KHUTAB XI: 5. GHADĪR (THE POND OF) KHUMM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE (3)



5.  GHADĪR (THE POND OF) KHUMM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE (3)
          As we know in order to understand the Qur’ān properly we have to know, among other things, the explanation of it from the Qur’ān, namely, the Qur’ān explains itself. As one of the duties of the  Prophet (ﷺ) was to explain the Qur’ān, we also have to know his explanation through the ḥadīith as well as the occasion which led to the revelation of the verses. In Qur’ānic science it is called asbāb al-nuzūl. Similarly, in the science of Ḥadīth, not knowing the occasion that made the Prophet (ﷺ) say any statement would lead us to misunderstanding what he had said. It is called asbāb al-wurūd.
          One example of misunderstanding the verse of the Qur’ān for ignoring the ḥadīth of the Prophet (ﷺ) is Dr. Rashad Khalifa’s translation. As a person who claimed to be “God’s Messenger of the Covenant” he denied the validity of the Ḥadīth and translated the Qur’ān his own way, called Quran: the Final Testament. Allah says in the Qur’ān:
وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ (الحجر:99(
And worship your Lord until there comes to
you the certainty (i.e. death) (Q. 15:99)
Asad’s translation is: “and worship thy Sustainer till death comes to thee.”  His commentary of this verse is:        
Lit., “till there comes unto thee that which is certain
(al-yaqīn)” – a term which in the Qur’ān is often used
as a metonymy for “death” (al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Tafsīr).
Pickthall’s translation is, “And serve thy Lord till the inevitable cometh unto thee” where it could mean “death” which is inevitable. A. Yusuf Ali’s translation starts becoming ambiguous, namely, “And serve your Lord until there comes unto you the Hour that is certain.” In Rodwel’s translation the term “al-yaqīn” becomes more ambiguous, namely, “And serve thy Lord till the certainty o’take thee.” Rashad Khalifa’s translation is totally different, as he translates ḥattá   (حَتَّى) as  “in order” which is one of its meanings, rather than “till,” as follows: “And worship your Lord, in order to attain certainty.” [1]He explained it and said: “The practices of worship are our means of attaining certainty.”
          The term al-yaqīn meaning “death which is certain” was expressed by the Prophet (ﷺ) when ‘Uthmān ibn Maẓ‘ūn passed away. When Umm al-Ālā’ praised him and bore witness that Allah had honoured him, the Prophet (ﷺ) asked her how she knew it. When she said she did not know it, the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
أَمَّا هُوَ فَقَدْ جَاءَهُ الْيَقِينُ إِنِّي لَأَرْجُو لَهُ الْخَيْرَ مِنْ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهِ مَا أَدْرِي وَأَنَا
رَسُولُ اللَّهِ مَا يُفْعَلُ بِي وَلَا بِكُمْ ...(رواه البخاري و الطبراني و النسائي(
As for him, death which is certain has come to him, and
wish him well from  Allah; by Allah I do not know, even as
a Mesenger of Allah, what will be done to me or to you
(Reported by al-Bukhārī, al-Ṭabarī and al-Nasā’ī)
          With regard to the ḥadīth of the Prophet (ﷺ) at the Ghadīr Khumm,
مَنْ كُنْتُ مَوْلاهُ فَعَلِيٌّ مَوْلاهُ ، اللَّهُمَّ وَالِ مَنْ وَالاهُ ، وَعَادِ مَنْ عَادَاهُ .
Whomsoever I am Mawlā, Ali is also his Mawlā.
O Allah, befriend whosoever befriends him and be
the enemy of whomsoever is hostile to him.
The Arabic linguist Ibn Manẓūr in his Lisān al-‘Arab dictionary mentioned the meanings of walī (الْوَلِي), namely: nearness (الْقُرْب), closeness (الدُّنُوّ), then he mentioned the meanings of mawlā  (الْمًوْلَى) as follows:
 المالِكُ, the owner (of a slave); العَبْدُ, the slave;  المُعْتِقُ, the one who frees a slave; المُعْتَقُ , the freed slave; الصاحِبُ , the companion; والقريبُ كابنِ العَمِّ ونحوِه , the near one such as the paternal-cousin and the like; الجار , the neighbour, الحَليفُ , the ally; الابنُ , the son;
