Ghadir Khumm in the
Qur'an, Hadith, History
Event of Ghadir Khumm
Location of Ghadir Khumm
Ghadir Khumm Remembered on Other Occasions
Books that mention the Event
Transmitters and their Credibility
Meaning and Implication
Blessedness of the day of Ghadir Khumm
Ghadir Khumm Portal
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Event of Ghadir Khumm
The following is a description of the
historic event of Ghadir Khumm. Click on the book icons below to see
the detailed references backing up each key element of this incident.
The separation into contexts enables one to see how well each component
of the incident is attested in the sources.
For example, to see how many Sunni
sources record the sentence uttered by the Prophet [s] to appoint Imam
'Ali [a] - man kuntu mawlahu fa `Aliyyun mawlahu - click here:
The Farewell Pilgrimage Ten years after
the migration ( hijrah ), the Messenger of Allah [peace and blessings be
upon him and his Progeny] ordered to his close followers to call all the
people in different places to join him in his last pilgrimage. On this
pilgrimage he taught them how to perform the pilgrimage in a correct and
unified form.
This was first time that the Muslims
with this magnitude gathered in one place in the presence of their
leader, the Messenger of Allah [s]. On his way to Makkah, more than
seventy thousand people followed Prophet [s]. On the fourth day of
Dhu'l-Hijjah more than one hundred thousand Muslims had entered Makkah.
Date
The date of this incident was the 18th
of Dhu'l-Hijjah of the year 10 AH (10 March 632 CE).
Location
After completing his last pilgrimage (
Hajjatul-Wada' ), Prophet [s] was leaving Makkah toward Madinah, where
he and the crowd of people reached a place called Ghadir Khumm
(which is close to today's al-Juhfah). It was a place where people from
different provinces used to greet each other before taking different
routes for their homes.
Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:67
In this place, the following verse of
the Qur'an 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)
The last sentence in the above verse
indicates that the Prophet [s] was mindful of the reaction of his people
in delivering that message but Allah informs him not to worry, for He
will protect His Messenger from people.
The Sermon
Upon receiving the verse, the Prophet
[s] stopped on that place (the pond of Khumm) which was extremely hot.
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 [r] to use rocks and camel toolings to make a pulpit (
minbar ) so he could make his announcement. It was around noon time in
the first of the Fall, and due to the extreme heat in that valley,
people were wrapping their robes around their feet and legs, and were
sitting around the pulpit, on the hot rocks.
On this day the Messenger of Allah [s]
spent approximately five hours in this place; three hours of which he
was on the pulpit. He recited nearly one hundred verses from The
Glorious Quran, and for seventy three times reminded and warned people
of their deeds and future. Then he gave them a long speech.
The following is a part of his speech
which has been widely narrated by the Sunni traditionists:
Tradition of the Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn)
The Messenger of Allah [s] declared:
"It seems the time approached when I
shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am
leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both,
you will never go astray after me. They are the Book of Allah and my
Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each
other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)."
[See also: Hadith al-Thaqalayn : A Study of its tawatur ]
Acknowledgement of Authority
Then the Messenger of Allah continued:
"Do I not have more right over the
believers than what they have over themselves?"
People cried and answered:
"Yes, O' Messenger of God."
Text ( nass) of the Designation
Then followed the key sentence denoting
the clear designation of 'Ali as the leader of the Muslim ummah . The
Prophet [s] held up the hand of 'Ali and said:
"For whoever I am his Leader ( mawla
), 'Ali is his Leader ( mawla )."
[In some narrations the word used was
wali rather than mawla - with the same implication]
The Prophet [s] continued:
"O' God, love those who love him, and
be hostile to those who are hostile to him."
These were the key parts of the speech
of the Prophet [s]. There are also more detailed versions of this sermon
which are recorded by many Sunni authorities.
'Coronation' of Imam 'Ali [a]
[under development]
Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:3
Immediately after the Prophet [s] finished his speech, the following
verse of the Qur'an was revealed:
"Today I have perfected your religion
and completed my favour upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be
your religion." (Qur'an 5:3)
The above verse clearly indicates that
Islam without clearing up matter of leadership after Prophet [s] was not
complete, and completion of religion was due to announcement of the
Prophet's immediate successor.
Hassan b. Thabit's poetry
Immediately after the Prophet's
speech, Hassan b. Thabit, the Companion and poet of the Messenger of
Allah [s], asked for his permission to compose a few verses of poetry
about Imam 'Ali [a] for the audience. The Prophet [s] said: "Say with
the blessings of Allah". Hassan stood up and said: "O' people of Quraysh.
I follow with my words what preceded and witnessed by the Messenger of
Allah [s]. He then composed the following verses at the scene:
He calls them, (on) the day of
Ghadir, their Prophet
In Khumm so hear (and heed) the Messenger's call,
He said: "Who is your guide and leader? ( mawlakum wa
waliyyukum )"
They said, and there was no apparent blindness (clearly):
"Your God, our guide, and you are our leader
And you won't find from among us, in this, any disobedient,"
He said to him: "Stand up O' Ali, for I am
pleased to announce you Imam and guide after me ( min ba'di imam
(an) wa hadiy (an) ),
So whomever I was his leader ( mawla ), then this is his leader
( mawla )
So be to him supporters in truth and followers,"
There he prayed: "Allah! Be a friend and guide to his follower
And be, to the one who is Ali's enemy, an enemy"
Oath of Allegiance
After his speech, the Messenger of Allah [s] asked everybody to give the
oath of allegiance to 'Ali [a] and congratulate him. Among those who did
so was 'Umar b. al-Khattab, who said:
"Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you
became the Leader ( mawla ) of all believing men and women."
Number of People in Ghadir Khumm
Allah ordered His Prophet [s] to inform the people of this designation
at a time of crowded populous so that all could become the narrators of
the tradition, while they exceeded a hundred thousand.
Narrated by Zayd b. Arqam: Abu al-Tufayl
said: "I heard it from the Messenger of Allah [s], and there was no
one (there) except that he saw him with his eyes and heard him with
his ears."
Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 70:1-3
Some Sunni commentators further report that the first three verses of
the chapter of al-Ma'arij (70:1-3) were revealed when a dispute arose
after the Prophet [s] reached Madinah. It is recorded that:
On the day of Ghadir the Messenger of
Allah summoned the people toward 'Ali and said: "Ali is the mawla
of whom I am mawla ." The news spread quickly all over urban and
rural areas. When Harith Ibn Nu'man al-Fahri (or Nadhr Ibn Harith
according to another tradition) came to know of it, he rode his camel
and came to Madinah and went to the Messenger of Allah [s] and said to
him: "You 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 `Ali is the mawla of
whom I am mawla .' Is this imposition from Allah or from you?"
The Prophet [s] said : "By Allah who is
the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious."
On hearing this Harith turned back and
proceeded towards his she-camel saying: "O Allah! If what Muhammad said
is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to
severe pain and torture." He had not reached his she-camel when Allah,
who is above all defects, flung at him a stone which struck him on his
head, penetrated his body and passed out through his lower body and left
him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the exalted, caused to
descend the following verses:
"A questioner questioned about the
punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it,
from Allah the Lord of the Ascent." (70:1-3)
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