Hadith al-Ghadir: A Refutation

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Sunni have a number of objections against Hadith al-Ghadir:

1. Some of them declare it weak. However, Al-Albani has declared this hadith, verbatim, to be sahih, in his Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, Vol. 4, p. 331, No. 1750: "Whomsoever I am his mawla, Ali is also his mawla. O Allah, love him who loves him, and hate him who hates him". Al-Albani even goes ahead to declare it mutawatir, just as al-Dhahabi too has done in his Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Vol. 8, p. 335. That neatly ends the noise of those who attack its authenticity.

2. Some of them claim that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) uttered the statement in response to complaints against Imam Ali (as) by the Sahabah who went under his command on an expedition to Yemen. They complained to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) about his "harshness". So, to warn them against bearing any ill will against him, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) told them "Whomsoever I am his friend, Ali is also his friend ....". They even assert that the fact that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) did not make the declaration at Arafat when everyone was present, but delayed it till Ghadir is sufficient to show that the message was targeted at specific people .
NB: The Holy Prophet (pbuh) informed his followers at Arafat that that was his Farewell Hajj. Therefore, after the Hajj, the Hajjis accompanied him, to benefit from his holy presence, and to bid him goodbye. Many of them never saw the Holy Prophet (pbuh) after that. Ghadir Khumm was the ideal place to depart, in consideration of those from Yemen and Bahran, who would still have to return to Makkah before going back to their homes. There were lots of Makkans too in the entourage. It would be wise to allow them return home from Ghadir Khumm. This is why Allah (swt) chose this place for Muhammad (pbuh) to announce the wilayah of the Imams (as).

The terms "mawla" and "wali" are synonyms with lots of different meanings, up to 25 dictionary definitions! However, both have two principal meanings: "master" and "friend". So, Hadith al-Ghadir was either of declaration of Imam Ali's (as) authority over the entire Ummah or friendship with every single Muslim. There are however a number of serious problems with the second translation. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) was not the friend of all Muslims! Abdullah ibn Salul, for instance, was a Muslim. He was in fact one of the Sahabah that gave pledge to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) under the Tree. Yet, he was a hypocrite that both Allah (swt) and His Messenger (pbuh) hated. This is the same situation with all other hypocrites. They are all Muslims. However, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was not their friend. Thus, if the Ghadir declaration was meant to apply to all Muslims, or all creation as it seems, the meaning of "mawla" in it could not have been "friend"! Besides, the Holy Qur'an 9:71 has declared every single righteous believer to be a wali (friend) of another!

It becomes very clear here that "mawla" was used by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in its unique sense - master! Besides that, the al-Ghadir declaration came days after the complaints of those Sahabah against Imam Ali (as), not at Ghadir Khumm. Besides, the reply of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) to them, even on that occasion, perfectly supports our position!

This is what the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said, verbatim:

What do you want from Ali? What do you want from Ali? What do you want from Ali? Certainly, Ali is from me and I am from him, and he is the Wali of the believers after me!".

Al-Albani has declared it sahih, citing also similar declarations by al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi in his Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, Vol. 5, p. 261, No. 2223. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, in his al-Isabah, Vol. 4, p. 468, has called it "strong".

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) also said:

Do not complain against Ali, for he is from me and I am from him, and he is your Wali after me. He is from me and I am from him, and he is your Wali after me.

Al-Albani in his Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, Vol. 5, p. 262 states:

"Its chain is hasan".

Hamza Ahmad al-Zayn in his tahqiq of Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 16, p. 497 comments:

"Its chain is sahih".

Ibn Abbas also narrated that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) told Imam Ali (as):

"You are the Wali of the believers after me".

Both al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi have declared it sahih, in al-Mustadrak, Vol. 3, p. 132-134. Al-Albani too declares it sahih in his Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, Vol. 5, p. 263, just as Ahmad Muhammad Shakir in his tahqiq of Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 3, p. 333.

