On the way from Mecca to Medina (on the return trip of "the farewell pilgrimage"), next to a pool called "Khumm" the Prophet delivered this sermon to the people:
"O people, know that I am only a human being. The time draws near when I will be called (to the next world), and for me to accept God`s invitation. I am leaving behind among you, two most precious thing: God`s scripture which contains guidance and light, don`t let it go and hold it tight, and my descendants who are my family members".
And according to the version in "Mustadrak" he adds:
Beware how you behave towards these two remaining things after I am gone. They will not separate from each other until they meet me at the pool of `Kowsar"`. It is with reliance on the Prophets last sentence that we believe one of the Imams of Ahlu`l bait their number being ascertained in other creditable Hadiths – will have such a lengthy life that he will remain alive until the worlds end. So that, joined and allied with Gods scripture they will always be existent in the human world. Also, so that the Prophets statement regarding their lack of separation will come true.
Jabir relates something similar to this from the Prophets` sermon on "the ninth day of Zilhaj" (Arafah). He says:
"O` People, I am leaving something behind among you, which so long as you keep hold of you will never go astray: God`s Book and my Descendants: Who are my family members (Ahlu`l bait)." 128 After relating this narrative, Tirmidhi adds that the Hadith was also related by Abu Dharr, Abu Saeed al-Khudri, Zaid ibn Sabet and Hudhayfeh Ibn al-Aseed. This narration has been related by in so many ways by various persons that their repetition and study requires the proper opportunity for such. At this time we only wish to rely on this Hadith to the point where we may show that the Prophet made the Imamate exclusively in his Ahlu`l bait, and made them allied with and inseparable from the Quran. This is because the Prophet sees guidance as being in their hands and in the Quran. Holding onto and adhering to them results in inevitable deliverance from deviation and from being misled according to the Prophets insight. He warns that you should beware and be careful how you act towards them after me. He also says that these two will never separate and that they will meet him at the pool of `Kowsar`; the entrance place for the saved on resurrection day.
The fact that the "Divine scriptures" are theoretically the peoples Imam, and their leader in thought, belief, character and action, is an indisputable Quranic matter. 129 It is also with regard to and reliance on this very principle that the Imamate of the Prophets Ahlu`l bait is proved because of their being placed along side the Quran. In other words, Islam is described and propounded in the Quran theoretically, and actively and in outer personification it appears in the Ahlu`l bait. Therefore, if we accept the Qurans Imamate in that form, then we have no choice but to accept the Imamate of Ahlu`l bait in this form. Another point made here in the Prophet`s words is with regard to guidance being exclusive in his valuable legacy; (the Quran and his Ahlu`l bait). Since we know that Quranic guidance is confined to the generalities of Islamic matters of faith, morals knowledge; then it is inevitable that the explanation and clarification of these matters related in the Quran will become the duty and responsibility of Ahlu`l bait. In this way, guidance will be complete and consummate.
