In it, the Prophet reminded his audience of Ali's Imamate,...

In it, the Prophet reminded his audience of Ali's Imamate, emphasizing the necessity of disseminating the contents of his sermon, announcing that those present were duty-bound to convey it to those who were absent. In both of these sermons, the Prophet publicly vested upon Ali both powers referred to above.

As soon as the rituals of the pilgrimage were completed, and to be exact on Thul-Hijja 17, 10 A.H./March 18, 632 A.D., the divine order came to the Prophet embedded in verse 67 of Chapter 5 (a1-Ma'ida) quoted in the text of the Prophet's sermon to follow.

The Prophet immediately ordered Bilal ibn Rabah, his caller to prayers and one of his faithful sahaba صحابه , to convey the following order to the faithful: "Tomorrow, nobody should lag behind but should go to Ghadeer Khumm غدير خم ." The word "Ghadeer" means "swamp," an area where rain water gathers to form a shallow lake. Ghadeer Khumm is located near the crossroads of trade and pilgrimage caravans coming from Medina, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Nejd on their way to Mecca.

The presence of water and a few old trees there served as a resting place for trade caravans for centuries.

A mosque, called Masjid al-Ghadeer, was later built on the same spot where the great gathering took place to commemorate that momentous event, an event which has unfortunately been forgotten by the vast majority of the Muslims who, by thus forgetting, forgot the most important part of their creed, one without which their faith is not complete at all according to the Prophet's sermon to follow and according to the text of the Holy Qur'an...

The announcement conveyed by Bilal was transmitted by one person to another till it reached as far as Mecca proper, and people were wondering about what it could be. They had expected the Prophet to linger a little bit longer at Mecca where the pilgrims could meet him and ask him whatever questions they had about this new institution called "hajj" and about other religious matters.

In the morning of the next day, Thul-Hijja 18, 10 A.H./March 19, 632A.D., the Prophet and his 120,000 companions went to Ghadeer Khumm غدير خم , and so didAli with his 12,000 Yemenite pilgrims who had to change their route to the north instead of to the south where they would be home-bound.