Both Mubāhila and Ghadīr are considered significant by Shia Muslims who consider them Eid and occasions which highlight the precedence of Ahlulbayt, and the Panjatan, the Holy Five.
Is it really surprising that most of those who profess to “follow” Prophet Muhammad, so much so that certain others started calling them “Mohammadan”, actually have forgotten some of his “actions” which are his interpretations of what was ordered in the Quran?
There are a number of well recorded “episodes” from the life of the Prophet, which along with a number of Quranic verses, throw much light on what he wanted from the believers: episodes like Mubāhila [Disputation with the Christians of Najran] and Ghadīr, the event of the sermon besides a pond of that name after his last Hajj: an occasion when the last verse of the Quran declaring the completion of the Message was revealed.
Let us F or example take Sura as-Shura, verse 23, known as Ayat i Muwaddat, which says:
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِى يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ۗ وَمَن يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَّزِدْ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسْنًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ
“That is (the Bounty) whereof Allah gives Glad Tidings to His Servants who believe and do righteous deeds. Say: “No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin.” And if anyone earns any good We shall give Him an increase of good in respect thereof: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Ready to appreciate (service).”
Who were these “near of kin” [ ajran illal muwaddat fil qurba] who’s love is demanded? His own relatives or humanity as kinship in general?
If it stands for kinship of humanity, that we should love all to recompense Muhammad for his efforts, as generally believed by Mohammadans (followers of Muhammad & his practices), we find that even this is actually not followed in practice. I need not give examples: History of Islam is a witness to all what the so-called Muslims did!
According to a translator, “qurba” could never mean some specific family members of the Prophet. but quite apart from the objection that such a “personal” demand would conflict with the preceding assurance, “No reward do I ask of you”, the deliberate ommission of any possessive pronoun in respect of the term al-qurba indicates, according to this interpretation, that it is not limited to any personal relationship but, rather, alludes to a relationship common to all human beings: namely, the fellowship of man – a concept which implies the fundamental ethical postulate to care for one another’s material and spiritual welfare.
Howsoever in the Quran we find a verse giving a contrary sense.
According to Sura 3, verse 61:
فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ
تَعَالَوْاْ نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ وَنِسَاءنَا وَنِسَاءكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وأَنفُسَكُمْ
ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَةُ اللّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
“Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, then say: ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly and call down Allah’s curse upon the liars’.”
▪ The Ayah said “Our children” : And Muhammad took Al‑Hasan and Al‑Husain;
▪ The Ayah said “Our ladies” : And Muhammad took his daughter Fatima;
▪ The Ayah said “Our selves” :And Muhammad took Ali as if Ali was the self of the Prophet.
And these four and the Prophet are known as Panjatan, The Five Chosen Ones! They are the same who were assembled by the Prophet below his mantle (Kisa) and for those the Aya-i Tatheer was revealed:
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
Allah surely wants to keep the sin away from you, O People of the House! And to purify you an absolute purification.
Sura-i Ahzāb, verse 34
The Ayat i Mubāhila [3:61] quoted above, is with reference to an incident which took place in the year 10 A.H between the Prophet and the Christians of Najran and which is mentioned in all well-known books of traditions, tafsir (exegesis) and history by Muslim scholars. It is referred to as Mubāhila (mutual cursing).
On 24th Zilhijja, 10 AH, the appointed day of Mubāhila, how did the Prophet interpret “Our sons”, “Our women”, and “Our Souls”? He took with him his two grand sons, Hasan and Husain, Fatima and Ali! Surely the verse was in plural, and the order was for “our”. The Prophet interpreted it to mean his own immediate family: his daughter (and no wives), his cousin & son-in-law (no “uncles” etc) and the two infants! These were his kinsmen, his qurba, who were being shown to the public!
According to Sahih Muslim in Kitab Fadha’il Al-Sahaba, The Prophet (s) said, “The verse of purification was revealed concerning five people: myself, Ali, Hassan, Hussein, and Fatima.”
Is there any other woman about whom the Prophet declared: she was part of his Self. The Prophet (s) said, “Fatima is part of me. Whatever upsets her upsets me, and whatever harms her harms me.”
