In the Name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

And bless be upon Muhammad and his pure Household, and may Allah's curse be on his enemies from now until the Day of Resurrection! And there is no power or strength except for the Lofty Glorious Allah.

The command of enjoyment at Hajj pilgrimage was based on the inspiration

The Wise Allah has stated in His Glorious Book:

فَإِذَا أَمِنتُمْ فَمَن تَمَتَّعَ بِالْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى الْحَجِّ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ فِي الْحَجِّ وَسَبْعَةٍ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ تِلْكَ عَشَرَةٌ كَامِلَةٌ ذَلِكَ لِمَن لَّمْ يَكُنْ أَهْلُهُ حَاضِرِي الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ.

 ‘…and anyone who enjoys, [freeing himself from restriction,] by virtue of the Ümră until the Hajj Pilgrimage, let his offering be such as may be feasible; or one who cannot find offering, should fast three days during the Hajj Pilgrimage and seven days when he is back – that means ten. That is for someone whose family does not live about the Holy Mosque. So fear Allah, and know that Allah is severe in retribution, (Qur’an: 2/196).’

This verse is a clear proof that those people whose houses, families and close relatives are not in the territories of Mecca have to fulfill their Hajj as the Enjoyment Pilgrimage Hajj; they have to take, (if they have with them) their animals: (camels, cows or sheep) to the slaughtering house of Mina and sacrifice them there. However, those whose houses are near to Mecca, are considered as the citizens, so they have to take their pilgrimages as the personal Hajj or the Qiran – but not the Enjoyment Hajj.

We already got to know that according to the Command of Allah, and the descending of Gabriel as well the foregoing verse, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, announced it at SARIF and also after finishing the trots at Safa and Marwa, that all those who had journeyed with the Holiness – from the nearby, Medina or far away – had to change their intentions from the Enjoyment Hajj to the Minor Hajj, and then, after having their hair shaved, to get free from the restriction of pilgrimage garbs. Then, enjoy themselves until the day of TARWIAH, which is the day for Hajj and going towards MASH‘AR: Arafat, Mash‘ar and Mina – this command was for those who had not brought the animals for sacrificing with them.  

The Holiness himself as well those who had their sacrificing animals with them had to keep to their own previous intentions until they would sacrifice their animals at Mina. Publicizing this command cause differences between some the people, they wanted to remain in the pilgrimage garbs until going to Mash‘ar and Mina.

Ibn Kathir relates two narratives from Bukhari and Muslim that Jabir has said some of the companions kept saying: ‘There is not more than a few days to the Hajj Rites, so why should we change our pilgrimage garbs?’

Bukhari says: There are some narratives from Abu Noman, Hammad bin Zaid, Abd-ul-Malik bin Jarih, Gheta from Jabir and from Tavous that ibn Ab‘bas has related:

قالا: قدم النبى صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم و اصحابه صبح رابعة من ذى الحجة يهلون بالحج لا يخلطه شى‏ء، فلما قدمنا امرنا فجعلناها عمرة، و ان نحل الى نسائنا، ففشت تلك المقالة. الحديث.‏ ^[1]

Jabir and ibn Ab‘bas say: On the Wednesday of Dhul Hijja, while the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, and his companions were chanting: ‘There is no deity but Allah’, but mentioning nothing else, they entered Mecca.

When we entered Mecca, the Messenger of Allah ordered us to assign our restricted detention as Umra, (the Minor Hajj). And while we were free, to go to our wives. It was wide spread until some of the companions objected.

Muslim from Ghotaiba, and Laith from ibn Zabir quote Jabir relating that:

و امرنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم ان يحل منا من لم يكن معه هدى، قال: قلنا: حل ماذا؟! قال: الحل كله. فواقعنا النسآء و تطيبنا بالطيب و لبسنا ثيابا و ليس بيننا و بين عرفة الا اربع ليال.‏ ^[2]

Then, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, commanded us that anyone of us who had not brought his sacrificing animal to Hajj should abandon his restriction. We asked him: Which parts of the Hajj do you mean?

He answered: “All parts of the Hajj without exception.”

Therefore, we perfumed, put on our usual but cleaner suites and went to our wives – though the distance to Arafat was ot more than four kilometers.

And these two narratives clearly explain that the Messenger of Allah entered Mecca on the fourth day; and as the Day of Arafat is on Thursday, his arrival will be on Sunday. Therefore, it is different from that, which we quoted the “IMTA” of MEGHRIZI, in the book of “Al-Ghadir” that his arrival was on Tuesday.

Anyhow the objections of some of the companions who wanted to remain in the state of the restriction, like the Messenger’s outer-look: with tousled and dust-covered feature, made the Messenger very angry; his face was covered with the sign of wrath.

