PROPHET'S HISTORIC
GHADlR SERMON
There
is a humble translation of the Prophet's historic Ghadir Khumm sermon. The
reader can review the original Arabic text included in this book.
All
Praise is due to Allah Who is Exalted in His Unity, Near in His Uniqueness,
Sublime in His Authority, Magnanimous in His Dominance. He knows everything; He
subdues all creation through His might and evidence. He is Praised always and
forever, Glorified and has no end. He begins and He repeats, and to Him every
matter is referred.
Allah
is the Creator of everything; He dominates with His power the earth and the
heavens. Holy, He is, and Praised, the Lord of the angels and of the spirits.
His favours overwhelm whatever He creates, and He is the Mighty over whatever
He initiates. He observes all eyes while no eye can observe Him. He is
Generous, Clement, Patient. His mercy encompasses everything, and so is His
giving. He never rushes His revenge, nor does He hasten the retribution they deserve.
He comprehends what the breast conceals and what the conscience hides. No inner
I thought can be concealed from Him, nor does He confuse one with another. He
encompasses everything, dominates everything, and subdues everything. Nothing
is like Him. He initiates the creation from nothing; He is everlasting, living,
sustaining in the truth; there is no god but He, the Omnipotent, the Wise One.
He
is greater than can be conceived by visions, while He conceives all visions,
the Eternal, the Knowing. None can describe Him by seeing Him, nor can anyone
find out how He is, be it by his intellect or by a spoken word except through
what leads to Him, the Sublime, the Mighty that He is.
I
testify that He is Allah, the One Who has filled time with His Holiness, the
One Whose Light overwhelms eternity, Who effects His will without consulting
anyone; there is no partner with Him in His decisions, nor is He assisted in
running His affairs. He shaped what He made without following a preexisting
model, and He created whatever He created without receiving help from anyone,
nor did doing so exhaust Him nor frustrated His designs. He created, and so it
was, and He initiated, and it became visible. So He is Allah, the One and Only
God, the One Who does whatever He does extremely well. He is the Just One Who
never oppresses, the most Holy to Whom all affairs are referred.
I
further testify that He is Allah before Whom everything is humbled, to Whose
Greatness everything is humiliated, and to Whose Dignity everything submits. He
is the King of every domain and the One Who places planets in their orbits. He
controls the movements of the sun and of the moon, each circles till a certain
time. He makes the night follow the day and the day follow the night, seeking
it incessantly. He splits the spine of every stubborn tyrant and annihilates
every mighty devil.
Never
has there been any opponent opposing Him nor a peer assisting Him. He is
Independent; He never begets nor is He begotten, and none can ever be His
equal. He is One God, the Glorified Lord. His will is done; His word is the
law. He knows, so He takes account. He causes death and gives life. He makes
some poor and others rich. He causes some to smile and others to cry .He brings
some nearer to Him while distancing others from Him. He withholds and He gives.
The domain belongs to Him and so is all the Praise. In His hand is all
goodness, and He can do anything at all.
He
lets the night cover the day and the day cover the night; there is no god but
He, the Sublime, the oft-Forgiving One. He responds to the supplication; He
gives generously; He computes the breath; He is the Lord of the jinns and of
mankind, the One Whom nothing confuses, nor is He annoyed by those who cry for
His help, nor is He fed-up by those who persist. He safeguards the righteous
against sinning, and He enables the winners to win. He is the Master of the
faithful, the Lord of the Worlds Who deserves the appreciation of all those
whom He created and is praised no matter what.
I
praise Him and always thank Him for the ease He brings me and for the
constriction, in hardship and in prosperity, and I believe in Him, in His
angels, in His Books and messengers. I listen to His Command and I obey, and I
initiate the doing of whatever pleases Him, and I submit to His decree hoping
to acquire obedience to Him and fear of His penalty, for He is Allah against
Whose designs nobody should feel secure, nor should anyone ever fear His
"oppression."