We hereby present ALL the dictionary definitions of "Wali": admirer, neighbour, guest, partner, son, cousin, nephew, son-in-law, relative, uncle, companion, legator, heir,successor, a party of a pact, emancipator (i.e. of slaves), God, owner, master, slave, freed slave, helper, one who has more right in something, administrator, guardian, protector and friend! Try to insert each at the place of "Wali" in the above hadiths and see which one makes sense. Whosoever is sincere with his soul will find out that only "master" fits in.

To remove any possible confusion, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) also said:

Whoever obeys me, has obeyed Allah; and whoever disobeys me, has disobeyed Allah. Whoever obeys Ali, has obeyed me; and whoever disobeys Ali, has disobeyed me.

Both al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi have declared it sahih in al-Mustadrak, Vol. 3, p. 121.

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) added:

O Ali! Whoever separates from me, has separated from Allah; and whoever separates from you, has separated from me.

Al-Hakim declares it sahih in his al-Mustadrak, Vol. 3, p. 124. Al-Haythami too declares all its narrators to be trustworthy in Majma al-Zawaid, Vol. 9, p. 135. Al-Dhahabi in his Talkhis declares the chain sahih but nonetheless calls it a forgery. Al-Hafiz al-Ghimari comments on this behaviour in his Al-Rad 'ala al-Albani al-Mubtadi, p. 6:

Al-Dhahabi denied the hadith for two reasons. Firstly, the Holy Prophet never said anything similar about Abubakr and Umar. Secondly, the hadith is a condemnation of Mu'awiyah and his sect.

Al-Ghimari knows that Mu'awiyah is one of the founding fathers of the Sunni school. Yet, he was substantially honest with the truth here even though he himself was a top-class Sunni hadithist! The full truth here is that there were thousands of others, apart from Mu'awiyah, among the founders of Sunnism, who separated from Imam Ali (as). Basically, every single creature that does not accept Imam Ali (as) as his master and grant him absolute obedience is condemned by this hadith. The majority of these people hated, opposed, cursed and even fought Imam Ali (as), whereas the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said:

Whosoever loves Ali, has loves me; and whosoever loves me loves Allah. Whosoever hates Ali hates me; and whosoever hates me, hates Allah.

Al-Haythami in his Majma al-Zawaid, Vol. 9, p. 132 declares it hasan while both al-Suyuti in his Tarikh al-Khulafa, p. 133 and al-Albani in his Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, Vol. 3, pp. 287-288, No. 1299 have declared it sahih.

The immediate response of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) to the complaints against Imam Ali (as) was to inform them that complaining against Imam Ali (as) is tantamount to complaining against the Holy Prophet (pbuh) himself. Also, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was the divinely-appointed Wali of the believers at that moment. Complaining or holding any grudge against him would destroy the Islam of anyone involved. In the same manner, Imam Ali (as) was the heir to the divine Wilayah. Whatsoever you do to him, you have done to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (pbuh). This is because his authority comes from them both.

It was this same message that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) delivered to a larger audience at Ghadir Khumm, over one hundred thousand people according to many accounts and Allah (swt) made his voice reach everyone. At Ghadir Khumm, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) made other fundamental declarations:

Whomsoever Allah and His Messenger are his Wali, Ali is also his Wali. And I have left among you that which if you adhere to, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah, one end of which is in the Hand of Allah and the other end in your hands, and my Ahl al-Bayt.

Al-Hafiz al-Busayri in his Ithaf al-Khayrat al-Mahirat, Vol. 9, p. 279, No. 8974 (Maktabat al-Rushd, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), comments:

Ishaq has narrated it with a sahih chain.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his al-Matalib al-Aliya, Vol. 4, p. 65, No. 3972, writes:

This chain is sahih.

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) also said:

I am leaving among you that which if you hold firmly onto, you will never go astray after me. One of them is greater than the other. It is the Book of Allah, a rope stretching from the heavens to the earth. The second is my near kindred, who are my Ahl al-Bayt. The two will never separate until they meet me at the Pond (of Kawthar). Therefore, watch carefully how you treat them both after me.