It was because after twenty-three years of hardship and toiling for the affairs of the Muslims now the Messenger of Allah did not like some unauthorized companions to interfere the religious affairs of the peoples – for the Hajj rites ceremonies were not of the personal affairs. On the whole, it was not an ordinary affair to be carried out with one’s personal interest, or to change its structure. It is absolutely wrong for one to change the divine legislation with having no connection to the Lofty Source; and above all, acting it against the verses of the Qur’an and the clear statements of the Messenger of Allah – after his long and effective sermons and explaining the subjects, and repeating his words again and again. And making it quite clear that he had not changed his Hajj Pilgrimage to the Minor Hajj only because the sacrificing animal he had brought with him, or else, he would also follow them just because of the priority of the Enjoyment Hajj and cooperating with them.

After ending his trots, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, set out for “Abtah”, where he stopped in a sandy and barren land in the east of Mecca – they did not enter any house in Mecca – he stayed the remaining days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there before setting out for Arafat.

Even he prayed the Morning Prayer with his companions on Thursday morning, the eighth of Dhul-Hijja, which was the day of TARWIAH. During that period he never returned to Mecca, or for the Sacred House, Ka‘ba. ^{[3] & [4]}

In the course of the lessons 76-78 of the very book, we well explained that when the Messenger of Allah was setting out for Mecca, the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, was not in Media. At that time, the Messenger of Allah had already sent him to Yemen to publicize the Islam, to depose Khali bin Walid from his position and to take the control of the welfare due taxes, which was at his disposal, into his hand.

The Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, with three hundred men of his companions, left Medina for Soub at Yemen. Then, after he had ended up his mission successfully, the Messenger of Allah wrote him that he wanted to take a Hajj pilgrimage.^[5] As soon as hearing the news, the Holiness Ali too set out for Mecca to fulfill his religious Hajj duties.

The Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, together with those who had joined him in Yemen took the war stools and the farewell due taxes, which belonged to the Messenger of Allah, and set out for Mecca. When they arrived there, before his army, the commander of the believers wore his pilgrimage garbs and entered Mecca. However, when he saw the Crowned Lady, the Highness Fatima-tuz-Zahra, Upon Her be Peace, wearing her normal but colorful dress and scented her, he was very surprised and asked her to know the reason. To his question, the Highnesses Sid‘digha explained that her father had commanded them to do so.

The Holiness Commander of the believers went to the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, and explained Fatima-tuz-Zahra’s getting free from the restriction of Hajj to him. The Messenger of Allah stated: “Whatever Fatima has said is right.” ^[6]

Then, the Messenger of Allah told the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, the whole story of Gabriel dissention, and the change of the hajj rites for those who had not brought the sacrificing animals with them – he also let him know of transferring the Personal Hajj to the Minor Hajj as well the Enjoyment Hajj.

And then, he stated:

بم اهللت حين اوجبت الحج؟‏

“What kind of a Hajj did you intend when you wore you pilgrimage garbs and said TALBIIAH?” The Commander of the believers answered:

باهلال كاهلال النبي صلى الله عليه و آله سلم ^[7]

‘I did the same as the Messenger of Allah has done – and then, I said TALBIIAH and wore the pilgrimage garbs.’

The Messenger of Allah stated: “Have you brought animals with you to sacrifice?” The Holiness said, ‘No.’

The Messenger of Allah stated: “I am going to share my sacrificing animal with you! Do not leave the restriction of the Hajj of yours, remain at the same of intention you had already made.” He did so until the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, ended up his Hajj’s rites and then sacrificed the animal for two. ^[8]

It must be mentioned that the Commander of the believers had not taken animals with him to sacrifice; however, he intended for the Hajj pilgrimage, he did it similar to what the Messenger of Allah had done, he wore his pilgrimage garbs as the Holiness Messenger did – therefore, in Hajj and sacrificing he was the partner of the Messenger of Allah.

However, what some of the historians have put in their books is that the Commander of the believers had taken a camel with him to sacrifice, and it was part of the booties and belonged to the Messenger of Allah – it was not for the Commander of the believers. It is put in “al-Bedayah and an-Nehayah” that: The sacrificing animal which was with Ali, and the animal that the Messenger had bought on the way, as well the animals that he had taken with him counted a hundred altogether.^[9]

So, there were a hundred camels for the Messenger of Allah, as the most narratives say the Messenger of Allah had a hundred camels for him. Therefore, being the partner in sacrificing means that: the Commander of the believers was the partner in the whole camels of the Messenger of Allah – this is a great status and lofty position for him to be a partner with the Hajj and the Sacrificing of the Messenger of Allah.