I
testify, even against my own soul, that I am His servant, and I bear witness
that he is my Lord. I convey what He reveals to me, being cautious lest I
should not do it, so a catastrophe from Him would befall upon me, one which
none can keep away, no matter how great his design may be and how sincere his
friendship. There is no god but He, for He has informed me that if I do not
convey what He has just revealed to me in honor of' Ali in truth, I will not
have conveyed His Message at all, and He, the Praised and the Exalted One, has
guaranteed for me to protect me from the (evil) people, and He is Allah, the
One Who suffices, the Sublime. He has just revealed to me the following
(verse):
In The Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
O
Messenger! Convey what has (just) been revealed to you (with regard to 'Ali),
and if you do not do so, you will not have conveyed His Message at all, and
Allah shall Protect you from (evil) people; surely Allah will not guide the
unbelieving people.(Qur'an, 5:67)
O
people! I have not committed any shortcoming in conveying what Allah Almighty
revealed to me, and I am now going to explain to you the reason behind the
revelation of this verse: Three times did Gabriel command me on behalf of the
Peace, my Lord, Who is the source of all peace, to thus make a stand in order
to inform everyone, black and white, that: ' Ali ibn Abu Talib is my Brother,
Wasi, and successor over my nation and the Imam after me, the one whose status
to me is like that of Aaron to Moses except there will be no prophet after me,
and he is your master next only to Allah and to His Messenger, and Allah has
already revealed to me the same in one of the fixed verses1 of His Book saying, "Your Master is Allah
and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay
zakat even as they bow down" (Qur'an, 5:55), and, Ali ibn Abu Talib the
one who keeps up prayers, who pays zakat even as he bows down, seeking to
please Allah, the Sublime, the Almighty, on each and every occasion.
I
asked Gabriel to plead to the Peace to excuse me from having to convey such a
message to you, O 1 Fixed verses are those
which are never abrogated; the injunction(s) they contain remain valid forever.
people,
due to my knowledge that the pious are few1 while the hypocrites are many, and
due to those who will blame me, and due to the trickery of those who ridicule
Islam and whom Allah described in His Book as saying with their tongues
contrarily to what their hearts conceal, thinking lightly of it, while it is
with Allah magnanimous, and due to the abundance of their harm to me, so much so
that they called me "ears" and claimed that I am so because of being
so much in his (' Ali's) company, always welcoming him, loving him and being so
much pleased with him till Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime One, revealed in
this regard the verse saying: " And there are some of them who harm the
(feelings of the) Prophet and say: He is an ear (uthun; i.e. he always listens
to' Ali).
1 The pious are always few in any age or time, creed or faith or
clime,in any place, in every space. As many as 72 verses in the Holy Qur'an
condemnthe majority, praising the minority, underscoring what mankind knew,
that thepious are always few. Indeed, the Prophet's statement is quite weighty,
wise,terse, and not hasty. Nowadays, only a few pious ones remember this historic
sermon and try their best to keep its memory alive. Yes; it is true, the pious
are always few ...
Say:
One who listens (to' Ali) is good for you; He believes in Allah and testifies
to the conviction of the believers and a mercy for those of you who believe;
and those who (thus ) harm the Messenger of Allah shall have a painful
punishment" (Qur'an, 9:61). Had I wished to name those who have called me
so, I would have called them by their names, and I would have pointed them out.
I would have singled them out and called them by what they really are, but I,
by Allah, am fully aware of their affairs. Yet despite all of that, Allah
insisted that I should convey what He has just revealed to me in honor of' Ali.
Then the Prophet recited the following verse:)
O
Messenger! Convey what has (just) been revealed to you (with regard to 'Ali),
and if you do not do so, you will not have conveyed His Message at all, and
Allah shall protect you from (evil) people. (Qur'an, 5:67)
O
people! Comprehend (the implications of) what I have just said, and again do
comprehend it, and be (further) informed that Allah has installed him (' Ali)
as your Master and Imam, obligating the Muhajirun and the Ansar and those who
follow them in goodness to obey him, and so must everyone who lives in the
desert or in the city, who is a non-Arab or an Arab, who is a free man or a
slave, who is young or old, white or black, and so should everyone who believes
in His Unity. His decree shall be carried out. His (' Ali's) word is binding;
his command is obligating; cursed is whoever opposes him, blessed with mercy is
whoever follows him and believes in him, for Allah has already forgiven him and
forgiven whoever listens to him and obeys him.
O
people! This is the last stand I make in such a situation; so, listen and obey,
and submit to the Command of Allah, your Lord, for Allah, the Exalted and the
Sublime One, is your Master and Lord, then next to Him is His Messenger and
Prophet who is now addressing you, then after me 'Ali is your Master and
Imam according to the Command of Allah, your Lord, then the lmams from among my
progeny, his offspring, till the Day you meet Allah and His Messenger.
