The secret of supremacy of Muslims was in abstaining from disunity and the basis of their success becomes clear in being attached to the rope of Allah.
وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا
“And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited.”1
As some Ahle Sunnat scholars2 have narrated: that rope of Allah mentioned in the verse is the Mastership (Wilayat) of Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.). Shafei, the Imam of the Shafeis, has mentioned this in his couplets and explained that rope of Allah is the Mastership (Wilayat) of Ahle Bayt (a.s.):
“When I saw that the religion of people was in the ocean of deviation and ignorance, I boarded the ship of salvation of the Ahle Bayt of the Prophet and held to the rope of Allah as we are ordered to remain attached to the rope of Allah.”3
Hakeem Haskani, who was prominent scholar of Hanafi school, in his book of Shawahidut Tanzil, has dedicated a separate section to this topic and quoted traditions in the exegesis of these verses. Among the traditional reports he has quoted from Abdullah Ibne Umar is the Hadees Qudsi: “Mastership (Wilayat) of Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) is My fort. One who enters My fort is secure from My chastisement.4
The late Allamah Amini, for the exaltation of Islam, called the believers in this upright religion to the rope of Allah and began the book of Al-Ghadeer with the tradition: “The title of the scroll of the believer is love for Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.).”5
Seekers of material wealth and power, after the passing away of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) – even though during the lifetime of the Prophet, they had paid allegiance to Ali (a.s.) as the successor of Prophet – left this divine rope and became followers of the path of disunity and discord among Muslims.
After that through the wealth of Muawiyah and his like, with their own hands, they wrote the life history of the Prophet and distorted the Sunnah of Prophet; traditions were fabricated in praise of the Caliphs and numerous reports, especially on the subject of Caliphate were falsely attributed to the Prophet.
Following the fabrication of traditions and divine commands, numerous books were compiled on traditions, history, exegesis, jurisprudence etc., largely based on these fabricated reports. By and by schools, founded during the period of early Caliphs, appeared one after another and Muslims were gradually divided into sects.
The path for creating a new unity among Muslims – that is the same unity and consensus which existed during the period of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) is only possible through careful discernment of the mentioned incidents and obtaining these facts requires an extensive efforts, so that through research and investigation, they may hunt for the pearls of reality in the boundless sea of books. That is why the late Allamah himself says that the book of Ghadeer is an effort to expose the reality.
It is mentioned in the introduction of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) Library, founded by the Allamah that: Islamic unity should on the basis of expression of facts in the Ummah (facts of Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet) and not political unity, which the imperialists raise through their agents and when they obtain their objective they pit them against each other.