Shaykh al-Saqqaf has declared it sahih in his Sahih Sharh al-Aqidat al-Tahawiyah, p. 654 (Dar Imam al-Nawawi, Jordan). Shaykh al-Albani too has declared it sahih in his Sahih al-Jami al-Saghir, Vol. 1, p. 482.

To remove any doubt about his intentions, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) also declared:

I am leaving among you two successors (khalifatayn): the Book of Allah, a rope stretching from the heavens to the earth, and my near kindred, who are my Ahl al-Bayt. The two will never separate until they meet me at the Pond.

Hamza Ahmad al-Zayn in his tahqiq of Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 16, p. 28 (Dar al-Hadith, Cairo) states: "Its chain is hasan". Al-Hafiz al-Haythami declares its chain "good" in Majma al-Zawaid, Vol. 9, p. 162 while al-Albani declares it sahih in Sahih al-Jami al-Saghir, Vol. 1, p. 482.

SOME CRUCIAL POINTS TO NOTE

1. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) in Hadith al-Wilayah merely declares Imam Ali (as) his immediate successor. However, in Hadith al-Ghadir, he declared the joint Wilayah of both of them over Allah’s (swt) ENTIRE creation. Hadith al-Ghadir has been narrated by 110 Companions in Sunni sources, as Allamah al-Amini has perfectly proof, with full details and references, in his book, al-Ghadir. This makes it the most mutawatir hadith, since none other can boast of just 50 Companions! By the Sunjni science of hadith, any hadith that contradicts a mutawatir hadith, or a more mutawatir hadith, is void and unacceptable as proof. We are happy to inform our Sunni brothers that NOT a single hadith in favour of Abubakr, Umar or Uthman is mutawatir! So, the mathematics is clear.

2. Hadith Thaqalayn is also mutawatir, having been narrated by more than 20 Companions according to al-Samhudi in his Jawahir al-Aqideen, p. 234 and Ibn Hajar al-Haythami in his al-Sawaiq al-Muhriqah, p. 342. Sayyid Hamid al-Husayn in his book Abaqat al-Anwar has compiled detailed accounts and references from Sunni sources of the hadith from 36 Companions! We are again happy to inform our Sunni brothers that no single hadith in favour of the Companions, or following them, is mutawatir. The mathematics, once again, is clear. The “Book of Allah and my Sunnah” hadith, on its own, is a forgery, according to Sunni hadith specialist, Shaykh Hasan al-Saqqaf in his Sahih Sharh al-Aqidat al-Tahawiyah, p. 178, 654.

3. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) mentioned the Holy Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt (as) as his “two successors”. In another hadith, he mentioned the number of such successors from his Ahl al-Bayt (as) to be twelve. Imam Muslim in his Sahih, Vol. 6, p. 3 (Dar al-Fikr, Beirut) records this hadith: “Certainly, this affair (i.e. Islam) will not cease to exists until the coming of TWELVE successors”.

4. The Ahl al-Bayt (as) will never contradict the Qur’an in word or conduct, and will never separate from it in existence. This shows that as long as the Qur’an exists, one of the twelve Ahl al-Bayt (as) Imams is alive to be its peer. Also, whoever separates the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt (as), by following one and leaving the other, is misguided. This hadith, in Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p. 22, is important here: “Whoever dies without having pledged allegiance to the Imam, dies the death of Jahiliyyah.

5. Sunnis claim that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) left no will. What they have forgotten is that a will may be either oral or written. If they deny that he left any written will, they cannot deny that he left an oral will. And, both kinds of will have equal validity! Hadith al-Wilayah, Hadith al-Ghadir and Hadith al-Thaqalayn are all oral wills. By necessity, when there is a will, there must be a Wasi. So, who is this Wasi (executor)? Another baseless Sunni claim is that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) left no successor. The above hadiths are sufficient rebuttals of such a claim. Besides, why would he not appoint a successor? Was it that he thought it was unnecessary or unimportant? Or did he forget to do so? Or was it a mistake on his part? Or did he die suddenly, not knowing beforehand that his death was approaching? Or was he confused about the issue?