7. GHADIR KHUMM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE (4)

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7. GHADĪR (THE POND OF) KHUMM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE (4) Among the arguments of the Shi’is in supporting the ḥadīth of the Ghadīr Khumm, namely, ُ ‫َمن ُكن‬ ، ُ‫ال َمن َوااله‬ ِ ‫ اللَّ ُه َّم َو‬، ُ‫ت َموالهُ َف َعلِي َمواله‬ )‫َو َعا ِد َمن َعا َداهُ (رواه أحمد‬ Whosoever’s mawlā I am, this is Ali also his mawlā.

O Allah, befriend whosoever befriends him and be the enemy of whosoever is hostile to him According to the Shi’a tradition Ḥārith ibn Nu‘mān al-Fihrī on hearing the succession of Ali he came to Madinah and asked the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. When the Prophet confirmed it saying that it was an imposition from Allah Ḥārith returned to his camel, saying, “O Allah, if what Muhammad has said is correct, then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severed pain and torture.” For this, Allah punished him, and revealed to the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬the following verse: ‫س َل ُه َدافِع‬ َ ‫ين َلي‬ َ ‫ لِل َكاف ِ​ِر‬. ‫ َسأ َ َل َسائِل ِب َع َذاب َواقِع‬. )3-1:‫ار ِج‬ ِ َّ ‫م َِن‬ ِ ‫ار ِج (ال َم َع‬ ِ ‫ّللا ذِي ال َم َع‬ "A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall. Upon the disbelievers which none can avert, From Allah the Lord of the ways of ascent." (70:1-3) The term ‫ين‬ َ ‫“( لِل َكاف ِ​ِر‬for the believers”) means ‫َع َلى ال َكاف ِ​ِرين‬ (“on disbelievers”). This means that a person asked concerning a torment about to befall on disbelievers. Who was this questioner? (a) He could be a disbeliever asking concerning a torment that would befall on him and disbelievers like him in (either in this world or in the Hereafter), because he knew that this would not happen, as he did not believe what the Qur’ān and the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬said.

Although al-Țabarī and Ibn Kathīr do not mention who the questioner was, al-Qurṭubī gives us some names, but without isnad, namely: (1) al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah,

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according to Ibn ‘Abbās and Mujāhid. He was the person who asked concerning a torment from Allah that would occur in the Hereafter on him and on disbelievers, as they said that the Qur’ān was just tales of the ancients, he said, as quoted by the Qur’ān , as follows: ‫ك َفأَمطِ ر َعلَي َنا‬ َ ‫ان َه َذا ه َُو ال َح َّق مِن عِ ن ِد‬ َ ‫َوإِذ َقالُوا اللَّ ُه َّم إِن َك‬ )33:‫ارة م َِن ال َّس َما ِء أَ ِو ائ ِت َنا ِب َع َذاب أَلِيم (األنفال‬ َ ‫ح َِج‬ And (remember) when they said: “O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from you, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment” (Q. 8:33) At the battle of Badr he (al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith) and ‘Uqbah ibn Abī Mu‘ayṭ were killed in cold blood; (2) Abū Jahl according to al-Rabī‘; (3) a group of disbelievers among the Quraysh tribe. (b) He could be a believer who turned to be a disbeliever.

He was al-Ḥārith ibn al-Nu‘mān al-Fihrī. When the news reached him that the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬had appointed Ali his mawlā he rode his camel until he reached al-Abṭaḥ (a place between Makkah and Mina, but closer to Mina) where he made his camel keel down, came to the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬asking his confirmation. He said he had obeyed the Prophet (‫’)ﷺ‬s command in testifying that there is no deity but Allah, in performing the five-daily prayers, fasting in Ramadan, offering pilgrimage to Makkah. When the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬confirmed that he had raised his cousin Ali to be the mawlā of whom he was mawlā, that was too much for him. He 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. Then it was revealed ‫َسأ َ َل‬

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‫“ َسائِل ِب َع َذاب َواقِع‬A questioner asked concerning a torment…” mentioned above. © The believers, namely, (1) the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬himself, and (2) Prophet Noah.

