 أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي أسلام عليك يا أسلامي و now this enmity came out into the open again because Sa'ad bin Ubada was the leader of the Khazar tribe Bashir ibn Sa'ad who was from us he came forward and pledged allegiance to Faisal Khalifa when he pledged allegiance a few other people pledged allegiance as well and then the tide had now shifted why Sa'ad Khalifa stood up and said I want you to you know this is the authority of Quresh Faisal Khalifa stood up and he holds on to the hand of the second Khalifa and Abu Badab Najara and he says these are the two people that I think one of these two would be good as Khalifa so choose one of them instead of or before anybody would reply to that the second Khalifa himself stands up and he holds on to the hand of the first Khalifa and pledged allegiance to him and says that I've pledged allegiance to you because there's nobody more superior and better than you out of all of us when he does this now there's a dispute and a disagreement between the Ansar so as we said the Ansar when the Aus and Khazar tribes they had old enmity but the Holy Prophet had removed this enmity now because Sa'ad bin Abu Badab was the leader of the Khazar tribe Bashir ibn Sa'ad who's from the Aus tribe he takes this opportunity to pledge allegiance to the first Khalifa when he pledges allegiance to the first Khalifa now there's a divide between the Ansar some people are arguing that no Sa'ad bin Abu Badab should be the Khalifa other people are arguing no it should be this person why because it's not from our tribe after all this commotion first Khalifa is announced or proclaimed as the Khalifa now they return this is Monday 28th of the day the Holy Prophet Islam passed away after they return back from Saqifa it's very late at night the next day Tuesday 29th of Safar is the announcement to the leaders of all the tribes that after the Prophet Abu Bakr has become the first Khalifa you all are invited to come and pledge allegiance to him all the leaders of the tribes they all come and pledge allegiance so out of the people on the second day when they're invited to pledge allegiance to the first Khalifa towards Abu Bakr is not just a ordinary way of demanding allegiance but rather second Khalifa has gone round and said if you don't pledge allegiance you'll be killed if you don't pledge allegiance to the Abu Bakr you'll be killed therefore there's people who don't want to they don't want to get into confrontation or to argument or to argue they all come and pledge allegiance now on Wednesday 30th of Safar they sit down and they ask who hasn't come to pledge allegiance after this invitation of pledging allegiance has taken place there's still some people who haven't come to pledge allegiance say who hasn't come to pledge allegiance so you say well this person this person this person has not come so they say nobody from the Bani Hashim has come to pledge allegiance so they say well let's go to forget all of these other people they're not very important come to the area where Bani Hashim live and we have to go and get allegiance from them so this is now Wednesday 30th of Safar a group of people who came by the second Khalifa come towards the house of Fatima Salamun Laleha in order to ask Imam Amirul Mu'mineen to pay allegiance to Abu Bakr when they come Fatima Salamun Laleha refuses to entertain them refuses to answer them and says that Imam Amirul Mu'mineen come out when they face this refusal then they say we're going to burn the house down they gather the wood and they set fire to the wood and the house does burn down Fatima Salamun Laleha in order to save her hijab comes between the wall and the door the nail in the door goes into her ribs crushes her ribs and as a result of that the baby is miscarried so on and so forth Imam Amirul Mu'mineen is then taken from the house forcibly dragged into the mosque and then he's told that he has to pledge allegiance Imam Amirul Mu'mineen replies that if I do not what would happen they say we will kill you Imam says if you kill me you will have killed a servant of God and the brother of Holy Prophet of Islam second Khalifa replies we consider you a servant of God but we do not consider you the brother of the Holy Prophet of Islam one of the narrative states that after the after the after the after the after the after the Imam Amirul Mu'mineen at no point that willingly offers allegiance nor is it any Imam who offers allegiance to anybody else however this is what transpired after the Holy Prophet passed away but all of this gives us an insight into how quickly people forgot how quickly people became intimidated after the Holy Prophet and when this was the state with Imam Amirul Mu'mineen then what about those who followed him and believed in him and accepted him as the Imam so Imam Amirul Mu'mineen he goes through these difficulties he's dragged out of the house in order to be brought into the Masjid and his followers of course would have gone through and did go through much more difficult situations that they're intimidated forced into silence not able to speak out or say anything if they say anything they're threatened to be killed threatened to be excommunicated from society and be made a pariah in their own society amongst the emphasis and the idea that we have within the school of Ahl al Bayt of the great day of Eid the greatest day of Eid being Day of Ghadir it is important to highlight it's not the day of the appointment as such of Imam Ali as the successor of the holy prophet but rather declaration of it and there is a difference because the study of the Seer the biography of the holy prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his holy progeny reveals a very important fact