Here, it is understood that among the narratives that some say: The Messenger of Allah took a hundred camels with him,^[10] or some narratives say: He took sixty-three camels with him and the Commander of the believers took thirty-seven camels;^[11] or the Messenger of Allah took sixty-four camels and the Commander of the believers took thirty-six camels,^[12] and still some say that the Messenger of Allah took sixty-four but the Messenger of Allah took thirty-six camels which all together were a hundred,^[13] and at Mina, they slaughtered them all is no doubt about. It is because the camels of the Commander of the believers belonged to the Messenger of Allah – thus all the camels belonged to the Messenger of Allah. It is surprising that almost all the commentators believe that the numbers of the animals were a hundred.

Ibn Jouzi says: The Messenger of Allah stated the Commander of the believers:

فان معى الهدى فلا تحل. و كان الذى قدم به على من اليمن و الذى اتى به رسول الله مائة. ^[14]

And of those camels, the Messenger of Allah himself slaughtered sixty plus a few of them at Mina, and the Commander of the believers too slaughtered the remaining thirty and plus;^[15] thus, some observers got to know that those camels’ slaughtering were specified to the Commander of the believers.

But this is not the correct assessment; because slaughtering is having ownership on them, and above all, if the camels were specified to the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, then what was the meaning of his partnership in the slaughtering and Hajj?

The Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, has brought the animals with him and his Hajj is considered the QIRAN, because according to this: حتى يبلغ الهدى محله‏ he has no right to slaughter them and he cannot get free from the restriction – similar to those who had brought their own animals to slaughter there.

But the interesting thing is that the Commander of the believers is a partner in Messenger’s Hajj and slaughtering, because he has worn the pilgrimage garbs as the Messenger of Allah has done, and has mentioned:

اللهم انى اهل بما اهل به نبيك و عبدك و رسولك محمد صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم‏. ^[16]

Therefore, although the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, had no slaughtering animals with him, he remained in his Hajj pilgrimage and became the partner of the Messenger of Allah. Perhaps this was due to the prayer and supplication of the Messenger of Allah about the Master of Guardianship as:^[17] و اشركه فى امرى

similar to the request of Moses about his brother, Aaron, that: و اشركه فى امرى ‘Make him as a partner in my affairs.’

Of course, one of the necessities and dignities in the affairs is taking part in Hajj pilgrimage and the slaughtering and having its spiritual privileges.

Abu Mosa Ash‘ari also, in his pilgrimage garbs, came from Yemen, the Holiness Messenger of Allah told him: بم اهللت‏ ‘what way did you were the pilgrimage garb?’ He answered: اهللت كاهلال النبى‏ ‘I wore it as did the Messenger.’ The Holiness asked: ‘Have you the slaughtering animal with you?’ He said, ‘No.’ The Holiness commanded him to circumambulate first and then to trot between Safa and Marwah; then to have his hair cut and get free from the restriction. ^[18]

So, why did the Messenger of Allah not make him as a partner of his own? And he commanded him to become free from the restriction!

This privilege and priority is specified to the most strong in belief and the core of certainty and the Guardianship, و انى لهم ذلك‏? 

Anyhow, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, told the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, to go to his army and bring them there – God willing – to be together in Mecca!

The Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, departed the Messenger of Allah and set out towards his army but he encountered them close to Mecca. They were drawing out the Yemeni made garments out of the roles belonging to the Messenger of Allah through the welfare tax payers, and wearing them.

Their taking possession in the public treasury and the rights of the Muslim cost too dear for the Commander of the believers Upon Him be Peace, to tolerate, so he objected their behavior and told their chief, whom he had assigned before going to the Messenger of Allah: ‘Why, without my permission, have you divided the cloth and the garments which absolutely belong to the Messenger of Allah, among the army?’

To his question, the chief in authority said: ‘That is what the army asked me to do, they wanted to do up themselves with those garments and trinkets, they wanted to use them as the pilgrimage garbs and then turning them back to me.’

The Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, commanded them to take off the garments and put them in their places and close the cases and bundles. It was an excuse to the army to take vengeance on him so when they entered Mecca they began to carry out their revenge and openly complained against the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace.^[19]

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The statement of the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, about the willfulness of Ali, Upon Him be Peace in the religion

فامر رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم مناديا فنادى فى الناس: ارفعوا السنتكم عن على بن أبى طالب فانه خشن فى ذات الله عز و جل غير مداهن فى دينه. فكف القوم عن ذكره و علموا مكانه من النبى صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم و سخطه على من رام الغميزة فيه.‏ ^[20]

In Mecca, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, commanded that the herald announce it to the people that: Stop criticizing Ali bin Abī Tālib! He is the most strong and firm man in the presence of Allah, the Honourable and Exalted; he is not feeble towards his religion and does not act sluggishly.

