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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Logic For Islamic Rules Did Imam Ali Depend On the Tradition of Ghadir To Prove His Caliphate? Question: As we know, on the day of Ghadir, the Holy Prophet (a.s.) announced the vicegerency and Caliphate of Commander of the faithful (a.s.) and made obedience obligatory on all Muslims. Now the question arises: When the successorship of Commander of the faithful (a.s.) was declared on this, why didnt he use the hadith to prove his caliphate?

Answer: Opposite to the assumption in the above question, Commander of the faithful (a.s.) had during his lifetime many times quoted the tradition of Ghadir to prove his successorship. He used to mention the tradition of his Ghadir to his opponent whenever it was appropriate according to circumstances and in this way he used to make people aware of his status.

And not only Imam (a.s.), the honorable daughter of the Holy Prophet (a.s.), her sons, Hazrat Imam Hasan-al-Mujtaba and Chief of the Martyrs, Hazrat Imam Husain (a.s.) and many other exalted personalities like Abdullah Ibn Jafar, Ammar Yasir, Asbagh bin Nubata, Qays bin Saad, Umar bin Abdul Aziz, the Abbasid Caliph, Mamoon and even the opponents like Amr Aas etc. had quoted this tradition. Therefore the tradition of Ghadir had been used since the time of Ali (a.s.) himself.

In every age his followers had considered the tradition of Ghadir to be one of the proofs of his Imamate and Wilayah (Guardianship). Here we shall mention of these instances by way of examples.

On the day of shura (The shura was designated by the second caliph in such a way that everyone was knowing that someone other than Ali (a.s.) would become the Caliph) when the ball of Caliphate was thrown by Abdur Rahman Awf to Uthman, Ali (a.s.) delivered a speech to render the decision of shura invalid: I am presenting such an argument that none of you can deny.

Then he said: I put you under the oath of Allah and ask you is there anyone among you regarding whom the Holy Prophet (a.s.) has said: Of whomsoever I am the master, this Ali is his master too. O Allah love those who love Ali and help those who help Ali, And those who are present here should convey this to those who are absent . [1] On this juncture the members of shura confessed that this distinction was solely for Ali (a.s.).

Without any doubt this was not the only occasion that Ali (a.s.) had argued with this tradition.