Historical
evidence shows that the Messenger of God, on his return from the Farewell
Pilgrimage, fulfilled this need on the eighteenth day of Dhu 'l-Hijjah by
designating his legatee and successor in accordance with divine command, thus
showing the people the path to be followed for the ummah to gain felicity.
In the tenth year of the Hijrah, which was also the last year in the life of
the Beloved Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, he decided
to participate in the great Islamic gathering that was to be held in Makkah.
Once it became known that the Prophet was setting out for the Ka'bah, throngs
of Muslims from near and far set out in the direction of Madinah in order to
have the honor of travelling with him, to learn the pilgrimage rites from him,
and to perform that great ritual of Islam directly in his presence.
Finally the great caravan set out, composed of the Migrants (muhajirun), the
Helpers (ansar), and the other Muslims who were leaving Madinah in the company
of their leader, and they advanced towards Makkah. After entering the city,
they began their acts of worship at the Ka'bah. During those days the city of Makkah witnessed one of the most glorious of Islamic ceremonies, performed by thousands of
Muslims who were gathered around their leader like the thunderous waves of an
ocean. The Prophet too was proud in front of his Lord that on such a day he was
able to see the results of his unremitting efforts and toil.
After that year's pilgrimage had been completed - the pilgrimage known as the
Farewell Pilgrimage - the Prophet left the House of God together with the great
crowd of pilgrims (hujjaj), estimated by historians to have numbered between
ninety and one hundred and twenty thousand, and prepared to return to Madinah.
The caravan traversed several valleys and arrived at a waterless plain known as
Ghadir Khumm. [11] It was then that the messenger of revelation came to the
Prophet and ordered him to halt. The Prophet stopped the caravan and waited for
the stragglers to catch up with the main body.
This sudden halt in that torrid landscape beneath the burning midday sun
astonished the weary travellers, but it was not long before Jibril (Gabriel)
the trustworthy angel of revelation conveyed to the pure soul of the Prophet a
heavenly message the categorical and clear command of the Creator that he
should appoint and announce his legatee and successor:
O Messenger of God, convey to mankind the command that God has sent you. If you
do not do so, you will not have conveyed the prophetic message. God will
protect you from the harm men might cause you.(5:67)
Close attention to the content of this verse demonstrates to us the important
truth that the proclamation of this particular divine message was of such
importance and gravity that if the Prophet were to shrink from conveying it, it
would be equivalent to his refraining from fulfilling his entire prophetic
mission, while conveying it to the ummah was tantamount to the completion of
that mission.
In the verse, the Most Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his
family, is reminded of the extraordinary significance of the task that has been
assigned to him, and he is guaranteed protection from any dangers that might result
from proclaiming the message.
At the same time, not more than a few days were left in the glorious life of
the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, for he died
seventy days after the event of Ghadir Khumm. All that he had achieved in the
course of twenty three years since the beginning of revelation, all that man
needed for his guidance and felicity, was now at the disposal of mankind. Only
one particular matter remained, the proclamation of which would complete his
prophetic mission and bring his task to complete fruition.
It was in addition probable that while fulfilling the instructions he had
received the Prophet would be attacked or harmed by evil wishers, and in order
to reinforce his determination God informed him that He would protect him and
guard him against being harmed.
The content of those instructions must have been particularly sensitive in
order for their fulfillment to have been coterminous with the entirety of the
Prophet's mission and for the failure to proclaim them to have damaged and
diminish prophethood itself. Moreover, the Arab mentality prevailing at the
time tended to regard the aged persons of each tribe as best suited for
positions of leadership and not to consider younger persons as qualified; this
feature hardly constituted a favorable climate for the proclamation of God's
command.
The spirit of the Prophet was also troubled and surely pained by certain bitter
memories. He had not yet forgotten the negative attitude of certain narrow
minded people to the appointment of Usamah and Attab b. Usayb as commanders,
for when he appointed the former as commander of the army and the latter as
commander of Makkah, some of the Companions raised their voices in protest.
All of these constituted factors that made the declaration of 'Ali b. Abi
Talib, peace be upon him, someone as young as thirty three years of age, a
formidable and even intimidating task for the Prophet.
In addition, many of those who had now joined the ranks of the Muslims and
entered the circle of the Prophet's Companions, had earlier fought against
'Ali, peace be upon him, which further increased the delicacy of the situation;
their hearts were troubled by the memory of those events and fanned the flames
of hatred within them.
Despite all those unfavorable circumstances, the divine will decreed that the
best and most exalted personage who through the grace of God had attained the
highest spiritual station next to the Prophet should be appointed as his
successor, so that by the designation of this great man to lead the ummah, the
universal message of the Prophet should be completed.
According not only to Shi'i scholars of hadith but also certain Sunni scholars
as well, the Qur'anic verse in question was revealed on the day of Ghadir Khumm,
the day on which the Prophet, the veracity of whose speech is guaranteed by God
Himself, received the divine command, by way of revelation and in accordance
with wisdom, to expound the last and most essential foundation of Islam by
presenting 'Ali, peace be upon him, to the people as his successor.
