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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-Muraja'at Letter 104 Rabi’ al-Thani 15, 1330 I A Few Incidents When the Imam Argued, The Imam used to be quiet in publicizing the texts pertaining to him, without using them for personal gains against his opponents out of his own concern about the safety of Islam and to safeguard the strength of Muslims.

He often used to defend his silence and reluctance to demand it, in such circumstance, by saying: "A man is not blamed if he takes his time in obtaining what is his; the blame is on that who takes what does not belong to him."[^1] He used to apply certain methods crowned with manifest wisdom in disseminating the texts in his honour. Have you noticed what he did in the incident of the Rahba, when he gathered people during his caliphate to celebrate the Ghadir Day?

He said to them: "I ask each Muslim of you who heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, say on the Ghadir Day what he said to stand and testify to what he had heard, and nobody should stand except those who have seen him;" thirty companions, including twelve participants in the battle of Badr, testified to what they had heard of the Ghadir hadith as we have indicated above in Letter No. 56.

This is the maximum that he could do under such critical circumstances due to ‘Uthman's murder, and the mutiny in Basra and Syria. It is, indeed, the peak of wisdom in such publicity in those days, and what a praiseworthy effort that revived the Ghadir tradition from its tomb and brought it to life after it was almost buried for good!

The crowds at the Rahba were reminiscent of those who witnessed the Prophet (pbuh) (pbuh) on Ghadir Khumm day taking ‘Ali (as) in his own eminent hand and addressing a hundred thousand or more of his nation to convey to them the message that he would be his successor.

Thus, the Ghadir tradition is one of the most reliable among consecutive traditions; so, observe the Prophet's wisdom when he exhorted him in front of such thronging crowds, and be mindful of the wisdom of the wasi on that Friday when he asked them to testify, thus highlighting the truth in a quiet manner dictated by circumstances, and by a peaceful method the Imam preferred. Thus was his method in disseminating the covenant and publicizing for the tradition.

He was the type of person who would attract the attention of the unaware through means which did not require making a lot of noise or creating bad feelings among people.