During his advanced jurisprudence class at Qom’s Grand Mosque (Masjid al-A’dham), Grand Ayatollah Naser-Shirazi congratulated his students on the blessed occasion of Eid al-Ghadir. He sad that it is a grand festival for Muslims, and especially for the Shi’ite sect. For this reason Eid al-Ghadir is called “the grandest festival of God.”
His Eminence explained that that Muslims should give much importance to Eid al-Ghadir because this holy day has a lot of blessings, effects and excellent benefits. “The most importance one gives toward Eid al-Ghadir the more divine blessings he receives,” Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi explained.
Explaining that the event of Ghadir Khumm has been narrated in both Shi’ite and Sunni sources, Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi explained that there are different interpretations of the word “mawla” among the two sects of Islam, but they both agree that the event occurred. Sunni scholars say the Arabic word “mawla” means “friend,” but Shi’ite scholars say that it means “guardian” or “master.”
He explained that we need to look at the context to understand the correct meaning of this controversial word used in the Prophet Muhammad’s (S) sermon at the Pond of Khumm. He could not have been referring to Imam Ali (A) as an ordinary friend because the Prophet (S) would not have stopped more than 100,000 Muslims in the hot desert after the completion of their hajj pilgrimage just to state that Imam Ali (A) is his friend.
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi explained to his students that it is clear and without any doubt that at the Pond of Khumm, the Prophet Muhammad (S) declared Imam Ali (A) to be his divinely-appointed successor and the imam (leader) of the Muslims after his death and he definitely did not refer to Imam Ali (A) as his mere friend.
“We are hopeful that the issue of the wilayah (guardianship) of Imam Ali (A) will connect all Muslims in the world and that under the shadow of this guardianship we can fight against the enemies of Islam and repel them from all Muslim countries,” His Eminence stated in conclusion.
