Ghadir-Khum is an event that took place on the eighteenth day of the month of Zil-Hijjah in the 10th year of the Hijra in the oasis of Ghadir-Khum. According to traditions, His Eminence Muhammad (s) along with more than 100 thousand companions performed the farewell Hajj, and on the 14th day of the month of Zilhijja, he left Mecca and went to Medina. The distance between Mecca and Medina is approximately 500 kilometers. Between these cities, six miles (about 10 km) from the shore of the Red Sea was the village of Juhfa. Previously, this settlement was called “Mahyaa”. However, after a flood destroyed it, it was renamed “Juhfa” (in Arabic “juhfa” means destroyed). In Juhfa, the roads to Egypt, Damascus and Medina diverged. It was at this point, before the pilgrims left for their native places, that the Ghadir Humma event took place.
When the caravan reached Juhfa, the Great Allah sent the following verse to the Prophet (s): “O Messenger! Convey what has been sent to you from your Lord. If you do not do this, we will not deliver His message. Allah will protect you from the people. Verily, Allah does NOT guide unbelieving people to a straight path” (Maida, 67).
Two miles (about 3 km) from Juhfa was the Ghadir Khum oasis. The Arabs called the low-lying places of the desert “Gadir”. During the rainy season, water collected here, and then, under the influence of heat, it gradually evaporated. Finally, this place was becoming part of the desert. There are several assumptions about the origin of the word “hum”. It was characterized as its own name, as well as “reed thickets”, “a place where a spring flows”, “a well dug in the backwoods”. And indeed, there was a well in Gadir-Khum. It was torn out at one time by the great-grandfather of the Prophet (s) in the seventh generation, Mura ibn Kaab.
After the message of the above verse, the Prophet (pbuh) ordered the caravan to halt. In the place where the caravan stopped, five huge desert bushes, called “Heroes”, grew. The Prophet (pbuh) commanded to sweep under them. Covering one of the bushes with a cloth, they formed a shady area, where a minbar was erected from camel palanquins. After performing the collective Zohra prayer, the Prophet (pbuh) ascended this minbar and delivered a sermon.
First, he thanked the Great Allah, announced that he would soon leave this world, and once again repeated the famous hadith “Sagalain”. His Eminence (pbuh) reminded that he bequeaths two values to the ummah – the Qur’an and his family. It is the duty of Muslims to respect these two values and not deviate from them.
Then the Prophet (pbuh) raised his hand and stood next to Ali ibn Abu Talib (a) and asked: “People! Who is more worthy to rule the righteous besides themselves?”. He was answered: “Allah and His Messenger know better about this.” The Prophet said: “Allah is my patron, and I am the patron of the believers and worthy to show them more than themselves. Whose patron I am, Ali is also the patron.”
The Prophet (s) repeated this suggestion three times, and then said: “O Allah, be a friend to Ali’s friends, an enemy to his enemies! Love those who love Ali, hate with those who hate him! Help Ali, turn away from those who turn away from him! O Allah , wherever Ali turns, justice moves with him! About the people! Tell what you heard to those who are not here! “.
Before the people dispersed, this verse was sent: “Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My mercy to you and approved for you Islam as a religion” (Maida, 3).
Then the Prophet (pbuh) ordered a tent to be built for Ali ibn Abu Talib (a), and he himself camped in another tent. All the Muslims went to the tent of Ali (a) and greeted him. Even the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) expressed their greetings to Ali ibn Abu Talib (a) in a proper manner. This ceremony lasted more than a third of the night.
It is said that the first to greet Ali ibn Abu Talib (a) were the future Rashidite caliphs Abu Bakr and Omar ibn Khattab. Omar said: “Glory be to you, O son of Abu Talib! You have become my intercessor and also the patron of all believing men and women!”.
Known under the pseudonym “poet of the Prophet”, Hassan ibn Thabit, with the permission of His Eminence Muhammad (pbuh), composed and read the Qasid “Gadir-Khum” of 10 verses there.