Nothing
is permissible except what is deemed so by Allah, His Messenger, and they (the
Imams), and nothing is prohibitive except what is deemed so by Allah and His
Messenger and they (the Imams). Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime One, has
made me acquainted with what is permissible and what is prohibitive, and I have
conveyed to you what my Lord has taught me of His Book, of what it decrees as
permissible or as prohibitive.
O
people! Prefer him (' Ali) over all others! There is no knowledge except that
Allah has divulged it to me, and all the knowledge I have learned I have
divulged to Imam al-Muttaqin (leader of the righteous), and there is no
knowledge (that I know) except that I divulged it to' Ali, and he is al-Imam
al-Mubin (the evident Imam) whom Allah mentions in Surat ya-Sin: "... and
everything We have computed is in (the knowledge of) an evident Imam"
(Qur'an, 36:12).
O
people! Do not abandon him, nor should you flee away from him, nor should you
be too arrogant to accept his authority, for he is the one who guides to
righteousness and who acts according to it. He defeats falsehood and prohibits
others from acting according to it, accepting no blame from anyone while
seeking to please Allah. He is the first to believe in Allah and in His
Messenger; none preceded him as such. And he is the one who offered his life as
a sacrifice for the Messenger of Allah and who was in the company of the
Messenger of Allah while no other man was. He is the first of all people to
offer prayers and the first to worship Allah with me. I ordered him, on behalf
of Allah, to sleep in my bed, and he did, offering his life as a sacrifice for
my sake.
O
people! Prefer him (over all others), for Allah has preferred him, and accept
him, for Allah has appointed him (as your leader).
O
people! He is an Imam appointed by Allah, and Allah shall never accept the
repentance of anyone who denies his authority, nor shall He forgive him; this
is a must decree from Allah never to do so to anyone who opposes him, and that
He shall torment him with a most painful torment for all time to come, for
eternity; so, beware lest you should oppose him and thus enter the fire the
fuel of which is the people and the stones prepared for the unbelievers.
O
people! By Allah! All past prophets and messengers conveyed the glad tiding of
my advent, and I, by Allah, am the seal of the prophets and of the messengers
and the argument against all beings in the heavens and on earth. Anyone who
doubts this commits apostasy similar to that of the early jahiliyya, and anyone
who doubts anything of what I have just said doubts everything which has been
revealed to me, and anyone who doubts any of the Imams doubts all of them, and
anyone who doubts us shall be lodged in the fire.
O
people! Allah, the most Exalted and the Almighty, has bestowed this virtue upon
me out of His kindness towards' Ali and as a boon to' Ali and there
is no god but He; to Him all praise belongs in all times, for eternity, and in
all circumstances.
O
people! Prefer' Ali (over all others), for he is the very best of all
people after me, be they males or females, so long as Allah sends down His
sustenance, so long as there are beings. Cursed and again cursed, condemned and
again condemned, is anyone who does not accept this statement of mine and who
does not agree to it. Gabriel himself has informed me of the same on behalf of
Allah Almighty Who he said (in Gabriel's words): " Anyone who antagonizes'
Ali and refuses to accept his wilayat shall incur My curse upon him and My
wrath." "... and let every soul consider what it has sent forth for
the morrow, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah" (Qur'an, 59:18),
"And do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you lest a foot
should slip after its stability" (Qur'an, 16:94), " Allah is fully
aware of all what you do" (Qur'an, 58: 13).
O
people! He (' Ali) is janb-Allah mentioned in the Book of Allah, the Sublime
One: The Almighty, forewarning his (' Ali's) adversaries, says, "Lest a
soul should say: O woe unto me for what I fell short of my duty to Allah, and
most surely I was of those who laughed to scorn" (Qur'an, 39:56).
O
people! Study the Qur'an and comprehend its verses, look into its fixed verses
and do not follow what is similar thereof, for by Allah, none shall explain to
you what it forbids you from doing, nor clarify its exegesis, other than the
one whose hand I am taking and whom I am lifting to me, the one whose arm I am
taking and whom I am lifting, so that I may enable you to understand that:
Whoever among you takes me as his master, this, Ali is his master, and he
is' Ali ibn Abu Talib, my Brother and wasi, and his appointment as your wali is
from Allah, the Sublime, the Exalted One, a commandment which He revealed to
me.
