The Holy Qur’an (60:12) “O Prophet! When believing women come to thee to take the oath of fealty to thee, that they will not associate in worship any other thing whatever with Allah, that they will not steal, that they will not commit adultery (or fornication), that they will not kill their children, that they will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood, and that they will not disobey thee in any just matter,- then do thou receive their fealty, and pray to Allah for the forgiveness (of their sins): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”. Here the reference is made to the Pre-Islamic Arab custom of burying new born girls alive. If this was not bad enough, the Prophet (saw) was mocked and teased that he did not have an heir, since he only had a daughter Fatima (pbuh). One day ‘Aas bin wael, who was one of the leaders of the Mushrikeen of Makkah saw the Holy Prophet (saw) coming out of Masjidul-Haraam. So he stopped and conversed with him for some while. Meanwhile, some other elders of Mushrikeen who were inside the mosque were observing this. When the conversation was over and ‘Aas came inside the mosque, the group asked, “O ‘Aas! Whom were you chatting to?” He responded by saying, “With that person who is Abtar”. Abtar means “Tail-less”, a person whose progeny has been cut off. The Holy prophet (saw) had two sons from Khadeeja (as) namely Qasim and Tahir. Since both of them had died, leaving the prophet without any sons, the pagan arabs started calling the prophet (saw) Abtar. As a result of continuously being mocked regarding this the following verses of the Qur’an were revealed. The Holy Qur’an (108: 1-3) “Verily, We have granted you Al-Kawthar (a pure spring in Paradise). Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice (to Him only). For he who hates you (O Muhammad), he will be cut off (from posterity and every good thing in this world and in the Hereafter).” Yes, the obvious reference here is to the physical spring Al-Kauthar which is found in paradise, but the Qur’an has multiple meanings, and for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, know that the spring mentioned is referring to the pure offspring (pbut) of Prophet Muhammad (saw) as the conditions in which the revelation of these verses occurred, explains this perfectly. Now that it is clear that the members of the household (pbut) are pure, that we are to hold fast to them. Would this not mean they (pbut) would be our connection to the Prophet (saw)? Would this not render them ideally suited to be the leaders over his (saw) people? Before the Prophet (saw) had passed away he had given clear evidence of who the leader of his people should be after his death. Evidences of this can again be found in hadith books of the Sunnah. “It is narrated by Barā’ bin ‘Āzib (RA): We were on a journey with Allāh’s Messenger (SAW). (On the way) we stayed at Ghadīr Khum. There it was announced that the prayer was about to be offered. The space under two trees was cleaned for Allāh’s Messenger (SAW). Then he offered the zuhr (noon) prayer, and, holding ‘Alī’s hand, he said: Don’t you know that I am even nearer than the lives of the believers? They said: Why not! He said: Don’t you know that I am even nearer than the life of every believer? They said: Why not! The narrator says that he said while holding ‘Alī’s hand: One who has me as his master has ‘Alī as his master. O Allāh! Befriend the one who befriends him (‘Alī) and be the enemy of one who is his enemy. The narrator says that after this ‘Umar (bin al-Khattāb (RA)) met ‘Alī (RA) and said to him: O Ibn Abī Tālib! Congratulations, you have become the master of every male and female believer, morning and evening (for ever).” Reference: Ahmad bin Hanbal related it from Barā’ bin ‘Āzib through two different chains of transmission in al-Musnad (4:281); Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Musannaf (12:78 # 12167); Muhib Tabarī, Dhakhā’ir-ul-‘uqbā fī manāqib dhawī al-qurbā (p.125), ar-Riyād-unnadrah fī manāqib-il-‘ashrah (3:126, 127); Hindī, Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (13:133, 134 # 36420); Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Dimashq alkabīr (5:167, 168); Ibn Athīr, Asad-ul-ghābah (4:103); and Ibn Kathīr in al-Bidāyah wan-nihāyah (4:169; 5:464). Ahmad bin Hambal in his book Fadā’il-us-sahābah (2:610 number 1042) has added the following (O Allāh!) Be the enemy of one who is his (‘Alī’s) enemy, and help him who helps him, and love him who loves him. Shu‘bah says that the Prophet (SAW) said in its place, “Bear malice towards him who bears malice towards (‘Alī)”. Ahmad bin Hambal is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), within Sunni Islam.
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