Since then, the people stopped criticizing Ali and considered him at the position of the Messenger of Allah; and they understood the anger of the Messenger of Allah against those who grudged against Ali and gossiped in his absence.

And the trustee of the Islam, Fazl bin Tabarsi, has also related it in the same way, and he has said that:

 ارفعوا السنتكم من شكاية على فانه خشن فى ذات الله‏ ^[21]

‘Do stop your tongues complaining against Ali for indeed he is in the Presence of Allah!’

And ibn Hisham has related that:

فقام رسول الله فينا خطيبا، فسمعته يقول: يا ايها الناس! لا تشكوا عليا، فو الله انه لاخشى فى ذات الله- او فى سبيل الله- من ان يشكى.‏ ^[22]

‘So the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, stood up to lecture among us, and I heard that he say: “O people! Do not complain against Ali! By Allah, he is indeed stronger and more stable in the Presence of Allah – or on the path of Allah – than to be complained about!” 

And ibn Athir has related the statement in the same way:

فو الله انه لاخشن فى ذات الله- او فى سبيل الله.‏ ^[23]

And Tabari has quoted Khodri that:

فقام رسول الله فينا خطيبا، فسمعته يقول: يا ايها الناس! لا تشكوا عليا، فو الله انه لاخشى فى ذات الله- او فى سبيل الله- من ان يشكى.‏ ^[24]

‘Therefore, the Messenger of Allah stood up to lecture among us, and I heard that he say: “O people! Do not complain against Ali! By Allah, he is indeed stronger and more stable in the Presence of Allah – or on the path of Allah – than to be complained about!” 

And Hafiz Abu Noaim Isfahani has quoted Abu Saeed Khodri that, when the people complained against Ali, the Messenger stood up to lecture among us and said:

يا ايها الناس! لا تشكوا عليا! فو الله انه لاخيشن فى ذات الله عز و جل.‏ ^[25]

‘O people! Stop complaining against Ali! By Allah, he the strongest and firmest in the Presence of Allah and so is he self-possessed.’

And by means of another document, from Is‘haq bin Ka‘b bin Ojra who is quoting his father that:

رسول خدا صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم فرمود: لا تسبوا عليا فانه ممسوس فى ذات الله تعالى.‏^[26]

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, said: ‘Do not curse Ali, for he has been annihilated in the Essence of Allah.’

And Abu-al-Fath Razi says that: When the Messenger of Allah made a compromise with the Christians in Najran to get two thousand trinkets from the ‘Al-Owaqi Trinkets’ and he sent Ali to Yemen to fetch them, at that time Gabriel descended for the Messenger of Allah and commanded him to take the Hajj pilgrimage. And as the Messenger of Allah was leaving Medina he wrote a letter to the Commander of the believers that he was leaving Medina for Hajj. He added that: When you have fulfilled your mission there, leave Yemen for Mecca and we meet there.

The Commander of the believers read the letter and after receiving the trinkets and forty-four camels went to Mecca. He arrived Mecca before than his caravan and went straight to the Messenger of Allah to greet him. Then he returned to the caravan seeing that they had worn the trinkets and the jewelries. He commanded them to take them off and put in their places and wrap up the cases and bundles. Then, when it was too much for them to take his command they began finding faults against him.

The Messenger of Allah stated that Ali had done the right thing. Again they continued broadcasting their ill intentions among the nation until the Messenger of Allah went to the Mosque, climbed the pulpit and delivered a speech as:

اِرفعوا السِنتكم عن على فاِنه خشن فى ذاتِ اللهِ غير مداهن فى دينهِ.‏ 

‘Be in charge of your fault-finding tongues against Ali! He is firmly combined with the Essence of Allah and he never acts sluggishly in the affairs of the religion!’^[27]

Bei‘haqi has explained the complaint of the people against Ali somewhat different. He has related it by the means of his documents from Saeed bin Ishaq bin Ka‘b bin Ajra, quoting his cousin, Zeinab – the daughter of Ka‘b bin Ajra, quoting Abu Saeed Khodri that:

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, sent Ali bin Abī Tālib to Yemen – and Abu Saeed says: ‘I was also among those who were accompanying Ali.’

When, after receiving the taxes and donations from the people, Ali wanted to take them with him, we asked him to give the camels to us to ride on them and let our camels rest – because we found our camels rather tired and defected.

The Commander of the believers avoided giving the donated camels to us and said: ‘As the other Muslims, you have only a share in those camels, but not more!’

When Ali had finished his job, we left Yemen for Mecca. There, he assigned a man to guard upon us and hastily went to fulfill his Hajj rites.

Then, when his Hajj rites came to an end, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, told him: “Return to your army and join them!”

