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I M A M A TVicegerency of the Holy Prophet
By: Sayed
Saeed Akhtar Rizwi
First edition
1974/ 1394 (A.H)
Published
by:
World
Organization for IsIamic Services
P.O. Box
11365-1545,
Tehran,
IRAN.
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1) MEANING OF IMAMAT AND KHILAFAT, ETC.
IMAMAT literally means to
Lead; IMAM means Leader.
In Islamic terminology
Imamat means 'Absolute command of the Muslims in all religious and secular
affairs, in succession to the Prophet.'
IMAM means 'The man who, in
succession to the Prophet, has the right to the Absolute Command of the Muslims
in all religous and secular affairs.'
The word 'man'
signifies that a woman can not be Imam.
'Absolute
command' excludes those who lead in the prayers: they are also called 'Imam of
prayers', but they do not have absolute authority.
'In succession
to the Prophet' denotes the difference between a Prophet and an Imam. The Imam
enjoys this authority not directly, but as the sucessor of the Prophet.
The world
KHILALAT means 'to succeed' and KHALIFA means 'successor'.
In Islamic
terminology KHILALAT and KHALIFA signify the same meanings as IMAMAT
and IMAM respectively.
WISAYAT means 'the
Executorship of the Will', and WASI means the 'executor of the
Will.' Their significance in Muslims' writings is the same as that of
Khilafat (Caliphate) and Khalif (Caliph).
It will be
interesting to note that many previous prophets were also the Caliphs of their
predecessor prophets. Thus they were 'Nabi' and 'Khalifa' both; while other
prophets (who brought new Sheriats) were not Caliph of any pervious prophet;
and there were Caliphs of the prophets who were not prophet
themselves.
The question of
Imamat and Caliphate has ripped the Muslim community as under and has effected
the thinking and philosophy of the different group so tremendously that even the
belief in God and the prophets could not escape from this divergence of views.
This sub]ect is
the most debated one of Islamic theology. Muslims have written thousands upon
thousands of books on Caliphate. The problem before me is not what to write; it
is what not to write.
In a small
booklet like this one I cannot touch all the topics of this subject; nor can I
give all the details of even those topics which will be described herein.
This booklet
will be just a brief outline of the differences about the Caliphate.
It will be of
help to mention here in the begining that on this question, the Muslims are
divided into two sects:
The Sunni, who believe that Abu
Bakr was the Caliph of the
Holy Prophet of
Islam;
and
The Shia who believe that Ali
Ibin Abu Talib(as) was the
Imam and Caliph.
This fundamental
difference has led to other differences which will be described in the
following chapters.
2) A SUMMARY OF THE DIFFERENCES
The Holy Prophet
has said (and his words have been accepted by all the sects of Islam):
"My
followers will shortly break up! into 73 sects,
all of which
shall be condemned except one."
The seekers
after salvation have always made untiring efforts to enquire into the matter to
discover the right course-the path to saivation. And, indeed, it is necessary
for every man to take reason for his guide and try his best in this matter and
never despair of attaining the truth. But this can only be possible when he has
a bird's eye-view of the radical differences before him and discarding all bias
and prejudices, examines the points at issue with a thoughtful mind, always
praying to God to lead him to
the right path.
For this reason
I propose to briefly mention here the important differences and disputes
together with the arguments and reasonings of each sect, in order to facilitate
the path of enquiry. The main questions are:
1. Does it lie on God to
appoint a prophet's successor or is it the duty of the Ummah (body of
followers) to appoint whomsoever they please as the successor to the prophet?
2. In the latter case did
God or the prophet place in the hands of the Ummah any systematic code
containing rules and procedure for the appointment of a caliph, or did the
Umman, by their unanimous consent and before appointing a caliph, prepare a set
of rules to which they adhered (subsequently), or the Ummah acted according to
what they thought expedient at the time and according to the opportunity at
their disposal? Had they the right to act as they did?
3. Does reason and the
Divine Law demand the existence of any qualifications and conditions in an Imam
and Caliph? If so, what are they?
4. Whether the Prophet of
Islam appointed anyone as his Caliph and successor or not? If he did so, who it
was? If not, why?
5. After the Prophet's
death, who was recognised to be his Caliph and whether the qualifications
necessary for a caliph existed in him or not?
It will save
much time if I explain at the outset the basic cause of the differences
concerning the nature and character of the Imamat and Caliphate.
What is the
primary characteristic of Imamat? Is an Imam, first and foremost, the ruler of
a Kingdom? Or is he, first and foremost, the Representative of Allah and the
Vicegerent of the Prophet?
As Imamat and Caliphate
is acceptedly the successorship of the Prophet, the above questions cannot be
answered till we first decide what is the basic characteristic of a prophet. We
must decide whether the prophet is, first and foremost, the ruler of a Kingdom,
or is he, first and foremost, the Reprensentative of Allah.
We find in the
history of Islam that there was a group which looked upon the Mission of the
Holy Prophet as an attempt to establish a Kingdom. Those were the people who
were waiting to see the outcome of the war between Muslims and Quraish. These
were the Arabs who used to say that Mohammad(saww) be left to his people. If he
would emerge victorious over them he is undoubtedly a true prophet. So,
according to them, victory was the criterion of truth! If Mohammed(saww) would
have been defeated he would have been treated as a liar!
The view that
his sacred Mission was nothing but a worldly affairs was repeatedly announced
by Abu Sufyan and his clan.
At the time of
the Fall of Mecca, Abu Sufyan said to Abbas, "Abbas! Verily your nephew
has acquired quite a Kingdom!" Abbas said, "Woe unto thee! This is
not Kingship, it is the Prophethood."
Here you find
the two opposite views in clear contrast. Abu Sufyan never changed his views.
When Uthman became Caliph, Abu Sufyan came to him and advised, "O children
of Umayya! Now that this Kingdom has come to you, play with it as the children
play with a ball and pass it from one to another of your clan. This Kingdom is
a reality; and we do not know whether there is any paradise and hell or
not."
Then he went to
Uhud and kicked at the grave of Hamza, and said, "O Abu Ya'ala! See that
the Kingdom for which you were fighting us has at last come to us."
The same views
were inherited by Yazid who said: "Banu Hashim staged a play to obtain
Kingdom; actually, there was neither any news from God nor any
revelation."
If that is the
view held by any Muslim, then he is bound to equalize Imamat with Rulership.
According to such thinking the primary function of the Prophet was Kingship,
and, therefore, anybody holding the rein of power in his hand is the rightful
successor of the Holy Prophet.
But the trouble
is that more than 99 per cent of the prophets had no political power; and most
of them were persecuted and apparently helpless victims of the political powers
of their times. Their glory was not of crown and throne, but of martyrdom and
sufferings. If primary characteristic of prophethood is the political power and
rulership, then, perhaps not even 50 (out of 124,000) prophets would retain
their Divine title of 'Nabi.'
Thus it is
crystal-clear that the main characteristic of the Holy Prophet was not that he
had political power but that he was the Representative of Allah. And that
Representation was not bestowed upon him by his people; but by Allah Himself.
Likewise, his
successor's Chief Characteristic can not be the political power; but the fact
that he was the Representative of Allah. And that Representation can never be
bestowed upon any one by his
people; it must
come from Allah Himself.
In short, if the
Tmam is to represent Allah, he must be appointed by Allah.
4) THE SYSTEM OF ISLAMIC LEADERSHIP
There was a time
when monarchy was the only system of government known to the people. At that
time Muslim scholars used to glorify monarchs and monarchy by saying that
"The king is the shadow of Allah", as though Allah has a shadow! Now
in modern times democracy is in vogue and the Sunni scholars are never tired of
asserting in hundreds and thousands of articles, books and booklets that
Islamic system of government is based upon democracy. They go so far as even to
claim that democracy was established by Islam, forgetting the city-republics of
Greece. In the second half of this century, socialism and communism are gaining
hold of the undeveloped and partially developed countries; and I am not
surprised to hear from many well-meaning Muslim scholars tirelessly asserting
that Islam teaches and creates socialism. Some people in Pakistan and elsewhere
have invented the slogan of 'Islamic Socialism.' What does this 'Islamic
Socialism' mean I do not know. But I will not be surprised if within ten or
twenty years these very people start claiming that Islam teaches Communism!
All this
'turning witH the wind' is making a mockery of Islamic system of leadership.
Some time ago in a Muslim gathering in an African country,in which the
President of the country was the guest of honour, a Muslim leader said in his
lecture that Islam taught to 'Obey Allah, Obey the Apostle and your rulers.' In
his reply the President (who, by the way, is a staunch Roman Catholic), said
that he appreciated very much the wisdom of the commandment to obey Allah and
the Apostle of Allah; but he could not understand the logic behind the order to
obey 'your rulers.' What if a ruler is unjust and tyrant? Does Islam enjoin the
Muslims to obey him passively without any resistence?
This intelligent
question demands an intelligent reply. It can not be brushed aside. The fact is
that the person who invited that criticism, did so because of his
misinterpretation of the Holy Quran.
Let us see, what
is the system of Islamic leadership. Is it democracy? First let us see what is
democracy. The best definition of democracy was given by Abraham Lincoln when
he said that democracy is the "government of the people by the people for
the people."
But in Islam it
is not the government 'of the people'; it is the 'government of Allah.' How do
the people govern themselves? They govern themselves by making their own laws;
in Islam laws are made not by the people, but by Allah; these laws are
promulgated not by the consent and decree of the people, but by the prophet, by
command of Allah. The people have no say in the legislation; they are required
to follow, not to make any comment or suggestion about those laws and
legislations.
Coming to the
phrase 'by the people', let us see how people govern themselves. They do so by
eleeting their own rulers. The Holy Prophet, who was the supreme executive,
judicial and overall authority of the Islamic government, was not elected by
the people. In fact, had the people of Mecca been allowed to exercise their
choice they would have elected either Urwa bin Masud or Walid bin Mughira as
the prophet of Allah! Vide Quran,
"And
they say:
Why
was not this Quran revealed to a man of
importance
in the two towns?"
QURAN:
43: 31.
So not only that
the Supreme Head of the Islamic state was appointed without any consultation of
the people, but in fact, it was against their expressed wishes. The Holy
Prophet is the Supreme-most authority of Islam: he combines in his person all
the functions of legislative, executive and judicial wings of the government;
and he was not elected by the people.
So Islam is
neither the government of the people nor by the people. There is no legislation
by the people; and the executive and judiciary is not responsible to the
people.
Nor is it, for
that matter, a government 'for the people'. Islamic system from the beginning
to the end, is 'for Allah'. Every thing must be done' for Allah'; if it is done
'for the people', it is termed as polytheism.
Whatever you
do-whether it is prayer or charity, social service or family functions,
obedience to parents or love of the neighbour, leading in prayer or deciding a
case, entering into war or concluding a peace must be 'Qurbatan Ilallah'- to
become nearer to Allah, to gain pleasure of Allah. In Islam, every thing is for
Allah.
ln short. the
lslamlc forrn of the government is the government of Allah, by the
representative of Allah to gain the pleasure of Allah.
"And
I did not create Jinn and human beings
but
so that they worship me."
QURAN:
51: 56
It is a
Theocracy: and it is the nature and characteristic of the Islamic leadership.
And how does it effect the meaning of the aforementioned Ayat of the 'obedience'
will be seen from later chapters.
THE SHIA POINT OF VIEW
5) ISMAT - AND OTHER QUALIFlCATIONS
A) SUPERIORIT
The Shias
believe that, like the prophet, an Imam should excel all the Ummah in all virtues,
such as knowledge, bravery, piety, charity, etc., and should possess completc
knowledge of the Divine Iaw. If it be not so, and this high post be given to a
less perfect person when a more perfcct onc is available, the inferior will
have been given preference to the superior, which is wrong in the sight of
reason and is against the Divine Justice. Therefore, no inferior person can get
the Imamat from God when there exists a person superior to him.
