Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Hajjatul Wida

As the last days of the Prophet’s (saws) life of the world started nearing and the Prophet (saws) indicated the same to the people, the obvious question that would have made the Muslims restless would have been with respect to the successor ship of the Prophet (saws). As it was also a practice of the Holy Prophet (saws) to always appoint a successor behind him even when he undertook small excursions of two days or lesser. Is it acceptable that the grand Prophet (saws) would determine successor for himself before the battle of in Tabuk which for few days and not very far from Medina but did not do it when he (saws) was about to leave this world forever? On one side we find in the books of traditions that the Holy Prophet (saws) said :

“All of the prophets owned executors and successors and quoting that Salman Farsi asked messenger of Allah: Each prophet had its own executor and successor, who is yours?” [1]

And on the other side we find the majority of this nation believing that the Prophet (saws) did not determine anyone as his successor!

The matter was made crystal clear by Allah (swt) when He ordered His Prophet (saws) for the farewell Hajj as we find in a tradition quoted in Hayat ul Qoloob thus:

Sayyid IbnTawus and Shaykh Ahmad bin Abi Talib, Tabarsi etc., and tradition scholars of Shia and Sunni have from multiple channels, narrated from Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) that the Messenger of Allah (Saws) conveyed all the laws of religion with the exception of the rituals of Hajj and the guardianship (Wilayat) of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). Jibraeel (a.s) came down from the heavens and said: O Messenger, the Creator of the universe sends you His greetings and says that I never took up any of My prophets without having fulfilled the religion and proofs. Therefore, two important matters are yet to be conveyed to your followers: one is concerned with the rituals of Hajj and the other is the matter of Wilayat and Caliphate. Because I have never kept My earth devoid of the divine proof and I will not let it to remain thus till Judgment Day. Therefore you are commanded to teach the people about the rituals of Hajj. So you may go for Hajj and each of those who are capable from Muslims should also accompany him. All those who are present here or who live around Medina in the desert, should be taught the Hajj rituals as you have taught them prayers, fasting and Zakat etc.

As instructed the Prophet (saws) announced it amongst the nation his intention to go for Hajj.  This being the first announced Hajj of the Prophet (saws) after migration to Medina[2] massive crowd from amongst the enthusiastic followers decided to accompany the Prophet (saws).  It is recorded in the books of history that there was an epidemical outbreak at the time of leaving for the farewell Hajj despite this the number of companions recorded in the books of history vary from ninety thousand to one lakh twenty four thousand or more[3]. And Muslim scholars have named this Hajjul Wida as Hajje Islam or Hajje Balagh or Hajje Kamaal and Hajje Tamam[4]. Allama Amini in his Al Gadheer says that we are confident that this Hajj is called as Hajj eBalagh as the Ayat-e-Tabligh was revealed in this Hajj and it is called as Kamaal as Ayat-e-Iqmaal was revealed in returning from this Hajj.

Where on one side there were lakhs of enthusiastic follower’s accompanying the Holy Prophet (saws), in the same crowd were some who would not fear to dare oppose the Holy Prophet (saws) openly and it would not be inappropriate to tag them as the rebellious transgressors.

We would like to set the ground of further discussion here taking help of a shocking incident that took place in the same Hajje Wida, where the second caliph of muslim denied openly to follow the instruction of the Holy Prophet (SAWS). The Prophet (saws) had commanded the Muslims to remove the Ihram of Hajj and change the niyyat to Umrah-e-Tamatto if they were not carrying the sacrificial animal along with them. The Prophet (saws) upon leaving from medina took along sixty six sacrificial animals along with him and he continued with his Ihram and niyyat of Hajj e Qiran. While Amirul Momeneen (as) left from Yemen along with thirty four sacrificial animals with the same niyyat as that of the Holy Prophet (saws). For details on the type of Hajj refer foot note[5].

After this command, some obeyed the Prophet (saws) and some remained firm on their stance and one who remained firm on his stance was Umar bin Khattab. The Holy Prophet (saws) summoned him and asked why he had not removed the Ihram. “Perhaps you have brought sacrificial animals?”

He replied: “No.”

The Prophet (saws) asked: “Then why have you not removed the Ihram when I commanded it?”

He said: “O Prophet of Allah, as long as you are in Ihram, I will also not remove mine.”

