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Ghadir Khutba
PROPHET'S HISTORIC GHADlR SERMON
There is a humble translation of the Prophet's historic Ghadir
Khumm sermon.
(1)
All Praise is due to Allah who is exalted in His Unity, Near in
His Uniqueness, Sublime in His Authority, and 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, and 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."
(2)
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 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).
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)
(3)
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 Imams
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.
(4)
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).
(5)
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 Imams) 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).
(6)
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 usurp, 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.
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.
(7)
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.
(8)
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.
(9)
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).
(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.
O 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, "O
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.
(11)
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_files/image001.gif) . |
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