Instead of al-Ḥārith ibn al-Nu‘mān al-Fihrī, the name according to Abū ‘Ubayd al-Harawī (d. 223/836) was Jābir ibn al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith whose father was the leader of Banī ‘Abd al-Dār clan, and the carrier of the Quraysh flag in the battle of Badr. Muslim scholars say that it was al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith who questioned the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬according to Ibn ‘Abbās and Mujāhid, not his son Jābir or al-Ḥārith for the following reasons: a. The verses above are in surah ‫ارج‬ ِ ‫( ال َم َع‬chapter 70) which are Makkiyyah (Makkan chapter), revealed to the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬before his migration to Madinah, and therefore, not after the Prophet (‫’)ﷺ‬s migration to Madinah, and not after his declaration of appointing Ali as his mawlā in Ghadīr Khumm. This is the opposite view of the Shi’is who said that the above verses were revealed in Madinah. They say that a Makkan chapter could contain Madinan verses, and verse 1 and 2 of chapter 70 could be revealed in Madinah. Moreover, a verse or verses could be revealed more than once, once in Makkah and again in Madinah, such as sūrat al-Fātiḥah which was revealed twice, once in Makkah when the prayer was prescribed, and once again in Madinah when the qiblah (direction in prayer) from Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem was changed to the Ka‘bah in Makkah. But Ibn ‘Abbās or any other mufassirīn did not mention that the first two verses of chapter 70 were revealed in Madinah, unlike any other chapter of the Qur’ān where the Madinan verses in the Makkan chapter, or vice-versa were mentioned. b. Who were the persons who asked Allah to rain them down stones on them from the sky if what the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬claimed was true, as mentioned in sūrat al-Anfāl

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verse 32 (chapter 8:32) above? According to the Shi’is, it was al-Ḥārith ibn al-Nu‘mān al-Fihrī as mentioned above, if it was true that the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬had appointed Ali as his successor. Another view said that it was al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith’s son called Jābir. The verse was found in sūrat al-Anfāl (“the Spoils”) which is sūrah Madaniyyah (Madinan chapter), namely, revealed after the Prophet (‫’)ﷺ‬s migration to Madinah. However, Ibn ‘Abbās said that seven verses starting from verse ...‫ك‬ َ ‫( َوإِذ َيم ُك ُر ِب‬verse 30) till (verse 33( ‫ُون‬ َ ‫ إِلَى َج َه َّن َم يُح َشر‬were excluded, not revealed after the Prophet (‫’)ﷺ‬s migration, but before.

They are Makkan verses inside Madinan chapter. This includes verse 32 above. Therefore the persons who asked Allah’s punishment were non-believers who did not believe in the Prophet (‫’)ﷺ‬s message in general, before the Prophet (‫’)ﷺ‬s migration, not those who did not believe in Ali’s succession, after his migration. c. It was either al-Ḥārith or Jābir who made his camel keel down at al-Abṭaḥ (a place between Makkah and Mina) to meet the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬there, not at Ghadīr Khumm, and not in Madīnah. But the Shi’is argue that al-Abṭaḥ or alBaṭḥā’ which literally means “the flat land, basin-shaped valley” is any masīl (river bed, drain place) containing small pebbles, not only the one near Makkah, but also at Dhū ‘l-Ḥulayfah near Madinah and other places.

As a matter of fact, there is not a single Qur’ānic verse saying explicitly the appointment of Ali as the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬ ’s successor. All are hints interpreted to be so. Therefore, Muslims are not to believe in it, as it is not stated clearly in the Qur’ān, such as the injunction of prayers, fasting, etc. which are clearly stated. The Shi‘ah mentioned the ḥadīth where the Prophet said to Ali that he was like Hārūn to Mūsā, except there was no prophet after him. The ḥadīth runs as follows: -‫صلى ّللا عليه وسلم‬- ‫ّللا‬ ِ َّ ‫ف َرسُو ُل‬ َ َّ‫َعن َسع ِد ب ِن أَ ِبى َو َّقاص َقا َل َخل‬ ‫ّللا ُت َخلِّفُنِى فِى ال ِّن َسا ِء‬ ِ َّ ‫ك َف َقا َل َيا َرسُو َل‬ َ ‫َعلِىَّ ب َن أَ ِبى َطالِب فِى َغز َو ِة َتبُو‬

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‫ُون مِن‬ َ ‫ون ِم ِّنى ِب َمن ِزلَ ِة َهار‬ َ ‫ضى أَن َت ُك‬ َ ‫ " أَ َما َتر‬: ‫ان َف َقا َل‬ ِ ‫َوالصِّب َي‬ .)‫مُو َسى َغي َر أَ َّن ُه الَ َن ِبىَّ َبعدِى" (رواه البخاري و مسلم وأحمد‬ Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqāṣ narrated that the Messenger of Allah left Ali behind him in the battle of Tabūk. So, he said: “O Messenger of Allah, are you going to leave me behind with women and children?” So, he said: “Are you not going to be content to have position to me like that Aaron was to Moses, except that there is no Prophet after me?"