and it is a fact because agreed by Muslims Sunni and Shi'a from day one the prophet of Islam in numerous occasions would inform the Muslims that after me it's Ali ibn Abi Talib after me it's Ali ibn Abi Talib take for example when Allah says to him وانذر عشيرتك الأقربين inform and declare the message to your tribe to the members the leading members of Quraish when he invites them in the house of Abu Talib and he says to them I've come to you with the message of salvation that there is no lord except Allah and I am the messenger who amongst you believes in me and you know follows me and so that he becomes my vice-gerrent my brother my successor after me nobody responds except on three occasions Imam Ali عليه السلام then he would say Ali is أخي وزيري وخليفة من بعدي and then they would mock they would say to Abu Talib look he is placed your son as what as أوهد yes you are presented similarly when it comes to the prophet of Islam leaving Madinah and Imam Ali عليه السلام staying in Madinah for the battle of Tabuk and when the prophet in a hadith which is متواتر established authentic known as أنت مني بمنزلة هارونة من موسى you are to me like what Aaron was to Moses except that there is no prophet after me which was mentioned in numerous occasions we have these incidents throughout the lives of the Holy Prophet life of the Holy Prophet all throughout maybe possibly over 20 years that was continuously emphasized for Muslims to recognize and not to be surprised on the day of Ghadir not to be somehow where did this come from that's why it is we don't have evidence that you know people came to the prophet on the day when they had this they came to the prophet and said that's very surprising large number except the very small isolated people whom Allah punished but the majority vast majority including some well known companions came and gave their allegiance and went to that particular tent and recognized that it was something that's not new but it was made in a special occasion after the pickle image of Hajj highlighting importance and of course the prophet of Islam would leave the world you know shortly after that within 30 months or so a bit more than 2 months so they find that that was more of a emphasis rather than a new announcement for people but it was of course linked to the Quranic verses which highlighted that it must have been done must be declared and indeed what it highlights to us as well is when Allah says to the messenger he says if you don't do so that means if the prophet had a choice if he didn't have a choice the Quran would not say to the prophet if you don't do so it would be a waste to say that if the prophet was somehow compelled to make this particular declaration but Allah SWT if you don't do so and your entire 23 years all that you have done is nullified, is zeroed is annihilated and this is held celebrated, discussed intellectually with evidence and presented so that people are able to understand the beauty, the magnificence the special day known as the day of Ghadir the day of Wilayah the day of God's selection of Imam Ali AS on earth as his vice-gerent and his representative if you were to ask me what is the most important part of the sermon or what is the important context of the sermon it's quite straight forward and simple that you can see from the sermon that you must understand, acknowledge and accept the authority and power Allah SWT has over you you have to then accept acknowledge the power and authority that the Rasool AS has over you and that combined that Divinely power and authority that Rasool AS has now been transferred to أمير المؤمنين so whatever authority and power Rasool AS had over the Ummah now belongs to Ali AS and for you to disregard that or for you to not acknowledge that or for you to turn your heels it's like turning your heels against the Prophet AS it's like turning your back in your heels you might as well just spit at the authority that's in front of you and it is total disrespect and having total disregard for the religion of Islam and for the will of Allah SWT when we look at the wealth of narrations that exist that is agreed upon by all Muslim Sunni and Shi'a we come to the conclusion that the day of Ghadir should be a day of celebration reflection intellectual study and understanding by all Muslims it is not a day that should be limited to a group of people only or within the school of Ahl al-Bayt it is a important day to bring the Muslims together under the beautiful banner of willaya and the love and the respect of the Ahl al-Bayt all Muslims celebrate and follow or claim to love the Ahl al-Bayt when it comes to a day like a day of Ghadir irrespective of people's understanding of what actually Ghadir means or what actually happened on the 18th of the Hajj they should come together and perhaps study and analyze and celebrate the great personalities of this day the Holy Prophet and Imam Ali to be upon them there is no doubt that it is to do with these two holy individuals if there is a disagreement as to what it actually means theologically then that can be discussed but at least let's look at the greatness of these two holy individuals and what does that mean for us and learn from them so it's the day that should bring people together and there is no harm in that one is able to present and learn from the other and have an open mind in discussions the Quranic message is such that of reflection that of contemplation and pondering the Quranic message is say come let's discuss in a calm manner unemotional let's present the evidence and it's up to the person to accept or not but they should be able to willing to look at the evidence that is presented before them and make their own conclusions through dedicated and biased research