Therefore, in the absence offuture prophets, who should guide mankind? What ahoutAllah's promise in the Qur'an to continue guiding mankind, forexample: '...And if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance fromMe, whosoever follows My guidance on them shall be no fearnor shall they grieve.' (2:38)This dilemma for mankind is very serious as well as interesting.It is serious because without the guidance from Allah, the statusof mankind would be such that it could not be salved. Mankindis already in a state of loss (103:2) and forgetfulness (36:78),most importantly he carries the burden of the trust andcovenant with Allah (7:172-173). The dilemma is also interestingbecause Allah's promise cannot fail and yet we clearly see thatthe term of prophethood ended with the Last Prophet. TheQur'an itself declares him the 'Seal of the Prophets' (33:40).The truth of the matter is that the only answer to this dilemma isfound in the episode of Ghadir Khum. Apart from providing asolution to this problem, Ghadir also charts once and for all aclear path for the guidance and salvation of mankind. Ghadirprovides once and for all the usul of the only acceptable faith toAllah. This is a challenge the defence of which we find directlyfrom the Qur'an, thus: 'The (only) faith before Allah is Islam'(3:19). And in another place: 'If anyone desires (to follow) afaith other than Islam, fa lan yuqbala minhu (never will it beaccepted of him); and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks ofthose who are lost' (3:85).Most importantly, the final revelation from Allah to the Prophettook place at Ghadir and the fate of the salvation of mankind issealed in Islam. The revelation is clear and leaves no doubtabout Allah's seal over Islam. 'This day have I perfected yourreligion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and havechosen for you Islam as your faith' (5:3). Ghadir's theology istherefore very interesting and must be seen in its true perspective.Islam believes that all prophets were Muslims. ( 2 )

By this doctrine,they gave a clear message to worship only One God,Allah.They each proclaimed their prophethood and they each warnedabout the impending Day of Judgement. Since the prophethoodhad not yet ended, they also declared about the advent of thefinal Prophet; ( 3 )

with whom not only would end the prophethoodbut also, as is obvious, the process of revelation. Henceforth,there would be no revelation and no new scripture. The Qur'an,therefore, would be protected by Allah Himself so that no onewould ever tamper with it. ( 4 )

One reason for Allah's guarantee ofthe Qur'an's protection is that together with the 'Itrat of theProphet, it would act as al-thaqal aI-akbar (the weightiest or theheaviest) force in guiding mankind in the absence of theProphet. This is clear also from the hadith of Al-Thaqalayn. ( 5 )

The prime duty of the 'Itrat of the Prophet would be to upholdthe injunctions of the Qur'an and disallow any innovations orschisms in the Sunnah of the Prophet. ( 6 )

The duty to uphold thesewould remain in the hands of an Imam who would be endowedwith 'ilm and be appointed through the process of nass.Since humanity henceforth would be guided by the Qur'an andthe Sunnah under an Imam and since the immediate Imam afterthe demise of the Prophet would be Imam ali, upon whom bepeace, the Prophet has shown Imam Ali as his clear successorthroughout his mission leading up to the event of GhadirKhum. As we shall see, that in doing so, the Prophet was clearlycharting the principles of the Usul-e Din to be followed.There are several incidents recorded in all authentic sources --both Shi'i as well as Ahle Sunnat wa al-Jama'ah (Sunni) --where the Prophet advanced Imam ali to indicate his wilayaover all others. This began immediately with the very firstdeclaration of his prophethood to his near relatives. The eventsthat led to the invitation to his near relatives are clear from allsources. Allah commanded the Prophet to warn the relatives.We know that he invited his relatives and warned them ascommanded by Allah. The Prophet gave at that time, just as hewas to do at Ghadir at the end of his mission, an eloquentkhutbah (the theology of which we shall look at a little later) atthe end of which Imam Ali was advanced as his successor.It is also a fact that including the above incident, Muslimsbelieve through authentic ahadith that the Prophet regardedImam Ali as a companion who possessed nine other excellentmerits. These are:(1) Imam Ali was the first man to believe in Muhammad as theProphet of Allah.(2) When the Prophet received the command from Allah toleave Medina, Imam Ali willingly risked his life by sleeping inhis bed covered in the blanket used by the Prophet.(3) Imam Ali together with Lady Fatimah and Imam Hasanand Imam Husayn, peace be upon all of them, were under theblanket with the Prophet ( 7 )

