A few comments by the other Commentators Allama al-Tabarsi...

A few comments by the other Commentators Allama al-Tabarsi, while commenting on this verse in Majma' al-Bayan states: "The plural form has been used for Ali, Commander of the faithful, in order to express his honor and eminence." And masters of the Arabic language use the plural form for an individual to show respect Allama al-Zamakshari in his Tafsir al-Kashshaf, has mentioned another nice point which is as follows: If you inquire how this plural word is applicable to Ali, may Allah be gracious to him, who is an individual, I shall say that though this verse is about Ali, an individual, the plural form is used in order to presuade others to act similarly and to give alms as readily as Ali did.

There is also an implied instruction that the faithful should keep themselves always on the look out for occasions of acts of sympathy, benevolence and charity to the poor and the needy, and readily do the needful without waiting till the completion of even so important a duty as saying a prayer. Sunni reference: Tafsir al-Kashshaf, by al-Zamakhshari, v1, p649 Please refer to the Part II of the article of Ghadir Khum for further argument in this regard.

Who is the successor of the Prophet (PBUH&HF)? Once a person told me that Abu Bakr is more knowledgeable than (PBUH) (Na'oozo Billah)! I asked him how come?! He said because Abu Bakr understood that he should assign a person as his successor to keep the system and community working in order. As it is well-known Abu Bakr assigned Umar as his successor.

But the Prophet failed to realize this important task that the Islamic community needs a qualified leader after him, or perhaps it was not important for the prophet that who is going to take over the power after him!

When I heard that, I started asking the following question from myself: Is it possible that the Prophet of Islam who has tried hard to implement Islam, and tolerated a lot of problems, disasters, and paid big price to establish Islam in Arabian peninsula, leaves people without assigning any person to keep this religion alive after him?!

The religion that is to be the last religion of God for this world; the religion that was supposed to be for every nation all over the world both inwardly and outwardly (political authority). What happened that we Muslims are in this miserable situation in the world for centuries? What happened that the chain of successors/rulers (Ulul-Amr) has reached to people like King Fahd, King Husain, Saddam Husain, Husni Mubarak, ...?