Eid-e Ghadir-e-Khum.
In the year 10 AH, after performing his last pilgrimage to Hajj, the Prophet SAW declared as his successor, Amirul Mumineen, Moula Ali ibn Talib AS.
The Qur'an says:
'O Apostle! Proclaim (the message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from Mankind. Verily Allah guides not the people who disbelieve. (5: 67)
Thus it was at Ghadir-e-Khum, the point on the journey from which teh various pilgrims would disperse to their respective destinations as they returned home from Hajj, that Rasulullah SAW called all the pilgrims for one great assemblage. A multitude of seventy thousand gathered about the Prophet SAW, Salman (R.A.) and other Ashab Kiram were instructed to use rocks to make a pulpit, and the Prophet of Allah sat on the mimbar for nearly three hours, and in his moving eloquence, recited 100 verses from the Holy Qur'an and on 73 occasions reminded the assembled, and warned them of their deeds and hereafter.
The sermon of Rasulallah (SAW) and the events of Ghadir-e-Khum have been extensively narrated by historians, but for us Mumineen the prophetic words -
'man kunto mawlahu fa' Aliyan mawlahu' have become the foundation of our faith. It is the bedrock on which the edifice of our faith is built, as such, the day of 18th Zil Hijjah is an landmark day in our calendar - it is celebration and triumph of our Deen.
The Qur'an says,
This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen Islam as your religion' (5:3)
Islam was perfected only when the rightful
vasi was conferred with
nass - and each year we Mumineen reaffirm our allegiance (
misak), a celebration of the
nass conferred by Rasulullah SAW on Moulana Ali (AS). Misak is in fact a reaffirmation of our faith, our piety, our continuity, our submission to the Will of Allah and His Vali.
This celebration is epitomized in the words of Syedna Taher Saifuddin Moula (AQ):
madihokumu ya ala fatema-tal-ridha
ila suhekum li khairo hadin va sa'eki
So come 18th Zil -Hijjah we Mumineen will gather in the Masjid all around the world reaffirming our faith and celebrating with our Aqa Moula (TUS) as one single entity, the glorious and historic events of Ghadir-e-Khum - the place which has become the symbol of our faith and veneration.
Please note that I do not intend to engage in a theologic discussion about the event of Ghadir e Khum. For documentation and rigorous argument in support of Ghadir-eKhum, see this stellar website run by the Shi'a Ithna Ashari community. This post is not meant to be an argument but is simply my expression of my personal faith and belief. I have no interest in convincing others or starting/continuing a sectarian squabble. I humbly request ask that my beliefs be respected accordingly by my brothers in faith. My thanks to Asghar bhai Fakhruddin for his original essay, which I have co-opted.
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posted by Shi'a Pundit