Yes, that personage whose being had never been polluted by polytheism or sin,
whose entire life had been devoted to disseminating the teachings of religion
and promoting Islam, who was a complete reflection of the Messenger of God he
was the one fitted to preserve the laws and norms of religion, to assume the
leadership of humanity as it advanced toward perfection and salvation. It was
his form alone that was worthy of putting on the garb of Imamate and leadership.
The time for the noon prayer arrived, and the great throng that had descended
at Ghadir Khumm performed the prayer behind the Prophet. Then the Prophet
advanced to the middle of the crowd that filled the whole plain in anticipation
of an historic event, in order to implement the categorical command of God. He
mounted a pulpit that had been improvised from camel litters, in order for
everyone to be able to see and to hear him.
He then began to deliver his address, in powerful, clear and compelling tones,
so that everyone was able to hear him or at least be aware of what was
transpiring.
After praising and thanking God, to whom alone belong absolute power, wisdom
and vision, and whose governance, knowledge and perception are immune to defect
and decline, he said:
"O people, I will soon be responding to the call of my Lord and departing
from your midst. I will be held to account, as you too will be. Will you not
bear witness that there is none worthy of worship other than God, the One and
Unique? Do you not testify that Muhammad is His servant and messenger? Are not
paradise, hellfire and death all realities? Is it not true the day of requital
and resurrection will definitely come, and that God will restore to life those
who lie buried in the ground?"
The voice of the multitude arose in response: "Indeed we bear witness to
all of that."
Then he continued: "Now that the Day of Requital lies before us, and you
believe in the raising of the dead on the Plain of Resurrection and that you
will enter the presence of your prophet on that day, pay heed to the manner in
which you treat the two weighty (thaqalayn) and precious legacies I leave you
as I depart for the hereafter.
"That which is the greater of the two is the Book of God. It is in your
hands as well as His, so lay hold of it firmly lest you fall into misguidance.
The lesser of the two legacies is my progeny and the people of my household.
God has informed me that my two legacies shall never be separated from each
other until the Day of Resurrection.
"O people, do not turn away from these two legacies. As long as you have
recourse to them, you will never go astray the Book of God and my family."
At this point, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family,
called 'Ali, peace be upon him, to his side. He took hold of his hand and
raised it up high, thereby presenting him with all his qualities and attributes
to the gathered throng. Then the Messenger of God asked: "O people, who is
more deserving of the believers than their own persons?" They answered:
"God and His Messenger know better." He continued: "For
whomsoever I was his master 'Ali is now his master."
God, love whomsoever loves 'Ali and be the enemy of whoever is 'Ali's enemy. O
God, aid whoever aids him and humble his enemies. [18] O God, make him the
pivot of truth."
After completing his speech, the Prophet requested the people to convey what he
had said to those who were absent.
The one who was thus installed in the seat of Islamic leadership on that day,
in accordance with divine command and by virtue of the Prophet's declaration,
who was entrusted with the guidance of the ummah, was 'Ali. The most worthy and
renowned man in the Islamic community, he who was a treasury of knowledge and
an incarnation of virtue, had been selected as the leader of the Muslims, and
by proclaiming the important matter of Imamate and caliphate the Prophet had
given a decisive and binding command to the ummah.
The assembled multitude had not begun to disperse when the agent of revelation
revealed this verse to the Prophet:
Today I have perfected for you your religion, completed for you My bounty, and
chosen Islam for you as religion. (5:3) [
According to al-Ya'qubi, "This verse, revealed at Ghadir Khumm, was the
last verse to be revealed to the Most Noble Messenger, peace and blessings be
upon him and his family."
The Prophet left the place where he was standing, while all around the sound of
takbir was to be heard as the pilgrims expressed their warm and enthusiastic
feelings towards 'Ali, peace be upon him. People came up to him in groups and
congratulated him on his appointment as leader, addressing him as their master
and the master of every believer, man and woman.
The well known poet Hassan b. Thabit who was present on that occasion, composed
and recited to the people, with the permission of the Prophet, an eloquent ode
in honor of the auspicious event.
The verse just cited, which declares how God has on this day perfected His
religion and completed His blessing, permits us to understand the full
significance of what had transpired. A momentous happening must have occurred
for the Qur'an to qualify it in such terms, for the Islam that God has chosen
and approved was the Islam of that day. the religion of truth had attained its
perfection through the appointment of 'Ali, peace be upon him, and God's
blessing to mankind had been completed through his selection as the legatee
(wasiyy) of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.
Both universally accepted hadith and reliable books of history to which Shi'is
and Sunnis alike refer emphasize that this verse was revealed at Ghadir Khumm
on the day that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family,
had entrusted 'Ali, peace be upon him, with the responsibility of governing and
leading the ummah after himself. Surah al-Ma'idah, to the early part of which
this verse belongs, is the last surah to have been revealed to the Most Noble
Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, in the unanimous
view of the exegetes. This means that its revelation took during the last days
of his blessed life, and no further command was revealed to him thereafter by
his Lord.