(Reported by al-Bukhārī, Muslim and Aḥmad) They say that this ḥadīth indicates that the Prophet had appointed Ali to be his successor. Similarly, Prophet Mūsā left behind Hārūn with his people the children of Israel in Sinai when he went to the Mount to receive the tablet containing Allah’s command.

When we refer to the Qur’ān we find that what Prophet Mūsā wanted and asked Allah not a successor, but a helper, a wazīr from his family, so that they could convey the message to Pharaoh, as mentioned in the Qur’ān as follows: )33-32:‫ُون أَخِي (طه‬ َ ‫ َهار‬.‫َواج َعل لِي َو ِزيرا مِن أَهلِي‬ And appoint for me a helper from my family, Harun, my brother (Q. 20:29-30) The verses that follow indicate the reason for his need of assistance, and Allah’s grant of his request, as follows: .‫ك َكثِيرا‬ َ ‫ َو َنذ ُك َر‬.‫ك َكثِيرا‬ َ ‫ َكي ُن َسب َِّح‬.‫ َوأَش ِرك ُه فِي أَم ِري‬.‫اش ُدد ِب ِه أَز ِري‬ َ ‫ َقا َل َقد أُوت‬.‫ت ِب َنا بَصِ يرا‬ َ ‫ك ُكن‬ )36-31:‫ُوسى (طه‬ َ ‫ك َيا م‬ َ َ‫ِيت سُؤل‬ َ ‫إِ َّن‬ Increase my strength with him. And let him share my task. That we may glorify You much, and remember You much. Verily, you are ever seeing us (Q. 20:31-36) This means that Hārūn as his assistance would make his back strong, would make him his consultant, and together they would glorify and remember Him much, and Allah would ever see them in choosing them and giving them prophethood and

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sending them to Pharaoh. Then Allah told him his request had been granted.

It was said that Prophet Mūsā had suffered from stammering, so that people could not understand what he intended in his speech. When he spoke to Pharaoh, he (Pharaoh) said of him as mentioned in the Qur’ān: )23:‫أَم أَ َنا َخير مِن َه َذا الَّذِي ه َُو َم ِهين َو َال َي َكا ُد ي ُِبينُ (الزخرف‬ Am I not better than this one who is despicable and can scarcely express himself clearly? (Q. 43:52) As Prophet Hārūn passed away earlier than his younger brother Mūsā, he could not continue to be his wazīr, let alone his successor. Similarly, Ali as the Prophet’s vizier he remained so until the Prophet’s death. When he was succeeded by the caliphs after him, Ali also remained to be their vizier, assistance and consultant, until he himself was appointed as caliph succeeding ‘Uthmān. He had expressed his reluctance to this office when they offered him the pledge of allegiance, and said: ‫الَ َتف َعل ُوا َفإِ ِّني أَ ُكونُ َو ِزيرا َخير ِمن أَن أَكو َن أَ ِميرا‬ Do not do [the pledge], as I prefer to be a vizier rather than to be an emir. ‫ َولَم أ ُ َب ِايع ُهم َح َّتى أَك َر ُهو ِني‬،‫اس َح َّتى أَ َرا ُدو ِني‬ َ ‫لَم أ ُ ِر ِد ال َّن‬ I do not want people until they want me, and I will not pledge allegiance to them until they force me.

(CIVIC, 21 October, 2016) :‫المراجع‬ ‫المكتبة الشاملة‬ )‫ هـ‬313 .‫تفسير الطبري (ت‬ )‫ هـ‬671 .‫تفسير القرطبى (ت‬ )‫ هـ‬774 .‫تفسير ابن كثير (ت‬ http://www.anwar5.net/albatoul/?id=4095. http://www.aqaed.com/faq/2451 http://www.haydarya.com/maktaba_moktasah/14/book_00/part1/13.h tm http://www.arabtimes.com/portal/article_display.cfm?ArticleID=18373 http://www.mezan.net/sayed_ameli/books/s_imamali/19/04.html