So significant was this Hadith of Ghadir and its implications, Ibn Hanbal felt uncomfortable discussing it
In Al Sunnah Vol 2, page 346,347,348 No# 458,461, Abi Bakr Al-khalal records:
It was asked of Ahmad bin Hanbal , that Prophet Muhammad (s) said: "Of whomsoever I had been Master (Maula), Ali here is to be his Master" Why did he say that? Ahmad bin hanbal said: dont talk,quote the Hadith(Ghadir) and dont mind the meaning.
Dr Al-zahrani researcher of the book edited isnad is sahih
Our question
If the mainstream orthodox Sunni position is correct and the usage of the word "maula" at Ghadir meant "friend" and not "master", why was Ibn Hanbal telling his subjects not to discuss the Hadīth nor ponder over its meaning?
Whilst the supporters of Saqifa would prefer such an approach, the prevalence of this Hadith means that those translating the Hadith have sought to deceptively alter the words in order to water down its significance. All that does is present the tradition that is totally illogocal. Let us see some examples.
Let us begin with Sunnah.Org who have translated a narration from Sunan ibn Majah Hadith number 116:
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ، أَخَبَرَنِي حَمَّادُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ زَيْدِ بْنِ جُدْعَانَ، عَنْ عَدِيِّ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، عَنِ الْبَرَاءِ بْنِ عَازِبٍ، قَالَ أَقْبَلْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فِي حَجَّتِهِ الَّتِي حَجَّ فَنَزَلَ فِي الطَّرِيقِ فَأَمَرَ الصَّلاَةَ جَامِعَةً فَأَخَذَ بِيَدِ عَلِيٍّ فَقَالَ " أَلَسْتُ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ " . قَالُوا بَلَى . قَالَ " أَلَسْتُ أَوْلَى بِكُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ " . قَالُوا بَلَى . قَالَ " فَهَذَا وَلِيُّ مَنْ أَنَا مَوْلاَهُ اللَّهُمَّ وَالِ مَنْ وَالاَهُ اللَّهُمَّ عَادِ مَنْ عَادَاهُ " .
It was narrated that Bara' bin 'Azib said:
"We returned with the Messenger of Allah from his Hajj that he had performed, and we stopped at some point on the road. He commanded that prayer should be performed in congregation, then he took the hand of 'Ali and said: 'Am I not dearer to the believers than their own selves?' They said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'Am I not dearer to every believer than his own self?' They said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'This man is the friend of those whose master I am.' O Allah, take as friends those who take him as a friend, and take as enemies those who take him as an enemy.'"
In one sentence Maula means Master when Rasulullah (s) refers to himself and friend when it refers to Ali (as)! One sentence, same term, two meanings. Along the same lines we read in "Fadail-e--Sahaba" by Ahmad ibn Hanbal. translated by Noor Ahmad Bashar, and the second revision by Abu Salih Sulaiman Noristani as follows:
It is narrated from Riaz bin Harith, may Allah be pleased with him, that a delegation came to Hadhrath Ali in a vast field and said, "As-Salamu Alaikum, our leader!" Hazrat Ali said, "You are Arabs. How did you become my leaders?" They said, "We heard from the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) on the occasion of Ghadir Khumm that whoever I am a friend of, Ali is also his friend."
The translator first translated the word "Maula" as "leader" and the second time as "friend." However, the reality is that whatever translation is done the first definiiton should be the same the second one; otherwise, the narration would become meaningless. Despite this the so called Ahl'ul Sunnah feel compelled to water it down and alter its meanings in order to prevent their subjects from pondering over the word Maula and its signficiance.
When Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (as) asked the companions how he became their Maula (leader), the companions said, "We heard from the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) at Ghadir Khumm that whoever I am a Maula (friend) of, Ali is also his Maula," can anyone with a little bit of intelligence accept such an inconsistent translation? They are addressing Ali (as) with the moniker Master because they heard Rasulullah (s) refer him as their friend. They feel obliged to translate "Maula" differently in the space of one sentence, and why wouldn't they? If the term Maula with which these Sahaba addressed Ali (as) is used consistently in this narration then:
- the companions were hypocrites for not recognising Ali (as) as such; and
- the caliphate of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman becomes invalid
That is why they have forcefully translated "Maula" as "leader" in one place and "friend" in the other place.
Imam Ali (as) is asking, "How did you become my leader?" And the companions are saying, "We heard from the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) at Ghadir Khumm that whoever I am a leader of, Ali is also his leader." Can anyone with a little bit of intellect accept such a twisted translation that he was wanted confirmation that Rasulullah (s) deemed him his friend?
As the Sunni concept of the Caliphate hinges on a belief that Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman were the legitimate heads of state after Rasulullah (s) and question marks cannot be raised over their right to rule, it becomes imperative for the defenders of the man made to water down / tamper with the meaning of Maula
Please also note the translation Musnad ibn Hanbal by Hafiz Feizullah Naseer, a translator of the virtues of the Companions.
At the place of Rahbah, a group of people came to Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and said, "O our master! Assalamu Alaikum. How can I be your master when you are an Arab nation?" They said, "We heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying on the day of Ghadeer Khum, 'Whomever I am a master of, Ali is also his master.'" Here, the translator did not translate the word "Maula" (master) for the first time but wrote "Mawla" in the translation itself. However, for the second time, the translator translated "Mawla" as "friend." If he had translated "Maula" as "leader" or "master" here as well, it would have presented the same difficulty that we discussed in detail.