The Prophet said: “You will not believe in Hajj Tamatto as long as you are alive.”

And as the Prophet (saws) had predicted he remained a denier of Hajj Tamatto till during his Caliphate one day he went to the pulpit and stopped people from Hajj Tamatto. And he issued strict orders that no one must perform it. So Shia and Sunni scholars have widely narrated that Umar said:

“Two Mutahs were allowed during the time of the Holy Prophet (S). I prohibit both. And I will punish severely one who performs them: one is the Mutah of women and one is the Mutah of Hajj[6] .”

It is evident from the above incident that he did not stop at disobeying the Prophet (saws) openly but also went a step forward and arrogantly manipulated with the orders of Shariyat and took pride in announcing this. There is no surprise in this behaviour of his as what we shall discuss next is even shocking.
Allama Majlisi brings in Hayat al Qoloob a narration from Huzaifah which is as follows:

They reached Ghadeer Khum and halted there. The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) prayed with the people and when he ordered, they came to him and the Prophet summoned Amirul Momineen (a.s.) and taking his left hand and raised it and loudly announced his Wilayat, making his obedience obligatory on all. He (saws) ordered them not to turn away from Ali (a.s.) after the Prophet has passed away.

He also stated that whatever he was saying was by the command of Allah, and he said: “Am I not having more authority on the lives of the believers, than they have over themselves?” People cried: “Yes, you indeed have such authority.” The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said:

 “Of whomsoever I am the master, this Ali is also his master. O Allah, love those who love Ali and be inimical to one who is inimical to Ali and help those who help Ali and degrade one who degrades Ali.” 

Then he commanded the people to pay allegiance to Imam Ali (a.s.). So all paid allegiance and no one objected. Abu Bakr and Umar had gone ahead to Johfa before the allegiance. The Messenger of Allah (S) called them back and told them in a sharp tone:

“O son of Abu Qahafa and O Umar, pay allegiance to Ali as he is after me the Wali Amr and Imam.”

They asked: Is this order from himself or from Allah? So they paid allegiance and they all set out from there. They continued to travel during the day and the night till they reached the mountain pass of Harshi. Abu Bakr and Umar had already reached there carrying tin cans filled with pebbles. Huzaifa says that when the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) neared the mountain pass, he summoned me and Ammar Yasir, and ordered Ammar to catch hold of the head of the she-camel and continue to pull it and he told me remain behind the beast.  

In this way we reached to the top of the mountain pass and Abu Bakr and Umar were following us. They threw the cans between the legs of the Prophet’s camel as a result of which it was terrified, and was about to bolt throwing down the Prophet. His Eminence, called out to the she-camel: Be quiet, nothing will happen to you. At that time the Almighty Allah made her speak up and she said in eloquent Arabic:

“O Messenger of Allah (SAWS), by Allah, I will not move my legs as long as you are on my back.”  
The two came near the she-camel to topple her, but I and Ammar drew out our swords and ran to them and they fled from there in the dark night failing in their plot to assassinate the Prophet. Huzaifa says: I asked,

“O Messenger of Allah (S), who were these people who acted in this manner against you?”
The Messenger of Allah (S) replied:

“O Huzaifa, they are hypocrites in the world and the hereafter.”

I said: “Why don’t you send someone to behead them?”  

He replied:

“The Almighty Allah has commanded me not to fight them lest people blame me for eliminating my own followers after having invited to Islam and after fighting the enemies and then killed them after gaining victory over the enemies. O Huzaifa, leave them, the Almighty Allah would punish them on Judgment Day. He has given a little respite in this world. After that He will throw them into a dreadful chastisement.”

Thus we conclude from the above hadis that the incident of Gadheer had left such remorse in the hearts of the hypocrites and caused absolute insecurity in the achievement of their evil motives hence they desperately decided to kill the noble Prophet (saws) and snatch the Caliphate from the freshly appointed caliph of the Muslim nation.

No surprise that Allah (swt) had promised security to the Prophet (saws) in Ayat-e-Tableegh and ensured that there is no Guidance for the disbelievers.  If the seekers of truth uncover the incidents starting from Hajje Wida till the demise of the beloved Daughter of the Holy Prophet (saws) in the pages of history, most certainly they would be shocked to find how these leaders of rebellion along with their daughters plotted against the Holy Ahlul Bait (a.s) and executed the heinous crime of assassinating the Proofs of Allah in this world.

