So hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it.

So hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it.” So, he exhorted (to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and encouraged concerning it. Then, he said: “and my . I remind you, with Allah, of my ! I remind you, with Allah, of my ! I remind you, with Allah, of my !” The highlighted parts are NOT part of the words of the Messenger of Allah. Rather, they are commentaries upon the actual hadith.

Since what matters to us are the instructions of our Prophet, then we must remove these interpolations in order to reach the real Sunnah. So, after deleting the foreign words, this is what we have: أما بعد ألا أيها الناس فإنما أنا بشر يوشك أن يأتي رسول ربي فأجيب وأنا تارك فيكم ثقلين أولهما كتاب الله فيه الهدى والنور فخذوا بكتاب الله واستمسكوا به وأهل بيتي أذكركم الله في أهل بيتي أذكركم الله في أهل بيتي أذكركم الله في أهل بيتي “Then, verily, O mankind! I am only a human being.

The messenger of my Lord (i.e. the angel of death) will soon reach me and I will answer (the call of death). But, I am leaving behind over you Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn). The first of them is the Book of Allah. In it there is guidance and light. So hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it and my . I remind you, with Allah, of my ! I remind you, with Allah, of my !

I remind you, with Allah, of my !” The Sunni mufassir, Mulla Huwaysh Al Ghazi ‘Abd al-Qadir, confirms this as well: وروى مسلم عن زيد بن أرقم أن رسول اللّه صلّى اللّه عليه وسلم قال إني تارك فيكم ثقلين أولها كتاب اللّه فيه الهدى والنور فخذوا بكتاب اللّه واستمسكوا به وأهل بيتي، أذكركم اللّه في أهل بيتي، أذكركم في أهل بيتي (Imam) Muslim recorded from Zayd b. Arqam that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “I am leaving behind over you Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn).

The first of them is the Book of Allah. In it there is guidance and light. So hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it and my . I remind you, with Allah, of my ! I remind you, with Allah, of my ! I remind you, with Allah, of my !”[^4] The message here is unmistakable: all mankind – including all the Sahabah, Tabi’in and Tabi’ al-Tabi’in – are ordered to “adhere” to both the Qur’an and the .

What further solidifies this submission, is that the same hadith has been narrated from Zayd – in the book of Imam ‘Abd b. Humayd (d. 249 H) - without the commentaries, and it is straightforward. ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) records that the Prophet said at Ghadir Khumm: "أما بعد ألا أيها الناس!