AYATUL GHADIR Verses of Ghadir A SEARCH REGARDING THE PROPHET’S SERMONS ON THE FAREWELL PILGRIMAGE, AND AN EXEGESIS OF QURANIC VERSES OF GHADIR AUTHORED BY: AL-MOSTAFA CENTRE OF ISLAMIC RESEARCHES UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE SUPREME ISLAMIC AUTHORITY SAYYID ALI AL-SISTANI INTRODUCTION THREE QUESTIONS REGARDING MISSION OF THE PROPHETS IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL PRAISED BE ALLAH, AND HONORABLE AND PERFECT PEACE BE UPON MOHAMMED AND HIS INFALLIBLE IMMACULATE PROGENY. There are three questions regarding missions of the prophets. These questions were not regarded adequately by scholars. First question: Conveying the Lord’s missive is the original mission of the prophets. It is the pivot on which the prophets’ duties and deeds are grounded. This is purposed for substantiating the Lord’s claim on His servants. A prophet, then, is a conveyor of an epistle. He fears the Lord and evades His ire and torment if he squanders or violates the instructions. For this reason, the prophets were wont to call people to witness perfection of their conveyance. In addition, the prophets are not asked to coerce or compel people on admitting and accepting their missions. By the same token, they are not admitted to submit people to their missions. As a second rule, it is to say that coercion and compulsion is rejected in matters respecting the divine religion. It is obligatory to preserve people’s freedom of believing or refutation. They are, likewise, free to commit themselves to the religion or deviate. This is the very meaning of opening school of life in this world, and testing people in guidance or aberrance by giving them the ability of doing good and evil. The result shall be shown in another stage and another world. Drawing people to the religion by force contradicts principals of this test, and principals of freedom of option. Second question: The prophets’ goals are dedicated to the grand issues of people and societies. An apostle can be resembled to a divine engineer specialized in construction of cultures, societies and history. From these points, the prophets’ missions should be looked upon. A scholar must ask himself how people’s culture and history should have been in case this prophet had not been messaged by the Lord, and what happened due to that prophet’s conveying the mission. This wonderment may be addressed in another form; how should paganism be nowadays if Abraham was not chosen by the Lord for conveying the divine mission, or if he did not found and plant bases and principals of monotheism in human societies? And how should the situation of the Arab lands specially, and the whole world generally, be if the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was not chosen for carrying the divine mission and moving this latter prolongation in monotheism and civilization? The Prophet’s mission was forming a nation and leading it to occupying an advanced position, if not the pioneer, amongst the other nations. That formation was the best in content and structure. Likewise, the Prophet’s mission was establishing a ship, to find its way in the ocean of people and currency of history. He was keen on handing the captainship to his household, whom were chosen and purified by the Lord Who gave them His Book in heritage exclusively. If people reject their captainship, it will be unimportant for captainship to be held by any, till God manages His affair in this nation, and sends Mahdi, the Expected. Third question: It is indisputable that the Prophet’s personality is present and effective in the process of conveyance, but it is very limited and minute. None can deny that the Prophet is intelligent, genius, author and selective. Disregarding mechanism, the reciprocator is seeking the Lord’s guidance through means of satisfaction, faith and worshipping. The area in which the Prophet is allowed to practice his personal inference forms a narrow point in proportion to the large area of his practices. Hence, the Prophet’s like is an engineer whose boss hands him the mission of giving effects of a large project. This engineer is satisfied that he should contact his boss frequently for evading any mistake. Meanwhile, he works, thinks and carries on working. But, he goes on contacting the center so that he receives stages of planning and consults for avoiding problems. At any rate, this example is a highly microscopic view of the Prophet’s mission. Regarding the Center of the Prophet, Allah; the Praised, is unparalleled in entity and deeds. Depending upon the previous, any study respecting the Prophet’s life account should regard these three matters. First, the Prophet’s mission is carrying what is revealed to him. Second, his task is founding a nation to