I have seen you produce some good works brother Hani, but this was a poor response.
Weaker arguments due to your following of desires and lack of reading.
Firstly, what you read in Ibn Ishaq is regarding the narration of Buraydah, the Prophet (saw) did not address the entire army then, he address those individuals who walked into his tent to complain. Therefore, NO the entire issue was not addressed at the time.
This has been covered in the entire piece if you were to read it holistically brother. When men began to come to the Prophet ﷺ, we see different narrations where he addresses individual people, like Buraida, and others. And then we see the tradition in Ibn Ishaq where it clearly states, when a number began to come the Prophet ﷺ rose to address them. Unless someone claims the two are referring to the same incident which is not plausible, clearly demonstrates he addressed individuals first and then decided to emphatically give a call out and rose up and stated (Ibn Ishaq): "when the men complained of Ali,the Apostle arose to address them and he (the narrator) heard him (the Prophet) say: “Do not blame Ali, for he is too scrupulous in the things of Allah, or in the way of Allah, to be blamed…”…Then the apostle continued his pilgrimage, and showed the men the rites..”
I must ask you, if the Prophet ﷺ gave out such am emphatic reply, and then as you can see after having done so decided to continue the rites, it is a clear indication he felt that the call he gave out would naturally have spread and people would have been aware of the anger of the Prophet ﷺ against anyone who accused Ali.
You also keep using the word 'Army'. Are you aware Ali ibn Abi Talib was only in charge of a small battalion of 300? This was not a Tabouk sized army, not even a Hunayn sized army. This was a small localised force. One may claim Khalid also had another battalion, but you are not talking big numbers here.
The people who were sent with him were from Medina. They would have known he was the made who single-handedly lifted the gate of Khaybar and that not only does the Prophet ﷺ love him , but Allah loves him and has used him in famous victories when the situation was dire for the Muslims. They knew of his close position to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Their only issue [some among the small battalion] was whether he handed to Khums in a justifiable way.
Once the Prophet ﷺ addressed a few of the companions as is reported in traditions here and there using direct wordings to direct companions, we then see him rising to address a group, whatever size, and making sure the call was to be given out that there was no way in which Ali was unjust, and that he forbids them for blaming Ali, for he is a man who is so dedicated in equity and justice in the way of Allah and can not be blamed. This message would have been heard by others surrounding the Prophet ﷺ, because he was not in a sound chamber, but out in the open, and the most rational understanding of it is by Shayk-al-Mufid when he says [in his al-Irshad]:
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When they came to Mecca, their complaints against the Commander of the Faithful, peace be on him, became numerous [many complained, but this does not imply the whole army or most].
The Apostle of Allāh ordered the call to be given among the people: “Stop your tongues (speaking) against ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him. He is one who is harsh in the interests of Allāh, the Mighty and High, not one who deceives in His religion.” At this the people refrained from mentioning him and they realised the high position he enjoyed with the Prophet, may Allāh bless Him and His Family, and his anger against anyone who wanted to find fault with him.”Notice how al-Mufid accepts the cries against Ali became numerous? This does not mean the whole group of the small battalion complained, but only a contingent among them, perhaps a fair number. The fact a number complained clearly denotes - as Ibn Ishaq also implies- that he was addressing a larger group and the call was given out to desist in their criticism and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has passed judgement emphatically in favour of Ali. We will expand on this when we touch on your counter points, inshAllah.
As for your other four arguments respectively,
1- You argue that the Prophet (saw) said general words at `Arafah that were sufficient thus there was no need to repeat at Ghadir. Well, There are verses in the Qur'an saying the same concerning love and brotherhood, in that case we can say his (saw) speech at the final Hajj was useless because the Qur'an also said we Muslims are brother and we're supposed to love eachother.
This is , with due respect, not a valid point at all. I can see why you would bring this example, but the fact that there is something in the Quran does not mean the Messenger of Allah can not reiterate on the general points he wishes to emphasise, particularly when the entire community is there and he wished to say that which promoted tolerance and harmony, so that people do not divide , fight, and dislike each other. The Quran at many times orders us to be kind of our parents, yet, the Prophet ﷺ repeated this often.
I did not claim his words were sufficient such that there are no points that can ever be repeated. Rather, after addressing individuals like Buraidah, and then seeing voices rising against what had occurred in Yemen, he called out and also ordered the call to be given out to stop anyone criticising Ali, and we have discussed this previously. He qualifies this by then discussing the fact that all Muslims are brothers to one another, and must love and respect one another, forgive each other and unite. My argument was, that even after addressing individuals, and then even after rising up and addressing a larger contingent and giving the order for the call to be given out that Ali was in the right, and a man of justice and can never be blamed, this should have been sufficient for anyone who respects the words of the Prophet to recognise Ali was in the right ﷺ.
The people who heard this and were also in the crowded area where the Prophet ﷺ was and where many pilgrims had gathered are likely to have spread this declaration by the Prophet ﷺ. However, if there was anyone who kept any malice, when the Prophet ﷺ gave the emotional speech about brotherhood and forgiveness, any remaining grudge should have been quashed.
