Statement of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) after the announcement of Mastership (Wilayat):
اللهم انت شهيد عليهم اني قد بلغت و نصحت
“O Allah, be a witness that I have conveyed Your command and expressed your advice.”
Making God a witness on the people shows it to be a new issue, which he
did not announce before. In addition to that all connotations of Maula, like help
and love which is general for all Muslims, especially for Ali (a.s.), so there was
no need to take testimonies for that. But taking testimonies for it in case of Ali
(a.s.) will only be in the instance as we explained before.
Tenth context
Statement of the prophet, before stating the tradition mentioned previously:
“Indeed, Almighty Allah commanded me to convey a message, to do which,
I was straitened in heart to convey (which was very difficult for me) and I
thought (or I knew) that people will falsify me and Almighty Allah warned me
that I should either convey it, or He would chastise me.”
With this, it is also mentioned1 : “Almighty Allah sent me with a message,
which I was duty-bound to convey (my chest became straitened and I saw that
there was no option, but to convey it) and I understood that people would falsify
me, thus Allah warned me that either I should announce it or that He would
punish me.”2
Along with it, was mentioned3: “Indeed, I prayed to God for the fear that I
should be a target of ridicule and falsification from hypocrites, so God warned
me that either I announce it to the people or He would punish me.”
All these statements inform of an important matter, to announce which the
Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) feared falsification of hypocrites and he was afraid that
they would say: “He is partial to his cousin.” And this proves that it was due to
the special position of Ali (a.s.) and not because of love and friendship, which all
Muslims shared with Ali (a.s.), and this cannot, but imply “most deserving for
mastership”.
Eleventh context
It is the term of ‘nasb’ (appointment); in many traditional reports, the
importance of the day of Ghadeer is mentioned as ‘nasb’; for example it is
narrated from Umar bin Khattab that:4
نصب رسول الله عليا علما
“The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) appointed Ali (a.s.) as a sign and guide.”
It is also narrated from Ali (a.s.) that: “Allah commanded the Prophet to
appoint me as leader.”
Also, it is narrated from Imam Husain (a.s.) that: “Do you know that on the
day of Ghadeer, the Prophet appointed him with Imamate and leadership?”
These statements inform us of the bestowal of a position on that day; that
before this, no one was aware of it and this was other than the position of love
and friendship about which all the people knew.
In addition to this Nasb is used for rulership and transferring mastership, for
example they say: “The ruler appointed so and so as ruler of so and so province,
but regarding affection, love, support, which is for all members of the society, it
cannot be said that he appointed him for all these things.”
In addition to this in many traditional reports the term of Nasb is mentioned
with the word of Mastership (Wilayat), or after that the words of “appointed on
the people” or “appointed on the Islamic Ummah” are mentioned.
We conclude from these points that the position bestowed to Ali (a.s.) is the
position of absolute rulership on the whole Islamic Ummah, and this is in fact the
meaning of Imamate necessarily accompanied with Mastership (Wilayat), which
is our claim regarding the meaning of Maula.
Twelfth context
It is the statement of Ibne Abbas that after the mention of the tradition he said:5
“And your Wilayat, by God, became obligatory on people” and in other
words, “By God your Mastership (Wilayat) became obligatory on people,” and
this shows a new matter, other than what Muslims were knowing from before and
that and it was proved for all of them.
portant as prophethood; since it has become obligatory on all and no one is
equal to him in this matter, and this could not anything, except Caliphate, which
bestowed His Eminence prominence among people of the society, and it is not
other than supremacy (Uluwwiyyat).