Preface T oday is 18 Dh ul-h ijjah ,1 th e day wh en the Prophet () st aye d at Gh a dīr Kh um after h is ret urn from Ha jjat-ulwa dā‘ 2 to M e din a, an d surro un de d by the Compan ions ( ), h e dec lar e d while ra isin g the h an d of ‘Alī al- M urta dā () :
.ﻭﻻﻩ ﻤﻲﻠ ﻓﹶﻌﻭﻻﻩ ﻜﹸﻨﹾﺕﹸ ﻤﻥﻤ On e who ha s me a s his maste r ha s ‘Alī a s h is maste r. T his wa s the dec lar ation o f ‘ Alī’ s spirit ua l sove reignty an d it s un con dition al ac ceptanc e is bin din g on the be liever s till the Day of Judgem ent. It clear ly prov es that anyon e who den ie s ‘Alī’ s spir it ua l le a der ship in fact den ie s the Proph et’s lea der ship . T his most h um ble fo llo wer of the Prophet ( ) fe lt that some peop le deny this r ea lity partly o ut o f ignor anc e an d p artly o ut of pr ejudice , wh ich is spr ea din g unne ce ssary ten sion in the M uslim comm un ity. Un der the c irc um stanc es I tho ught it ne ce ssary to write t wo p amphlets on the issue of sover eignty an d lea de rsh ip: on e title d a s The Ghadīr Dec la ration an d the other title d Th e A waited Imām. T he 1. 2.
t he t wel ft h m ont h i n t he Is l am i c cal endar, and the month of t he pi l gri m age t o M akkah t he l ast or farewell pi lgri m age of the Prophet M uham m ad () t he year (10AH /632A D ) before he l eft for his eternal hom e. 5