In the end we Pray to Allah that He hastens the zahoor of His Last Hujjat (atfs ) immediately so that these criminals could be treated as they deserved and their crimes be exposed in front of the whole world. Ameen




[1] (AL-MUJAMUL KABIR: 221/6, MAJMAUZ  ZAVAEID 113/9, FATHUL BARI: 114/8) quoted from http://www.valiasr-aj.com/lib/40Questions.htm
[2] Here it is worth bringing the attention of our readers to the tradition from Ilalush Sharai it is narrated through reliable chains from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (S) made the Hajj twenty times secretly, and on each occasion dismounted to urinate at the pass of Mashar-ul-Haram. The narrator asked why he did that? The Imam replied: Because that was the place where idols were first worshipped.
It is narrated by Shaikh Kulaini(ar) and ShaykhTusi (ar) that after coming to Medina the Messenger of Allah (SWT) had performed only one Hajj and he had performed all other Hajj pilgrimages before Hijrat. It is narrated from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) that the Messenger of Allah (S) had performed ten secret Hajjs and in all of them he used to dismount and pass urine at the beginning as explained above. It is narrated from many other chains that the Holy Prophet (SAWS) had performed twenty Hajjs and in each of them he used to dismount at a small spot of Mashar and urinate there.
The above traditions are quoted from Hayat ul Qoloob. Although the Ahle-sunnat believe that this was the only Hajj Holy Prophet (saws) performed in his life time.
[3] Seerah Halabiyah volume 3 page 283, volume 3 page 257, Seerah Ahmed Zaini Dehlan volume 3 page 3, volume 3 page 143, Tazkeratul Khwas al ummat page 18 & page 30 &Fareed Wajdis Daaeratul maarif volume 3 page 542. Quoted from urdu translation of Al – Gadheer of Allama Amini (ar) Volume 1 page 104

[4] Tabakaat ibne saad volume 3 page 225, volume 2 page 173, Maqrizi in Al Mutaa page 510, Irshad As Sarii volume 6 page 429 and volume 9 page 426. It is worth mentioning here that even noted nasibi mufasereen like Fakhruddin Razi have accepted that the ayat e Iqmaal was revealed after the declaration of wilayat of Amir ul Momeneen (a.s) in Gadheer, but due to his inherent nature of confusing the readers he also brings the Khabar e Wahid from Umar stating that this ayate Iqmaal was revealed on the day of Arafah.
[5] It has been mentioned that hajj has three types, hajj al-tamattu‘ (which is the duty of those whose home is at least 16 farsakhs (nearly 90 km) far from Mecca and both hajj al-qirān and hajj al-ifrād which are the duty of those who live in Mecca or outside it but within mentioned distance. hajj al-tamattu‘ differs from the other two in being a single worship composed of one ‘umrah and one hajjah, in which ‘umrah is performed first, followed by a separating period during which the person takes off his iḥrām and is allowed to do some acts which are prohibited for the muḥrim (the person who is in a state of iḥrām). It is before putting on iḥrām again for hajj. For this reason, it is called hajj al-tamattu‘. So ‘umrah is a part of hajj al-tamattu‘ and called ‘umrah of tamattu‘ and the Hajjah is the second part and both must be performed in the same year. This is different from hajj al-qirān or hajj al-ifrād because each worship consists of a hajjah only while ‘umrah is a separate worship called ‘umrah al-mufradah. Thus, ‘umrah al-mufradah could be performed in one year and hajj al-ifrād or al-qirān in another year. Both types of ‘umrah have common rules which will be mentioned before having a look at hajj al-tamattu‘, it is ‘umrah, hajj al-ifrād or al-qirān, their ‘umrah and the difference between them.

[6] Musnad Ahmed bin Hanbal, Volume 1 page 52 Hadith 369, Sahih Muslim, Book 007, Number 2801 & 2814, Sunan Saeed bin Mansur, Volume 1 page 218 Tradition 852, Sharh Tajreed Al-Aqaid, page 408, Fakhrudeen Razi in his authority work Tafseer Kabeer, Volume 3 page 96, Sunan al Kabeera’ by Imam Behaqqi, Volume 7 page 206 quoted from http://en.shiapen.com/comprehensive/mutah/umar-banned-mutah.html

No comments:

Post a Comment