B) INFALLIBILITY
The second
qualification is ISMAT, ie., infallibility. If thc Imam is not
infallible, then he would be liable to error and also to tell lies.
Firstly, in such a case, no
implicit confidence can be placed in what he tells and dictates to us.
Secondly, an Imam is the ruler
and head of the Ummah and the Ummah should follow him unreservedly in every
matter. Now, if he commits any sin the people would be bound to follow him in
sin as well. The untenability of such a position is self evident; for obedience
in sin is evil, unlawful and
forbidden.
Moreover, it
would mean that he should be obeyed and disobeyed in one and the same thing,
that is obedience to him would be obligatory and forbidden at the same time
which is quite absurd.
Thirdly, if it would be possible
for an Imam to commit sin it would be the duty of other people to prevent him
from doing so (because it is obligatory on every Muslim to forbid other people
from unlawful acts). In such case, the Imam will be held in contempt; his
prestige will come to an end and instead of being the leader of the Ummah he
will become their follower, and his Imamat will be of no use.
Fourthly, the Imam is the
defender of the Divine Law and this work cannot be trusted to fallible hands
nor can any such person maintain it properly. For this reason, infallibility
has been admitted to be an indispensable condition to prophetship; and the
considerations which make it essential in the case of a prophet make it so in
the case of a caliph as well. For more details, read the book on The
Prophethood.
C) MIRACLE
The third
qualification is that the Imam should be able to display miracles, for this is
the only tangible proof which can reveal the truth of his claim.
Generally
speaking any man can claim that he is the Imam or Prophet's caliph and
infallible, and miracle is the only unfailing test of truth or falsehood in
such cases. If the claimant displays some miracle also in support of his claim
it would be admissible without hesitation. If he fails to do so, it will be
evident that he does not possess the qualifications required for Imamat and
Caliphate, and his claim is false.
But, as in the
case of the prophets, all the abovementioned qualifications are not enough to
automatically make one an Imam. Imamat is not an acquired job; it is a
'designation'. bestowed by Allah.
It is for this
reason that the Shia Ithna'asheris believe that it is only Allah who can
appoint a successor to the Prophet; that the Ummah have no choice in this
matter: their only duty is to follow such divinely appointed Imam or Caliph.
The Sunnis, on the other hand,
believe that it is the duty of the Ummah to choose a Caliph.
A) AYATS
OF QURAN
The following Ayats
or verses of the Quran confirm the view held by the Shias:
1)
"And Thy Lord Creates what He wills, and chooses;
They
have no right to choose."
QURAN:
28 :68
It clearly shows
that man has no right to make any selection; it lies entirely in the hands of
Allah.
2) Before creating Prophet
Adam(as), Allah informed the angels:
"Verily,
I am about to make a Caliph on the earth."
QURAN:
2: 30
And when the
angels protested in a guarded way against the scheme, their protest was brushed
aside by a curt reply,
"I
know what ye know not."
QURAN:
2: 30
If the MA'SOUM
or Infallible angles were given no say in the appointment of a Caliph.
Then how can non-ma'soum humans expect to take the whole authority of
such appointment in their own hands?
3) Allah himself appointed
Prophet Dawood(as) as the Caliph on the earth:
"O
Dawood! Verily, We have made thee (our) caliph on earth."
QURAN:
38 :26
See, how
everywhere Allah attributes the appointment of the Caliph or Imam exclusively
to Himself.
4) Likewise, the call went
to Prophet Ibraheem(as):
"I
am about to make thee an Imam to mankind."
QURAN:
2: 124
5) Then as a general rule,
it is stated:
"And
We made them Imams who were to guide by our Command."
QURAN:
21: 73
6) When the Prophet
Musa(as) wanted a Wazier to help him in his responsibilities, he did not
appoint someone by his authority. He prayed to Allah:
"And
make for me a Wazier from among my family, Aaron my brother."
QURAN:
20: 29-30
And God said:
"Granted
is thy prayer, O Musa!"
QURAN
20: 36
B) PRECEDENT
The universal
practice of previous prophets had been to nominate (on command of Allah) his successor
without any interference from the Ummah.
The history of
the previous prophets does not offer a single instance in which a Prophet's
successor would have been elected by a voting of his followers.
There is no reason
why in the case of the successors of the Last Prophet this established Divine
Law should suffer any change. Allah says:
"And
thou shalt never find a change in Divine Practice."
QURAN
33: 62
C) LOGICAL
REASON
1) The same reasons which
prove that the appointment of a prophet was a Divine function, prove with equal
force that the successor of that prophet also should be appointed by Allah. The
Imam or Cahiph, like the Prophet, is appointed to carry on the work of Allah;
he must be responsible to Allah. If he is appointed by people, his first
loyalty will be not for the Allah, but for the people who would be 'the basis
of his authority.' He always will try to please people, because if they were to
withdraw their confidence in him he would lose his job. So he will not
discharge the duties of religion without fear of favour; his eyes will always
be on political considerations. Thus the work of God will suffer.
And the history
of lslam provides ample evidence of glaring disregard to the tenets of religion
practised by the man-made caliphs right from the begining. So, this argument is
not just academic; it has a mass of solid historical evidence behind it.
2) Also, it is only Allah
who knows the inner feelings and thoughts of a man; no other man can ever know
the true nature of his fellow. May be someone is posing as a pious and God
fearing man just to impress his colleagues, so that he may gain some worldly
benefit. Such examples are not rare in the history. Take, for example, the case
of AbdulMalik bin Marwan who used to spend all his time in the mosque in prayer
and recitation of the Quran. He was reciting the Quran when news reached him of
the death of his father and that the people were waiting to pledge their
allegience to him; he closed the Quran and said: "This is the parting
between me and thee."
Therefore, as
the existence of qualifications which are necessary for an Imam or Caliph can
truly be known only to Allah and, therefore, it is only Allah who can appoint
an Imam or Caliph.
Now, let us see
what the Quran, says about the Ahlul-Bait or the Family Members of The Holy
Prophet.
According to the
Quran, the following persons were sinless and infallible at the time of the
death of the Holy Prophet: Ali, Fatimah, Hassan and Hussain.
The Ayat of
'Tat'heer' or Purity runs as follows:
"And
Allah only wishes to keep all abomination away trom you,
O
Members of the Family, and to keep you as pure and spotless most
perfectly."
QURAN::
33: 33
It is universally
agreed that the above named four persons are definitely 'Members
of the Family' and they are sinless and free from all kind of
abomination.
The sentences
before and after this Ayat are addressed to the wives of The Holy Prophet and
the pronouns are of feminine gender: but the pronouns in this Ayat are of
masculine gender. The reason why this Ayat has been placed in its present place
is not difficult to guess.
The late
renowned scholar Allama Poya writes in the footnote No. 1857 of the translation
of the Holy Quran by S.V. Mir Ahmad Ali:
"The
portion of this verse relating to the divinely effected purity of the Holy
Ahlul-Bait needs a proper explanation commenting with reference to its correct
context. This portion of this verse is a separate Ayat or verse by itself
revealed separately on particular occasions but placed here as it deals with
the wives of The Holy Prophet. The location of this verse here if studied
properly makes it abvious that it has its own significant and important purpose
behind it. While the address in the beginning of this verse is in the feminine
gender - there is the transition here in the address from the feminine to the
masculine gender. While referring to the consorts of The Holy Prophet, the
pronouns also are consistently feminine. For a mixed assembly of men and women,
generally the masculine gcnder is used. This transition in the grammatical use
of the larguage, makes it luite obvious that this clause is quite a different
matter used for a different group other than the previous one, and has been
suitably placed here to show a comparative position of the Ahlul-Bait in
contrast to the wives of The Holy Prophet. Amr Ibn Abi Salma who was brought up
by The Holy Prophet relates:
"When this
verse was revealed The Holy Prophet was in the house of Umme-Salema. At the
revelation of:-
'Verily
willeth God to keep away imputity from you, O People of the House and He
purifieth you with the perfect purification,'
QURAN:: 33: 33
The Holy Prophet
assembled his daughter Fatimah, her sons Hassan and Hussain and her husband,
his cousin Ali. And covered the group including himself, with his own mantle
and addressing God said,
'O God! These
constitute my progeny! Keep them away from every kind of impurity, purified
with perfect purification.'
Umme-Salema, thc
righteous wife of The Holy Prophet, witnessing this marvellous occasion, humbly
submitted to the Holy Prophet 'O Apostle of God! May I also join the group?' to
which the Holy Prophet replied,
'No, remain thou
in thine own place, thou art in goodness'."
(H.Quran
English Translation S.V.Mir Ahmed Ali, F.N.1857, Pg 1261)
It is not the
place to give the countless references concerning this Ayat; still, I would
like to quote Maulana Wahiduzzaman, the famous Sunni Scholar, whose translation
and comment of Quran as well as his book 'Anwarul-Lugha' (being the dictionary
of Quran and Traditions) are among the recognized reference books. He writes in
his commentary of Quran about this 'Ayat'-
"Some people think that it is especially for those family members who had
blood relations with the Prophet, i.e. Ali, Fatimah, Hassan and Hussain. The
present translator, i.e. Himself, says that correct (Saheeh) and well connected
upto Prophet (Merfuu) traditions support the same view, because when The
Prophet himself has declared that my Family Members are only these, then to
accept it and believe in it becomes obligatory. And one more sign of
correctness of this view is that the pronouns used before and after this verse
are those for females, while in this verse are those for males... "
(Tafseer Wahidi,
on the margin of the translation of Qurran, by the same author, printed at
Gelani Press, Lahore, Para 22, Page 549, Footnote No. 7).
Again he says in
his dictionary of Quran and Traditions (Anwarul-Lugha, Para 22, Paae 51):
"The correct view is that in this Ayat of 'Purity' only these five persons
are included (i.e. The Prophet, Ali, Fatimah, Hassan and Hussain), though in
the usage of Arabs, the word 'Ahlul-Bait' is used for wives also. Some people
prove by this Ayat that these five persons were sinless and Ma'soum
(Infallible). But, if not 'Ma'soum', then ofcourse, they were MAHFOUTH
(Protected from committing any sin or error) surely."
I have quoted
these two references (though I do not agree fully with him in some of his
assertions) just to show that not only the Ithna'asheris but the learned men of
Sunnis also confirm that, according to the rules of Arabic Grammer and
according to the correct unbroken traditions of The Prophet only Ali, Fatimah,
Hassan and Hussain are included in it besides The Prophet himself. Also it is
clear that our claim that these persons were sinless, is shared by the Sunni
scholars also. It is apparent that the least they say is that even if not infallible
(theoratically) they were protected from sins and errors (practically).
There are many
other Ayats and traditions testifying to the ISMAT or Purity of
Ahlul-Bait. But the limitation of these pages does not allow me to
enumerate them even briefly.
8) SUPERIORITY OF ALI IBIN ABE TALEB(a.s)
AFDHALIYYAT or Superiority in lslam means "to
deserve more THAWAAB or Reward before Allah because of good deeds."
All Muslims
agree that this Superiority cannot be decided by our own views or outlook and
that there is no way to know it except through Quran and/or Hadeeth. Imam
Ghazali (the famous Sunni scholar) has written: "The Reality of
superiority is what is before Allah; and that is a thing which cannot be known
except to The Holy Prophet(saww)".
Most of our
Sunni brethren believe that the superiority was according to the sequence of
the Caliphate, i.e., Abu Bakr was supreme-most, then Umar, then Uthman, then
Ali Ibin Abe Taleb(as).
But this belief
is not based upon any proof, nor was it the belief of all the Sunnis
of early days.
