The leadership of Imam ‘Ali after the Prophet in several incidents
The Noble Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad specifically refer to the leadership of Imam ‘Ali after the Prophet in several incidents.
Ghadir Khum
This incident took place on the 18th of Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth month of theu Islamic calendar, and has been narrated by 110 companions of the Prophet, 84 members of the following generation (the tabi΄in), and 360 Muslim scholars from all schools of thought. Prophet Muhammad and approximately 114,000 of his companions had performed the farewell Hajj (pilgrimage) and were returning home.
That year, during the Hajj, the weather was very hot with the blazing sun taking its toll on the pilgrims. When the Prophet arrived at Ghadir Khum, a marshland crossroads from which all the Muslims from different lands would part on their own ways, the Prophet stopped the caravan at noontime, and waited for those who were behind to arrive and called upon those who had gone ahead to return, for he had received a revelation from Allah which he had to deliver to the people. The revelation read,
“O Messenger! Declare what has been revealed to you from Your Lord, and if you do not, then your mission will not have been fully declared, and Allah will protect you from the harm of the people.”[32]
Then the Prophet spoke a bit before asking the assembly whether he truly had authority over them or not. The people replied, “Yes, O Prophet, of course you are our leader (mawla).” He repeated this question three times, and the people responded in the same way each time, acknowledging his leadership. The Prophet then called for ‘Ali, held up his arm so that their two arms formed one shape pointing upwards, and said to the people, “He whose leader (mawla) I am, ‘Ali is his leader.”
At that time, ‘Ali was 33 years old. The people received this news with a variety of responses—some with happiness and some with resentment. The foremost to congratulate ‘Ali were the future first and second caliphs; the second caliph said, “Congratulations, congratulations to you, O ‘Ali; you have become my leader (mawla) and the leader of every faithful Muslim.”[33]
After declaring the mentioned revelation another verse was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. Allah said,
“Today I have completed for you the religion, and favored you with My bounty, and accepted Islam for you as the religion.”[34]
With this verse, the religion of Islam was completed by the appointment of Imam ‘Ali to succeed the Prophet, and had he not been appointed as the successor, the religion of Islam would have been incomplete as is specifically mentioned in these verses.