[Sahih Muslim, v. 5, p. 54; Khasa’is Al-Imam Ali of Nisa’i, p. 121-122; Masabih Al-Sunnah, v. 4, p. 185; Al-Isabah, v. 4, p. 378; Seir Alam Al-Nubala‘, v. 2, p. 119; Kenz Al-Omal, v. 13, p. 97; similar wording is related in Al-Tirmidhi, v. 3, Chapter on the Virtues ofFatima, p. 241; Haliyat Al-Awliya‘, v.2, p. 40; Muntakhab Kenz Al-Omal, in the margins of Al-Musnad, v. 5, p. 96; Maarifat Ma Yajib Li Aal Al-Bait Al-Nabawi Min Al-Haqq Alaa Men Adahum, p. 58; Dhakha’ir Al-Uqubi, p. 38; Tadhkirat Al-Khawass, p. 279; Yanabi^ Al-Mawadda, v.2, ch. 59, p. 478]
About Ali, suffice to remind what the Prophet said:
أنا مدينة العلم و عليّ بابها فمن اراد العلم فليأت الباب
I am the city of the knowledge and ‘Ali is its gate, thus whoever seeks the knowledge has to enter the gate.
This Saying is considered correct and true by Sunni scholars such as: Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, Hakim al-Naysaburi, Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti; so that Allama Amini in his book, al-Ghadir, notes the names of twenty one Sunni hadith narrators who regarded this hadith as correct and true.
About Hasan and Husain, every source recorded Prophet’s preference for them. I will just quote two traditions of the Prophet: one his action, one his saying. Abu Buraidah, a narrator and Companion of the Prophet narrates:
“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering a Khutbah to us when Al-Hasan and Al-Husain came, wearing red shirts, walking and falling down. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) descended from the Minbar and carried them, and placed them in front of him. Then he said: ‘Allah spoke the Truth: Indeed, your wealth and your children are a trial. I looked at these two children walking and falling down, and I could not bear patiently anymore until I interrupted my talk and picked them up.”
Anas bin Malik narrates that the Messenger of Allah was once asked: “Which of the people of your house are most beloved to you?”
He said: “Al-Hasan and Al-Husain.” And he used to say to Fatimah: “Call my two sons for me.” And he would smell them and hug them.
And then, Abu Sa’eed narrates that the Messenger of Allah said:
“Al-Hasan and Al-Husain are the leaders of the youth of Paradise.”
Is there then, as far as the traditions of the Prophet are concerned, any doubt as to who were his “kinsmen”, ahl lil qurba? On 24th Zilhijja 10 AH, he brought all of them together for all to see and remove their doubts?
The second occasion as mentioned at the beginning is the episode of Ghadīr, the day when the wilāyat of Imām ‘Ali was proclaimed by the Prophet of Islam. The term wilāyat is derived from the term wali, which means vicegerent, the successor, the next in command.
In the Sunni understanding of Islam, although the Prophethood of Muhammad was the last, there was no further arrangement to supervise its continuity. The message was delivered, the job was done. To the Shias, Allah after the Prophet, ensured that the believers were not left unattended. According to this belief, after the last Prophet, were a series of walis, vicegerents, appointed by Allah to ensure guidance known as the Imāms. And this declaration of continued guidance was made at a place known as Ghadeer i Khum, the pond of Khum.
Was Wilāya, only a spiritual succession, or was it a declaration of a physical succession? For the Party of Ali (Shi’ān i Ali) it was both: “man kunto maula fa hāza Ali un maula!” Of those whose maula I am, Ali is also the maula of those, said the Prophet! So in whatever sense you consider the Prophet to be the maula (master/friend/slave/etc etc), Ali is the maula in the same sense!
Prophet was not only a spiritual leader but also the head of the State established in the name of God. So if Mubāhila was an occasion for public declaration by the Prophet as to who were his qurba, kin, Ghadīr is the declaration of who is the leader after him! Thus all Sufi silsilas (schools) trace their spiritual lineage from him. So do the Shias. The word Shia means “friend” / “partisan”.
Thus both Mubāhila and Ghadīr are both quite significant to understand what the Prophet wanted. Both these occasions are celebrated by those who are devoted to Ahlulbayt as the two Great Eids: Occasions of great festivities!
• Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi
ASHA: Blast From The Past 