Abu Saeed says: ‘Whatever we had already asked Ali and he rejected it, in his absence, the guard upon us did it willingly. And when Ali returned and found that the men had taken the donated camels, and it was obvious that they had ridden them, he called the guard to him and reproached him for his disobedience.’

Abu Saeed says, I spontaneously thought: ‘By Allah, if I return Medina, I will tell the case to the Messenger of Allah, and I will let him know the harshness against us!’

When I entered Medina, early morning went to the presence of the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, and I had in my mind to fulfill that which I had sworn to do. But when I was approaching the house of the Messenger, I saw Abu Bakr leaving the Messenger’s house, when we met, he stopped and we had some formalities – I asked something and he too asked me about something else and when I had arrived Medina.

I answered: I have arrived last night! Then, he too returned to the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, with me, and introduced me as: ‘this is Sa‘d bin Malik bin Ash-Shahid.’ The Messenger of Allah told him to take me closer to him. I got closer to the Messenger of Allah and greeted the Holiness. He too greeted me and then asked about my situation and my family’s; he went on questioning friendly and delighted me.

I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I wish you knew how much hardship we have gone through by Ali!

‘The Messenger of Allah was attentively listening to me and I was counting one after another what Ali had done to the army. I was still in the middle of my complaint when the Messenger of Allah stroked me on the thigh and stated: “O Sa‘d bin Malik bin Ash-Shahid, stop saying such things about your brother Ali!

 فو الله لقد علمت انه احسن فى سبيل الله‏

“By Allah, I know that he behaves fairly in the path of Allah!”’

Abu Saeed says: I came to myself saying that: ‘O Sa‘d bin Malik! May your mother weep upon your corpse! So far, unknowingly I have been injuring the Messenger of Allah’s feeling! By Allah, from now on, I will not think or say ill of Ali in the public and in secret!’

In the “History of Damascus”, volume one, from the translation of Al-Imam Ali bin Abī Tālib, Upon Him be Peace, on page 387 and 388, under the narrative 493, ibn Asakar relates the very narrative from Abu Saeed Khodri (Sa‘d bin Malik) and in the end he says: The Messenger of Allah sated:

 يا سعد بن مالك بن الشهيد! مه بعض قولك لاخيك على، فو الله انه اخشن فى سبيل اللهِ.

“O Sa‘d bin Malik bin Shahid! Stop saying such things about your brother Ali!By Allah he is the most stable in the path of Allah.”

And in the book of “IZALAT-ul-KHAFA”, Dahlavi relates it:  

اخرج ابو عمرو، عن اسحاق بن كعب بن عجرة، عن ابيه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم: على مخشوش فى ذات اللهِ.‏

After explaining this case from Beihaqi, ibn Kathir has mentioned the division of the Yemeni’s garments in the absence of the Commander of the believers, he has said: the course of the garments and the trinkets’ division on the pilgrimage Hajj is almost true. Because when Ali separated from the army he took the sacrificing animals with him and he wore the pilgrimage garbs similar to the Messenger of Allah, and the Messenger commanded him to remain in the restriction state. ^[28]

However, it must be known that which we explained of the arrival of the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, to Mecca, and his meeting the Highnesses Zahra, Peace be upon her, in her colorful dress and make up, and his going to the Messenger of Allah and asking to know what had happened, is as clear as the Commander’s first meeting the Messenger of Allah on his arrival in Mecca. And this assertion is inconsistent with what Hafiz Abul Ghasim Tabrani has related from the narrative of Ekrama from ibn Ab‘bas that:

اِنّ عليا تلقى النبى صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم الى الجحفةِ ^[29]

And with that which Shekh Mofid has related in “Irshad” that: As the Messenger of Allah was approaching Mecca via Medina, the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, got closer to him by the way of Yemen. Then, he separated from the army and went to visit the Holiness. And after the Messenger of Allah had commanded him to remain in the pilgrimage garbs, stated: 

عد الى جيشك فعجل بهم حتى نجتمع بمكة ان شاء الله.‏ ^[30]

‘Return to your army and bring them here quickly so that to come together at Mecca – God willing!’

Ali bin Abī Tālib is the man of Truth and Justice therefore, he does not want to trespass against anyone’s rights. However people do not notice this subtle and fair point. They do not consider the trespassing against the nation’s treasuries, the farewell taxes, the camels with them and the trinkets to be the very ‘trespassing’! However, they believe that the luxuries – even though they belong to the nation’s treasury – or the rights of weak people, and only simple worshipping are good deeds! They consider the rest to be ghastly.