Looking at the
time of the Holy Prophet, we find that such respected companions as Salman
Farsi, Abu Dhar Ghifari, Miqdad Kindi, Ammar bin Yasir, Khabbab bin Arrat,
Jabir bin Abdullah. Hudhaifa Yamar.i, Abu Said Khudri, Zaid bin Arqam and many
others, believed that Ali(as) was the Supreme most amongst all the Ahlul-Bait
and companions.
Imam Ahmad
bin Hanbal
was once asked by his son about his views on the subiect of 'Superiority.'
He said:
"Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman." His son asked, "And what
about Ali bin Abi Talib?"
He replied: "He
is from Ahlul Bait. Others cannot be compared with him."
Ubaidullah
Amritsari writes in his famous book 'Arjahul-Matalib' (p. 112):
"As
'Superiority' means 'having more Thawaab,' its proof can be known only from the
AHDEETHS or Traditions of The Holy Prophet and if there are
conflicting traditions then the better traditions should
be accepted and
strong traditions should be differrentiated from weak ones.
Allama Ibn
Abdil-Bar writes in his book 'Al-Istiab' about the Ahadith (traditions)
which have been narrated about superiority of Ameerul-Mumeneen Ali:
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Qadhi Ismail binIs'haq, Imam Ahmad bin Ali bin Shuaib
Nasai and Hafidh Abu Ali Nishapuri have said, "There have not come
'Ahadith' with good, 'Asnaad' about virtue, of any of the companions as many as
have been narrated on the virtues of Ali bin Abi Talib."
"Furthermore
if we look at the exclusive virtues of Ameerul-Mumeneen Ali (a.s.) and think
about
those things
which caused him to gather most rewards before Allah, we will have to admit
that only he was the Supreme-most after the Holy Prophet." (Page 12).
That author was
him-self a Sunni and has discussed this matter in detail in his above-mentioned
book in the 3rd chapter beginning from page 103 and ending on page 516.
Obviously, I
cannot give here even a short list of the Ayals and Ahadith concerning the
Alldhaliyyat (superiority) of Ali(as).
Suffice it to
say that there are at least 86 Ayats in the Quran extolling the virtues of Ali
bin Abi Talib(as) and Ahaditll on this subjcct cannot be counted.
Thus, it is
abvious even to a casual observer that Al-Imam Ali(as) was the Supreme most of
all the Muslims after The Holy Prophet(saww).
9) APPOINTMENT OF ALI Ibin Abu Taleb(as)
After giving a
short account of Ismat and Afdha 1iyyat of Ali Ibin Abe Taleb(as) now comes the
most important question of his Appointment by Allah.
On several
occasions, The Holy Prophet had declared that Ali(as) was to be his successor
and Caliph.
The very First
open declaration of Ali (a.s) caliphate was announced . It was announced at the
time of the Feast of clan. When the verse :-
"And
warn the nearest relations"
(Quran
26: : 24)
as
revealed, the prophet ordered Ali to prepare the food and invite the sons of
Abdul Muttalib so that he would convey to them the words of Allah. After the
feast the prophet intended to talk to them, but Abu lahab interfered by
saying:- Verily your comrade has entranced you.Upon hearing this satement all of them
dispersed. the next day
The Prophet. on
that occasion. had declared Ali to be
"my
brother. my successor and my Caliph amongst you. lIsten to him and obey him."
Ibnul
Athir:- Al-Kamil [Vol.5 pages 62-63]
Al-
Baghawi:- Al - afsir [Vol.4, pg 127]
As-Suyuti:-
Ad- Durrul Manthur [Vol.5, pg 97]
Al-Muttaqi
al Hindi:- Kanzul Ummal [Vol.15, pg.100,113,115-117]
At-Tabari:-
At - Tarikh [Vol.1, pg.171-173]
Cartlye:-
On Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Herioc in History pg.54
E.Gibbon:-
The decline & Fall of Romon empire Vol.2, pgs. 278-289.
It is
interesting to note here that the Laden Germany edition (1879 A.1).,
page 173/1173) of "Tarikh" of Tabari records the words of the
Holy Prophet "Wasi'i wa Khalifati (My
successor and my Caliph); but in the Cairo edition of 1939 A.D. Which
claims to be checked with the Laden edition. These important words have been
changed by "kadha wa kadha" (so
and so) ! How sad it is to see the
academic world sacrificing its honesty on the alter of political expediency!
10) AYAT OF MASTERSHIP ('WILAYAT')
After that, on
many ozzasiolls, many Ayats and Ahdeeths reminded the Muslims that Ali was
their Master after The Holy Prophet. One of the most important Ayats is as
follows:
"Verily,
your Master is but Allah and His Apostle and those who believe,
who
establish prayers, and pay the Zakat while bowed in worship."
QURAN:
5: 55
The Muslim
scholars (Sunni and Shia alike) are agreed that this verse was revealed in
honour
of Imam Ali Ibin
Abe Taleb(as). It clearly shows that there are three Masters for believers.
Firstly Allah, secondly His Prophet, and thirdly Ali (with the Eleven
succeeding Imams).
Abu Dhar
Ghifari says,
"That one day he was praying with The Prophet when a beggar came to the
Prophet's mosque and begged for alms. Nobody gave him anything. The beggar
raised his hands towards heaven and said, "God! be a witness that I came
to Thy Prophet's mosque and nobody gave me anything." Ali was bowing in
the 'Rukuu' at that time. He pointed his little finger which had a ring,
towards the beggar who came forward and took away the ring. This incident
happening in The Prophet's presence he raised his face towards Heaven and
prayed as follows:-
"O Lord! my
brother Musa had begged of Thee to open his breast and to make his work easy,
to loose the knot of his tongue that people might understand him, and to
appoint from among his relations his brother, as his Wazier, and to strengthen
his back with Aaron and to make Aaron his partner in his work. O God! Thou said
to Musa, We will strengthen thy arm with thy brother. Nobody will now have an
access to either of you! O God! I am Mohammad and thou hast given me
distinction. Open my breast for me, make my work easy for me, and from my
family appoint my brother Ali as my Wazier. Strengthen my back with him."
The Prophet had
not finished his prayers when Jabraeel brought the above quoted verse."
It is not a
place to give the references of this Hadeeth. (They run in hundreds.) This Ayat,
and the prayer of the Holy Prophet, jointly and separately show that Ali(as)
was declared to be the Master of the Muslims after the Holy Prophet (saww).
11) FORMAL DECLARATION: "GHADEER Al-KHUM"
All the previous
declarations may be classified as prelude to the Formal Declaration of Ghadeer
Al-Khum.
This event has
been unanimously mentioned by the learned historians and scholars of both
sects.
Here we give a
brief account to sno\v what great arrangements were made to declare Ali as the
successor of the Holy Prophet.
Thc Ghadeer
Al-Khum lies between Mecca and Madina. When on his way home, after finishing
his last pilgrimage, Jabraeel the Archangel brought this urgent command of God
to the Prophet.
"O
Apostle! proclaim what hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord:
and if thou
do it not, thou hast not proclaimed His Messaage (at all);
and God wi11
protect thee from (evil) men."
QURAN: 5:
67
The Prophet
stopped at once and ordered that all men should assemble.
Those who had
departed were called back. A pulpit was set up by pilining up camel saddles.
The acacia thorns were hastily swept away. The Prophet then ascended the pulpit
and delivered a long address. The midday sun was very hot. The audience
stretched their cloaks under their feet and were waiting for the command.
The
Prophet addressed them as follows:
"O ye
people! Know it well that Jabraeel came down to me several times bringing me
orders from the Lord, the Merciful, that I should halt at the place and inform
every man, white and black, that Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, is my brother, and
my Wasi (successor) and my Caliph, and the Imam after me. His position to me is
like that of Aaron to Musa, except that there is to be no prophet after me, and
he is your Master next to God and His Prophet.
"O ye
people! Verily, God has appointed him to be your Imam and ruler. Obedience to
him is
obligatory
alike on all the Muhajirin (emigrants or refuges) and Ansar (helpers) and O1
those who follow them in virtues, and on the dwellers in cities and the nomads.
the Arabs and non-Arabs. the freeman and the slave, the young and old, the
great and the small, the white aud the black. His command is be obeyed, his
word is binding and his orders obligatory on everyone believing in one God.
Cursed is the man who disobeys him and blessed is he who follows him, and he
who believes in him is the true believer.
"O ye
people! This is the last time I stand in this assembly. Therefore, listen and
obey and surrender to the command of your Lord. Verily, Allah, He is your Lord and
God; then after Him, His Prophet Mohammad, who is adressing you, is your
Master. Then after me Ali is your master and your Imam, according to God's
command.
"Then
after him the Imamat will continue in my descendants begotten by him till the
day you
meet God and His Prophet.
"O ye
people! Think over the Quran and understand its verses, reflect over its clear
verses and do not go to the ambiguous ones. For, by God, none will properly
explain to you its warnings and expound to you lts meanings, except this man
(Ali) whose hand I hold and whom I am lifting up towards myself by his arrns.
And I say unto you that Ali is the Master of all those who accept me as their
Master and he is Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, my brother and Wasi; and love for
him and obedience to him has been made obligatory by God, the Powerful, the
Exalted.
The other Imams
have also been briefly referred to in this address and they are mentioned with
precise details in many other traditions: For example, on one occasion.
addressing Imam Hussain, The Prophet said,
"Thou
art an Imam, the son of an Imam, the brother of an Imam, nine of thy lineal
descendants will be pious Imams; the ninth of them being their 'Qaim'
(Living)."
Even a casual
observer would not fail to realise that it was a matter of vital importance to
Islarn and under the urgent Divine command The Prophet made all possible
preparation to accomplish it. Exposed to the scorching rays of the midday sun,
he mounted the pulpit to make the important pronouncement. First of all he informed
the audience of his approaching end and then called them to witness that he had
faithfully discharged his office. Then he.asked them,
"Tell me
if I have not authority on you more than you yourselves have."
All of them
cried out that he certainly hnd more right to regulate their affairs. The
Prophet then said,
"Know
then and remember that
whomsoever Master I am, this Ali is his
Master."
In the end he
invoked his blessing on Ali, saying,
"O God!
befriend him who befriends Ali and be enemy of him who bears enmity to Ali; and
help him who assists Ali and forsake him who deserts Ali."
When the
ceremony was over the following verse of the Quran was revealed:
"This
day have I perfected your religion for you
and
have completed my blessing on you
and
am pleased with Islam as your religion."
QURAN:
5: 3
This Diivine
communication clearly proves that on account of Ali's appointment to Imamat the
religion was
perfected, the blessing of Allah completed and Islam approved by God. On the
arrival
of this happy
message from Heaven the believers congratulated Ali at the Prophet's ir.stance
and
the poets
composed poems. All these facts stand recorded in the books of history.
12) HADITH OF GHADEER 1S 'MUTAWATIR'
The following
two extracts (taken from authentic Sunni books) from the said 'Khutba'
(lecture) of the Holy Prophet:
"I am
leaving behind, amor.g you, two most precious things
1 - the Book
of Allah
and
2 - my
descendants who are my family members. They will not be separated from each other
unAil they come to me near 'Kauther' (in Qiyamat). Verily, Allah is my Master
and I am the master of every believer. (Then he took the hands of Ali and said)
Everyone whose Master am I, Ali is his Master."
These two
traditions are referred to as the traditions of 'Two precious things' and of
'Wilayat' (Mastership). They are jointly and severally narrated by hundreds of
traditionalists.
Nawwab Siddique
Hasan Khan of Bhopal, says: "Hakim Abu Said says that the traditions of
'Two precious things' and of 'Whose Master am I, Ali is his Master', are
'Mutawatir' (i.e., narrated by so many people that no doubt can be envertained
about their authenticity), because a great number of the companions of the
Prophet have narrated them. So much so that Muhammad bin Jarir has written
these two traditions by 75 (seventy five) different Chains (Asnaad).
