The Prophet ensured
arrangements be made to compile a 'bound' copy of the Holy Quran - known at the
time of the holy Prophet, and also today, as the mushaf. The
Messenger of Allah commissioned Ali son of Abu-Talib to gather and compile the
entire Quran, which Imam Ali did during the lifetime of the holy Prophet and
under his supervision.
The Messenger of Allah
validated and authenticated the end result - the mushaf - even
verifying the order and position of the individual verses within a given
chapter or surah, as instructed by the Almighty. According to traditions, when
archangel Gabriel used to reveal a particular ayah or verse to the Prophet, the
former would also indicate its position within the surah or chapter of the
Quran and the surah that it belonged to.
Reports state that
during the lifetime of the Prophet, when the entire text of the Holy Quran was
committed to writing and it had been compiled as mushaf, people
used to come to the mosque of the Prophet, where the compiled Quran - mushaf -
was kept by the pulpit, to make their copies of the Holy Scripture
It is sometimes
stated, through a minor misunderstanding, that the Holy Quran was first
compiled during the reign of the third ruler Uthman ibn Affaan, some twenty
years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The root of this
misunderstanding stems from the incorrect assumption of the meaning of the
Arabic word jame that means 'to collect'. Instead it was taken
to mean 'to compile'.
What was in fact
commissioned at that time was to collect the incomplete documents holding some
verses or chapters of the Holy Quran and to complete them as copies of the
entire Quran. Any compilation that took place during this time was to reproduce
the authentic copy of the Holy Quran as per the version compiled by Imam Ali
during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad and under his supervision.
The other fundamental
and vital task that the Prophet had to secure during his lifetime was to address
the question of his succession. On instructions from the Almighty, the
Messenger of Allah named and appointed the successors who would lead the Muslim
community after him according to the teachings of the Holy Quran and the
Messenger of Allah.
The Prophet Muhammad
used numerous occasions to instruct the people to follow and adhere to his
twelve appointed successors, 'Caliphs' or 'Imams', the first of whom was ImamAli son of Abu Talib, and the twelfth is the living Imam Mahdi, who is hidden
from public view until such a time when the Almighty will
instruct him to reappear in public “in order to lead the nations of this world
from tyranny and oppression to tranquillity and bliss”. The Prophet Muhammad,
his daughter Fatimah, his cousin and son-in-law Imam Ali and the eleven
impeccable Imams descendants of Ali and Fatimah form Ahl al-Bayt as referred to
in the holy Quran :
In 630 CE, seventy
days before his death, and just after performing the farewell Hajj pilgrimage,
on instructions from the Almighty, at the location of Ghadir Khum, the Prophet
appointed Ali as his successor and ordered the Muslims who were present there
to pay Ali homage of allegiance as The Commander of the Faithful, and their
leader after the Prophet. The revelation from the Almighty on this day in this
particular respect was:
O Messenger! Convey
that that has been revealed to thee from thy Lord, and if thee do not, then
thee would have not conveyed His Message; and Allah will protect thee from the
people. Surely Allah guides not the disbelieving people.
After the revelation
of the above instruction, the Messenger of Allah declared: “For whoever I am
his master and leader, then Ali is his master and leader too. O Lord support
whoever supports Ali, and oppose whoever opposes him. Ali is my Caliph and successor upon ye
after me.
Some chroniclers put
the number of those present at Ghadir Khum, who gave their homage and
allegiance to Imam Ali as the Commander of the Faithful and the successor of
the Prophet Muhammad, at up to 120,000 men and women.
To confirm and
conclude this momentous event, the Almighty then revealed:
Today I have perfected
your religion for ye, completed My favor upon ye and have sanctioned Islam for
ye as a religion.
In order to reveal the
station of his successors present and future, the Prophet frequently used to
refer the Muslims to the Ahl al-Bayt - at the time notably Ali - for they were
the most knowledgeable about the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet
himself. To clarify any possible doubt about his immediate successor, in the
famous tradition of “City of Knowledge”, the final Messenger of Allah states:
“I am the City of
Knowledge and Ali is its Gate, so whosoever wishes to access this City, then
let him do so through its Gate.
According to many
Prophetic teachings and traditions the Holy Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt are
considered as the two inseparable and complementary components of the divine
message. Towards the end of his life, the Messenger of Allah often used to say:
“I leave with ye the two momentous things - the book of Allah and my kin the
people of my Ahl al-Bayt. As long as ye adhere to them both ye will never go
astray after me.
However, after the
death of the Prophet Muhammad, the people did not honor their pledge of
allegiance that they had been given at the time to the Prophet when he
appointed his successor on instructions from the Almighty.
After several failed
attempts on his life by various means, the culprits eventually succeeded in
assassinating the Prophet Muhammad - this time through poisoning. The final
Messenger of Allah to humanity died on the 28th day of the lunar month of Safar
in the 11th year of the Hijrah, 630 CE.
The Prophet Muhammad
brought about a nation and a civilization that in a relatively very short space
of time won the prime position amongst all other nations. The Muslims attained
such achievement so long as they adhered to the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad. Today even though the Muslims are numerous, they do not occupy the
eminent station amongst the nations anymore, because they did not adhere to
“the two momentous things” that the Prophet Muhammad left behind for them. The
Muslim nation may still be a candidate to lead mankind to bliss and prosperity
if they ensure to adhere to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and his
successors.
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