find its way in history. Lastly, he is to follow the Lord’s instructions in every deed. This fact is evidently touched by a scrutinizing look at the Prophet’s life account. It is obviously seen that Allah; the Exalted, managed the Prophet’s affairs from start to finish. The Prophet was used to obeying his Lord’s instructions submissively, dependently and compliantly. Therefore, results of his deeds achieved an extraordinary attainment that exceeded intellectualities and senses of sociologists, founders of nations and establishers of civilizations. The Prophet could create an international civilized ideological extension in a relative period and the least material and humane casualties. Despite truculence of the Prophet’s foes who led hard wars against him, casualties of both sides did not attain the number of two thousand. This was because that Prophet’s management was instructed by his Lord; the Glorified. Incessantly, the Quran was revealed to the Prophet since the first day of his Mission till few days before his decease. Gabriel; the angel, was visitating him frequently with Quranic Verses, revelation, instructions, directions, answers and the like. So many are examples on matters of the divine presence and care in big, as well as small, affairs. All refer to the fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) would not have behaved personally except during applying the general lines and carrying on the detailed orders drawn by the divine revelation and conveyed by Gabriel, the angel. In many occasions, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) ceased practicing any procedure since he was in wait for the divine revelation. The Prophet is reported to have said, “I have been given the Book and its like.” Like of the Book stands for the instructions Gabriel carried1. This means that his traditions were revealed to him, like the Quran.2 Besides, these instructions included the Prophet’s personal affairs; such as marriage, divorcement, dressing, eating, sleeping, rousing, ablution and even brushing the teeth. The Prophet’s endowment, detriment, cherishing, malice, residence, touring, satisfaction and rage; all were determined by revealed instructions. As it is recorded in Al-Kafi; 4/29, that Imam As-Sadiq (peace be upon him) relates the story of that atheist who disputed, belied, harmed and threatened the Prophet face to face. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) became so angry that vein of ire was clearly seen between his eyes. He nodded his head down when Gabriel came to him and revealed, “Your Lord asked me to carry His compliments to you and inform that the man in front of you is generous whose characteristic is feeding people.” Simultaneously, the Prophet’s ire vanished. He spoke to the man, “I would have banished you and made you an example unless Gabriel carried my Lord’s information of your being a generous man whose characteristic is feeding people.” “Your Lord favors generosity?” said the man. “Yes, He does,” answered the Prophet. “I do admit there is no god but Allah, and you are being the messenger of Allah. I swear by Him Who sends you with the truth, I have never rejected a beggar’s request,” declared the man. In Al-Kafi; 1/289, it is recorded that a man asked Imam Al-Baqir whether the Prophet’s nominating Ali was a personal act or according to a divine mandate. “Woe is you!” Imam Al-Baqir said angrily, “The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was too reverent to say what God did not order. Like precepts of prayer, defraying the poor rate, fasting and pilgrimage, Ali’s nomination for the leadership was a precept of Allah.” This theme can be taken as a thesis, or a number of theses, of a Ph.D. degree. THE PROPHET’S SUCCESSION IS A SIMPLE THEME The Prophet’s succession is a simple, not complicated, matter. The Prophet’s household and their adherents claim the Prophet’s nominating Ali as the Muslims’ coming leader. Hence, it is unacceptable for the Quraishis, or any others, to choose another, since the Prophet’s choice was according to the Lord’s instruction. The Quraishis denied the Prophet’s nominating or willing any for his succession, and that his (authority) should be distributed among the twenty three clans of Quraish; his tribe. Therefore, they selected Abu Bakr; one of the Teim Bin Murra, for leadership. This man nominated Omar; one of the Edi, for holding his position. By the advisory council, Omar nominated another Quraishi man who belonged to the Umaya Bin Abd Shams. It was Othman. They did neither elect any of the Ansars,* nor the Hashemites who were more meritorious than the other clans in this affair. The Quraishis conceived the Hashemites’ excessiveness to join leadership to prophecy. 1Refer to Al-Idhah; page 215.