O
people! ' Ali and the good ones from among my offspring from his loins are the
Lesser Weight, while the Qur'an is the Greater One: each one of them informs
you of and agrees with the other. They shall never part till they meet me at
the Pool (of Kawthar). They are the Trustees of Allah over His creation, the
rulers on His earth.
Indeed
now I have performed my duty and conveyed the Message. Indeed you have heard
what I have said and explained. Indeed Allah, the Exalted One and the Sublime,
has said, and so have Ion behalf of Allah, the Exalted One and the Sublime,
that there is no Ameerul-Mo'mineen (Commander of the Faithful) save this
Brother of mine; no authority over a believer is permissible after me except to
him.
Then
the Prophet patted ' Ali's arm, lifting him up. Since the time when the
Messenger of Allah ascended the pulpit, Ameerul-Mo'mineen was one pulpit step
below where the Messenger of Allah had seated himself on his pulpit, while'
Ali was on his (Prophet's) right side, one pulpit step lower, now they
both appeared to the gathering to be on the same level; the Prophet lifted him
up. The Prophet then raised his hands to the heavens in supplication while'
Ali's leg was touching the knee of the Messenger of Allah. The Prophet
continued his sermon thus:
O
people! This is' Ali, my Brother, Wasi, the one who comprehends my knowledge,
and my successor over my nation, over everyone who believes in me. He is the
one entrusted with explaining the Book of Allah, the most Exalted One,
the Sublime, and the one who invites people to His path. He is the one who does
whatever pleases Him, fighting His enemies, befriending His friends who obey
Him, prohibiting disobedience to Him. He is the successor of the Messenger of
Allah and Ameerul- Mo'mineen, the man assigned by Allah to guide others, killer
of the renegades and of those who believe in equals to Allah, those who violate
the Commandments of Allah. Allah says, "My Word shall not be changed, nor
am I in the least unjust to the servants" (Qur'an, 50.29), and by Your
Command, O Lord, do I (submit and) say, O Allah! Befriend whoever befriends him
(Ali) and be the enemy of whoever antagonizes him; support whoever supports him
and abandon whoever abandons him; curse whoever disavows him, and let Your
Wrath descend on whoever usurps his right.
O
Lord! You revealed a verse in honor of' Ali, Your wali, in its explanation and
to effect Your own appointment of him this very day did You say, "This day
have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour on you, and chosen
for you Islam as a religion" (Qur'an, 5.3); "And whoever desires a
religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the
hereafter he shall be one of the losers" (Qur'an, 3:85).
Lord!
I implore You to testify that I have conveyed (Your Message).
O
people! Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, has perfected your religion through
his (' Ali's) Imamate; so, whoever rejects him as his Imam or rejects those of
my offspring from his loins who assume the same status (as lmams) till the Day
of Judgment when they shall all be displayed before Allah, the Exalted and the
Sublime, these are the ones whose (good) deeds shall be nil and void in the
life of this world and in the hereafter, and in the fire shall they be lodged
forever, " ...their torture shall not be decreased, nor shall they be
given a respite" (Qur'an,2:162).
O
people! Here is' Ali, the one who has supported me more than anyone else among
you, the one who most deserves my gratitude, the one who is closest of all of
you to me and the one who is the very dearest to me. Both Allah, the Exalted
and the Sublime, and I are pleased with him, and no verse of the Holy Qur'an
expressing Allah's Pleasure except that he is implied therein, nor has any
verse of praise been revealed in the Qur'an except that he is implied therein,
nor has the Lord testified to Paradise in the (Qur'anic) Chapter starting with
"Has there not come over man a long period of time when he was nothing
(not even) mentioned?" (Qur'an, 76:1) nor was this Chapter revealed except
in his praise.
O
people! He is the one who supports the religion of Allah, who argues on behalf
of the Messenger of Allah. He is the pious, the pure, the guide, the one rightly
guided. Your Prophet is the best of all prophets, and your wasi is the best of
all wasis, and his offspring are the best of wasis .
O
people! Each prophet's progeny is from his own loins whereas mine is from the
loins of Arneerul-Mo'mineen ' Ali.
O
people! Iblis caused Adam to be dismissed from the garden through envy; so, do
not envy him lest your deeds should be voided and lest your feet should slip
away, for Adam was sent down to earth after having committed only one sin, and
he was among the elite of Allah's creation. How, then, will be your case, and
you being who you are, and among you are enemies of Allah?