when Jibreel (Gabriel) brought thenews and the Prophet recited the verse: 'Innama yuridu Allahuliyudhhiba 'ankumu rrijsa Ahlul Bayti was yutahhirukum tathira'('Verily, Allah intendeth but to keep off from you (every kindof) uncleanliness, 0 ye People of the House, and purify you(with) a thorough purification.')(4) During the battle of Khaybar, the Prophet said that hewould send to fight the enemies one whom Allah would not putto shame because he loved Allah and His Messenger. TheProphet called Imam Ali, and although Imam Ali had sore eyes,the Prophet applied saliva from his own mouth onto Imam Ali'seyes, prayed for him and handed him the flag. Imam Alireturned from Khaybar victorious.(5) The Prophet sent Imam Ali with the revealed verses fromSurat al-Bara'a (al-Tawbah) to read to the infidels saying thatonly Imam Ali could convey the revelation because Imam Aliwas from him and he was from Imam Ali.(6) In Medina, once the Prophet blocked all the doors openinginto the Prophet's mosque except the door of Imam Ali. TheProphet also explained later from the pulpit that he did things ascommanded by Allah.(7) The Prophet told Imam Ali that he (Ali) would be theguardian of all the believers, male and female, after his (theProphet's) demise.(8) When the Prophet was leaving for the expedition of Tabuk,the Prophet asked Imam Ali to remain behind in charge ofMedina. When Imam Ali showed a desire to accompany him (sothat he should get a chance to attain the status of shaheed[martyr) in the battlefield), the Prophet said to Imam Ali: '0Ali, you are to me what Harun (Aaron) was to Musa (Moses).(The only difference is that) there will be no prophets after me.'(9) At Ghadir, the Prophet said clearly: 'Man kuntu mawlahu fahadho Aliyun mawlahu.' (of whoever I am the mawla, (this) Aliis his mawla.'There are several other occasions where the Prophet clearlyindicated the sucoession of Imam Ali. ( 8 )

The above incidents leave no doubt that the Prophet wasalready preparing the Ummah for the concept of imama underwhom the Ummah would continue to receive guidance. Fromthe merits discussed above, I shall now briefly discuss the lasttwo (numbers 8 and 9). This is because the article has to be brief(but please see footnotes for additional reading material).It has been wrongly argued by some Muslims, as our sourcesshow, ( 9 )

that it was only once that the Prophet uttered the wordsindicating the status of Imam Ali as that of Harun (Aaron)except that there would be no prophets after him. The fact of thematter is that it was several times, and indeed at differentoccasions, the Prophet is shown to have uttered this status ofImam Ali. In fact, even Mu'awiya had reminded this hadith ofthe Prophet to someone who had asked him a question andMu'awiya replied by asking him to seek the answer of suchproblems from Imam Ali because, as Mu'awiya said, even Umaral-Khattab used to ask Ali for solutions to difficult problems. 10 )

When the Prophet announced only the door of Imam Alileading to the inside of the Prophet's mosque be left open to theexclusion of all other doors and explained from the pulpit that Itwas the command of Allah, the Prophet also added that Ali'sposition in relation to him was similar to Harun's with ProphetMusa (except that the prophethood will end with Muhammad).In a heart-rendering occasion when the Prophet was establishingthe brotherhood between the Muhajirun: and the Ansar, on bothoccasions the Prophet reserved Imam Ali's brotherhood onlyfor himself and said to him that his (Ali's) position with theProphet was the same as Harun's position was with ProphetMusa except that there would certainly be no prophets after theprophethood of Muhammad. Imam Ali asked on that occasion,what then, would he inherit? The Prophet replied: 'What theprophets before me left as inheritance: the Book of their Lordand their own Sunnah and you will be with my daughterFatimah in my castle in Paradise and you are my brother andmy associate.' Then the Prophet recited this verse from theQur'an: 'And We shall remove from their hearts any lurkingsense of injury; (they will be) brothers (joyfully) facing eachother on thrones (of dignity)' (15:47). ( 11 )