(Menhaj-ul-wusul, p. 13).
Some writers
have tried to cast doubt on the authenticity of the events of Ghadeer. It is
necessary to mention that this Hadith is Mutawatir; and the late renowned
scholar Allama Amini in a number of volumes of his celebrated book
'Al-Ghadeer' has given with full
references the names of 110 famous companions of the Holy Prophet; who have
narrated this Hadith. Just to give an example, I am enumerating the names given
under letter 'Alif'. (The years of deaths are given in brackets):
|
1 |
Abu Laila
Ansari (37 A.H.) |
|
2 |
Abu Zainab bin
Awf Arsari; |
|
3 |
Abu Fudhala
Ansari (38 A.H.); |
|
4 |
Abu Qudama
Ansari; |
|
5 |
Abu Umra bin Amr
bin Muhassan Ansari; |
|
6 |
Abul-Haitham
bin At-Taihan (37 A.H.); |
|
7 |
Abu Rafey
Qibti, the slave of the Holy Prophet |
|
8 |
Abu Dhuwaib
Khuwailad (or Khalid) bin Khalid al-Hadhli; |
|
9 |
Usarna bin
Zaid bin Haritha (54 A.H.); |
|
10 |
Ubayy bin Kaab
Ansari (30 or 32 A.H.); |
|
11 |
As'as bin
Zurara Ansari; |
|
12 |
Asema bint
Umais; |
|
13 |
Ummu Salma
wife of the Holy Prophet; |
|
14 |
Ummu Hani bint
Abi Talib; |
|
15 |
Abu Hamza Anas
bin Malik Ansari |
|
16 |
Abu Huraira. |
|
17 |
Abu Bak bin
Abi Qahafa |
And there are
not less than 84 Tabe’in (desciples of the companions) who narrated this
Hadeeth from
the above
mentioned companions.
Again, the list
under 'Alif' is given here as a sample:
|
1 |
Abu Rashid
Hibrani Shami |
|
2 |
Abu Salma bin AWur-Rahman
bin Awf |
|
3 |
Abu Salman
Muadhdhin |
|
4 |
Abu Saleh
Samman Dhakwan Madani |
|
5 |
Abu Unfowana'
Mazini |
|
6 |
Abu
Abdur-Rahim Kirfi |
|
7 |
Abul-Qasim
Asbagh bin Nubata |
|
8 |
Abu Laila
Kindi |
|
9 |
Ayas bin
Nudhair |
And the traditionalists
have narrated this Hadeeth in their books in every century and every era. Just
to
give an example,
I am giving the names of those writers and scholars who have narrated this
Hadith
in the second
century of Hijra:
|
1 |
Abu Muhammad Amr
bin Dinar al-Jamahi al-Makti (115-116 A.H.) |
|
2 |
Abu Bakr
Muhammad bin Muslim bin Ubaidullah al-Qarashi Zuhri (124 A.H.) |
|
3 |
Abdur-Rahman
bin Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakr laimi Madam (126 A.ll.) |
|
4 |
Bakr bin
Suwada bin Thamama Abu Thamama Basri (i28 A.H.) |
|
5 |
Abdullah bin
Abi Najih Yasar Thaqafi Abu Yasar Makki (131 A.H.) |
|
6 |
Hafidh Mughira
bin Muqassim Abu Hesham Dhabbi Kufi (133 A.H.) |
|
7 |
Abu
Abdir-Rahim Khalid hin Zaid Jamahi Misri (139 A.H.) |
|
8 |
Abdul-Haitham bin
al-Hakam Nakh'i Kufi (cir. 140 A.H.) |
|
9 |
Idris bin
Yazid Abu Abdillah Awadi Kufi |
|
10 |
Yahya bin Said
bin Hayyan Taimi Kufi (145 A.H.) |
|
11 |
Awf bin Abi
Jamila Abdi Hujri Basri (146 A.H.) |
|
12 |
Hafidh Abdul Malik
bin Abi Sulaiman Arzami Kufi (145 A.H.) |
|
13 |
Ubai dullah
bin Umar bin Hafs bin Asim bin Umar bin Khattab Adawi Madani (147 A.H.) |
|
14 |
Naim bin
al-Hakim Madaini (148 A.H.) |
|
15 |
Talha bin
Yahya bin Talha bin Ubaidullah Taimi Kufi (148 A.H.) |
|
16 |
Abu Muhammad
Kathir bin Zaid Aslami (cir. 150 A.H.) |
|
17 |
Hafidh
Muhammad bin Is'haq Madani (151-152 A.H.) |
|
18 |
Hafidh Muammar
bin Rashid Abu Urwa Azdi Basri (153-154 A.H.) |
|
19 |
Hafidh Mus'ar bin
Kidam bin Dhahir Hilali Rawasi Kufi (153-154 A.H.) |
|
20 |
Abu Isa Hakam
bin Aban Adani (154-155 A.H.) |
|
21 |
Abdullah bin
Shawdhab Balakhi Basri (157 A.H.) |
|
22 |
Hafidh Shuba
bin Hajjaj Abu Bustam Wasiti Basri 0160 A.H.) |
|
23 |
Hafidh Abul-Ula
Kamil bin al-Ula Tamimi Kufi (cir. 160 A.H.) |
|
24 |
Hafidh Sufyan
bin Said Thauri Abu Abdullah Kufi (161 A.H.) |
|
25 |
Hafidh Israil
bin Yunus bin Abi Is'haq Sabi'i Abu Yusuf Kufi (162 A.H.) |
|
26 |
Ja'afar bin
Ziyad Kufi Ahmar (165 A.H.) |
|
27 |
Muslim bin
Salim Nahdi Abu Farwa Kufi |
|
28 |
Hafidh Qais
bin Rabii Abu Muhammad Asadi Kufi (165 A.H.) |
|
29 |
Hafidh Hammad
bin Salma Abu Salma Basri (167 A.H.) |
|
30 |
Hafidh AWullah
bin Luhai'a Abu Abdurrahman Misri (174 A.H.) |
|
31 |
Hafidh Abu Uwana
Wadhdhah bin Abdullah Yashkuri Wasiti Bazzaz (175 6 A.H.) |
|
32 |
Qadhi Sharik
bin Abdullal. Abu Abdillah Nakha'i Kufi (177 A.H.) |
|
33 |
Hafidh
Abdullah (or Ubaidullah) bin Abidurrahman (or
Abdurrahman) Kufi Abu Abdirrahman shja'i 182 A.H.) |
|
34 |
Nuh bin Qais
Abu Ruh al-Huddani Basri (183 A.H.); |
|
35 |
Muttalib bin
Ziyad bin Abi Zuhair Kufi Abu Talib (185 A.H.) |
|
36 |
Qadhi Hasan
bin Ibrahim Anazi Abu Hashim (186 A.H.) |
|
37 |
Hafidh Jarir
bin Abdil-Hamid Abu Abdillah Dhabbi Kufi Razi (188 A.H.) |
|
38 |
Al-Fadhl bin
Musa Abu Abdillah Mirwazi Sinani (192 A.H.) |
|
39 |
Hafidd
Muhammad bin Ja'afar Madani Basri Abu Abdillah Ghundar (193 A.H.) |
|
40 |
Hafidh Ismail
bin Aliyya Abu Bashar ibn Ibrahim Asadi (193 A.H.) |
|
41 |
Hafidh Muhammad
bin Ibrahim Abu Amr bin Abi Adi Basri (194 A.H.) |
|
42 |
Hafidh
Muhammad bin Khazim Abu Moawiyya Tamimi (195 A.H.) |
|
43 |
Hafidh
Muhammad bin Fudhail Abu Abdurrah man Kufi (195 A.H.) |
|
44 |
Hafidh Wakii bin
Jarrah Rawasi Abu Sufyan Kufi (196 A.H.) |
|
45 |
Hafidh Sufyan
bin Uyana Abu Muhammad Hilali Kufi (198 A.H.) |
|
46 |
Hafidh
Abdullah bin Namir Abu Hasham Hamdani Kharifi (199 A.H.) |
|
47 |
Hafidh Hanash
bin Harth bin Laqeet Nakhai Kufi |
|
48 |
Abu Muhammad
Musa bin Yaqub Zamai Madani |
|
49 |
Al-Ula bin
Salim Attar Kufi |
|
50 |
Azraq bin Ali
bin Muslim Hanafi Abul-Hajm Kufi |
|
51 |
Hani bin Ayyub
Hanafi Kufi |
|
52 |
Fudhail bin
Marzuq al-Agharr Rawasi Kufi (160 A.H.) |
|
53 |
Abu Hamza Saad
bin Ubaida Kufi |
|
54 |
Musa bin
Muslim Hazami Shaibani Abu Isa Kufi Tahhan |
|
55 |
Yaqub bin
Ja'afar bin Abi Kathir Ansari Madani |
|
56 |
Uthman bin
Saad bin Murra Qarashi Kufi |
Thus this Hadeeth
continues to be narrated by so many 'Ruwat' (narrators) in every era as to make
it Mutawatir several times. Coming to the scholars and writers who have
narrated this Hadeeth in their books of traditions, lt is enough to mention
that Allama Amini has narrated the names of 360 scholars century wise.
Some people have
tried to put doubt about the Asnaad of this Hadeeth. As was mentioned the Quran
and the Hadeeth, if a Hadeeth is Mutawatir, there is no need to look at
individual Asnaad at all. Still to show the hollowness of this charge, I would
lilce to give here opinions of some of the famous traditionalists.
13) ASNAAD OF HADEETH OF GHADEER
a) Hafidh Abu
Isa Tirmadhi has said in his Sahih (one of Sihah Sitta) that "This is a Hassan
and Sahih (Correct) Hadeeth."
b) Hafidh Abu
Ja'afar Tahawi has said in Mushkil-ul-Athar. "So, this Hadeeth is Sahih
(Correct) aczording to Asnaad and no one has said anything against its
narrators."
c) Abu Abdillah
Hakim Neshapuri has narrated this Hadeth from several chains in Mustadrak and
has said that this Hadeeth is Sahih (correct).
d) Abu Mohammad
Ahmad bin Moharnmad Asimi has said in Zainul Fata: "This Hadeeth is
accepted by Ummah and it is conforming to the Usul".
Likewise, the
following traditionalists (among hundreds of others) have said that this
Hadeeth is Sahih (Correct):
|
1 |
Abu Abdillahl
Mahamili Baghdadi in his 'Amali' |
|
2 |
Hafidh Ibn
Abdil Bar Qartabi in Istiab |
|
3 |
Ibn
ul-Maghazili Shafii in Manaquib |
|
4 |
Ghazali in Sirrul
Aalamin |
|
5 |
Abul-Faraj Ibn
Jauzi in his Manaqib |
|
6 |
Sibt Ibn Jauzi
in Tadhkira |
|
7 |
Ibn Abil Hadid
Mutazili in his Sharh-e-Nahjul-Balagha |
|
8 |
Abu Abdillah
Ganji Shafu in Kifaya |
|
9 |
Alauddeen
Samnani in Al-Urwatul-Wuthaua |
|
10 |
Ibn Hajar
Asqalani in Tahzibut-Tahzib |
|
11 |
Ibn Katheer
Demashqui in his Tarikh |
|
12 |
Jalaluddeen
Suyuti Qastalani in Mawahib |
|
13 |
Qastalani in
Mawahib |
|
14 |
Ibn Hajar
Malcki in Sawaiq |
|
15 |
Abdul-Haq
Dehlawi in Sharhul-Mishkaat |
|
|
and many others |
Important: It should be mentioned
here that all the names mentioned above are of Sunni scholars; and when a Sunni
uses the words Sahih or (correct). In Sunni usage, a Hadeeth is called Sahih
when it is narrated by persons of approved probiety (Aadil), having perfect
memory, and does not have any defect and is not unusual.