The next scans are from another Urdu translation of Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal by Muhammad Zafr Iqbal, as he writes.
Riyah bin Harith narrates that a group of Ruhbah came to Hazrat Ali (ra) and said, "Assalamu Alaikum Ya Maulana." Hazrat Ali (ra) replied, "How can I be your master when you are an Arab tribe?" They said, "We heard Prophet Muhammad (s) say at Ghadir Khumm that the one whose Mawla I am, Ali is also his Maula."
In this translation, the translator has also committed the same betrayal as Noor Ahmad Bashir did. First, he translated "Maula" as "master," but the second time, he translated "Maula" as "friend."
This is another Urdu translation of the Musnad ibn Hanbal called "Fathul Rabbani" the Urdu translators Sheikh-ul-Hadith Abbas Anjam Gondalvi, Professor Saeed Mujtaba Saeedi, and Abu Al-Qasim Muhammad Mahfooz Awan offer uo this translation:
It is narrated from Riyah bin Harith that a group of people came to the place of Rahbah and approached Ali (ra). They greeted him and said, "O our leader, may you be in good health." Hadhrath Ali (ra) replied, "How can I be your leader? You are an Arab nation." The people said, "We have heard from the narrations at the occasion of Ghadir Khumm that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, 'Whosoever I am his master, Ali is also his master.'"
At this point, the narrators were worried that if they translate "Maula" (master), it will lead to a calamity. Therefore, they did not translate the meaning of "Maula" in the entire narration. However, in the other narrations, they did translate "Maula" as "friend" so the deceptions is very clear. They translators werefully aware of what "Maula" meant in the narration, that's why they did not translate it.
Whilst defining the term Maula as friend in this tradition is illogical, we salute the translators of Sunnah.Org who have taken absurdity to the next level. They have translated the same Rahbah tradition relating to Ghadir from Musnad Ibn Hanbal as follows:
حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ نُمَيْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ، عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الرَّحِيمِ الْكِنْدِيِّ، عَنْ زَاذَانَ أَبِي عُمَرَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَلِيًّا، فِي الرَّحْبَةِ وَهُوَ يَنْشُدُ النَّاسَ مَنْ شَهِدَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَوْمَ غَدِيرِ خُمٍّ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ مَا قَالَ فَقَامَ ثَلَاثَةَ عَشَرَ رَجُلًا فَشَهِدُوا أَنَّهُمْ سَمِعُوا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ مَنْ كُنْتُ مَوْلَاهُ فَعَلِيٌّ مَوْلَاهُ.
It was narrated that Zadhan Abu ‘Umar said:
I heard ‘Ali in Ar-Rahbah, when he was adjuring the people and asking who had been present with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the day of Ghadeer Khumm. when he said what he said. Thirteen men stood up and testified that they had heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say; “If I am a person`s mawla”, ‘Ali is also his mawla.
(The word mawla refers to the one who manumits a slave, who has the right to inherit from the ex-slave. Changing one`s mawla means giving the right of inheritance to the new mawla)
Does this make sense? Of whomever I manumit a Slave, Ali manumits a Slave? What was happening at Ghadir Khumm? Were the Sahaba attending a slave auction?
Lest they argue that Imam Ali (as) asking this question because he did not understand the significance of why he was being described as Maula by the Sahaba, we will offer up this narration:
Ibn Umar narrated that we were in the service of the Messenger of Allah, may peace be upon him, and he asked, "Tell me, which is the tree that resembles a Muslim, in which its leaves do not fall and it bears fruit all the time?" Ibn Umar said, "It came to my mind that it is the date-palm tree, but I saw that Abu Bakr and Umar did not respond, so I hesitated to answer. When they did not give any response, the Prophet, may peace be upon him, said, 'It is the date-palm tree.' When we stood up from that gathering, I said to my father Umar, 'By Allah, it came to my mind to say that it is the date-palm tree.' He said, 'Why didn't you say it then?' I said, 'I saw that you and others were not speaking, so I thought it would be inappropriate for me to speak first.' He said, 'Wow, if you had said it at that time, I would have been more pleased than receiving such and such wealth.'"
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Interpretation of the Quran, Chapter: The Statement of Allah: "Like a goodly tree, its root is firmly fixed, and its branches are in the sky." (Quran 14:24), Hadith 4698]
Note that just as Allah (swt) and His Messenger, (s), ask rhetorical questions, so does Amir al-Mu'minin (Ali).
If Ali (as), did not take the term "Maula" to mean authority and leadership, then he would have told corrected the companions and to desist describing him as their leader on the basis of what they heard at Ghadir Khumm, rather he should have made it clear that these words cemented his frienship with Rasulullah (s).
In conclusion, Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) and other companions who the Salafis would would deem the Salaf is Saliheen also understood the term "Maula" to mean authority and leadership in the Hadith of Ghadir. The translators of the texts were aware of this hence their diluting / mistranslating the meaning to dupe their readers into assuming the event was the mere affirmation of buddyship between Rasululllah (s) a proposition that is irrational and the height of stupidity.
