In
the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
From Adam to the Last Prophet; From Seth to Ali …
According to Islamic
and Judeo-Christian historical reference books, all Prophets from the
first-Prophet Adam (PBUH) - to the last -Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) - had successors. For example, Prophet
Adam’s (PBUH) successor was called “Hebtallah”
in Arabic, or “Seth” in Hebrew. The Successor of Prophet Ibrahim/Abraham
(PBUH) was “Isma'il/Ishmael”.
Prophet Ya’qub’s/Jacob’s (PBUH) successor was “Yusef /Joseph” (PBUH). The successor of
Prophet Musa/Moses (PBUH) was “Joshua, the son of Nun” (PBUH) against whom the wife of Moses (PBUH) revolted. Also, the
successor of Prophet Isa/Jesus (PBUH) was “Simon Peter”, so called “Sham’oon” in
Arabic. Here, we will try to touch on three stories related to the prophets and
their successors mentioned above.
One of the great Muslim
historians, Ya’qubi, has narrated the following about the successor of
Adam (PBUH): “When Adam was about
to die, he chose Seth as his successor.” (1)
Tabari (2) also
adds: “Hebtallah is referred to as Seth in Hebrew; he was the successor
of Adam. Seth wrote Adam’s final will. The will included that Seth was to be
followed after Adam.” (3) Ibn Athir and Ibn Kathir
both have written similar statements about this issue: “The interpretation of
Seth is Hebtallah, who was chosen as Adam’s successor. When the death of Adam
came close, he appointed Seth as his successor …” (4)
As mentioned earlier, Simon
Peter or Simon ben Jonah was appointed as the successor of Jesus (PBUH). He is referred to as
Simon (Sham’oon) in the Old Testament and Torah. The New Testament also refers
to Simon in the first couple verses of the book of Matthew, chapter 10:1-2:
“And he got together his twelve disciples and gave them the power of driving
out unclean spirits, and of making well all sorts of disease and pain. Now the
names of the twelve are these: The first, Simon, who is named Peter.” (5)
Furthermore, elsewhere
in Chapter 16:18-19 of the book of Mathew, Peter
was assigned a leadership role by Jesus (PBUH) above
all the other disciples: “And I say to you that you are Peter, and on
this rock will my church be based, and the doors of hell will not overcome it. I
will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever is fixed by
you on earth will be fixed in heaven: and whatever you make free on earth will
be made free in heaven.”
Next, we come to Yusha’
ibn Nun/Joshua, the son of Nun (7) who was the successor
of Moses (PBUH).
In the dictionary
of Bible, Joshua is described as such: “He (Joshua) became Moses' minister or
servant, and accompanied him part of the way when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the two
tables.” (Ex. 32:17) (8) It can be inferred from the bible that he did
not worship the calf at the time of Aaron …(9), (10) The more
interesting fact is that the actual story of Joshua’s succession to Moses (PBUH) is narrated in the Old
Testament, book of Numbers, chapter 27:15-23 as such:
“Then Moses said to the
Lord, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, put a man at the head
of this people, To go out and come in before them and be their guide; so that
the people of the Lord may not be like sheep without a keeper - And the Lord
said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and
put your hand on him - And take him before Eleazar (11) the priest
and all the meeting of the people, and give him his orders before their eyes -
And put your honor on him, so that all the children of Israel may be under his
authority. He will take his place before Eleazar the priest, so that he may get
directions from the Lord for him, with the Urim (12): at his word
they will go out, and at his word they will come in, he and all the children of
Israel - So Moses did as the Lord said: he took Joshua and put him before
Eleazar the priest and the meeting of the people - And he put his hands on him
and gave him his orders, as the Lord had said by Moses.” (13)
The story of Joshua’s
uprising and wars against the actions of the sons of Israel are narrated in the
book of Joshua, chapter 23 of the Old Testament.
Certainly, Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH&HP) had not brought a new
religion with new teachings (14), and thus was not separate from the
previous prophets. Hence, he would not have left his followers without a “successor”
and “Master” in his place. It is crucial to recall that Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH&HP) had not left the small
society of Medina without placing a
substitute in his place. No matter how short his leave would be, he would have
definitely chosen a leader and a successor in his place. (15)
How then would the holy
Prophet depart the Muslim community without assigning a Master after
himself forever? As mentioned earlier, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) was not the only
prophet who chose a successor after himself. With a deeper insight into the
Islamic texts, one can find amazing similarities between him and the other
Prophets.
For Example, in the
story mentioned earlier, Joshua was at “Mount Sinai” (16) with
Prophet Moses (PBUH), and had not corrupted himself by worshipping the calf. It was
then that Allah (SWT) ordered Prophet Moses (PBUH) to make Joshua his successor and the leader
after him. As the Old Testament states, Joshua was to be the shepherd of lambs
(people), and prevent them from going astray.
Imam Ali (PBUH) was with Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH&HP) in the “Cave of Haraa” and had never
worshiped idols. In the same manner that Prophet Moses (PBUH) was commanded to
appoint his successor in front of the people, Allah (SWT) ordered Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH&HP) to announce Imam Ali (PBUH) as his successor in the
presence of the Muslim community. In the final pilgrimage (Hajjah al-Wida’),
when the Muslims had completed their Hajj, the holy Prophet was
commanded to introduce his successor and leader after him. Allah (SWT) had most certainly
ordered Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) not to leave the Islamic society without a leader after him.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) completed his order in
Ghadir Khumm, and chose Imam Ali (PBUH) as his successor. Hence, what the Prophet had
said about the similarities of Islamic community and the sons of Israel (“Whatever that
happened to the sons of Israel will happen to my
community…”) (17) came to be true.