The above events, recorded in authentic Islamic sources, shouldleave no doubt in anyone's mind that the Prophet clearlyshowed that: (1) he was the Seal of the Prophets; (2) theguidance of mankind would still continue but in the person ofImam Ali who was endowed with 'ilm ( 12 )

and was the foremost inall respects in the matters of faith; (3) the Imam would inheritthe Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet with which hecould continue to guide mankind; (4) the guidance wouldcontinue in his 'Itrat as outlined in the hadith of al-Thaqalayn;and (5) the hadith of al-Thaqalayn clearly showed that theQur'an and the Prophet's 'Itrat are inseparable and the guidancemust he derived from both. In this regard, the Prophet's ahadithare clear and demand upon the believers neither to go ahead ofthe Imams for otherwise they would perish nor to lag behind theImams for even then they would perish, and never to teach theImams because the Imams would always he ahead in theirknowledge (since they are the bearers of 'ilm-e ladunni and thehidden knowledge of the Qur'an). In this regard, the Prophetalso prophesied that there would emerge misguided people whowould try to corrupt Islam but there would also he in allgenerations true believers of his Ahl al-Bayt who would counteractsuch corruptions. The Prophet warned against choosingsuch Imams. The Ahl aI-Bayt, the Prophet said, are like the headof the body (the balanced head will always guide correctly) orlike the eyes to the face because the face is guided only by theeyes. In another tradition, the Prophet has said that the Ahlal-Bayt are like the Ark of Noah. Those that embark on it aresaved and those that reject it are destroyed. Also, in anothertradition, they are like the 'Gate of Repentance' ( 13 )

of the BaniIsrael; those who entered therein were forgiven by Allah.In this regard, an Imam of the Sunnis, Imam Shafe'i has made aclear point: 'When I saw people led astray by their beliefs in thesea of error and ignorance, in the Name of Allah I boarded theship of salvation, that is the Ahl al-Bayt of Mustafa, the Seal ofProphecy, and I caught hold of the Rope of Allah, that is theirlove as He commanded us to hold fast to the Rope. ( 14 )

Humanity, therefore, will not he left without guidance. TheQur'an's purity combined with the Imams' infallible guidancethrough their 'ilm-e ladunni will continue to guide mankind inthe 'Itrat of the Prophet. In one of the most extra-ordinarytraditions the Prophet has said: 'Even if there was only one dayleft for the world to end, Allah will extend that day until therewill emerge a man whose name will be my name and whosefamily will be my family so that he will fill the earth with justiceand equity just as it is filled with tyranny and wickedness.' ( 15 )

