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CHAPTER 2 The Ghad¥r Khumm Tradition Walåyah and the Spiritual Distinctions of ˜Al¥ b. Ab¥ Tålib If the more well-developed Shi˜ite and Sufi notions of walåyah as a kind of spiritual distinction based upon proximity to the divine, or else to the intermediate figure of the spiritual master or Imåm, have a basis in Qur˘anic terminology, the two views of walåyah also share a fundamental and personal connection to ˜Al¥ b. Ab¥ †ålib. The idea that ˜Al¥ is the “wal¥ Allåh” in its most perfect sense, and that he represents the ideal prototype for all other awliyå˘,1 can be found in both traditions. While a doctrine outlining the related nature of prophecy (nubuwwah) and walåyah would not be worked out systematically until much later, the unique connection between ˜Al¥ and the concept of walåyah seems to have been established quite early. The concept of walåyah as an expression of ˜Alid legitimacy, or belief therein, is present in the earliest periods of Shi˜ite history, before the full theological development of the Imåm¥ conception of the imåmate with all of its doctrinal complexity. Whereas the Imåm¥ theory of the imåmate entails an extensive and detailed set of beliefs about this office and who should possess it, the concept of walåyah is much simpler, if at the same time more elusive in meaning, designating some kind of allegiance or attachment to ˜Al¥ and/or the ahl al-bayt without specifying the exact limits and nature of that relationship. The particular usage of the term walåyah to refer to ˜Al¥’s position in relation to the Prophet and the believing community, as well as to the state of a person’s allegiance to ˜Al¥ and his descendants, may be said to derive from the famous statement attributed to the Prophet at Ghad¥r Khumm, in which he reportedly designated ˜Al¥ as the “mawlå” or “wal¥” of the believers. This reported event and the 33 34 The Charismatic Community Prophet’s statement on the occasion have been the subject of much controversy and competing interpretations, but it is interesting to note that despite the pro-˜Alid nature of the tradition, the sources in which it is found, and those in which it is (often conspicuously) absent, do not always divide neatly along Sunni–Shi˜ite lines. The source history for the Ghad¥r Khumm tradition is, in fact, quite peculiar, and has been rather under-studied in Western scholarship, with perhaps the best and most comprehensive analysis of the tradition being found in the Encyclopedia of Islam II article “Ghad¥r Khumm” by L. Veccia Vaglieri.2 However, a fresh and thorough analysis of the source history for this event and its different literary contexts and interpretations in Shi˜ite and Sunni tradition provides strong evidence for the early provenance of the tradition and the controversies it engendered. The literary evidence suggests that the Ghad¥r Khumm tradition was known among the Medinan Muslim community from the time of the Råshid¶n caliphate, even if relatively little sectarian or political significance seems to have been attached to the tradition by ˜Al¥, his supporters , or his opponents in this period. The tradition apparently acquired its earliest sectarian significance as the source of the Shi˜ite concept of walåyah during the time of the First Civil War, sowing the seeds for what would become a foundational element of the Shi˜ite perspective in Umayyad times. In fact, our analysis suggests that the Ghad¥r Khumm tradition circulated widely in Umayyad times, but was partially eclipsed or even suppressed by other sectarian and religiopolitical developments in the ˜Abbåsid era. Despite the sectarian controversy over the interpretation of the Prophet’s statement about ˜Al¥ at Ghad¥r Khumm, reports found in both Shi˜ite and Sunni sources generally agree on the basic outlines of the event. As the Prophet was returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage in the year 10, he halted the caravan, gathered the returning pilgrims for communal prayer and began to address them. At some point he called ˜Al¥ b. Ab¥ †ålib to his side, took his hand and raised it up, declaring: “For whomever I am their lord (mawlå, or variously wal¥), ˜Al¥ is their lord; O God, befriend (wåli) the one who befriends him (wålåhu) and be the enemy (˜ådi) of the one who is his enemy (˜åd...

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