(Reference:
“Ma’alim Al-Madrasatain” by Allamah Sayyed Murtada ‘Askari, with minor
changes)
What did actually happen in Ghadir? How does each Islamic sect view
the event of Ghadir? Does the event of Ghadir belong to only one specific sect
of Islam, and meaningless for others? In such a great occasion, let’s review
the important events that took place in the Ghadir, so that we too can
comprehend the philosophy of Ghadir.
For this purpose, we invite you to study the strong and authentic
Islamic texts of different sects about the importance of this event in the
following article (Please
Click Here).
We congratulate all on behalf of the Roshd
Website, on the Eid of Ghadir al-Khumm, the festival of the completion of
Religion and the announcement of Amir Al-Mu’minin, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (PBUH) as the true
Successor of the Prophet (PBUH&HP) to all of the Muslims around the world, and
especially to you dear friend.
Roshd Islamic Shia website
Footnotes:
1. History of
Ya’qubi, vol. 1, p.11
2. The author of Tarikh
al-Rosol wa al-Moluk
3. History of
Tabari, Published in Europe, vol.1, p. 153-165 and 166
4. History of ibn
Athir, vol 1, p. 19, 20, 40 and 48, History of ibn Kathir, vol. 1, p.98
5. You may visit
the following link to refer to the main
text:
http://www.o-bible.com/cgibin/ob.cgi?version=bbe&book=mat&chapter=10
6. You may visit
the following link to refer to the main
text:
http://www.o-bible.com/cgibin/ob.cgi?version=bbe&book=jhn&chapter=21
7. Joshua (Yoosha’)
is derived from al-Yasa’ in Arabic, which is mentioned in the holy Quran, 6:86
and 38:48.
8. http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd/T0002100.html#T0002114
9. Exodus 24: http://www.o-bible.com/cgibin/ob.cgi?version=bbe&book=exo&chapter=24
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come
up to me on the mountain and stay here ...”
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his
aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God.
14 He said to the elders, "Wait
here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone
involved in a dispute can go to them."
So far it can be
deduced that Moses (PBUH) went up to the mountain with
Joshua. Thus Joshua left the people.
Exodus 32: http://www.o-bible.com/cgibin/ob.cgi?version=bbe&book=exo&chapter=32
15 Moses turned and went down the
mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands...
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the
people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the
camp."
18 Moses replied: “It is not the
sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing
that I hear."
19 When Moses approached the camp and
saw the calf and the dancing …
As a result it can
be inferred that on the way back from the mountain, it is not just Moses; it is
him and his aid, Joshua. Further, Joshua was surprised by the strange sounds,
this means that he was not aware of the story happened to the people with the
calf. This means that Joshua never worshipped the calf.
10. Aaron (PBUH) is the brother of Moses (PBUH) who
was with him from the beginning of his prophecy. Aaron (PBUH) was Moses’ (PBUH)
assistant. When Moses (PBUH) went to Mount Sinai to pray to Allah (SWT), he
left Aaron (PBUH) with the Sons of Israel. However, the people became arrogant
and did not listen to Aaron (PBUH). They put Aaron (PBUH) aside and started to
worship a golden calf. Aaron (PBUH), however, continued on worshipping God and
tried to prevent them form worshipping the calf. The people didn’t listen to
him and further threatened to kill him.
His name appears in
20 different verses of the holy Quran. Quran refers to different stages of
Aaron’s (PBUH) life in different chapters including the mentioned story. Aaron (PBUH)
is referred in the Holy Quran as a great man and supporter of Moses (PBUH). For
example, Allah (SWT) sends greetings to him in 37:120. Though Aaron (PBUH) was
the successor of Moses (PBUH), he passed away when Moses (PBUH) was alive.
Instead Moses (PBUH) selected Joshua (PBUH) as his successor according to
divine order.
11. Eleazar Or Eliezer the
priest was either the second son of Moses or the leader of the Son of Benjamin
tribe (Easton's 1897
Bible Dictionary, http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd.html).
12. Urim and
Thummim mean lights and perfection. In
terminology, Urim was referred to something that higher ranked priests
would hang from their necks during prayers. In Torah these two words are
referred to as crown of highness and greatness (Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary,
http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd.html).
13. You may visit
the following link to refer to the main
text:
http://www.o-bible.com/cgibin/ob.cgi?version=bbe&book=num&chapter=27
14. Allah Himself
orders Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) in the Holy Quran 46:9 to tell the people that: “Say: ‘I am
no bringer of new-fangled doctrine among the messengers’…”
15. The historians
have narrated that the Great Prophet (PBUH&HP) left Medina 27 times, and all the times he
assigned a successor for himself while he was out of town. For detailed
information in this respect, you might refer to second volume of the book “Ma’aalim al-Madrasatain”, the section describing
“Successors of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP) in Medina at the times
of war”.
16. Mount Sinai was the mountain which
Prophet Moses (PBUH) used to go there for worship. The name of
this mountain is mentioned in several chapters of the holy Quran, for instance
28:29.
17. This Hadith from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) has been
addressed in both Shi’a and Sunnite books with minor terminology differences. Man
La Yahdorohu al-Faqih, vol. 1, p. 203 from Shi’a references and Sunan
Tirmadhi the book of Iman, Hadith 2565, from Sunni reference books
are two examples.
