Hadith of the pond of Khumm

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Arabic

Transliteration

Hadith-i ghadir

Translation

Narration of the pond

This is a sub-article to the Succession to Muhammad

The Hadith of Ghadir Khumm (Arabic: غدير خم‎) refers to the Prophetic saying (i.e. Hadith) about a historical event crucial to Islamic history. This event took place on March 10, 632 AD at a place called Ghadir Khumm, which is located near the city of al-Juhfah, Saudi Arabia. In the Islamic literature, Ghadir Khumm is often referred to as an oasis with a watering hole or pond. Ghadir Khumm is alternately written simply as Khumm, Khur, or Khu'.

The Sunnis believe that Abu Bakr was the rightful successor of Muhammad. The Shi'as, on the other hand, argue against Abu Bakr and say that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the rightful successor of Prophet Muhammad, citing the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm as evidence that Muhammad specifically nominated Ali as Caliph. The Sunnis take a different interpretation of the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm, stating that the Hadith was simply praising Ali but was not a proof for succession to the Prophet of Islam.

1 Background Context
2 Sunni and Shi'a Concordance
3 Shi'a Viewpoint
4 Sunni Viewpoint
5 The Translation of the Word "Mawla"
6 Notes
- 6.1 See also
7 External Links

[edit] Background Context

A few months before his death, Muhammad--who lived in the city of Medina--made his last religious pilgrimage to Mecca, and this trip is referred to as "Hajjatul-Wada" (Last Pilgrimage). There, atop Mount Arafat, he addressed the Muslim masses in what came to be known as The Farewell Sermon. After completion of the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage, Muhammad head back towards his home in Medina. On the trip back to Medina, he stopped at Ghadir Khumm and praised Ali. What Muhammad said in that speech is very controversial and at the crux of the Sunni-Shi'a divide. Not only do the Sunnis and Shi'as disagree as to which Hadith about Ghadir Khumm are authentic, but they also disagree on the interpretation of those Hadith. The Shia viewpoint is that the event of Ghadir Khumm proves that Muhammad nominated Ali as his successor. The Sunni viewpoint is that the event of Ghadir Khumm only proves that Muhammad praised Ali but it does not serve as a proof for his nomination.

[edit] Sunni and Shi'a Concordance

Generally, the Sunnis and Shi'as both accept that Muhammad said the following at Ghadir Khumm:

“Whomsoever’s mawla I am, this Ali is also his mawla. O Allah, befriend whosoever befriends him and be the enemy of whosoever is hostile to him.”

However, the Sunnis and Shi'as disagree with what was said after that. They also disagree over the definition of the word "mawla." The Sunnis say that "mawla" translates to "beloved friend", whereas the Shi'as say that it translates to "master." The translation of the word is a very heated controversy. If one were to accept that "mawla" means "master", then this conveys a Shi'a understanding in the sense that Muhammad was nominating Ali as his successor. On the other hand, if one were to accept the Sunni translation, then this conveys the Sunni view that Muhammad was not nominating Ali but rather only praising him.

[edit] Shi'a Viewpoint

The Shi'as believe that Ghadir Khumm in those days served as a point of departure, where the various Muslims who had come to perform the pilgrimage from neighboring lands would disperse and embark upon their own routes back home. The Shi'as believe that after the pilgramage, Muhammad ordered the gathering of Muslims at Ghadir Khumm and it was there that Muhammad nominated Ali to be his successor by referring to him as "master". Various versions of the hadith have been narrated; An example (quoted by the sunni scholar al-Tabrani) commonly mentioned and accepted by the Shia, is the reported narration by Zayd ibn Arqam saying:

"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, once delivered a sermon at Ghadir Khumm under the shade of a few trees saying, `O people! It seems to me that soon I will be called upon and will respond to the call. I have my responsibility[3] and you have yours; so, what do you say?' They said: `We bear witness that you have conveyed the Message, struggled and advised [the nation]; therefore, may Allah reward you with the best of His rewards.' He asked them: `Do not you also bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger, that His Paradise is just and that His Fire is just, that death is just, that the life after death is just, that the Hour will undoubtedly approach, and that Allah shall bring the dead to life from their graves?' They said: `Yes, indeed, we do bear witness to all of that.' He said: `O Mighty Lord! Bear witness that they have.' Then he said: `O people! Allah is my Master, and I am the mawla (master) of the believers. I have more authority over their lives then they themselves have; therefore, to whomsoever I have been a mawla, this (`Ali) is his mawla; O Lord! Befriend whoever befriends him, and be an enemy of whoever sets himself as his enemy.' Then he said: `O people! I am to precede you, and you shall join me, at the Pool [of Kawthar] which is wider than the distance from Basra to San`a; it contains as many silver cups as the stars; and I shall ask you when you join me about the Two Weighty Things, how you shall succeed me in faring with them; the Greatest Weighty Thing is the Book of Allah, the Omniscient, the Sublime, one end of which is in Allah's hand and the other in yours; so, uphold it so that you may not go astray, and your faith shall not suffer any alteration; and the other are my Ahl al-Bayt, for the most Gracious and Knowing has informed me that they both shall never part from each other till they join me at the Pool.'"

