We read Mustadrak 'ala Sahihain Vol 3 Page 61:
Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shaybani from Kufa informed me, that Ahmad ibn Hazim al-Ghaffari told us, that Abu Nu'aym told us, that Kamil Abu al-Ala said: "I heard Habib ibn Abi Thabit report that Yahya ibn Ja'dah reported from Zaid ibn Arqam, may Allah be pleased with him, that we went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) until we reached Ghadir Khumm. Then, he ordered for a pulpit to be prepared and gave a sermon on a day that was extremely hot, hotter than any other day. He praised and glorified Allah and said: 'O people! No prophet has ever been sent except that he lived half as long as the one who preceded him. And indeed, I am about to be called away, and I will answer. And I am leaving behind among you the two weighty things, the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and my family (Ahl al-Bayt). You will never go astray as long as you hold fast to them both.' Then, he stood up and took Ali by the hand and said: 'O people! Who has more right over you than yourselves?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Do I not have more right over you than yourselves?' They said: 'Yes, O Messenger of Allah!' He then said: 'Whoever I am his master, then Ali is his master.'
We read in Mu'jam al-Kabir by Tabarani Vol 5 Page 165:
"We were informed by Muhammad bin Hayaan Al-Mazni, who was informed by Kathir bin Yahya, who was informed by Abu Kathir bin Yahya, who was informed by Abu 'Awanah and Sa'eed bin Abdul Karim bin Salit Al-Hanafi, who narrated from Al-A'mash, who narrated from Habib bin Abi Thabit, who narrated from 'Amr bin Waela, who narrated from Zaid bin Arqam. He said, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) returned from the Farewell Pilgrimage and camped at Ghadir Khumm, he ordered that a pulpit be erected. I stood up and he said, 'It seems that I have been called, and I have responded. I am leaving behind among you two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my Ahlul-Bayt. So, see how you will treat them after me. They will never separate until they come to me at the Pond.' Then he said, 'Verily, Allah is my Mawla and I am the Maula of every believer.' Then he took the hand of 'Ali and said, 'Whoever has me as his Maula, this 'Ali is his Mawla. O Allah, befriend whoever befriends him, and be the enemy of whoever opposes him.' So I said to Zaid, 'Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah?' He replied, 'Everyone present at Ghadir Khumm saw it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears.'"
We read in Mu'jam al-Kabir by Tabarani Vol 5 Page 171-172:
Ali bin Abdulaziz told us that Abu Nuaim told us that Kamal Abu Al-Ala said: "I heard Habib bin Abi Thabit talking about Yahya bin Ja'dah who talked about Zaid bin Arqam who said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah until we reached Ghadeer Khum. He ordered for a pulpit to be set up and said: 'O people, no prophet was sent except that he lived half the lifespan of the one who came before him. And indeed, I am unsure whether or not I will be able to claim and receive an answer. However, I am leaving among you that which, if you hold fast to it, you shall never go astray - the Book of Allah.' Then he stood up and took Ali by the hand and said: 'O people, who has more authority over you than yourselves?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Whoever I am his Maula , then Ali is his Maula .'"
"We were informed by Ahmad bin 'Umar and Al-Qattarani, who were informed by Muhammad bin At-Tufail, who was informed by Abu Hasin Al-Qadi, who was informed by Yahya Al-Hamani, who narrated from Shurayk, who narrated from Al-A'mash, who narrated from Habib bin Abi Thabit, who narrated from Abu At-Tufail, who narrated from Zaid bin Thabit, who narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) similar to it."
We read in Al-Matalib Al-Aliyah Vol 16 Page 142:
Isaac reported: Abu Amer Al-Aqdi informed us that Kathir bin Zaid narrated to us from Muhammad bin Umar bin Ali, from his father, from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, attended the tree in Khum, then he took the hand of Ali and said: 'Do you not testify that Allah, the Exalted, is your Lord?' They said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Do you not testify that Allah and His Messenger have more right over you than yourselves, and that Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger are your guardians?' They said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Whosoever I am his master, then Ali is his Maula (master). O Allah! Befriend whoever befriends him and be hostile to whoever is hostile to him.'
"They said: 'Yes.' He said: 'So whoever Allah and His Messenger are his guardians, then this Ali is his guardian. Indeed, I have left among you that which if you hold fast to, you shall not go astray, a clear authority, the Book of Allah, the Exalted, and my family.'
This is a sound chain of narration, and the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm has been reported by Al-Nasa'i.
We read in Kitab Al-Khiyar Al-Mahara Vol 7 Page 210:
Chapter on the one whom I am his Mawla [6683]. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, attended a tree in Khumm, and then he took Ali's hand and said, "Do you not bear witness that Allah is your Lord?" They said, "Yes." He said, "Do you not bear witness that I am closer to you than your own selves, and that Allah and His Messenger are your Mawla?" They said, "Yes." He said, "Whosoever I am his Mawla, then Ali is his Mawla. O Allah, be a supporter of whoever supports him and an enemy of whoever opposes him."
This Hadith was narrated by Ishaq through a Sahih chain of transmission, and the Hadith of Ghadir Khumm was also narrated by Al-Nasa'i from the narration of Abu Al-Tufail from Zaid ibn Arqam, Ali, and a group of companions. There is an additional wording in this narration which is not present here. The original Hadith was also narrated by Al-Tirmidhi.
