Mu’awiyah - on the Day of Ghadeer

On the day of Ghadeer, one hundred and twenty thousand Muslims pledged allegiance with Amir al-Momineen (a.s.) and obeyed the command of Allah (s.w.t.). Even the most hardliner enemies of his holiness, like Abu Bakr and Umar, pledged on his hands and accepted his Guardianship. As per the writing of the Sunni scholars, Umar said: ‘بخ بخ لک یا علیؑ’ (congratulations to you O Ali!). All the women participated in the pledging ceremony and pledged allegiance with Imam Ali (a.s.) by placing their hands in the water-filled vessel in which Imam (a.s.) had placed his hand, and accepted his Guardian-ship by this means.

          On returning to their nations and houses, the Muslims informed their tribes and friends about the allegiance ceremony which was held on the Day of Ghadeer and all of them accepted his holiness’ Guardian-ship subsequently. Those who were against this incident from within, expressed their agreement apparently, and the entire nation mutually participated in the acceptance of the Guardian-ship, even if it was superficial in nature.

          Therefore, all the Muslims including the hypocrites took oath on the eternal Eid of Ghadeer and accepted that the guardianship of the nation only belonged to Imam Ali (a.s.) after the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.), and surrendered before this decision.

          There was just one person who opposed this incident and expressed his opposition openly. He refuted Allah’s Messenger (p.b.u.h.) and revealed his hypocrisy before the entire nation, and he was none other than Mu’awiyah himself. 

          The Sunni authors have written that on the Day of Ghadeer e Khum, Mu’awiyah was one person who stood against Allah (s.w.t.), Allah’s Messenger (p.b.u.h.), the Authority from Allah, the command of Allah and the entire nation; and he refuted (we seek refuge from Allah) the words of Allah’s Messenger (p.b.u.h.) by opposing it.

          This fact has been written down by a number of Sunni clergymen and by this means, they have proved his blasphemy.

If people openly gathered in Saqeefa merely after seventy days of the martyrdom of Allah’s Messenger (p.b.u.h.), against the command of Allah and in opposition to the successor-ship of his holiness, Mu’awiyah was the first one to stand in opposition to Allah’s command, His Messenger (p.b.u.h.), His Guardian, who rejected the command of Allah on the Day of Ghadeer itself.  

          He emphasised on his stand to such an extent that as per the narration of the Sunni commentators, a number of verses were revealed regarding his wicked deed and disgraceful sin.

          If only the Muslims were aware of these realities from the beginning of Islam till today, it would have resulted in an absolute and accurate understanding of Mu’awiyah’s character. Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge and awareness regarding the Islamic realities kept a large number of Muslims in an atmosphere which deprived them of the essential and primary facts and as a result, they could not discriminate between the right path and the misleading one.

          The Shiite interpreters as well as the Sunnis have said that a few verses of the chapter Al Qiyamah were sent down regarding those evil deeds of Mu’awiyah which proved his blasphemy, as well.

          Almighty Allah says in the chapter Al Qiyamah:

[1](فَلاَ صَدَّقَ وَلَا صَلَّی ۔ وَلَکِنْ کَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّی.ثُمَّ ذَہَبَ اِلَی أَہْلِہِ یَتَمَطَّی)

 “He neither confirmed (the truth), nor prayed; but denied (it) and turned away; and went swaggering to his family”[2]

Pay attention to this significant note: Disagreement, not offering prayer, refutation and turning their backs, all these are the deeds of non-believers. Moreover, it was not just that he did not feel ashamed and disgusted of his actions and deeds, and it wasn’t such that he blasphemed without actually realising it, but along with those comments, he also displayed pride and walked with arrogance. While Umar, Abu Bakr, Mughairah and others did not have the audacity to misbehave and oppose Allah’s Messenger (p.b.u.h.), Mu’awiyah not only stood in opposition to his holiness, but he also spoke those offensive words with a seemingly high level of joyous pride and arrogance, and did not show any signs of shame and decency before the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and the Muslims.

          As we know that the actions and behaviour of every person speak for his inner self and his character. A person whose inner self and character is pure, will not commit shameful and wicked acts, and someone whose inner self and character is impure, indulges himself in committing disgraceful actions. Mu’awiyah had an impure and dirty inner self; because he is the son of Hind, the liver eater, who along with her mother were known for their sinful character.

          Mu’awiyah not only uttered undesirable and disgusting words with his tongue, but he also expressed arrogance and joyous pride after refuting Allah and His Messenger (p.b.u.h.). 

          It is obvious that the true face of a person who possessed such an indecent character, even before Allah and His Messenger (p.b.u.h.), cannot be exposed with a report comprising of a few pages; but for the absolute understanding of the deeds of such a person, it is necessary to study the life of his forefathers and ancestors as well.

          For this very reason, we have also discussed about the ancestors and the family of the Omayyad dynasty in this book, with the purpose of completely exposing his past and the secrets behind his indecent character.

          We hope that the respected readers will study this book with complete attentiveness and without any sense of prejudice, so that it helps them to uncover many of the historical realities and make them aware of several significant and effective details.

Murtaza Mujtahidi Sistani