A Picture of Ghadir Khumm Area
Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
"O my people! I am going to be
recalled shortly and I must comply. I shall be interrogated and you also shall
be interrogated. What will you say then?" The entire audience answered:
"We shall bear witness that you did convey to us the message of Allah, and
tried your best to guide us on the right path and always gave us good console.
May Allah bless you with a good reward?" The Prophet proceeded: "Why
do you not bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His
slave and Messenger, and that Paradise is true, Hell is true, Death is true,
Resurrection after death is true, that the Day of Judgment will doubtlessly
come and that Allah will raise to life the dead from their graves?." They
said: "O Yes! We bear witness to all this." Then he said: "O
Allah! You also may witness." Then he said: 'O my people! Allah is my Maula
and I am Maula of the faithful and I have superior right on and control over
their lives. And this Ali is the Maula of all those of whom I am Maula. O
Allah! Love him who loves him and hate him who hates him." He further
said: "O my people! I will precede you and you also shall arrive at the
pool of ‘Kausar’, the pool wider than the distance between Basra and Sana, and
there are on the pool as many goblets of silver as stars. When you shall reach
me I shall interrogate you about your behavior towards the two in-valuable
assets after my death. The major asset is the Book of Allah, the Mighty and
Glorious, one end of which is in the hand of Allah, the Exalted, and the other
end of which in your hands. Grasp it tightly and do not go astray and do not
change or amend it. The other asset is my Progeny, who are my Ahle-Bait. Allah
the Gracious and Omniscient has informed me that the two will not part from
each other before they reach me at the pool.”
These
are excerpts from the speech given by Prophet Hazrat Muhammad at a place called
Ghadeer while returning to medina after performing his farewell pilgrimage (Hajj).The
event took place on 18th Zil Hijj in 10 Hijra in front of nearly one
hundred thousand (100,000) Muslims. Historians and companions have narrated that when Prophet reached
a place called Ghadir Khum where people from different provinces used to say Good bye to each other before taking different routes for returning home ,the
following verse was revealed:
"O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your
Lord; and if you don’t do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and
Allah will protect you from the people ...”(Qur’an 5:67)
Upon receiving the verse, the Prophet
stopped at Ghadeer Khum. Then he sent for all people who have been ahead in the
way, to come back and waited until all pilgrims who fell behind, arrived and
gathered. He ordered Salman to make a pulpit (minbar) so that he could make a
declaration. The day was extremely hot but the Messenger of Allah spent
approximately five hours at Ghadeer Khum. For three hours, he was on the
pulpit. Since then, Imami consider the day as Eid-E-Ghadeer and celebrate by creating an
atmosphere of extreme elation.
They do so as there are many traditions
that have been narrated by the infallible Ahle Bait regarding the celebration
of Ghadir. One can see the importance of Ghadir from the excerpt from the Ghadir
Sermon of Ameerul Momineen Hazrat Ali “May Allah have mercy on you! After the sermon,
all of you should go to your respective houses and make arrangements for
facilities and luxuries for your families, do good to your brothers and thank
Allah for whatever good He has done to you. Offer gifts to each other out of
the bounties of Allah just as Allah, the Almighty, has bestowed favors upon you
and consider the reward of the goodness of this day to be on par with the past
and future Eids. Doing good on this day, augurs well for an increase in wealth
and affluence and a long life. On this day, manifesting love and compassion for
each other will be the cause of Allah’s Grace and Kindness. On this day,
spending on your family and brothers and greeting each other with delight is
highly recommended”
A section of Muslims often pose questions
as to why Imamis celebrate Ghadir?. What is so significant about the event that
merits such pomp and splendor? They ask “have Ghadir celebrations solved any
social or other problems confronting the Muslims. What good has it done to the
community by persistently confirming the successor ship and absolute mastership
of Ameerul Momineen Ali ibn Abi Talib?
The sermon of Amir-Ul-Momineen itself
gives reply to such objections. It amply disproves the argument of those who
believe that there are no material benefits of celebrating Eid-e-Ghadeer. Can
there be a greater material benefit than
long life with wealth and affluence coupled with the acquisition of divine
pleasure? Who does not know that knowledge and understanding are very critical
for human growth?. Even today, well-known universities teach the philosophies
of Aristotle and Plato despite the advancements in science and technology. They
are relevant even today as intellectuals achieve success by deriving benefit
from the views of these philosophers. Imam Ali is the epitome of human
perfection and excellence. His life and deeds exhibit as to how one can lead a
life in accordance with the willingness of Allah and his messenger in most
trying and hostile environment. As his Wilayat was proclaimed at Ghadeer Khum
by none other than the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad himself, it is incumbent upon
all believers that they should celebrate the event with pomp and show to convey
it as a means to attain proximity to Allah, his messenger and Ahle-Bait.
Those who raise objections over
the rejoicing at Ghadir and also deliberately offer a different meaning of Wasi
or Maula are in fact followers of those who had initially offered resistance to
the Prophet and his mission and embraced Islam not out of choice but by compulsion
after realizing their inability to face holy Prophet ‘s popularity and his
power in the form of Hazrat Ali. While celebrating Eid-E-Ghadir , Imamis should
also not forget that Wahabis had launched their attack on the holy shrine of
Imam Hussain on Eid-E-Ghadir in 1801. They had also plundered Karbala and massacred
about 5000 persons. Their sole aim was to discourage pilgrims from visiting the
shrine of Master of the martyrs so that Imami faith suffers a setback. Such
elements are still active and they accelerate their anti-Ahle-Bait campaigns
during Muharrum at the behest of Pro-Wahabi regimes. Hence, there is greater
need to celebrate Eid-A-Ghadir at a large scale so that befitting reply could
be given to those who look for material benefit from each religious ritual
instead of spiritual advantage.
References:
1:
Abaqat al-Anwar a book written in Persian by Allama Mir Hamid Husayn al-Musawi
(d. 1304 AH) of India.
2:
Al-Ghadir in 11 volumes in Arabic by Allama Abdul Husayn al-Amini where he
gives with full references the names of 110 Sahaba of the Prophet and also 84
tabi'un (disciples of the sahaba) who have narrated the hadith of Ghadir.
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