Ibn Shaheen in Sharh Madhab Ahlul Sunnah page 103 records:
Narrated by Abdullah bin Mohammad, from Abdulrahman bin Saleh Al-Azdi, from Musa bin Uthman Al-Hadrami, from Abu Ishaq, from Zaid bin Arqam and Al-Bara, who said: "We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on the day of Ghadir Khumm, and we were holding up the branches of the trees over his head. Then he said: 'Verily, Allah is my Wali (Protector) and I am the Wali of every believer. Whoever I am his Mawla, then Ali is his Mawla.' And in another narration, 'O Allah, be a supporter of whoever supports him (Ali), and an enemy of whoever opposes him.'
Ibn Shaheen: This is a strange, authentic hadith, and the hadith of Ghadir Khumm was narrated by one hundred companions, among them the ten, and it is a confirmed hadith. I do not know of any flaw in it, and no one shared with him in this virtue."
Ibn Shaheen was a scholar of considerable repute. Dhahabi discusses him Siyar A'lam al-Nubalaa Vol. 16, Pg. 431-432 as follows:
The Truthful Sheikh, the learned scholar, the sheikh of Iraq, and the author of the great Tafsir, Abu Hafs, Omar ibn Ahmad ibn Uthman ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ayyub ibn Azdad al-Baghdadi al-Wa'iz.
Abu al-Fath ibn Abi al-Fawaris said: "He is trustworthy and reliable, he wrote what no one else wrote." And Abu Bakr al-Khatib said: "He was trustworthy and reliable, he lived in the eastern part (1) and Abu Nasr al-Amir said: He is the trustworthy and reliable one who heard in Sham, Iraq, Fars and Basra, and he collected chapters and biographies and wrote many works
Denying the Hadith of Ghadir is tantamount to denying all Hadiths. Whilst the Nawasib, do not have the audacity to deny this Hadith they seek to water down its significance insisting that the words "Maula" is nothing more than an affirmation of friendship. Thus, they translate it as "Of whomever I am a friend to, Ali is also his friend."
Sheikh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri, while unsuccessfully attempting to refute the Shia stances seeks solace from the argument of Imām al-Bayhaqī who argued:
وَأَمَّا حَدِیثُ الْمُوَالِاۃِ فَلَیْسَ فِیہِ۔ إِنْ صَحَّ إِسنَادُہ،۔ نَصٌّ عَلٰی وَلَایَۃِ عَلِيٍّ بَعْدَہ، ۔۔۔۔۔۔ فَأَرَادَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّی اللّٰہُ عَلَیْہِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ یَذْکُرَ اخْتِصَاصَہ، بِہٖ وَمَحبَّتَہ، إِیَّاہُ وَیَحُثُّہُمْ بِذَالِکَ عَلٰی مَحَبَّتِہٖ وَمُوَالِاتِہٖ وَتَرْکِ مُعَادَاتِہٖ فَقَالَ : مَنْ کُنْتُ وَلِیَّہ، فَعَلِيٌّ وَلِیُّہ، وَفِي بَعْضِ الرُّوَایَاتِ : مَنْ کُنْتُ مَوْلَاہُ فَعَلِيٌّ مَوْلَاہُ أَللّٰہُمَّ وَالِ مِنْ وَالِاہُ وَعَادِ مِنْ عَادَاہُ . وَالْمُرَادُ بِہٖ وَلَاءُ الْإِسْلَامِ وَمَودَّتُہ،، وَعَلَی الْمُسْلِمِینَ أَنْ یوَالِیَ بَعْضُہُمْ بَعْضًا وَلَا یُعَادِي بَعْضُہُمْ بَعْضًا وَہُوَ فِي مَعْنٰی مَا ثَبَتَ عَنْ عَلِيٍّ رَضِیَ اللّٰہُ عَنْہُ أَنَّہ، قَالَ : وَالَّذِي فَلَقَ الْحَبَّۃَ وَبَرَأَ النَّسَمَۃَ إِنَّہ، لَعَہْدُ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ صَلَّی اللّٰہُ عَلَیْہِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّہ، لَا یُحِبُّنِي إِلَّا مُؤْمِنٌ وَلَا یُبْغِضُنِي إِلَّا مُنَافِقٌ .
"As for the Hadith of Al-Mawla, there is no evidence in it for the general leadership of Ali, even if its chain of narration is authentic... What the Prophet (peace be upon him) intended was to mention Ali's special status, his love, and to encourage people to love and support him, and to abandon enmity towards him. He said, 'Whomever I am a Maula, Ali is his Maula.' And in some narrations, 'Whomever I am a Maula to, Ali is his Maula. O Allah! Love those who love Ali and show enmity towards those who show enmity towards Ali.' Here, the meaning is the allegiance to Islam and love for it. It is incumbent upon Muslims to love one another and not to harbor enmity towards each other." The Hadith mentioned by Ali (ra) expresses this meaning: "By the One who split the seed and created life, the Messenger of Allah (s) gave me a covenant that none will love me except a believer, and none will bear enmity towards me except a hypocrite."
(Al-I`tiqad `ala Madhhab al-Salaf Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a p. 354)
http://mazameen.ahlesunnatpk.com/wilayat-e-ali-r-z/
al-Bayhaqī did not provide any evidence for his false claim, and the same is true for other Nasibis who accept the meaning of "Maula" as friend without any justification, even though there are numerous evidences refuting their false belief. We inshallah discuss this pathetic approach in the next chapter