Indeed,
none hates' Ali except a wretch, and none accepts ' Ali's wilayat except a
pious person. None believes in him except a sincere mu'min, and in honor of,
Ali was the Chapter of 'Asr (Ch. 103) revealed, I swear to it by Allah:
"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. I swear by time that
most surely man is in loss" (Qur'an, 103:1-2) except' Ali who
believed and was pleased with the truth and with perseverance.
O
people! I have sought Allah to be my Witness and have conveyed my Message to
you, and the Messenger is obligated only to clearly convey (his Message).
O
people! " Fear Allah as Re ought to be feared, and do not die except as
Muslims" (Qur'an, 3:102). O people! " ...Believe in what We have
revealed, verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on
their backs or curse them as We cursed the violators of the Sabbath"
(Qur'an, 4:47). By Allah! Redid not imply anyone in this verse except a certain
band of my sahaba whom I know by name and by lineage, and I have been ordered
(by my Lord) to pardon them; so, let each person deal with ' Ali
according to what he finds in his heart of love or of hatred.
O
people! The noor from Allah, the Exalted One and the Sublime, flows through me
then through ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib then in the progeny that descends from
him till al-Qa'imal-Mehdi, who shall effect the justice of Allah, and who will
take back any right belonging to us because Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime,
made us Hujjat over those who take us lightly, the stubborn ones, those who act
contrarily to our word, who are treacherous, who are sinners, who are
oppressors, who are usurpers, from the entire world.
O
people! I warn you that I am the Messenger of Allah; messengers before me have
already passed away; so, should I die or should I be killed, are you going to
turn upon your heels? And whoever turns upon his heels shall not harm Allah in
the least, and Allah shall reward those who are grateful, those who persevere.
'Ali is surely the one described with perseverance and gratitude, then after
him are my offspring from his loins.
O
people! Do not think that you are doing me a favour by your accepting Islam.
Nay! Do not think that you are doing Allah such a favour lest He should void
your deeds, lest His wrath should descend upon you, lest He should try you with
a flame of fire and brass; surely your Lord is ever-watchful.
O
people! There shall be Imams after me who shall invite people to the fire, and
they shall not be helped on the Day of Judgment.
O
people! Allah and I are both clear of them.
O
people! They and their supporters and followers shall be in the lowest rung of
the fire; miserable, indeed, is the resort of the arrogant ones. Indeed, these
are the folks of the sahifa; so, let each one of you look into his sahifa!
This reference to the sahifa has been overlooked by most people
with the exception of a small band, and we will, Insha-Allah, shed a light on
this sahifa later on.
The
Prophet continued his historic sermon thus: O people! I am calling for it to be
an Imamate and a succession confined to my offspring till the Day of Judgment,
and I have conveyed only what I have been commanded (by my Lord) to convey to
drive the argument home against everyone present or absent and on everyone who
has witnessed or who has not, who is already born or he is yet to be born;
therefore, let those present here convey it to those who are absent, and let
the father convey it to his son, and so on till the Day of Judgment.
And
they shall make the Imamate after me a property, a usurpation; may Allah curse
the usurpers who usurp1, and it is then that you, O jinns and mankind, will get
the full attention of the One Who shall cause a flame of fire and brass to be
hurled upon you, and you shall not achieve any victory!
O
people! Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, is not to let you be whatever you
want to be except so that He may distinguish the bad ones from among you from
the good, and Allah is not to make you acquainted with the unknown.
O
people! There shall be no town that falsifies except that Allah shall
annihilate it on account of its falsehood before the Day of Judgment, and He
shall give al-lmam al-Mehdi (U authority over it, and surely Allah's promise is
true.
1 This is surely a Prophetic prediction that' Ali's right to the
caliphate would be usurped. The usurpers were the very first to swear the oath
of allegiance to Ameerul-Mo'mineen ' Ali and the very first to violate it.
O
people! Most of the early generations before you have strayed, and by Allah, He
surely annihilated the early generations, and He shall annihilate the later
ones. Allah Almighty has said, "Did We not destroy the former generations?
Then did We follow them up with later ones. Even thus shall We deal with the
guilty. Woe on that Day to the rejecters!" (Qur'an, 77: 16-19).