2- He (saw) addressed those individuals directly when they complained, then addressed the rest of the army at Ghadir. Two weeks time is nothing as he (saw) had more important things to share with people concerning the rights of women etc... at Hajj rather than an issue like that between `Ali and his soldiers. So no, it wasn't at the top of his priorities list.
Do you think that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not want harmony to be in place before Hajj? At one point, articles written by TSN and other rebuttal websites claim there was a larger proportion of the small battalion complaining about Ali. Would he have felt it was wiser to allow people to nurse a grudge and feel wronged, and perhaps spread rumours against Ali when all the muslims had gathered, or to really give the call to make a simple statement - 'I, the Prophet of Allah, declare Ali was in the right, do not blame him, for he acted justly, and he is far too cognisant of Allah to ever deal in matters wrongly. '
The reality is, it would not have taken much energy at all to address the issue. The only reason there is still stubbornness among our Sunni brothers to accept his is because this narrative is absolutely essential for them to justify what occurred about two weeks later at Ghadir Khumm.
3- Because the people going back to Madinah were his army and they are `Ali's neighbors and community. The Prophet (saw) did not need to open a topic about a matter that did not concern other Muslims who lived in distant lands and almost never interacted with `Ali except during Hajj season.
The reality is, there were tens of thousands, if not more gathered near or around the Prophet ﷺ at this time, from Mecca and from around Arabia. The Prophet was actually waiting for the small battalion to arrive from Yemen with Ali ibn abi Talib, because most of the others had already reached. If one man comes into the mosques and begins to shout, does not the entire mosque of hundreds become aware there is something going on? It is quite clear that now if voices rise from the small battalion, as Ibn Ishaq clearly says they had, and implies it was far more than a few individuals before the Prophet ﷺ decided to rise to address them, there will be disturbance. People will be wondering as to what is going on and many might even start to gather around and see what the discord is about.
Do you believe the Prophet ﷺ knowing many have become aware of this from Mecca, of the others from Medina, of the tribes who gathered from other regions of Arabia, would not want the issue resolved immediately? Would he want rumours being spread against Ali ibn Abi Talib by people who had heard the discord?
Rather, we find traditions from Saheeh al-Bukhari where Buraida is addressed individually, and then where other individual companions are addressed. The tradition of ibn Ishaq is clearly when voices raise above those of a few individuals, but larger a larger group. It is here where the Prophet ﷺ makes his emphatic and deviant defence of Ali. Those among the small battalion with problems would have heard it, and heard it from others. People who were surrounding the Prophet ﷺ who at the time would have had thousands of pilgrims in ear shot of him would have also heard it and recognised the just character of Ali, the order of the Prophet ﷺ against anyone who blamed him, and the position he held with the Prophet ﷺ.
4- You'd be surprised that most of those people in Madinah did not know those specific narrations you're mentioning since the Prophet (saw) never went around praising his cousin. Whatever you mentioned above were certain reports heard by a very limited number of people and they only surfaced during the Fitnah to inform people of `Ali's status especially the new Muslims. Of course most knew that `Ali was close to the Prophet (saw) but jealousy is jealousy.
Brother, i am surprised someone as learned as you can make such statement. Are you forgetting that in Khaybar, the entire army were not able to take the last remaining fort. The Muslims had camped for weeks and there was no victory. The Prophet then made a call out to the general masses that tomorrow he would give a banner to a Man who loves Allah and his Messenger ﷺ and who loves Allah and his Messenger ﷺ love. What was even more powerful, is that he was chosen to bring victory to the Muslims when others had failed, despite nursing an eye infection and no-one thinking it could possibly be him. So many had longed to be chosen and whispers began to spread each man hoping it would be them. And in the morning the Prophet ﷺ calls out ' Where is Ali? Bring me Ali!'. The people en-masse see him defeat Harith, Marhab, and then lift the gate of Khaybar which was a feat of superhuman strength, making a bridge for the other Sahaba to cross.
Do you not think this itself was enormous praise on Ali, such that people would have known he is one of the best in their communities, enjoys the closest [or one of the closest] positions to the Prophet ﷺ and one through whom Allah brings victory? Would the emphatic and miraculous stand of Ali not have been spread when they returned home with the riches of Fadak and people wished to know how it happened? You have to be intellectually honest and recognise most of the praise regarding Ali were not mere words here and there isolated from people, but they were said en-masse when he had performed incredible feats.
Let us ignore his heroics in Badar, his heroics killing a man everyone feared in Khaybar, being the man the Prophet ﷺ chose as his brother in Medina when no other Muhajir was paired with another Muhajir. Let us ignore he was the husband of Fatima. Let us not conceder that shortly before the Pilgrimage he was the one chosen to represent 'ourselves 'of the Prophet in the Mubahila.
There can not be a shadow of doubt he was a man whose closeness to the Prophet ﷺ, whose position among the most righteous Muslims, and a man who people knew full well was famous for being the one who though him Allah brought them victory in the most desperate moments.
To conclude, the Prophet (saw) reminded them specifically of `Ali's status during their break in Ghadir.
I feel no such conclusion can be warranted.
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September 11, 2014, 06:13:34 AM
