His Eminence (s.a.w.a.) said: “Do you not testify that there is no god, except Allah; and Muhammad is His messenger – that Paradise and Hell are confirmed facts, death is a reality and Judgment Day is imminent, and that Allah will raise the people from the dead?”
They replied: “Yes, we testify to it.”
The Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said: “O Allah be a witness to this.”
Then His Eminence (s.a.w.a.) said: “Do you not give ear?”
All said: “Yes, we are listening.”
He said: “I will reach the Kauthar Pool first and you shall meet me there. It is a vast pool as long as the distance between Sanaa1 and Busra2 . There are silver cups in it, equal to the number of stars in the sky. Take care how you behave with the two weighty things3 after me.”
Someone asked: “What do you mean by ‘two weighty things’?”
He replied: “The greater weighty thing is the Book of Allah. One of its ends is in the hand of Allah and the other is with you. You must remain attached to it, so that you never go astray. The lesser weighty thing is my Ahle Bayt. The Kind and all-knowing Lord has informed me that the two shall not separate till they meet me at the Kauthar Pool. Going ahead of them or leaving them behind will destroy you.”
After that His Eminence (s.a.w.a.) held the hands of Ali (a.s.) and raised them so high that the whiteness of the armpits was visible. He asked:
“Who is having more discretion on your selves than yourself?”
All said: “Allah and His messenger know better.” He said: “Indeed, Allah is my master and I am the master of the believers and more deserving (superior) than them, having more right than they have on themselves. Of whomsoever I am the master; this Ali (also) is the master.”
He repeated this thrice.
Then he said: “O Allah, be a friend of one, who befriends Ali and be inimical to those, who are inimical to Ali. Love one, who loves Ali and hate one, who hates Ali4 , help one, who helps Ali and degrade one, who insults Ali. And turn the truth in whichever direction Ali turns.
O people, those present here are obliged to convey this to those, who are absent.”
As soon as the sermon of the Prophet was concluded, Jibraeel descended with the following verse of Quran:
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
“This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion.”5
Here, the seal of the prophets said: “God is the greatest for the perfection of religion and completion of favor, and the pleasure of the Lord with His message and the Mastership (Wilayat) of Ali after me.”
At that time people congratulated Imam Ali (a.s.).
Abu Bakr and Umar were among the first of those, who congratulated Ali (a.s.) and each of them said:
“Congratulations, O son of Abu Talib! This day you have become my master and the master of all believing men and women.”
Ibne Abbas says: “By God, Mastership (Wilayat) of Ali (a.s.) became obligatory on everyone.”
This is the gist of the incident of Ghadeer, on which the Islamic Ummah has consensus and there is no other incident named as Ghadeer other than this, in such a way that if the word of Ghadeer is mentioned, no other incident comes to mind and if it is asked where is the location of Ghadeer? It is the same pool of Khum, near Johfa.
This is the viewpoint of all scholars and researchers; only Dr. Mulhim Ibrahim Aswad, in the footnote to Diwan of Abu Tammam, has introduced this incident as a battle! We will analyze this claim in the chapter on Abu Tammam in this book.