If the above
virtues are found in in the Sanad of a Hadeeth but the memory of one or more of
its narrators is a degree less than that required for a Sahih then it is called
Hassan.
So when the
Sunni scholars say that the Hadeeth of Ghadeer is Sahih they mean that
its narrators are of approved probiety (do not have any defect in belief and
deeds), have perfect memory, and that this Hadeeth has no defect.
14) MEANING OF 'MAWLA' IN LANGUAGE
As the Sunnis
cannot deny the authenticity of the Hadeeth of Ghadeer, they try to water
down its significance by saying that the word Mawla in that
Hadeeth means Friend and that The Holy Prophet wanted to announce that, Anybody
whose friend am I, this Ali is his friend.
The trouble is
that not a single person who was present at Ghadeer did understand this alleged
meaning. Hassaan bin Thabit Ansari (the famous poet of The Holy Prophet)
composed, then and there, a poem and recited before the audience, in which he
says:
"Then said
The Holy Prophet to him, Stand up, O Ali, because I am pleased to make you Imam
and Guide after me."
Umar bin Khattab
congratulated Ali in these words: "Congratulations, O son of Abu Taleb,
You became Mawla of all believers, men and women."
Vide Mishkatul
Masabih. Habibusseyar, Tafseer of Tabari, books of Shaibani, Abu Shaiba, Abu
Ya'ala, Ibn Uqda and many others.
If Mawla
means friend then why this congratulations? And was Ali an 'enemy' of
all believer men and women before that time, so that Umar said that 'this
morning' you became friend of them all?
Imam Ali himself
wrote to Moawiya:
"And the
Messenger of Allah made over to me his authority upon you on the day of Ghadeer
Al-Khum."
And there are
many other Companions of The Holy Prophet who used in their poems the word
Mawla in connection of Ghadeer Al-Khum in the sense of Master.
And countless
scholars of Qur'an, Arabic grammer and literature, have interpreted Mawla as
Awla (having more authority). The names of following may be quoted as an
example:
Ibn Abbas,
Kalbi, Farra, Abu Ubaida, Akhfash, Imam Bukhari in his Sahih (Vol. 7, p. 240),
Ibn Qutaiba, Shaibani, Tabari, and Wahidi, etc.
Thalabi, Zamakhshari,
Baidhawi, Nasafi, Khazin Baghdadi and Muhibbuddin Afandi, etc.
15) MEANING OF 'MAWLA' IN CONTEXT
Now let us see
what meaning can we infer in the context of this Hadeeth. Because if a word can
be used in different meanings, the best way to ascertain the true explanation
is to look at the context
There are scores
of 'Assoclation in this Hadeeth which clearly show that the only meaning
fitting the occasion can be 'Master'. Some of them are as follows:
First: The question of The Holy
Prophet asked just before this declaration: He asked them,
"Am I
not having more authority upon you than you have yourselves?"
When they said, "Yes,
Surely!" Then The Holy Prophet proceeded to declare:
"Whomsoever
I am master Ali is his master too".
Can any doubt be
entertained that 'Mawla' has the same meaning as Friend!' (Having more
authority upon you) in the preceeding question?
At least 64
great Sunni traditionalists have quoted that preceeding question; among them
are Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Ibn Majah, Nasai and Tirmidhi.
Second: The following prayer
which The Holy Prophet uttered just after this declaration:
"O Allah
love him who loves Ali, and be enemy of the enemy of Ali, help him who helps
Ali, and foresake him who foresakes Ali."
This prayer
shows that Ali was given that day a responsibility in which, by its very
nature, some people would become his enemy (and that responsibility cannot be
except that of a Ruler); and in carrying out that responsibility he would need
helpers and supporters. Have you ever heard helpers being needed to carry on a
'friendship'?
Third: The declaration of the
Holy Prophet that,
"It
seems eminent that I would be called (by God) and I would answer that
call."
This declaration
of his eminent death clearly shows that he was making arrangements of the
Leadership of the Muslims after his death.
Fourth: The congratulations of
the companions and their expressions of joy do not leave any room for any doubt
concerning the meaning of this declaration.
Fifth: The occasion, place and time.
Imagine The Holy Prophet breaking his journey in midday, and detaining
thousands of travellers under the burning sun of Arabian desert, making them
sit in a thorny place on the burning sand, making a pulpit of camel saddles;
then imagine him delivering a long lecture and at the end of all those
preparations coming out with an announcement that
"whosoever
loves me should love Ali."
Can such thing
be excused evnn to a simple person having minimum of common sense'' No. But
some people are ready to accuse The Holy Prophet of such childish behaviour!
16) ALI: "SELF" OF THE PROPHET
There arc many
Ayats (verses) which point out to the Caliphate of Ali bin Abi Taleb(as). It is
not possible to enumerate all of them. But I would like you to see the event of
'Mubahila'. There you will find that Ali bin Abi Taleb(as) has been referred to
in the Ayat of Mubahila as "the Self" of The Holy Prophct
(saww).
It also follows
that just as it is unlawful for every body to seelu to be superior to The
Prophet similarly it is unlawful to supersede Ali - he being The Prophet's self
according to the word of God, and any one who presumed to supersede hirn was
certainly daring enough to supersede The Prophet!
After
Declaration of Ghadeer, there is no need to givc any more proofs of the
Caliphatc of Ali bin Abi Taleb(as). Still, I would like to quote here some
Ahadeeth (traditions) in this connection. The first is the Hadeeth
Al-Thaqalain in which The Prophet said.
"I am
leaving two weighty thirsgs among you, the one is the book of God and the other
my Ahlul-Bait (Family). If you adhere to them and continue to follow and obey
both of them and forsake neither, you will never be misled. They will not be
separated till they reach me at the Hauzul-Kausar (Reservoir of Heaven.)"
Now it is
adrnited on all hands that Ali bin Abi Taleb is not only one of the Ahlul-Bait
but he is supreme most of them all. Therefore, the obligation of obedience to
him is proved from this universally admitted tradition.
Then there is
the 'Hadithul-Manzilat' in which Ali bin Abi Taleb is said to have the same
position with The Holy Prophet as Harun(as) had with Musa(as), i.e., his
deputy.
Then there is
the occasion of communicating the verses of Sura 'Al-Baraat' (Chapter IX) to
the
people of Mecca,
(See Unit 5, pp. 106-107) in which The Holy Prophet said that,
"Jabraeel
came to me and said that nobody could deliver
the message
properly except myself or the person who is from me."
The moral principle
involved in these declarations of The Prophet is fairly expressed in the
following tradition:
This tradition
has been accepted by all sects. The Prophet said,
"Ali is
with truth and truth is with Ali. Withersoever Ali turns truth (also) turneth with
him."
The rightful
Caliphate is thus rightly held to be bound up with Ali and no other. Another
one is the Hadith of the Divine Light (Hadithul-Nur).
Syed Ali
Hamadani, writes in Mawaddat-Al-Qurba, on the authority of Salman Farsi, thae
The Prophet said,
"I and
Ali were both created from one and the same Nur (Divine Light) four thousand
years before Adam was created, and when Adam was created that Nur (Divine
Light) was given a place in his backbone. So we continued to occupy the same
place till we were separated in the back of Abdul-Muttalib. Therefore, in me is
the prophetship and in Ali is the caliphate."
In the
Riaz-ul-Fazail the last words of the above Hadeeth are as under:
"Then he
made me a prophet and made Ali a Wasi (Vicegerent)."
18) PROCLAMATION ABOUT THE OTHER IMAMS
Now we come to
the Ayat briefly mentioned earlier. This Ayat says:
"O ye
who believe! obey God, and obey the Apostle
and those
among you invested with authority."
QURAN: 4:
59
In the Kifayat-ul-Athar
there is a tradition from Jabir, the son of Abdullah Ansari, in explanation of
this verse. When it was revealed Jabir said to The Prophet, "We know God
and The Prophet but who are these persons invested with authority whose
obedience has been conjoined to that of God and yourself?" The Prophet
said,
"They
are'my Caliphs as well as the Imams of the Muslims after me. The first of them
is Ali, and then Hassan, then Hussain, then Ali the son of Husain, then
Mohammad the son of Ali, who has been mentioned as Baqir in the Taurat. O
Jabir! you. will meet him. When you see him convey my Salaams to him. He will
be succeeded by his son Jafar Al-Sadiq the Truthful, then comes Musa the son of
Jafar, then Ali the son of Musa, then Mohammad the son of Ali, then Ali the son
of Mohammad, then Hassan the son of Ali.
"He will
be followed by his son whose name and patronym (Kunyat) will be the same as
mine. He will be Hujjatullah (Divine argument) on the earth, and the
Baqiyatullah (the one spared by God to maintain the cause of faith) among
mankind.
"He will
conquer the whole world from east to west. So long will he remain hidden from
the eyes of his followers and friends that the belief in his Imamat will remain
only in those hearts which have been tested by God for faith."
Now that we know
who are those "Invested with authority" we can easily see that the
question of "obeying tyrant and unjust rulers" does not arise at all.
Muslims are not required in this Ayat to obey
"your
rulers" who may be unjust, tyrant. ignorant, selfish and sunk in
debauchery. They are ordered by this Ayat to obey specified Twelve Imams, all
of whom were Sinless and Free from every evil thought or deed. Obeying them has
no risk at all. Nay, it protects from all risks; because they will never give
any order against the Will of Allah and will treat all human beings with love,
justice and equity.
Before closing
this part, 1 think it advisablc to refer to some parts of the 77th Chapter of
'Yana-bi-
ul-Mawaddah' (by
Hafidh Sulaiman bin lbrahim Qanduzi Hanafi, died 1294 A.H.).
First he has
quoted the famous Hadeeth that,
"'there
would be Twelve Caliphs, all from Quraish."
From many books
including Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi.
Then he quotes
many Traditions to the effect that The Holy Prophet said:
"I, Ali,
Hassan, Hussain and nine from the descendants of Hussain are Pure and
Sinless."
Also he quotes
that The Holy Prophet told Imarn Hussain:
"Thou
art Chief, son of Chief, brother of Chief; Thou art Imam, Son of Imam, brother
of Imam; Thou art Proof (of God), son of Proof (of God), brother of Proof (of
God), and father of nine Proofs (of God), nineth of whom would be Mahdi."
After quoting
many such traditions he writes:
"Some scholars
have said that the Traditions (which show that Caliphs after The Holy
Prophet(saww) would be twelve) are famous, from many Asnaad (Chain). Now, with
the passage of time and by the hisorical events, we know that by this Hadeeth
The Holy Prophet meant the Twelve Imams from his Ahlul-Bait and Descendants,
because:
This Hadeeth
cannot fit the Four Khulafa Al-Rashideen from among his companions, as
they were less than twelve. And it cannot fit on the Caliphs from the tribe
of Umayya, because:
a) they were
more than twelve;
b) all of them
were tyrants and unjust (except Umar bin Abdul-Aziz); and
c) they were not
from Bani Hashim and The Holy Prophet has said in a Hadeeth that
"all of
them wil! be from sani Hashim .... "
And it cannot
fit the Caliphs from Bani Abbas, because too:
a) they were
more than twelve, and
b) they did
(persecute the descendants of The Prophet and violate the injunction of the
Quran in this respect.
Therefore the only
way to interpret this Hadeeth is to accept that it refers to the twelve Imams
from The Holy Prophet's Ahlul-Bait and Descendants, because they were, in their
times, the most knowledgable, most illustrious, most God fearing, most pious,
highest in their family lineage, best in personal virtues, and most honoured
before Allah; and their knowledge was derived from their ancestor The Holy
Prophet(saww), through their fathers, and by inheritance and by direct teaching
from Allah.