العَمُّ , the paternal-uncle; النَّزيلُ , the guest (in the house); الشَّريكُ , the partner; ابنُ الأُخْتِ , the son of one’s sister; الوَلِيُّ , the close one; الرَّبُّ , lord; الناصِر , the supporter; المُنْعِمُ , the one who blesses; المُنْعَمُ عليه , the one who is blessed,  المُحَبُّ, the beloved; التابعُ, the follower; الصِّهْر, the husband of one’s daughter.
         The meanings of mawlá in the above ḥadīth can be found  in the following Qur’ānic verse:
وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ... (التوبة:71(
The believers, men and women are awliyā’
(helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of
one another… (Q. 9:71)
so that ‘Ali and the rest of the believers, are helpers, protectors,  friends and   supporters of one another.
          It is reported that Usāmah ibn Zayd said to ‘Ali: “You are not my mawlá; it is the Messenger of Allah who is my mawlá.” So, the Prophet said مَنْ كنتُ مولاه فعليٌّ مولاه “Whomsoever I am Mawlá, ‘Ali is also his Mawlá.” It could also mean “whomever I am his beloved one, then Ali also should be his beloved one.” The  Prophet (ﷺ)’s intention was to make the believers love him more than their love for each other, like the  Prophet (ﷺ) himself, as mentioned in the Qur’ān, that the  Prophet (ﷺ) is nearer to the believers than to themselves, namely, more worthy of being loved by them. The Prophet (ﷺ) wanted to make loving Ali obligatory for Muslims as they did to him.
          Translating mawlá as authority or leadership claimed by the Shī‘īs is unacceptable by the Sunnis, as authority or leadership belongs to the Prophet (ﷺ) alone. The expression “Whomever I am his leader, is also his leader,” as ‘Ali could not be a leader alongside the Prophet (ﷺ), unless the Prophet (ﷺ) abdicated, which is impossible. The additional بَعْدي (“after me”) in some ḥadīth narrated by two Shī‘ī narrators, Ja‘far ibn Sulaymān and ‘Ajlah al-Kindī, are interpolations to justify their claim for Ali’s succession.
 6. In order to understand what the Prophet meant with his statement about Ali in Ghadīr Khumm, we have to go back to find out why he said what he said, as follows:
          In the month of Ramadan before the Last Pilgrimage, the   Prophet (ﷺ) had sent a military expedition led by Ali with about 300 horsemen to Yemen. After finishing the campaign the army returned to Makkah and approached from the South to join the Prophet (ﷺ) in his Farewell pilgrimage. As Ali was eager to meet the Prophet (ﷺ) as soon as possible, he rode on ahead of his men, and appointed a man to replace him in leading his army and rushed to Makkah. Amongst the state's fifth of the spoils there was enough linen to clothe the whole army, but ‘Ali had decided that it must be handed over to the Prophet (ﷺ) untouched. But the new leader was persuaded to lend each man a new change of clothes out of the linen so that they would enter Makkah with good and neat appearance.
          When Ali came out to meet them he saw them with the new dress from the clothing. “Woe unto you! What is this?” He said: “I dressed them to make themselves neat and tidy when they come to people.’ The men all knew that they would be in Makkah on the Feast Day where everyone would be wearing their best clothes, and they also would like to look their best.   But ‘Ali felt he could not accept this idea. So, he ordered them to put on their old clothes again and return the new ones to the spoils. They were unhappy with this decision. When the Prophet heard of it he said: "O people, blame not ‘Ali, for he is too scrupulous in the path of Allah to be blamed." But resentment continued as they might not have heard what the Prophet (ﷺ) had said.