O
people! Allah has ordered me to do and not to do, and I have ordered 'Ali
to do and not to do, so he learned what should be done and what should not;
therefore. you should listen to his orders so that you may be safe, and you
should obey him so that you may be rightly guided. Do not do what he forbids
you from doing so that you may acquire wisdom. Agree with him, and do not let
your paths be different from his.
O
people! I am al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem (the Straight Path) of Allah whom He
commanded you to follow, and it is after me 'Ali then my offspring from his
loins, the Imams of Guidance: they guide to the truth and act accordingly.
Then
the Prophet recited the entire text of Surat al-Fatiha and commented by
saying: It is in my honor that this (Sura) was revealed, including them
(the Imams) specifically; they are the friends of Allah for whom there shall be
no fear, nor shall they grieve; truly the Party of Allah are the winners.
Indeed, it is their enemies who are the impudent ones, the deviators, the
brethren of Satan; they inspire each other with embellished speech out of their
haughtiness.
Indeed,
their (Imams') friends are the ones whom Allah, the Exalted One, the Great,
mentions in His Book saying, "You shall not find a people who believe in
Allah and in the latter Day befriending those who act in opposition to Allah
and to His Prophet, even though they may be their own fathers or sons or
brothers or kinsfolk; these are they into whose hearts He has impressed
conviction" (Qur'an, 58:22). Indeed, their (Imams') friends are the
mu'mins (believers) whom Allah, the Exalted One, the Sublime, describes as:
"Those who believe and do not mix up their faith with iniquity, those are
the ones who shall have the security, and they are the rightly guided"
(Qur'an, 6:82).
Indeed,
their friends are those who believed and never doubted. Indeed, their friends
are the ones who shall enter Paradise in peace and security; the angels shall
receive them with welcome saying, "Peace be upon you! Enter it and reside
in it forever!"
Indeed,
their friends shall be rewarded with Paradise where they shall be sustained
without having to account for anything.
Indeed,
their enemies are the ones who shall be hurled into the fire.
Indeed,
their enemies are the ones who shall hear the exhalation of hell as it
increases in intensity, and they shall see it sigh.
Indeed,
their enemies are the ones thus described by Allah: "Whenever a nation
enters, it shall curse its sister..." (Qur'an, 7:38).
Indeed,
their enemies are the ones whom Allah, the Exalted One and the Sublime,
describes thus: "Whenever a group is cast into it, its keepers shall ask
them: Did any warner not come to you? They shall say: Yea! Indeed, there came
to us a warner but we rejected (him) and said: Allah has not revealed anything;
you are only in a great error. And they shall say: Had we but listened or
pondered, we would not have been among the inmates of the burning fire. So they
shall acknowledge their sins, but far will be forgiveness) from the inmates of
the burning fire" (Qur'an, 67:8-11).
Indeed,
their friends are the ones who fear their Lord in the unseen; forgiveness shall
be theirs and a great reward.
O
people! What a difference it is between the fire and the great reward! .
O
people! Our enemy is the one whom Allah censures and curses, whereas our friend
is everyone praised and loved by Allah.
O
people! I am the Warner (nathir) and' Ali is the one who brings glad
tidings (bashir).
O
people! I am the one who warns (munthir) while 'Ali is the guide (hadi).
O
people! I am a Prophet (nabi) and' Ali is the successor (wasi).
O
people! I am a Messenger (rasul) and' Ali is the Imam and the Wasi after me,
and so are the Imams after him from among his offspring. Indeed, I am their
father, and they shall descend from his loins.
Indeed,
the seal of the lmams from among us is al-Qa'im al-Mehdi. He, indeed, is the
one who shall come out so that the creed may prevail. He, indeed, is the one
who shall seek revenge against the oppressor. He, indeed, is the one who
conquers the forts and demolishes them. He, indeed, is the one who subdues
every tribe from among the people of polytheism and the one to guide it.
He
is the one who shall seek redress for all friends of Allah. He is the one who
supports the religion of Allah. He ever derives (his knowledge) from a very
deep ocean. He shall identify each man of distinction by his distinction and
every man of ignorance by his ignorance. He shall be the choicest of Allah's
beings and the chosen one. He is the heir of all (branches of) knowledge, the
one who encompasses every perception. He conveys on behalf of his Lord, the
Exalted and the Sublime, who points out His miracles. He is the wise, the one
endowed with wisdom, the one upon whom (Divine) authority is vested.
