ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Glance at the Life of the Holy Prophet of Islam Chapter 17: Ghadir and the Prophet's Successor It was in 10 A.H. and the time for Hajj. The Hijazi deserts witnessed large crowds of Muslims who unitedly chanted the same slogans and proceeded towards the same holy end. That year the sight of tie Hajj pilgrimage was much more exciting and moving than ever before. Muslims most hurriedly and eagerly traversed the way and went to Makkah - this holy city.

The celestial melody of `Labayka', `Yes, I have come’ resounded through Makkah. Caravans reached the city one after the other. The hajjis unitedly and harmoniously in pilgrim's garb, while shedding tears of joy and love for God, hurried to the sacred threshold of God and circumambulated the Ka'aba - the Holy House built by the champion of monotheism - Abraham, the Friend of God.

Farid Vajdi has calculated the number of hajjis to have been 90,000 [^1] in the year 10 A.H., but there are some who hold that the number was 124,000." [^2] The Holy Prophet of Islam watched that splendid scene with the utmost affection and eagerness. He was pleased to observe that the Masjid al-Haram was overflowing with Muslims who had gathered together in conformity with the holy precept, `Truly the faithful are brothers', and were worshipping God like brothers and angels.

The Holy Prophet was clearly happy with his great achievement - with having fulfilled his divine mission in the best manner possible. Nevertheless, his resplendent face was sometimes covered with a halo of sorrow and anxiety, and his pure heart filled with sadness and worry. He was in fact worried about the fate of the Muslims after his leaving this world for heaven.

He feared lest after him the society of Muslims should break apart; Muslims should disperse, the spirit of unity and fraternity should vanish among them, and consequently they regress. Obviously, the Holy Prophet of Islam was well aware of the fact that the Ummah of Islam was in great need of honest, knowledgeable leaders, or otherwise the fruits of his years of efforts would all be wasted.

For this reason, whenever he was going to leave Medina either for war or for other purposes, even if his trip was short, he would assign a competent, trustworthy person to supervise their affairs and would never leave the people of Medina without any guardian and supervisor.