However, Ali cannot touch anything against the justice, and to agree with his army in sharing the goods. Because it is a manifest oppression and it gradually leads other even greater tyrannies like the other Caliphs. If it is considered attentively, it becomes clear that the complaints of the people against Ali, Upon Him be Peace, were due to their ignorance. People often consider the things against their will to be unpleasant even though they are based upon fact and logic! And they think that whatever interests them and suits their tastes to be pleasant – no matter that which they like to be against the law and fact.

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Complaining against Ali, Upon Him be Peace at the presence of the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants

Among their complaints they had against the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, was the complaint of Borai‘dat bin Ho‘saib Aslami who had carried it from Khalid bin Walid in Yemen.

That is, the Holiness Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, assigned the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, as the Emir upon an army to go to Yemen for the apostasy of Amru bin Ma‘di Karab ^[31] for his looting the tribe of Bani al-Harith bin Ka‘b and then his fleeing to Yemen. The Holiness also assigned Khalid bin Walid upon some of the Arabs and sent them to the Jo‘fi Arabs, and he also commanded that wherever the two armies come together, then the commander of the two armies would be Ali bin Abī Tālib.

When they covered some miles, while Khali was noticing, the Jo‘fi Arabs divided into two parts: a group went to Yemen and another group joined to Bani Zobaid. When the Commander of the believers received the news of their division, he sent a page to Khalid to tell him to stop wherever he was until the Commander of the believers would approach him. Khali did not pay attention to the message and continued his way. This time, the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, sent his deputy in the army, Khalid bin Saeed al-As to Khalid bin Walid to stop him wherever he would meet him. Khali bin Saeed carried out his mission and at last made Khalid bin Walid and the rest of his army stop. Later on when the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, reached there, he began reproaching him for his disobedience.

Then, the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, set out until he encountered Amru bin Ma‘di Karab who had prepared himself to fight, but after a short while he escaped away and again embraced Islam. Because of his embracing the Islam, his wife, along with all the other women in the tribe, was freed. Next, the Holiness gave authority to Khali bin Saeed to collect the welfare due taxes and the [war] booties.

After collecting the booties, the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, divided them into five, and then he cast lot to separate the share of Allah and then divide the remaining booties. The first appointed share was in the name of Allah which included a beautiful young lady in, therefore, the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, chose her for him, and some later performed the ritual ablution. It was too much for Khalid bin Walid to bear it so, he wrote a letter to the Messenger of Allah and pointed out all the unpleasant acts of the Commander of the believers on that journey. Then he sent the letter to the Messenger of Allah by Boraida bin Hosaib Aslami and telling him that he should read the letter to the messenger and standing witness to it.

Boraida, separated the army of Khalid which was moving towards Medina and prior to all, he reached Medina and went straight to the Holiness Messenger. No sooner than he arrived, he started counting the unpleasant affairs of Ali bin Abī Tālib, and also his taking the beautiful lady who was a part of the booties, and something alike.     

Boraida himself read the letter of Khalid and in the mean time accepted its rightfulness. And then he said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, if you permit it this way concerning the looting all together the Muslims’ shares will come to an end.’

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The Messenger of Allah’s wrath Bless be to Him and his Descendants towards the man who complained against the Commander of the believers Upon Him be Peace

فقال رسول الله: يا بريدة! احدثت نفاقا! ان على بن أبى طالب يحل له من الفى‏ء ما يحل لى، ان على بن أبى طالب خير الناس لك و لقومك! و خير من اخلف بعدى لكافة امتى! يا بريدة احذر ان تبغض عليا فيبغضك الله!

The Messenger of Allah stated: “O‏ Boraida! You set up hypocrisy, and you informed us insincerity! Whatever of the war booties is lawful for me it is the same for Ali bin Abī Tālib. Know that Ali bin Abī Tālib is the best of the people for you and your relatives; and he is the best one that I am to appoint as the Caliph upon my nation after me. O Birida, be aware of being Ali’s enemy or Allah will consider you as His Enemy!”

قال بريدة: فتمنيت ان الارض انشقت لى فسخت فيها، و قلت: اعوذ بالله من سخط الله و سخط رسوله، يا رسول الله! استغفر لى فلن ابغض عليا ابدا، و لا اقول فيه الا خيرا. فاستغفر له النبى. قال بريدة: فصار على احب خلق الله بعد رسوله الى.‏ ^[32]

Boraida says: I was so regretful of my words that I wished I would be buried in the earth than to stay alive, so I said: I take shelter in Allah for His wrath, and so I with the Messenger of Allah. So do asked Allah for my forgiveness! I promise not to take Ali as my enemy any more, and I will never speak ill behind him or gossip.

The Messenger prayed for him, and Borida says: ‘Since then, Ali was the most beloved man to me after the Messenger!’