Glad
tidings of him have been conveyed by past generations, yet he is the one who
shall remain as a Hujja, and there shall be no Hujja after him nor any right
except with him, nor any noor except with him. None, indeed, shall subdue him,
nor shall he ever be vanquished. He is the friend of Allah on His earth, the
judge over His creatures, the custodian of what is evident and what is hidden
of His.
O
people! I have explained (everything) for you and enabled you to comprehend it,
and this 'Ali shall after me explain everything to you.
At
the conclusion of my khutba, I shall call upon you to shake hands with me to
swear your allegiance to him and to recognize his authority, then to shake
hands with him after you have shaken hands with me.
I
had, indeed, sworn allegiance to Allah, and ‘Ali had sworn allegiance to me,
and I on behalf of Allah, the Exalted One and the Sublime, I require you
to swear the oath of allegiance to him: "Surely those who swear (the oath
of) allegiance to you do but swear allegiance to Allah; the hand of Allah is
above their hands; therefore, whoever reneges (from his oath), he reneges only
to the injury of his own soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with
Allah, He will grant him a mighty reward" (Qur'an,48:10).
O
people! The pilgrimage (hajj) and the 'umra are among Allah's rituals; "So
whoever makes a pilgrimage to the House or pays a visit (to it), there is no
blame on him if he goes round them [Safa and Marwa] both" (Qur'an, 2:158).
O
people! Perform your pilgrimage to the House, for no members of a family went
there except that they became wealthy, and receive glad tidings! None failed to
do so except that their lineage was cut-off and were impoverished.
O
people! No believer stands at the standing place [at 'Arafa] except that Allah
forgives his past sins till then; so, once his pilgrimage is over, he resumes
his deeds.
O
people! Pilgrims are assisted, and their expenses shall be replenished, and
Allah never suffers the rewards of the doers of good to be lost.
O
people! Perform your pilgrimage to the House by perfecting your religion and by
delving into fiqh, and do not leave the sacred places except after having
repented and abandoned (the doing of anything prohibited).
O
people! Uphold prayers and pay the zakat as Allah, the Exalted One and the
Sublime, commanded you; so, if time lapses and you were short of doing so or
you forgot, ' Ali is your wali and he will explain for you.
He
is the one whom Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, appointed for you after me
as the custodian of Hiscreation. He is from me and I am from him, and he and
those who will succeed him from my progeny shall inform you of anything you ask
them about, and they shall clarify whatever you do not know.
Halal
and haram things are more than I can count for you now or explain, for a
commandment to enjoin what is permissible and a prohibition from what is not
permissible are both on the same level, so I was ordered (by my Lord) to take
your oath of allegiance and to make a covenant with you to accept what I
brought you from Allah, the Exalted One and the Sublime, with regards to' Ali
Ameerul-Mo'mineen and to the wasis after him who are from me and from him, a
standing Imamate whose seal is al-Mehdi till the Day he meets Allah Who decrees
and Who judges.
O
people! I never refrained from informing you of everything permissible or
prohibitive; so, do remember this and safeguard it and advise each other to do
likewise; do not alter it; do not substitute it with something else.
I
am now repeating what I have already said: Uphold the prayers and pay the zakat
and enjoin righteousness and forbid abomination.
The
peak of enjoining righteousness is to resort to my speech and to convey it to
whoever did not attend it and to order him on my behalf to accept it and to
(likewise) order him not to violate it, for it is an order from Allah, the
Exalted and the Sublime, and there is no knowledge of enjoining righteousness
nor prohibiting abomination except that it is with a ma'soom Imam.
0
people! The Qur'an informs you that the Imams after him are his (' Ali's)
descendants, and I have already informed you that they are from me and from
him, for Allah says in His Book, " And he made it a word to continue in
his posterity so that they may return " (Qur'an, 43:28) while I have said:
"You shall not stray as long as you uphold both of them
(simultaneously)."
O
people! (Uphold) piety, (uphold) piety, and be forewarned of the Hour as Allah,
the Exalted and the Sublime, has said, "0 people! Guard (yourselves)
against (punishment from) your Lord; surely the violence of the Hour is a
grievous thing" (Qur'an, 22:1).
Remember
death, resurrection, the judgment, the scales, and the account before the Lord
of the Worlds, and (remember) the rewards and the penalty. So whoever does a
good deed shall be rewarded for it, and whoever commits a sin shall have no
place in the Gardens.