Buraydah said: “We have carried out a military expedition with ‘Ali in Yemen and I saw something strange from him. When I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) I mentioned to him about ‘Ali’s shortcomings I saw the Prophet (ﷺ)’s face changed, and said: ‘O Buraydah, am I not more deserved be the believers than themselves?’ I said, “But certainly, O Messenger of Allah!’ He said: “For whoever I am his  mawlá, ‘Ali is also his  mawlá.” (Reported by Aḥmad and al-Nasā’ī)         
Buraydah also narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) sent Ali to Khalid to bring the Khumus, (of the booty)[2] and I hated `Ali, and ‘Ali had taken a bath. I said to Khalid, "Don't you see this (i.e. ‘Ali)?" When we reached the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned that to him. He said,"O Buraydah! Do you hate Ali?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Do not hate him, for he deserves more than that from the Khumus." (Reported by al-Bukhārī)
          Abū Sa‘īd al-Khuḍrī narrated that he asked Ali to ride the camels he had taken as booty, so that their camels could rest, but ‘Ali refused and said that they also had their share in the booty, like the rest of the Muslims. When Ali left and appointed a person to replace him in leading the army, the new leader allowed them to ride the camels taken as booty. When Ali found out that his deputy disobeyed him, he blamed him. So, Abū Sa‘īd promised himself to complain to the Prophet (ﷺ) against him. While he was criticizing and counting what he thought Ali’s shortcomings, the Prophet (ﷺ) patted him on his thigh and told him that he knew Ali was too scrupulous in the path of Allah to be blamed. Since then Abū Sa‘īd promised himself not to say anything bad about Ali openly or secretly. (Reported by al-Bayhaqī and Ibn ‘Asākir).
          In conclusion, the ḥadīth of Ghadīr Khumm was the  Prophet (ﷺ)’s response to the complains and criticism of his companions against Ali’s behaviour as a leader of a military expedition to Yemen where he was considered to be too scrupulous in dealing with the spoils of war. He announced that Muslims should love and support Ali like he did with him. The Prophet (ﷺ) did not appoint him as his successor, but announced that he who loved him should also love ‘Ali.
          Suppose the Prophet (ﷺ) did actually appoint Ali to be his successor, but the Muslims are not aware of it, it would mean that the Prophet (ﷺ) failed in delivering the message which is unlikely. If the Muslims are aware of the appointment of Ali as his successor, but they reject it, then the  Prophet (ﷺ) failed in his mission, as they had become hypocrites, apostates after his death, because they  disobeyed him.
      Did the Prophet fail in his message? Did his followers destroy Islam after him? On the contrary, after him people elected the best man among them, Abū Bakr r.a
 (CIVIC, 14 October, 2016)                                             :مراجع
تفسير الطبري  )ت. 310 هـ (
تفسير القرطبى  )ت. 671 هـ (
تفسير ابن كثير )ت. 774 هـ(
htps://www.al-islam.org/ghadir/incident.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_of_the_pond_of_Khumm
http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-           9780195390155/obo-97801953
http://www.dd-sunnah.net/forum/showthread.php?p =553768#post55376
https://gift2shias.com/2013/10/24/hadith-of-ghadir-khumm-a-sunni-perspective/
http://www.utm.thaqalayn.org/files/ghadeer.pdf”
 http://www.discoveringislam.org/ghadir_khumm.htm
https://youpuncturedtheark.wordpress.com/p://sunnah.com/
bukhari/64/377

[1] In a similar verse, Rashad Khalifa also translate al-yaqīn as certainty, namely, وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ. حَتَّى أَتَانَا الْيَقِينُ (المدثر:46-47)  "We disbelieved in the Day of Judgment. Until certainty came to us now” (Q.74:46-477)

[2] Khumus means “one-fifth”. The one-fifth of the booty is the share of the Prophet and the Muslims, as mentioned in the Qur’an, as follows:
وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَأَنَّ لِلَّهِ خُمُسَهُ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيل (الأنفال:41)  “And know whatever of war-booty that you may gain, verily one-fifth of it is assigned to Allah, and to the Messenger, and to the near relatives [of the Messenger], (and also) the orphans, the needy and the wayfarer,… (Q. 8:41)

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