20) SUNNIS' VlEWS ON CALIPHATE
The Sunnis recognise Four principles of appointing a Caliph:
a) Ijmaa, that is, the cosensus of ophlion of the men of power and position on a certain point.
The agreement of all the followers of the prophet is not necessary, nor even is it essential to secure
the consent of all the persons of power and position in the Ummah.
b) Nomination by the previous Caliph.
c) Shura: Selection by Committee.
d) Military power, i.e., if anybody acquires power by military force, he will become a Caliph.
The author of 'Sharh-e-Mawaquif' has explained that when an Imam dies and a person possessing
the requisite qualifications claims that office (without the oath of allegience (Bai'at) having been taken for him and without his having been nominated to succeed) his claim to caliphate will be recognized,
provided his power subdues the people; and apparently the same will be the case when the new caliph
happens to be ignorant or immoral. And similarly when a caliph has thus established himself by superior force and is afterwards subdued by another person, the overpowered caliph will be deposed and the conqueror will be recognized as Imam or Caliph.
21) QUALIFICATIONS OF A CALIPH
The Sunnis
consider ten conditions necessary for a Caliph:
|
1 |
That he should
be of age, i.e., he should not be; a rninor |
|
2 |
That he should
be of sound mind |
|
3 |
That he should
be free, not a slave |
|
4 |
That he should
be a man, not woman. |
|
5 |
That he should
be able to conduct battles and beware of warlike tactics. |
|
6 |
That he should
be courageous |
|
7 |
That he should
be accessible and not be concealed or hidden |
|
8 |
That he should
be a Muslim |
|
9 |
That he should
be just |
|
10 |
That he should
be able to judge and give verdicts on points of law and religion, that is, he
should be a Mujtahid. |
But the last two
conditions are on paper only. As quoted in the previous chapter, even an ignorant
and immoral person can become a Caliph. Therefore, this pretension of Justice
and Religious knowledge is just a claim without any basis.
They hold that
infallibility is not necessary for a caliph. The words of Abu Bakr (vide Tarikh
Al-Khulafaa of Sayuti) which he spoke from the pulpit before the companions of
The Prophet, are cited in
support of that
view: "O people!" he said, "I have been made ruler over you,
although I am not better
than you. So, if
I perform my duties well help me, and if I go wrong you should set me
right."
Sharh-e-Tajreed'
gives a different version of the above as under:
"For me
there is a Satan who comes to me now and then. Help me if I am right, and if I
be doing wrong keep aloof from me."
Tafta-zani says
in Sharh-e-Aqaid-e-Nasafi: "An Imam is not liable to be deposed on the
ground of his oppresion or impiety."
22) HOW ABU BAKR CAME TO POWER?
All the above
mentioned principles are derived, not from any Ayat or Hadith, but from the events
and happenings after the death of the Holy Prophet.
According to
Sunnis, the first Four Caliphs are called Khulafa Al-Rashideen
(the Caliphs who were on the path of truth).
Let us see
how the first Khilafat Al-Rashida came into being.
As soon as the
Holy Prophet died, the Muslims of Medina, known as 'Ansar' (the Helpers)
gathered at Saqifa Bani Sa'ida. According to the author of Ghiasullughat, it
was a secret house where the Arabs used to gather for their evil activities.
Here, Sa'ad Bin Ubaada, who was then ailing, was led to a stately chair and
made to sit upon it, wrapped in a blanket so that he might be elected the
Caliph. Sa'ad then delivered a spcech in which he recounted the virtues of the
Helpers from Medina and told them to take over the Caliphate before anyone else
could do it. The Helpers agreed svith him and said that they wanted him to be
the Caliph. But then, among themselves, they began to ask, "If the
Refugees from Quraish oppose this move and put forth their claim, what shall we
reply to them?"
A section of the
gathering said, "We shall tell them, Let us have one leader from among you
and one from us." Sa'ad said, "This is the first weakncss you have
shown."
Someone informed
Umar of this gathering saying, "If at all you desire to acquire tne
dignity of rulership you should reach the Saqifa before it is too late and
difficult for you to undo what is bring done there." With the receipt of
this news, Umar, along with Abu Bakr, rushed towards Saqifa. Abu Ubaidah also
accompanied them .
Tabari, Ibn
Atheer. Ibn Qutaiba and others proceed with their narrations statir.g that
having reached the Saqifa, Abu Bakr, Umar and Abu Ubaidah had hardly taken
their seats when Thabit Bin Qais stood up and began enumerating the virtues of
the Ansar (Helpers) and suggested that the office of the Caliphate should be
offered to someone from the Helpers. Umar is reported to have said: "When
the speaker of the Helpers finished his speech, I made an attempt to speak as
already I had thought over some wonderful points, but Abu Bakr bekoned me to
keep quiet. Therefore, I remained silent. Abu Bakr had better effeciency and
knowledge as compared to me. He spontaneously spoke the same things I had
thought of and expressed them even better."
According to
'Roudhatus-Safa', Abu Bakr addressed the assembly at the Saqifa thus:
"Assembly
of the Helpers! We acknowledge your good qualities and virtues. We have also
not forgotten your struggles and endeavours for promoting the cause of Islam.
But the honour and respect the Quraish have among the Arabs is not enjoyed by
any other tribe, and the Arabs will not submit to anyone other than the
Quraish."
In 'Seerat
Al-Halabiya' it is added: "However, it is a fact that the Muharjirin
(Refugees) were the first to accept the Islamic creed. The Prophet of Islam was
from their tribe. We are the relatives of the Apostle and therefore we are the
people who are entitled to the Caliphate. It will be advisable to have the
leadership arnong us and for you to take the ministry. We will not act unless
we consult you. Heated arguments started, during which Umar cried: 'By Allah, I
will kill him who opposes us now."
Habbab Bin
Munzir Bin Zaid, a Helper from the Khazraj clan, challenged him saying,
"By Allah, we will not allow anyone to rule over us as a Caliph. One
leader must come from you and one from amongst us." Abu Bakr said,
"No, this cannot be; it is our right to be the rulers and yours to be our
ministers." Habab said, "O Helpers! Don't subrnit yourselves to what
these people say. Be firm..... By Allah, if anybody dares to oppose me now, I
will cut his nose with my sword." Umar remarked, "By Allah, duality
is not advisable in the Caliphate. There cannot be two kings in one regime, and
the Arabs will not agree to your leadersip, because the Apostle was not from
your clan.
Tabari and Ibn
Atheer both state that there was a fairly prolonged exchange of words between
Habbab and Umar on this matter. Umar cursed Habbab, "May Allah kill
you"; Habbab retorted, "May Allah kill you."
Urnar crossed
over and stood at the head of Sa'ad Bin Ubaada and said to hinl, "We want
to crush you so as to creak every limb of yours." Infuriated by this
threat, Sa'ad got up and caught Umar’s beard. Umar said, "If you pull out
even one hair, you will see that all will not be well with you." Then Abu
Bakr pleaded with Umar to be calm and polite. Umar turned his face from Sa'ad
who was saying, "By Allah, had I strength enough just to stand, you would
have heard the lions roar in every nook and corner of Medina and hidden
yourselves in holes. By Allah, we would have made you join with those people
again among whom you were only of the followers and not leaders."
lbn Qutaiba says
that when Bashir bin Sa'ad (the Chief of the tribe of Aws) saw that the Ansar
were uniting behind Sa'ad bin Ubaada (who was the Chief of the Khazraj tribe)
he was overcome with envy and stood up supporting the claim of the Quraishite
refugees."
In the midst of
this melee Umar said to Abu Bakr: "Hold out your hand so that I may give
you the pledge of loyalty." Abu Bakr said, "No, you give me your hand
so that I may pledge loyalty to you, because you are stronger than me and more
suitable to the Caliphate.~' Umar took the hand of Abu Bakr and pledge
allegiance to him saying, "My strength is not of any value when compared
to your rnerits and seniority. And if it is of any value then my strength added
to yours will sucessfully run the Caliphate."
Bashir Bin Sa'ad
followed suit. Khazrajites called him that he was doing it because of envy of
Sa'ad bin Ubaada. Then the tribe or Aws talked arnongst thernselves that if
Sa'ad bin Ubaada was madeCaliph that day, the trbe of Knazraj would always feel
themselves superior to Aws, and nobody from Aws would ever get this dignity.
Therefore, they all pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Somebody from
Khazraj took out his sword; but was overcome by others.
Ibn Qutaiba
writes, "When Abu Bakr had captured the Caliphate, Ali was dragged to Abu
Bakr though he was all the time saying, "I am the slave of Allah and the
brother of the Messenger of Allah." Then Ali was commanded to take the
oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr. Ali said,
"I have
more rights to the Caliphate than anyone of you. I will not plcdge obedience to
you. As a matter of right, you should give the pledge of obedience to me. You
have called for the pledge of loyalty from, the Ansars on the ground that you
have blood relations with the Messenger of Allah. You are usurping the
Caliphate from us, the members of his house. Did you not reason with the Ansars
that you have better rights to the Caliphate than they because the Apostle was
of your kinship, and they handed over the Government to you and accepted your
leadership? Therefore, the very reason put forth by you to the Ansars is now
forwarded by me. Our relations with the Apostle in life as well as in death are
closer than those of anyone of you. If you are faithful to your argument, you
should do justice; otherwise you know that you have consciously moved towards
tyranny."
Umar said, '
Unless you give a pledge, you will not be spared." Ali cried,
"Milk
out as much as you can for the udders are in your hand. Make it as strong as
possible today, for he is going to hand it over to you tomorrow. Umar. I will
not yield to your commands. I shall not pledge loyalty to him."
Ultimately Abu
Bakr Said, "O Ali! If you do not desire to extend your allegiance to me, I
am not going to press you for the same."
Some aspects of
the above mentioned events deserve more attention:
1) It was the tradition of
Arabs that once a person was declared even by a small group to be the Chief of
the tribe, others did not like to oppose him, and willy nilly followed suit.
This tradition was in mind of Abbas when he told Ali: "Give me your hand
so that I may pledge allegiance to you........because once this thing is taken
over (by anyone) nobody asks him to relinquish it." And it was this
tradition which prompted Sa'ad to exhort Ansar to "take over the Caliphate
before anyone else could do it." And it was because of this tradition that
Umar was told to reach Saqifa "before it is too late and difficult for you
to undo what is being done there." And it was because of this custom that
once some people accepted Abu Bakr as Caliph, majority of the Muslims in Medina
followed suit.
2) Ali was well-aware of
this custom. Then why did he refused to extend his hand to accept the
allegiance of Abbas, telling him
"who
else, other than I, can call for such pledge of allegiance?'
It was because Ali
knew that the Khilafat (Caliphate) of The Holy Prophet was not the
chieftainship of the tribe. It was not based upon the declaration of allegiance
by the public. It was a responsibility given by Allah, not by the people. And
as he had already been publicly appointed by the Holy Prophet to be his
successor he did not have any need to rush to the public to seek their
allegiance.
3) Now we turn towards the
events of Saqifa:
During the life
time of the Holy Prophet, the mosque of the Prophet was the centre of all
Islamic activities. It was here that decisions of war and peace were made,
deputations were received, sermons were delivered and cases were decided.
And when the
news spread of the death of The Holy Prophet, all Muslims were assembling in
that very mosque.
Then why the
partisans of Sa'ad bin Ubaada decided to go three miles outside Medina to meet
in Saqifa which was not a place of good reputation? Was not it because they
wanted to usurp the Caliphate without the knowledge of other people and then
present Sa'ad as the accepted Caliph?
Keeping in view
the declaration of Khum and tribal custom of Arabia there can be no other
explanation.
