{"id":4764,"date":"2021-06-02T14:57:14","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T13:57:14","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-06-02T14:58:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T13:58:01","slug":"beliefs-did-the-prophet-s-appoint-a-successor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/4764\/beliefs-did-the-prophet-s-appoint-a-successor\/","title":{"rendered":"Beliefs: Did the Prophet (s) Appoint a Successor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beliefs: Did the Prophet (s) Appoint a Successor<\/strong><\/p>\n

O Messenger, Proclaim what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don\u2019t do it, you have not delivered His Message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people (Holy Qur\u2019an: Chapter 5, Verse 67)<\/p>\n

The Shi\u2019ah believe that the proclamation mentioned by the Qur\u2019anic verse was fulfilled by the Prophet (s) when he appointed Imam \u2018Ali bin Abi Talib (a) as his successor on the day of Ghadir Khumm.<\/p>\n

What happened on the day of Ghadir Khumm?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019l Hijja (10 March 632) on his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage, the verse \u201cO Messenger, Proclaim what has been sent down…\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

The highlight of his sermon was when, taking Imam \u2018Ali (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: \u201cIt is so, O Apostle of Allah\u201d. He then declared: \u201cHe of whom I am the master (mawla), of him \u2018Ali 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immediately after the Prophet (s) finished his speech, the following verse of the Qur\u2019an was revealed:<\/p>\n

Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favor upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion. (Holy Qur\u2019an 5:3)<\/p>\n

After his speech, the Prophet (s) asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to \u2018Ali (a) and congratulate him. Among those who did so was \u2018Umar bin al-Khattab, who said: \u201cWell done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the master of all believing men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Arab, having heard of the event of Ghadir Khumm, came up to the Prophet (s) and said: \u201cYou 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 \u2018Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla.\u2019 Is this imposition from Allah or from you?\u201d The Prophet (s) said : \u201cBy Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious.\u201d<\/p>\n

On hearing this reply the man turned back and proceeded towards his she-camel saying: \u201cO Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture.\u201d 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:<\/p>\n

A questioner questioned about the punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it, from Allah the Lord of the Ascent. (Holy Qur\u2019an 70:1-3)<\/p>\n

Do the Sunni scholars consider this event authentic?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

A very small selection of these sources is given below. Many of these scholars not only quote the Prophet\u2019s declaration but also call it authentic:<\/p>\n

\u2022 al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, al-Mustadrak \u2018ala 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 al-Bukhari and Muslim; al-Dhahabi has confirmed his judgment.
\n\u2022 al-Tirmidhi, Sunan (Cairo), vol. 5, p. 633
\n\u2022 Ibn Majah, Sunan, (Cairo, 1952), vol. 1, p. 45
\n\u2022 Ibn Hajar al-\u2019Asqalani, Fath al-Bari bi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, (Beirut, 1988), vol. 7, p. 61
\n\u2022 Al-\u2019Ayni, \u2018Umdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 8, p. 584
\n\u2022 Ibn al-\u2019Athir, Jami\u2018 al-\u2019usul, i, 277, no. 65;
\n\u2022 Al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur, vol. 2, p. 259 and p. 298
\n\u2022 Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Tafsir al-Kabir, (Beirut, 1981), vol. 11, p. 53
\n\u2022 Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Qur\u2019an al-\u2019Azim, (Beirut), vol. 2, p. 14
\n\u2022 Al-Wahidi, Asbab al-Nuzul, p. 164
\n\u2022 Ibn al-\u2019Athir, Usd al-Ghaba fi Ma\u2019rifat al-Sahaba, (Cairo), vol.3, p. 92
\n\u2022 Ibn Hajar al-\u2019Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, (Hyderabad, 1325), vol. 7, p. 339
\n\u2022 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, (Cairo, 1932), vol. 7, p. 340, vol. 5, p. 213
\n\u2022 Al-Tahawi, Mushkil al-Athar, (Hyderabad, 1915), vol. 2, pp. 308-9
\n\u2022 Nur al-Din al-Halabi al-Shafi\u2019i, al-Sirah al-Halabiyya, vol. 3, p. 337
\n\u2022 Al-Zurqani, Sharh al-Mawahib al-Ladunniyya, vol. 7, p. 13<\/p>\n

But doesn\u2019t the word mawla mean friend?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although a huge number of Sunni scholars from all ages and from all points of view have confirmed the event and the historic words of the Prophet (s), they have found it difficult to reconcile it with what actually happened after the demise of the Prophet (s). It is outside the scope of this short document to detail those incidents. The important point is that many Sunni scholars claimed that the Prophet (s) merely wished to declare \u2018Ali (a) as a friend and helper to the Muslims!<\/p>\n

There are many aspects to this event that show that it was much more significant. The revelation of the various verses of the Qur\u2019an, the large gathering, the final stages of the Prophet\u2019s life, the confirmation by the people that the Prophet (s) was superior in authority, the subsequent congratulations by \u2018Umar as well as many other factors which are difficult to cover in this short document, all point to the occasion as one of designation of successor by the Prophet (s). It is evident that the word mawla was used in the sense of absolute authority after the Prophet (s) including, but not restricted to, temporal power.<\/p>\n

The Final Word<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there still remains doubt about the historic importance of this statement and the efforts of some people to cover it up, let this be the final word:<\/p>\n

When Imam \u2018Ali (a), during the time of his caliphate and decades after the event of Ghadir, said to Anas bin Malik, the Companion of the Prophet (s): \u201cWhy don\u2019t you stand up and testify what you heard from the Messenger of Allah on the day of Ghadir?\u201d He answered, \u201cO Amir al-Muminin! I have grown old and do not remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thereupon \u2018Ali (a) said: \u201cMay Allah mark you with a white spot (of leprosy) unconcealable with your turban, if you are intentionally withholding the truth.\u201d And before Anas got up from his place he bore a large white spot on his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

notes:<\/strong>
\n
\n\u2022 Ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari, Kitab al-Ma\u2019arif, (Cairo, 1353 AH), p. 251
\n\u2022 Ahmad bin Hanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 1, p. 119
\n\u2022 Abu Nu\u2018aym al-\u2019Isfahani ,Hilyat al-Awliya\u2019, (Beirut, 1988), vol. 5, p. 27
\n\u2022 Nur al-Din al-Halabi al-Shafi\u2019i, al-Sirah al-Halabiyya, vol. 3, p. 336
\n\u2022 Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-\u2019Ummal, (Halab, 1969-84), vol. 13, p. 131
\nLanguage English
\nTopic Tags:<\/em><\/p>\n

Successor
\nGhadir<\/em><\/p>\n

Category:<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunni & Shi\u2019a
\nEarly Islamic History<\/em><\/p>\n

Person Tags:<\/em><\/p>\n

Imam Ali<\/em><\/p>\n

maintenance<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n