Some of the speech given by Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Hussein AlAnsari on the day of Eid Al Ghadeer
Since the day when the light of Islam penetrated through the dark skies, and as the first glimpse of dawn appeared gradually pushing away the darkness – Islam was born and continued to grow, and why not?. This penetrating light came into being by the reality that there is no God but Allah and Mohammed (s) is the messenger of Allah.
This was the bright beginning, the dawn of Islam which was brought to surface by the Prophet (s) whom offered this invitation to the people of Qurash and its Masters. The words of offering were also offered by the Prophet (s) to a young boy in Mecca known as Ali (as) who’s submission to Islam was accepted wholeheartedly by the Prophet (s) even before he reached the age of puberty.
This in reality makes us think, what is so special about this boy’s personality?
Since he received the order by Allah to openly invite people incrementally to Islam with this verse from the Qur’an ‘And warn your tribe of near kindreds’ there have been numerous commentators of the Qur’an as well as historians that have written that Ali with the order of the Prophet (s) invited the people of Bani Hashim. They had generously made food for them and gave them drinks, the people of Bani Hashim ate and drank until they couldn’t anymore and as they were doing this the Prophet (s) performed a miracle. This was that as the people finished eating, the food was being replaced with more food to the extent that when everyone finished there remained a full dish of food with only the markings of people’s fingerprints on them as a sign of the miracle.
The Prophet (s) towards the ending of the meal asked the gathering – who among you will help me in this matter, so that he becomes my brother, my guardian and my successor for you the people?. The tribe didn’t show any enthusiasm or concern, the Prophet (s) repeated this invitation to the people and it was that with every invitation Ali stood up (being less than 12 years of age) replied I am, Oh Messenger of Allah, The Prophet (s) took the neck of this boy Ali and said Verily this is my brother, my guardian and my successor for you people – then listen and obey him.
In reply the tribe stood while they laughed and told Abu Talib ‘he ordered you to listen and obey your own son’ this is how the event was narrated.
Next, please allow me to turn your attention to the following please:
– Firstly, Ali (as) was chosen and preferred over the masters of Quraish and its leaders, even over the master of Al-Bat-haa’ Abu Talib despite the relatively young age of Ali being less than 12.
– Secondly, he didn’t only prefer him, but he placed him as his brother, guardian and successor after him if we gather this with the sayings of the prophet in front of the people and tribes who wanted to help him with the condition of sharing the leadership or the successorship even after his death the Prophet (s) told them that this is a matter that is in Allah’s hand – he will put it wherever he wants. Based on this we know that in all of the situations the preferring and appointment of Ali was with Allah’s order. For more please refer to the event of the second Bayaat of Aqaba and others.
– Thirdly, lets concentrate on the words of the Prophet (s) when he said, my brother he truly put this into practice in a few events, one of which was when he made a brotherhood between the muhajareen (immigrants) and the Ansar (helpers), he left Ali for himself after making the brotherhood amongst all of them. This is the history as it happened, go read it and see it for yourself.
The Prophet (s) crowned all of this with the hadith of manzilaat – which was when the Prophet (s) stated you are to me what Haroom was to Moosa, except that there is no Prophet (s) after me….and my guardian as he was really his guardian. Ali was the person who fulfilled his promises and was the person who prepared his body for burial, washed him, and buried him, he also returned anything that was entrusted with the Prophet (s) during his lifetime back to the rightful owners. Ali even sacrificed his own life by sleeping in the Prophet(s) bed in the days of migration.
– Ali was the Prophet’s (s) successor as was crystalised with absolute clarity and beyond any realm of doubt or ambiguity by hadith of Thaqalayn. This is narrated by all muslims alike that the Prophet (s) said Verily I am leaving behind you two weighty things, the book of Allah swt and my progeny household on that day he cemented Ali’s status by saying Whoever has taken me as Master this Ali is his Master .This is not the first time that Mohammad (saw) makes Ali equal to his holy and pure spirit, as he has said ‘indeed, what can clarify this matter for any person who has two eyes (one being the physical eye and the other being the inner heart)’. About this saying, and others alike, it was brought into reality by the closing of all the doors except the door of Ali, especially in Aayaat al-Mubahala when we didn’t take anyone with him except Ali.
So read the history with an open eye and concentrate on the words around it. So that you can see the extent of the disaster that happened to the Islamic world when Ali was drowned his rightful position. And they have absolutely lost their only chance indeed ‘calamities is the exchange for the evil doers’