4) When Umar and Abu Bakr
came to know of that gathering, they were in the mosque. Majority of the Muslims
was at the mosque. Why did they hot inform any other person of that gathering?
Why did they slip out stealthily? Was it because Ali and Banu Hashim were
present in the mosque and in thc house of the Holy Prophet and Umar and Abu
Bakr did not want them to know of the plot? Was it because they were afraid
that if Ali came to know of that Saqifa meeting, and if, by a remote chance, he
decided to go there himself, no one else would have had a chance to succeed?
5) When Abu Bakr was
extoling the virtues of Muhajirin that they were from the tribe of the Holy
Prophet, did not hc know that there were people who had more right to this
claim because they were members of the very family of The Holy Prophet and his
own flesh and blood?
It was this
aspect of the pretence that prompted Ali bin Abi Taleb to comment ,
"They
argued that they were of one tree, i.e., tribe (with The Prophet) and then they
destroyed the fruit (family)."
Looking
dispassionately at this 'happening', we are unable to call it an 'election', because
the voters (all the Mushms scattered throughout Arabia, or, at least, all the
Muslims of Medina) did not even know that there was to be an election, let
alone their unawareness of the date, venue and time of that election.
Let alone the
voters, even prospectlve candidates were unaware of what was happening in
Saqifa.
And we cannot
call it even a 'selection' because majority of the prominent companions of The
Holy Prophet had no knowledge of these happenings. Ali, Abbas, Uthman, Talha,
Zubair, Sa'ad bin Abi aq-
qas, Salman
Farsi, Abu Dhar, Ammar, Miqdad, AbdurRahman bin Awf - none of them was informed
nor consulted .
The only
argument which can be put forward for this 'Caliphate' is this: "Whatever
the legal position of the happenings of Saqifa, as Abu Bakr succeeded because
of the tribal custom, in taking the rein of power in his hands, he was
'Constitutional' Caliph."
In simple
language, Abu Bakr became a Constitutional Caliph because he succeeded in his
bid for power.
Thus the Muslims
who have been taught to glorify this happening, are inadvertently taught that
the only thing which matters is the 'power'. Once you are secure in the seat of
power, everything is O.K. You will become the 'constitutional' head of state.
In the end, I
should quote the comment of Umar who was the author of this Caliphate. He said
in a lecture during his Caliphate:
"I have
been informed that someone says, 'when Umar dies, I will pledge my allegiance
to X.' Well nobody should be misled like this, thinking that the allegiance of
Abu Bakr was by surprise and it became all right, (so again such feat may be
accomplished by others). Of course, it was by surprise, but Allah saved from
its evils. Now if anybody wants to copy it I will cut his throat."
(Bukhari Vol. 4, p. 10-111; Musnad of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol, 1. p. 55).
The Sun.nis
believe that what happened at Saqifa was an 'election'; that it was a
manifestation of the democratic spirit of Islam.
In view of that
belief it would be reasonable to expect the "democratic election"
(whatever its meaning in the back-ground of Saqifa) to continue as thc basic of
Islamic Caliphate. But this was not to be.
Abu Bakr was
indebted to Umar in establishing his Caliphate and he knew that if the masses
were given a genuine freedom of expressing their choice Umar had no chance. (He
was knowr. as: Rude and of harsh nature) Therefore, he decided to nominate his
own successor Umar.
Tabari (Vol. 3,
p. 429) writes: "Abu Bakr called Uthman - when he (Abu Bakr) was dying and
told him to write an appointmcnt order, and dictated to him: "In the name
of Allah the Beneficient, the Merciful: This is the Onler of Abdullah bin Abi
Qahafa (i.e. Abu Bakr) to the Muslims. Whereas." Then he became
unconscious. Uthman added the words: "I appoint Umar bin Khattab as my
successor among you."
Then Abu Bakr
regained consciousness and told Uthman to read it to him. Uthman read it; Abu
Bakr said, "Allaho Akbar" and was pleased and commented, "I
think you were afraid that people would disagree amongst themselves if I died
in that unconsciousness." Uthman said: "Yes." Abu Bakr said,
"May Allah give you reward on behalf of Islam and Muslims." Thus the
appointment-letter was completed and Abu Bakr ordered it to be read before the
Muslims.
Allama Ibn Abil
Hadid Mutazilite wrltes that when Abu Bakr regained consciousness and the
scribe read what he had written and Abu Bakr heard the name of Umar, he asked
him: "How did you write this?" The scribe said: "You could not
pass him over." Abu Bakr said: "You are right." Shortly
afterwards Abu Bakr died.
Umar got
Caliphate by this appointment. Here one is reminded of a tragedy which occured
three or five days before the death of The Holy Prophet.
In Saheeh Muslim
there is a tradition narrated by Ibn Abbas: "Three days before The
Prophet's death Umar ibn Khattab and other companions were present by his side.
The Apostle said, "Now let me write something for you by way of a will so
that you are not misled after me." Umar said, "The Apostle is talking
in delirium the Book of Allah is sufficient for us." Umar's statement
caused a furore among those present there. Some were saying that the Apostle's
command should be obeyed so that he might write whatever he deslred to write
for their betterment. Others sided with Umar. When the tension and uproar
increased the Apostle said,
"Get
away from me."
A few Quranic
injunctions should be mentioned here:
"Muslims
should "raise not your voices above the voice of the prophet.....
lest your
deeds become vain and ye preceive not."
QURAN: 49
:2
The Holy
Prophet's words were Revelation from God:
"Nor
does he say (aught) of his own desire.
It is nothing
but inspiration sent down to him.
QURAN: 53:
3-4
And Muslims were
expected to follow his command without any IFs or BUTs:
"Whatever
the prophet gave you take it;
and whatever
he forbade, desist from it."
QURAN: 59:
7
And when such an
Apostle, five days bcfore his death wanted to write a directive to save Muslims
from going astray, he was accused of "talking in delirium."
When Abu Bakr
who had no such divine protection from errors, started dictation of the
appointment letter in such a serious condition that he became unconscious
before dictating the name of his successor Umar did not say that he was talking
in delirium!
Nobody can be
sure of what it was which The Holy Prophet wanted to write. But the phrases
used give us an inkling. On several occasions The Holy Prophet had declared:
"O
People, Verily, I am leaving behind among you two precious things, the Book of
Allah and my descendants who are my family members. You will never go astray so
long as you take hold of them sincerely."
When he used the
same wordings, five days before his death,
"I write
for you a directive so that you do not go astray after me",
It was easy
enough to understand that The Holy Prophet was going to write what he had been
telling them all along about taking hold of Quran and his Family Members.
Perhaps Umar
guessed as much as may be understood from his claim, "the Book of Allah is
sufficient for us." He wanted to make it known to The Prophet that he
would not follow the two precious things.' One only was enough for him.
The word
"delirium" would have served his purpose even if The Prophet had
written the directive. Umar and his partisans would have claimed that as it was
written in 'delirium' it had no validity.
After ruling for
about ten years, Umar was fatally wounded by a Zoroastrian slave, a woman
called Firoz.
Umar was very
much indebted to Uthman (because of that appolntment letter) but did not like
to openly nominate him as his successor; nor did he allow the Muslims to
exercise their free will after him. He ingenuously now invented a third system.
He said:
"Verily, the Apostle of Allah died and he was pleased with these six
people from Quraish: Ali, Uthman, Talha, Zubair, Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqaas and
AWur-Rahman bin Awf. And I have decided to make it (the selection of Caliph) a
matter of consultation among them; so that they may select one from among
themselves."
They were called
when he was nearing his death. When he looked at them, he said: "So, every
one of you wants to become Caliph after me?" No one answered. He repeated
the question. Then Zubair said: "And what is there to disqualify us? You
got it and managed it; and we are not inferior to you in Quraish; neither in
precedence nor in relation (to The Holy Prophet)." Umar said: "Should
not I tell you about yourselves?"
Zubair said:
"Tell us, because even if we ask you not to tell you will not
listen."
Then Umar started
enumerating the bad points in characters of Zubair, Talha, Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqas
and AWur-Rahman
bin Awf.
Then he faced
Ali and said: "By Allah, you deserved it had it not been that you are of
humorous nature. However, By Allah, if you people made him your ruler, he will
surely lead you upon clear truth and enlightened highway."
Then he looked
towards Uthman and said: "Take it from me. It is as though I am seeing
that the Quraish have put this necklace (Caliphate) in your neck because of thy
love; then you have put Bani Umayya and Bani Abi Muit (Uthman's tribe and clan)
on the shoulders of the people (as rulers) and have given them exclusively the
booty (of the Muslims): thereupon a group from the wolves of Arab have come to
you and have slaughtered you in your bcd.
"By God, if
they (Quraish) did, you would surely do; and if you did, they (Muslims) would
surely do." (If the Quraish gave Caliphate to Uthman he would surley give
exclusive rights to Bani Umayya; and if he did so, the Muslims would surely kill
him).
Then he caught
the forehead of Uthman and said: "So if it happens, remember my words;
because it is bound to happen."
Then Umar called
Abu Talha Ansari and told him that after his (Umar's) burial, he was to collect
fifty people from Ansar, arrned with sword, and gather the six above-mentioned
candidate voters in a house for selecting one of themselves as Caliph. If five
agree and one disagrees, he should be beheaded: if four agree and two disagree,
those two should be beheaded: if there is a division of three and three the
choice of the group of Abdur-Rahman Bin Awf should prevail and if the other
three do not agree to it they should be beheaded. And if three days pass and
they are unable to reach at any decision, all of them should be beheaded and
the Muslims should be left free to select their Caliph."
The Shia Author
Qutb Rawandi narrates that when Umar decreed that thc group of AbdulRahman bin
Awf would prevail, Abdullah bin Abbas told Ali: "This thing again is lost
to us. This man wants Uthman to be Caliph." Ali replied:
"I also
know it; still I will sit with them in the Shura, because Umar by this
arrangement has, at least publicly, accepted that I deserve Caliphatc, while
before that he was narrating that 'the Nubuwwat (prophethood) and Imamat, would
not be jointed in one family.' Therefore, I will participate in the Shura to
show the people the contradiction of his action and his narration."
Why Ibn Abbas
and Ali were sure that Umar wanted Uthman to be Caliph? It was because of the
constitution of the Shura and its Terms of Reference. Abdul-Rahman was the
husband of the sister of Uthman; and Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqaas, and Abdul-Rahman
were of one family and were cousins.
Seeing the hold
which family bond had in Arabia it was unthinkable that Sa'ad would oppose
Abdul-Rahman or that Abdur Rahman would ignore Uthman. So three votes were
safely in custody of Uthman, including the deciding vote of Abdur Rahman.
Coming to Talha,
he was from the clan of Abu Bakr; and, since the day of Saqifa, Banu Hashim and
Banu Tim felt nothing but enmity towards each other. Thus, it was almost sure
that Talha would not favour Ali.
Zubair was son
of Safiyya, aunt of Ali(as), and after Saqifa had taken out sword to fight
those people who wanted to enter the house of Ali to take him to Abu Bakr. And
it was reasonable to expect him to favour Ali. But, on the other hand, he could
be tempted to stand for Caliphate himself.
Thus, utmost
which Ali could hope was his own opinion and that of Zubair in his favour.
Still four would have gone against him and he would have lost. Even imagining
the impossible to happen, i.e., Talha favouring Ali, he could not be Caliph
because in case of equal division, opinion of Abdul-Rahman would have been
upheld.
After this study
of thc Terms of Reference, what happened in Shura is of academic intercst only.
Talha withdrew
in favour of Uthman; prompting Zubair to withdraw in favour of Ali, and Sa'ad
in favour of Abdur Rahman bin Awf.