The Shi'as reject the Sunni version of events and deny that Muhammad would stop tens of thousands of Muslims present in Ghadir Khumm from proceeding, in midday heat, so as to respond to a group of Muslims soldiers who were criticizing Ali ^[1]. Instead, the Shi'as believe that the sole purpose of Muhammad's speech was to nominate Ali as his successor. In particular, this hadith is seen by the shia as a very public iteration of Hadith of Invitation in which Muhammad, in the beginning years of his call to Islam, is reported to have explicitly referred to Ali as his brother, inheritor and vicegerent (Arabic: Khalif). The hadith is also often paired with the hadith of position, emphasizing, according to shia interpretation, successorship of Ali to Mohammad in terms of political as well as spiritial leadership/imamate.

[edit] Sunni Viewpoint

The Sunnis reject the Shi'a version of Muhammad's speech as a fabrication. Although they accept that the word "mawla" was said by Muhammad, they translate this to mean "beloved friend." The Sunnis reject the idea that Ghadir Khumm was a central location where all the Muslims used to congregate before departing for their homes. The Sunnis argue that Ghadir Khumm is located approximately 250 km away from Mecca, and therefore only those Muslims heading north towards Medinah accompanied Muhammad to at Ghadir Khumm. The Sunnis argue that if Muhammad had wanted to nominate Ali as Caliph, then he would have done so during his Farewell Sermon in Mecca in front of all the Muslims as opposed to Ghadir Khumm. The Shi'as believe that the great majority of the Muslims followed Muhammad to Ghadir Khumm, but the Sunnis deny this and say that only those Muslims heading north towards Medinah accompanied Muhammad to Ghadir Khumm.

The Sunni version of Ghadir Khumm differs dramatically: a group of soldiers under the command of Ali were complaining to Muhammad about Ali, and Muhammad defended Ali by praising him in the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm. The Sunnis believe that Muhammad's intention behind saying what he said at Ghadir Khumm was not at all to nominate Ali as Caliph but rather it was only to defend Ali against the slander being said against him.

The Sunni version of the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm is as follows:

Buraida narrated: “I invaded Yemen with Ali and I saw coldness from his part; so when I came (back) to the Messenger of Allah and mentioned Ali and criticized him, I saw the face of the Messenger of Allah change and he said: ‘O Buraida, am I not closer to the believers than they are to themselves?’ I said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He (then) said: ‘Whomsoever’s Mawla I am, this Ali is also his Mawla.’” (source: Musnad Ahmad [v5 / p347 / #22995])

Some Sunni scholars also accept the following addition to the above Hadith:

“O Allah, befriend whosoever befriends him and be the enemy of whosoever is hostile to him.”

The Sunnis reject a number of further additions as being fabricated and unacceptable. The Sunnis believe that Muhammad praised Ali in this Hadith, but that this cannot be construed as a Prophetic nomination due to the fact that Muhammad similarly praised others from amongst the Prophet's Companions. The Shi'as reject this view and believe that Ali was praised to a higher degree than any other Companion.

[edit] The Translation of the Word "Mawla"

Both Sunnis and Shi'as acknowledge that the word "mawla" can be translated in a variety of ways. For example, the Sunni scholar, Ibn Al-Atheer, says that the word "mawla" can be translated as any of the following words: lord, owner, benefactor, liberator, helper, lover, ally, slave, servant, brother-in-law, cousin, friend, etc. The Shi'a organization, the Thaqalayn Muslim Association, stated in one of its leaflets: "In Arabic, the world 'mawla' has many meanings. It can mean master, friend, slave, or even client. If a word has more than one meaning, the best way to ascertain its true connotation is to look at the association (qarinah) and the context."

Therefore, it is accepted by both Sunni and Shi'a that the proper translation revolves around the context. However, the Sunnis and Shi'as have very differing views as to what was said at Ghadir Khumm and for what purpose those words were said; it is because of this difference that the two groups translate the same word in a different manner.