The above hadith also makes clear that the world itself has aterm (ajal) and it will come to an end one day. Until such timethe Prophet had left a clear guidance he showed both in the veryfirst khutbah he gave to his relatives and also at Ghadir. It isinteresting to look at both these sermons of the Prophet to see aclear thesis in which the Prophet has charted a path for mankindto follow once and for all. Thus, when the Prophet called hisrelatives, he clearly established the Usul of our faith. Theseprinciples manifested beautifully in his sermon at Ghadir aswell. I shall now turn to both these sermons and end my article.Like his khutbah at Ghadir, his first khutbah is also famous andis recorded in many books. The Prophet said:'(0 my relatives, you know that) indeed the leader of thecaravan would never betray the people of his own caravan. ByAllah, even if I could lie to all mankind I would never lie to you(since you are my very own); and even if I could betray allmankind never would I betray you. I swear by Allah exceptwhom there is no other God (Tawhid) that indeed without anydoubt, I am the Prophet unto you particularly and to mankindgenerally (Nabuwwah). By Allah you will all die just as you sleepevery night. Then you will get up (from your graves) just as youget up every day (from your beds) (Qiyamah); and without anydoubt, an account will be taken from you for your deeds andyou will be awarded with rewards for the good (you did) and beretributed for the evil you did' (Adalah). Then he asked, 'So letme know which of you is willing to assist me in this task and toshare my burden, so that he may become my brother and theexecutor of my will and my successor among you?' (Imama)As we know, it was Imam Ali who stood up and said, '0Prophet of Allah, I will share this burden of yours.' As we readfrom the accounts, the Prophet placed his hand on the neck ofImam Ali and said: 'This is my brother and the executor of mywill and my successor among you. So listen to him and obeyhim.'Thus began the mission of the 'Seal of the Prophets.' As we havealready seen Imam Ali played an important role in the Seerah ofthe Prophet and one day as the Prophet had finished his finalHajj and was returning to Medina, Allah commanded him toproclaim the message. The Prophet must have felt the urgencyof it because the command was 'if thou didst it not, thouwouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His Mission...' (5:67).The Prophet halted the caravan. People who were ahead wererecalled. The multitude gathered and a quick pulpit was erected.This place was also the junction where people could depart to goto their own towns and therefore was the ideal place for all tolisten to what the Prophet had to say for the final time. The zuhrprayers were performed in congregation, after which the Prophetclimbed up the pulpit (some sources say it was made from thesaddles of camels). Here the Prophet began his most eloquentkhutbah in which we see amazing resemblances of his very firstkhutbah as far as the usul of our faith are concerned. With thiskhutbah he asked the multitude to testify that he did deliver themessage and thus completed his mission. The Prophet began bypraising Allah and said:'All praise belongs to Allah. In Him do I put my faith and fromHim do I crave support. Him do I trust and His protection (doI) seek against the malice of our souls and the evils of our deeds.The misguided have no guide except Him, and those who areguided by Him can never go astray. I bear witness that there isno one worthy of worship except Him and that I, Muhammad,am His Slave and Messenger.'Then he said that Allah had already informed him that the daysof his life were coming to an end. He said: 'But you and I, eachone of us must answer unto Allah for all the things that are duefrom us. What then do you say?'The multitude witnessed this to be so. Then the Prophet askedthe multitude if they would also witness that Allah is One, andthat he is His Apostle who is speaking to them on His commandand the Resurrection and Judgement, Heaven and Hell and theLife Hereafter are all certainties. The multitude again witnessed.The Prophet continued: 'Now then, listen to me carefully, for Ihave been commanded to tell you that I will be taken away fromyour midst, but I leave with you as my legacy (for the wholeUmmah) two most important things, namely, the Book of Allah(the Qur'an) and my descendants, the Ahl al-Bayt. Never shallthey be separated from one another, and so long as you adhereto both of them you will never be led astray after me. Therefore,0 people, this is my last will and testament unto you that youshould always remain faithful to the Qur'an and the Ahl al-Baytas true Muslims until death. Do not lag too far behind them anddo not walk ahead of them, for either way you will go astray.But follow them and walk in their footsteps and they will guideyou along the Straight Path (Sirat ul-Mustaqim).'The Prophet then asked the multitude if he was not moreworthy of their obedience than their own souls. And themultitude replied: 'Yes, verily, yes, 0 Prophet of Allah.'The Prophet then lifted Imam Ali and showing him to all sideshe said: 'Of whomever I am the mawla, (this) Ali is his mawla.'Then he asked the multitude if he had truly and faithfullydelivered the message. The multitude replied again: 'Yes, verily,yes, 0 Prophet of Allah.'So then, the Prophet said another important statement: 'Letthose who are present here convey to those who are absent.'Now if we ponder over this khutbah and compare it with thevery first khutbah, we find to our amazement a clear chart of ourUsul and also a clear path for humanity to follow to the end ofthe term of the human cycle.The Prophet asked the multitude in this khutbah to witness theUnity of Allah (Tawhid). Then he told them they will heaccountable to Allah (Adalah). Then he asked them if he was notthe Apostle of Allah (Nabuwwah). Then the Prophet proclaimedImam Ali as the mawla of all (Imama). Then he asked them towitness that the Resurrection, Judgement, Heaven and Hell andthe life Hereafter are undoubted certainties (Qiyamah).

And lastly, he asked the multitude to proclaim this message toall. clearly this is the duty of Muslims in all generations becausethe Qur'an calls us the khayr al- Ummak, that is, the best ones ofthe Ummah because Muslims are the holders of the truth. Weare the khayr al- Ummah so we should guide mankind towardssalvation for there will be no more prophets but we have theQur'an and the Ahl al-Bayt. With these two weights we canbalance ourselves perfectly because just as we are the khayral-Ummah, the Qur'an tells us that we are also the Ummatanwasatan, that is, the balanced Ummah. We are the Ummah of theProphet whom Allah described as the Rahmatun lil alamin(Mercy to the worlds).

We have yet to bring Ghadir in its proper meaning in ourUmmah. The guidance, however, has never stopped.