Throughout history, the Gadir-Khum event has been in a number of reliable traditions. Historians, scholars of hadith, masters of interpretation of verses of the Koran, philosophers and poets considered it an honor to describe the event of Ghadir-Humma. It is difficult to find reliable books on history, hadiths and interpretations that do not describe this event. According to the latest data, so far 26 books have been written about this story. World-renowned scholars such as Tabari, Hakim Haskani, Ibn Ughdan, Abu Sad Sijistani, Swet Hamid Hussain Hindi have devoted a whole book to the Ghadir-Khum event. Among them, Abu Sad Sistani in his book “Kitabud-diraya fil-hadith-walaya”, which consists of 17 parts, transmitted the event of Ghadir-Khum with 1300 documents on behalf of 120 companions. One of the most prominent Jafarite scholars of the 20th century, Allam Abdulhussein Amini from Tabriz, analyzed this glorious event in Islamic history in his book “al-Ghadir”, consisting of 11 volumes. In this book, the hadith about the event of Ghadir-Khum is transmitted from 110 companions, 84 tabees (a person who saw and heard the companions of the Prophet) and from
books of 360 scientists who lived in the 2nd-14th centuries. The book also contains the best examples of poems dedicated to the theme of Ghadir-Khum.
Among those who narrated the event of Ghadir-Khum are Asharom-mubashsharayah (according to the views of Ahli-Sunnah, 10 people to whom the Prophet guaranteed a place in Paradise), Abbas ibn Abdulmutallib, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Masud, Ammar ibn Yasir, Abuzarr, Salmanov-Farsi, Asad ibn Zurarah, Huzayma ibn Thabit Zush-shahadatein, Abu Ayyub Ansari, Abdullah ibn Omar, Bara ibn Azib, Zayd ibn Thabit, Abu Said Khudri, Migdad, Abu Hurairah, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Zayd ibn Argham, Anas ibn Malik, Usama ibn Zayd, Her Eminence Fatima (S.A), the mother of the faithful Aisha, Ummi Salam, Asma bint Umeis and others. As can be seen, the hadith reaches the level of mutawatir (which does not cause doubt). The Yemeni scientist Ziyauddin Mugbili, who lived in the 17th century, wrote: “If we do not consider the hadith about Ghadir-Khum to be reliable, then there is nothing reliable in Islam” (“al-Ghadir”, I, 307).
In the Ahl al-Sunnah collections of hadiths, which are considered reliable, “Sunanut-Tirmidhi” (“Kitabul-managib”, verse 19, hadith 3713) and “Sunan Ibn Majah” (“Kitabus-sunnah”, verse 11, hadiths 116 and 121) the hadith is cited about Gadir-Khum. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in the book “Musnad” repeated the hadith about Ghadir-Khum dozens of times from various companions (Ali ibn Abu Talib, Bureyda Aslami, Zayd ibn Argham, Bara ibn Azib, etc.). Imam Nasai in his work “Hasaisu Amirale-muminin Ali ibn Abi Talib” referred to the Hadith Ghadir-Khum 14 times (hadiths 9, 12, 24, 77, 79, 80, 87, 93-96, 98, 99 and 157).
In religious documents, the day of Ghadir-Khum is called the “Holiday of Ali Muhammad”. Imam Jafar Sadiq (a) was asked: “Is there any other holiday for Muslims, besides Friday, the holidays of Fitr and Kurban?”. The Imam answered in the affirmative. Asking the question, he asked again: “What kind of holiday is this?”. The Imam said: “This is the day when the Messenger of Allah appointed the ruler of the righteous Ali (a) as his vicegerent, and said: “Whoever considers me as his patron, so is Ali the patron.” This holiday is celebrated on the 18th day of the month of Zil-Hijja.” . That person asked another question: “What should be done first of all on this day?”. Imam Sadiq (a) replied: “Fast, pray on that day, remember the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his family, give them salawat. The Prophet (p) commanded Ali (a) to celebrate this day.”
From the works of such famous historians as Abu Rayhan Biruni, Masudi, Tabari, Ibn Khallikan, it becomes clear that in their time Ghadir Khum was considered one of the greatest Shia holidays. During the reigns of the Buveyhits (932-1062) and Safavids (1501-1732) in Iran and Iraq, and the Fatimits (909-1171) in Egypt, Gadir Day was celebrated as an official state holiday. On that day, wedding celebrations were organized at the expense of the treasury, slaves were freed, sacrifices were made, and meat was given to the hungry (Allam Muhammad Husain Muzaffar, “History of Shiism”, pp. 294-297).
İslam.az