Hadith Thaqalayn: At Arafat and At Ghadir!

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

At Ghadir Khumm, the Holy Prophet pbuh.gif declared his final will to his entire Ummah. This will is binding upon the entire Ummah, including the Sahabah, till eternity. It gives direction to the Ummah after him.


Sayyid Hasan al-Saqqaf has stated in his Sahih Sifat Salat al-Nabi 29:

ففي سنن الترمذي : 5/663 برقم : 3788 قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله : إني تارك فيكم ما إن تمسكتم به لن تضلوا بعدي أحدهما أعظم من الآخر ، كتاب الله حبل ممدود من السماء إلى الأرض وعترتي أهل بيتي ، ولن يفترقا حتى يردا عليّ الحوض فانظروا كيف تخلفوني فيهما

And in Sunan al-Tirmidhi 5/663 No. 3788, it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah pbuh.gif said: I am leaving among you that which if you hold 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 heaven to the earth. The other is my itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt. The two will never be separated until they reach me at the Pond. Watch closely how you treat them both after me.

Sayyid al-Saqqaf states:

وهو صحيح

And it is sahih.

Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani, in his Sahih Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3/542 No. 3786 also records:

: إني تارك فيكم ما إن تمسكتم به لن تضلوا بعدي أحدهما أعظم من الآخر كتاب الله حبل ممدود من السماء إلى الأرض وعترتي أهل بيتي ولن يتفرقا حتى يردا علي الحوض فانظروا كيف تخلفوني فيهما

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, and it is the Book of Allah, a rope reaching from the heaven to the earth and the other is my Itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt. The two will never separate until they meet me at the Pond (of Kawthar). Watch how you treat them after me.

Al-Albani says:

صحيح

It is sahih.

There is also a separate hadith that seems to explain the one above:

إني تارك فيكم خليفتين ، كتاب الله حبل ممدود ما بين السماء والأرض وعترتي أهل بيتي ، وأنهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا عليّ الحوض

I am leaving among you two successors: the Book of Allah, a rope reaching from the heaven to the earth and my Itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt. The two will never separate until they meet me at the Pond.
Sahih Jami' al-Saghir 1/842 No. 2457

Al-Albani once again says:

صحيح

It is sahih.

In spite that this hadith is very clear about the fact that:

1. Both the Qur'an and the Ahl al-Bayt as.gif are to be followed after the Holy Prophet pbuh.gif
2. As long as the Qur'an exists, there is an Imam from the Ahl al-Bayt as.gif to be its companion, both of whom MUST be followed together

Sunnis nonetheless claim that the hadith only commands us to love the Ahl al-Bayt as.gif and NOT to follow them!!!

Some of them claim that this is so because the Holy Prophet pbuh.gif did not deliver this address at Arafat where everyone was gathered! This is strange however, considering that even if the Holy Prophet pbuh.gif had told only a single person, in a closed room, it would still have been binding!

However, they are wrong, since the Holy Prophet pbuh.gif also delivered the address at Arafat, before delivering it again at Ghadir Khumm.

we read in Silisilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah 4/355 No. 1761:

عن جابر بن عبد الله الأنصاري رضوان الله تعالى عليه أنه قال : ( رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في حجته يوم عرفة وهو على ناقته القصواء يخطب فسمعته يقول يا أيها الناس إني قد تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به لن تضلوا كتاب الله وعترتي أهل بيتي )

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari:

I saw the Messenger of Allah pbuh.gif during his Hajj on the day of Arafah, and he was seated on his camel, al­Qaswa', and was delivering a sermon: 'O people, I am leaving among you that which if you hold on to you shall never go astray: the Book of Allah and my itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt."

Al-Albani has declared it sahih. See here and here.

So, they have no excuse after all.