The great historians and the narrators have related this narrative in different styles. Ibn Sa‘d has brought it in his “Tabaghat”. ^[33] And ibn Kathir has related that the Messenger of Allah told Boraida: ‘O Boraida! Do you hate Ali?’ He answered, ‘Yes,’ then the Messenger stated: ‘Do not hate him, for his share in the welfare due tax is more than this share.’

And he has related it in another narrative that among the maid-slaves there was only one the most beautiful; then after dividing the booties, the Commander of the believers took her for himself. Therefore, we said: ‘O Abu al-Hassan, what does this behavior of you mean?’The Commander of the believers answered: ‘What! Did you not see that this maid-slave was among the other maid-slaves, then I cast lots to share the booties and this girl was my lot? Then, I cast another lot and this girl was of the share of the Messenger’s Household; even once more we cast lot and this time she became Ali’s lot? In this case, the right thing to do was this.’

Boraida says: As that man (Khalid bin Walid) wrote a vilification letter and sent it by me to approve it his objection, then, in the presence of the Messenger, I started reading the letter and in the mean time approving it by saying: ‘It is quite right!’ At that moment, the Messenger of Allah stopped me saying: “Do you take Ali as an enemy?” I said: ‘Yes, I do.’ He stated: “Do not hate him, and increase your affection to him; by Him who has Muhammad’s soul in His hand, Ali’s lot in the welfare due tax is more than that young girl.”

Boraida says: ‘Since then, except the Messenger of Allah, no one was more beloved to me than Ali.’^[34]

And Sheikh Mofid has brought this story in “Irshad”, and he has added that: As Boraida approached the house of the Messenger of Allah he met Omar al-Khattab. Omar asked him about the war and he also asked: ‘Why did you return earlier?’ Boraida answered: ‘I want to point out some bad points of Ali bin Abī Tālib to the Messenger of Allah!’ Then, Boraida told Omar the story of the young made-slave that Ali had taken for him.

Omar said: اِمضِ لِما جِئت له فانه سيغضِب لابنته مِما صنع على‏ ‘To report your mission go to the Messenger of Allah and explain the affairs, I am sure, because of his daughter (who is Ali’s wife) the Messenger of will get angry at Ali’s bad behavior.’

Boraida says: When I was reading the letter of Khalid bin Walid and in the mean time, counting Ali’s faults (the Messenger not only did not get angry with Ali’s action but) he became angry for my gossiping him. The Messenger of Allah turned pale and stopped me reading more; then, he said something to me about Ali. ^[35]

And Sheik Tousi, in “Amali”, after explaining this event in details, says that: Boraida said, ‘When I went to the Messenger of Allah, I handed him the letter, he took it with his left hand – and as Allah, the Honourable and Exalted has stated that the Messenger did not read or write – I began relating the event and finding faults with Ali, and my bad or good point was that when I spoke I used to nod my head. Anyhow, I said what I wanted to, and then when my words ended, I raised my head and saw that the Messenger of Allah was very angry. He was so angry that I had never seen him at that state before, but only on the day of Bani Ghoraiza and Bani an-Nasr.’

The Messenger of Allah told me:

 يا بريدة ان عليا وليكم بعدى! فأحب عليا فانه يفعل ما يؤمر

‘O Boraida, Ali bin Abī Tālib is your Master after me and he has authority upon you! So do love him! He does the very thing that he has been commanded to.

Boraida says: I left the Messenger of Allah while I was thinking there was no one most beloved to me than Ali in the world.

Abdullah bin A‘ta, who is the relater of this narrative, says: I explained this narrative to Aba Harth bin Sowaid bin Ghafala, and he told me: Abdullah, the son of Boraida, who has related you this narrative, has refrained from saying some parts. Because the Messenger of Allah sated to Boraida:

 ا نا فقت بعدى يا بريدة ^[36]

‘O Boraida, so do you sow discord after me?’

Ibn Asakar, in this subject, under the title of the narratives about the Guardianship, in the “History of Damascus” has brought twenty-five narratives, from 458-482, the Book of al-Imam Emir al-Mo‘menin, Ali bin Abī Tālib, Upon Him be Peace.

In the first narrative, which is number 458, by means of his documents from Saeed bin Jabir quoting ibn Ab‘bas says about Boraida until he reaches to:

فرايت وجه رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم يتغير: فقال: يا بريدة أ لست اولى بالمؤمنين من انفسهم؟! فقلت: بلى يا رسول الله! فقال: من كنت مولاه فعلى مولاه.‏ ^[37]

 [Boraida says:] ‘I gathered that the face of the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, had turned pale and he stated: “O Boraida! Is my Guardianship upon the believers not stronger than their Guardianship to themselves?” I answered: ‘Yes, it is, O the Messenger of Allah.’ Then, he stated: “Whoever I am Master to so is Ali his Master.”