O
people! You are more numerous than (it is practical) to shake hands with me all
at the same time, and Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, commanded me to
require you to confirm what authority I have vested upon 'Ali
Ameerul-Mo'mineen and to whoever succeeds him of the Imams from me and from
him, since I have just informed you that my offspring are from his loins.
You,
therefore, should say in one voice: "We hear, and we obey; we accept and
we are bound by what you have conveyed to us from our Lord and yours with
regard to our Imam' Ali (V' Ameerul-Mo'mineen, and to the Imams, your sons from
his loins. We swear the oath of allegiance to you in this regard with our
hearts, with our souls, with our tongues, with our hands. According to it shall
we live, and according to it shall we die, and according to it shall we be
resurrected. We shall not alter anything or substitute anything with another,
nor shall we doubt nor deny nor suspect, nor shall we violate our covenant nor
abrogate the pledge. You admonished us on behalf of Allah with regard to' Ali
(V' Ameerul-Mo'mineen, and to the Imams whom you mentioned to be from your
offspring from among his descendants after him: al-Hasan and al-Husain
and to whoever is appointed (as such) by Allah after them. The covenant and the
pledge are taken from us, from our hearts, from our souls, from our tongues,
from our conscience, from our hands. Whoever does so by his handshake, it shall
be so, or otherwise testified to it by his tongue, and we do not seek any
substitute for it, nor shall Allah see our souls deviating there from. We shall
convey the same on your behalf to anyone near and far of our offspring and
families, and we implore Allah to testify to it, and surely Allah suffices as
the Witness and you, too, shall testify for us."
O
people! What are you going to say?! Allah knows every sound and the innermost
of every soul; "Whoever chooses the right guidance, it is for his own soul
that he is rightly guided, and whoever strays, it is only to its detriment that
he goes astray" (Qur'an, 17:15).
O
people! Swear the oath of allegiance to Allah, and swear it to me, and swear it
to' Ali Ameerul-Mo'mineen, and to al-Hasan and al-Husain and to the
Imams from their offspring in the life of this world and in the hereafter, a
word that shall always remain so. Allah shall annihilate anyone guilty of
treachery and be merciful upon everyone who remains true to his word:
"Whoever reneges (from his oath), he reneges only to the harm of his own
soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with Allah, He will grant him
a mighty reward" (Qur'an, 48:10)
O
people! Repeat what I have just told you to, and greet' Ali with the title of
authority of "Ameerul-Mo'mineen" and say: "We hear, and we obey,
O Lord! Your forgiveness (do we seek), and to You is the eventual course"
(Qur'an, 2:285), and you should say: "All praise is due to Allah Who
guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it not been for
Allah Who guided us" (Qur'an, 7:43).
O
people! The merits of' Ali ibn Abu Talib with Allah, the Exalted and the
Sublime, the merits which are revealed in the Qur'an, are more numerous than I
can recount in one speech; so, whoever informs you of them and defines them for
you, you should believe him.
O
people! Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and' Ali (U and the Imams to whom
I have already referred shall attain a great victory. O people! Those foremost
from among you who swear allegiance to him and who pledge to obey him and who
greet him with the greeting of being the Commander of the Faithful are the ones
who shall win the Gardens of Felicity.
O
people! Say what brings you the Pleasure of Allah, for if you and all the
people of the earth disbelieve, it will not harm Allah in the least.
O
Lord! Forgive the believers through what I have conveyed, and let Your Wrath
descend upon those who renege, the apostates, and all Praise is due to Allah,
the Lord of the Worlds.
CONCLUSION:
Thus
did the Prophet of Allah speak on behalf of the Almighty Who sent him as the
beacon of guidance not only for the Muslims but for all mankind. But the
question that forces itself here is: "What happened after that historic
event? Why did the Muslims forget, or pretend to have forgotten, their
Prophet's instructions with regards to' Ali and "elected" someone
else in his stead? To answer this question requires another book, and indeed many
such books have been written. May the Almighty grant all of us guidance, and
may He count us among His true servants who recognize the truth when they see
it, who abide by His tenets, Who revere His Prophet and follow his instructions
in all times, in all climes, Allahomma Ameen.
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The following constitutes only
major references of the components of Khutba of Ghadeer. In these references
the reader can deliberate on the various portions of this
historic sermon as quoted in bits and pieces in those references. Most of
these references are considered reliable by the majority of Muslims (of the
Shi'a or Sunni persuation):
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