On third day,
Abdul-Rahman bin Awf withdrew his name and told Ali tnat he would make him
Caliph if Ali pledged to follow the Book of Allah, the tradition of the Holy
Prophet ard the system of Abu Bakr and Umar.
Abdul-Rahman
knew very well what the reply would be. Ali told:
"The
Book of Allah and Tradifion of the Holy Prophet and my own opinion."
Then
Abdul-Rahman put salne conditions to Uthman, who readily accepted. Thus
Abdul-Rahman declared Uthman to be the Caliph.
Ali told Abdur
Rahman.
"By
Allah, you did not do it but with the same hope which (Umar) had from his
friend. "
He meant that
Abdul-Rahman nlacle Utllman Caliph hoping that Uthman would nominate him as his
Caliph. Then Ali said:
"May
Allah create enmity between you two."
After a few
years Abdul-Rahman and Uthman hated each other; they did not talk with each
other till Abdul-Rahman died.
Uthman, the
third Caliph was killed by the Muslims who were not happy with his nepotism.
Now, the circumstances did not give him any chance to ensure the succession of
a man of his choice. Muslims were, for the first time, really free to select or
elect a Caliph of their choice; they flocked to the door of Ali Ibin Abe
Taleb(as).
But during the
25 years which had passed since the death of The Holy Prophet nature and
outlook of the Muslims had changed to such an extent that many prominent people
found Ali's administration (which was hundred per cent based on absolute
justice and equality, just like the goverment of The Holy Prophet) unbearable:
they could not think of themselves being treated as equal to a non-Arab Muslim.
So first Talha, Zubair and Aesha revolted; then Moawiya stood against Ali.
After the
martyrdom of Ali(as) Imam Hassan wanted to continue the war with Moawiya. But most
of his officers were, meanwhile, bribed by Moawiya; and many were the
commanders who when sent ahead to intercept Moawiya, changed the side and went
over to the enemy. In this situation, Imam Hassan(as) had to accept the offer
of Moawiya to enter into treaty.
Now, after this
treaty, the Sunnis said that military power is a valid way of acquiring
constitutional Caliphate. Thus, the four constitutional ways of Caliphate carne
into being.
In the realm of
politics, usually the Constitution of a country is prepared beforehand.
And.when time comes to elect a'' government, or enact any legislation etc.,
every function is done and carried on according to that Constitution. Whatever
conforms with it, is held valid and legal; whatever goes against that
Constitution, is rejected as invalid and illegal. Since, according to the Sunni
point of view, it was the duty of the Ummah to appoint a Caliph for themselves,
it was necessary for Allah and His Prophet to give them a Constitution (with
details of the procedure of election of such a Caliph). And if that was not
done, then the Muslims themselves should have approved the Constitutional
measures in advance before proceding to elect a Caliph.
But strangely
enough it was not done. And now we find a unique 'unsettled Constitution' in
which actions do not follow a Constitution (because there was none!), but the
Constitution follows the events.
The best
argument put forward by the Sunnis to support their claim is that the Muslims
of first age considered it their duty to appoint a Caliph and that they
regarded it so important that they neglected to attend the funeral of The Holy
Prophet and went to Saqifa Bani Sa'ida to settle the question of Caliphate.
From that event they conclude that the appointment of a Caliph was the duty of
the Ummah.
But they fail to
understand that it is the validity of that sery so-called 'election' which is
challanged by the Shias.
The Shias claim
that that event was illegal; the Sunnis claim that st was legal and correct.
Now how can they put the very claim as their argunlent and proof?
To put the claim
as the proof is just likc saying: "This action of mine is legal because I
have done it"!
I do not know
which court of justice will uphold such argument!
Leaving aside
the academic sidc of these methods, let us see what effects they had on the
Muslim leadership and Muslim mentality.
Within thirty
years after the death of The Holy Prophet every concievable way of acquiring
power was used and canonized: election, Selection, Nomination and Military
Power. Even after all these centuries,
there cannot be
thought any new way of coming to power. The result is that today every Muslim
ruler
aspires to
occupy the seat of the "Khilafat" and 'Spritual Leadership" of
the Muslims; and it is this basic defect of the Muslims' outlook which has
always beer., and even today is, the underlying cause of political instability
in Muslim world. Every Muslim ruler, who as a MusliM has been taught that '
Military supremacy'i is a Constitutional way to "Khila)'at" tries to
weaken other Muslim rulers so that he himself may emerge as the supreme-most
among the Muslim rulers. Thus, this Constitution has contributed directly
towardsF the weakness of the Muslims in the world.
Apart from that,
let us see once again how "all-encompassing" these methods have
proved imrnediately after they were invented. This four-sided boundry of
Caliphate is so useless that any body may enter into it, irrespective of his
knowledge or character. The first Caliph after Moawiya was"Yazid",
who was ''nominated" by Moawiya and had undisputed "military
power." So he was a "Constitutional Caliph." But what was his
belief and character? Yazid was a man bluntly refusing to believe in The Holy
Prophet. He frankly stated his belief in this poem:
"Bani
Hashim (The Holy Prophet and his family) staged a play to obtain a kingdom.
Actually there was
neither any news
from God nor any revelation."
Neither did he
believe in the Day of Judgement:
"O my beloved,
(do not believe in meeting me after death, because) what they have told you
about our being raised after death for Judgement is only a fiction which makes
the heart forget the pleasures of this real world."
After assuming
Caliphate, he openly cut jokes about Islamic prayers, (as we have described
already); showed his disrespect of religion by putting the costumes of
religious leaders on dogs and monkeys. Gambling and playing with bears were his
favorite pastimes. He spent all his time in drinking anywhere
and everywhere
without any hesitation; he had no respect for any woman. Even the prohibited
degrees
like mother,
sister, aunt and daughter were justlike any other woman in his eyes.
Medina
Ransacked
He sent his army
to Medina. That Holy City of The Holy Prophet was freely looted. Three hundred
virgin girls, apart from other women, were made the victims of their lust.
Three hundred 'Qaaris' (Readers) of Quran and seven hundred companions of The
Prophet were brutally murdered. The Holy Mosque of The Prophet remained closed
for several days: the army of Yazid used it as their stable. Dogs made it their
shelter and the Pulpit of the Prophet was made unclean by those beasts.
Finally, the Commander of the army compelled the people of Medina to subrnit before
Yazid by swearing these words: "We are the slaves of Yazid; it is upto him
wnether he gives us back our freedom or sells us in the slaves market".
Those who wanted to swear allegiance on thc conditions of 'the following, by
Yazid, tne ir.structions of Quran and traditions of The Prophet were put to
death. It will not be out of place to mention that the Prophet said:
"A
person who makes the people of Medina afraid is condemned with eternal disgrace
by Allah."
Mecca
Besieged
Then the army,
by the order of Yazid, proceeded to Mecca. That holiest City of God was
besieged by them. They could not enter the City, so they used 'Minjaniq'
(Catapult: an ancient military device used to throw heavy stones onto the
distant targets). By its help, they threw stones and burning wood towards
the'Kntaba' as its target. The 'Kiswa', i.e. the canopy of the Ka'aba was burnt
and a portion of that Holiest building came down.
And this is not an
exception. It proved to be the general rule. Waleed bin Yazid bin Abdul Malik
was another Caliph from Bani Umayya. He was a drunkard. One night he was
drinking with one of his concubines, till they heard the A'dhaan of the prayer
of Fajr (dawn). He swore that the concubine would lead in the prayer. So she
wore the robe of the Caliph and led in the prayer in the same condition of
drunkenness.
One day he saw
his teenage unmarried daughter and molested her sexually. Her servant woman was
sitting there. She said that (it was not Islam) it was the religion of Majus.
Waleed replied her that: "A man who cares for the tongues of people, dies
in sorrow; and the daring man gets all the pleasures."
Harun Rashid,
the famous Caliph of "One thousand and one nights," who is
thought one of the greatest Caliphs, wanted io sleep with a concubine of his
late father. The concubine said that it was not possible because she was like
his mother. Harun Rashid called Qadhi Abu Yusuf and told him to find a way to
satisfy his lust. The Qadhi said: "She is just a slave girl. Should you
accept whatever she says? No. Do not accept her words as true."
So the Caliph
satisfied his desire. Ibn Mubarak comment: "I do not know who among these
three was more surprising: the Caliph who put his hand into the blood and
property of the Muslims and did not respect his step-mother; Or the slave girl
who refused to satisfy the desire of the Caliph; Or the Qadhi who allowed the
Caliph to dishonour his father and sleep with that concubine who was his stepmother."
30) EFFECTS ON BELIEF OF 'IUSTICE OF GOD' AND'ISMAT'
It has just been
explained that the belief of Sunni'ism regarding the Constitution of Caliphate
weakened the Muslims politically; and made them obey anyone who succeeded in
hig bid of power irrespective of his qualifications and character.
As though it was
not enough, it cornpelled them to change their total religions outlook and
beliefs. First of all, an overwhelming majority of their Caliphs was devoid of
any sense of religious propriety and piety. Now, to justify thc Caliphate of
such Caliphs they had to say that even the prophets used to commit sins. Thus,
the belief in the 'Ismat' (Sinlessness) of the Prophets was changed.
Again, as almost
always there were hundreds of people more knowledgeable, morc pious and more
qualified for the Caliphate than the Caliph on the throne, they had to say that
"there is nothing wrong in giving preference to an inferior person over a
superior person."
But it was
pointed out by the Shias that it is 'evil' according to the sReason' to give
preference to an inferior when a superior person is available. In reply the
Sunnis had to declare that there is nothing good or evil in itself; whatever
God tells us to do becomes good; whatever He forbids, becomes evil.
And as for the
'Reason' they denied it any place in the Religion. It,is not possible to go in
further details to show how the belief in Sunm's Constitution of Caliphate
effected the whole fabric of Islamic theology. But I think this short
explanation will be cnough at present.
From this, it
will appear that not only the prophets were deprived of their 'Ismat' but even
God was deprived of His 'Justice.' In this background, it is easy to understand
the full significance of the Ayat which was revealed at Ghadeer:
"O Apostlej
proclaim what hath been sent down to thee from they Lord (i.e. Caliphate of
Ali); and if thou doth it not, then thou did r.ot proclaim His message (at
all): and God will protect thee from (evil) men."
As the purity of
Islamic belief and deeds depended upon the Caliphate of Ali(as), it was said
that if that one message was not proclaimed then it will mean that no message
was proclaimed at all; because the safety of the whole religion depended upon
Ali being the Caliph after The Holy Prophet.
Some poeple say
that the Shias' belief means that The Holy Prophet wanted to establish a
dynastic monarchy for his family in which he failed. They imply that as the Hdy
Prophet was far above of such selfish motives, therefore the Shias belief is
wrong. But these very people say that The Holy Prophet said:
"The
Imams will be from Qurash."
Will they say
that this Hadeeth means that The Holy Prophet wanted to establish a kingdom for
his tribe? Will they say that The Holy Prophet said it because of "selfish
motives? "
It has been
explained earlier that Abu Bakr silenced the Ansar of Medina by saying that as
The Holy Prophet was from Quraish, Arabs would not accept any non-Quraishite as
Caliph. This argument silenced the Ansar.
By the same argument,
it stands to reasoning that if a member of the family of The Holy Prophet like
Ali(as) was made Caliph, all would obey him and there would be no strife and
difficulty. This aspect of the appointment of Ali(as) has been recognised by
some non-Muslim writers also. Mr. Sedillot has written: "Had", says
Sedillot, "the principle of hereditary succession (in favour of Ali) been
recognised at the outset, it would have prevented the rise of those disastrous
pretentions which engulfed Islam in the blood of Muslims The husband of Fatima
united in his person the right of succession as the lawful heir of The Prophet,
as well as the right of election."
THE END