And in the second narrative (459), with his own documents from Saee bin Jabir quoting ibn Ab‘bas, says about Boraida that:

 قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم: على مولى من كنت مولاه.^[38]

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, stated:  “Ali is the Master and Guardian of those whom I am the Master and Guardian upon.”

And in the third narrative (460) by his own documents, he quotes Saeed bin Jabir from ibn Ab‘bas quoting Boraida that:

 قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم: من كنت مولاه فعلى مولاه.‏^[39]

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, stated that: ‘Whoever I am Master to so is Ali his Master.’

And the fourth narrative (461) is similar to above narrative but by another document.^[40]

And the fifth narrative (462) is by his own document from Saeed bin Jabir quoted ibn Ab‘bas quoting Boraida saying:

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم: على بن أبى طالب مولى من كنت مولاه. ^[41]

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, stated: ‘Ali bin Abī Tālib is the Master and Guardian of those whom I am the Master and Guardian to.’

And in the sixth narrative (463) by means of his document from Saeed bin Jabir quoting ibn Ab‘bas, and also quotes Boraida saying that:

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم: من كنت وليه فعلى وليه.‏ ^[42]

The Messenger of Allah stated: ‘Whoever I am Master so is Ali his Master.’

And in the narrative (464) another document from ibn Ab‘bas he has related:

من كنت مولاه فعلى مولاه.‏^[43]

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, stated: ‘Whoever I am Master so is Ali his Master.’

And in the narrative (465), by his own documents, he has related Abdullah bin A‘ta, quoting Abdullah bin Boraida from his father that:

على بن أبى طالب مولى كل مؤمن و مؤمنة و هو وليكم بعدى.‏ ^[44]

[The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants:] ‘Ali bin Abī Tālib is the Master of every believing man and believing woman, and he your Guardian after me.’

In the narrative (466), by his documents from AJLAH, quoting Abdullah bin Boraida, quoting his father explaining the story of battle of the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace,  with Khalid bin Walid and the advent of the Muslims; as well explains the Commander of the believer’s taking one of the made-servant for him, he says: Khalid wrote a letter to the Messenger and sent it to him by me. And he commanded me to speak ill of Ali in front of the Messenger.

When I was in the presence of the Messenger of Allah I sensed his upset on the face but still I said: ‘My situation with Ali is so intolerable that I have taken refuge in you, you have sent me with a man as (Khali), and commanded me to obey him, but now see what he has sent me for I am going to announce you!’

قال: يا بريدة! لا تقع فى على، على منى و انا منه، و هو وليكم بعدى‏. ^[45]

He stated: “O Boraida! Do not say anything repulsive behind Ali! Ali is with me and so am I with Ali, and he is your Guardian after me!”

And in the narrative (467) he has mentioned the same narrative with his own document from Abjlah quoting Abdullah bin Boraida and from his father.^[46]

And also by means of another document he has related the same story in narrative (468).^[47]

And in the narrative (469), by means of his document from Abdullah bin Ata, he has related it from Abdullah bin Boraida who, after briefing a long introduction, has quoted his father saying: ‘The enmity and hatred of mine towards Ali bin Abī Tālib was more than anyone else, and Khalid had read it in my nature.’

In the mean time, a man entered and said Ali bin Abī Tālib had taken a young girl for his welfare due tax share!

Khalid said: How unfair it is! Then, came in another man, again another man; the news was pouring out in the same way. So Khalid bin Walid called me to him and said: ‘O Boraida, you know that what Ali has done!’ Now, take this letter to the Messenger and let him know what is going on here.’

I took the letter and set out, I reached Medina and went to the Messenger.

The Messenger of Allah got the letter in his left hand, because as Allah, the Honourable and Exalted has stated: he could neither read nor write, on the other hand, I was in such a habit that when I read something I would nod my head and show my feelings in gesture up to the end of my reading ended – this time too I did not raise my head even I ended the letter, but started counting Ali’s faults to him. When my complaints finished, I raised my head and found that the Messenger of Allah was furious. He was so angry that I had seen him in that state but only on day of “Bani Ghoraiza and Bani Nasr”. The Messenger of Allah cast a glance on me and said:

يا بريدة ان عليا وليكم بعدى، فأحب عليا فانه يفعل ما يؤمر. ^[48]

“O Boraide! Ali is your Guardian after me! Do love him! Whatever he does is what he has been commanded to!”

And Abdullah bin Ata says: When I read this narrative to Harth bin Sowaid bin Ghafla, he said: Abdullah bin Boraida has not told you some part of this narrative, that is the Messenger of Allah had told him: ا نافقت بعدى يا بريدة ‘O Boraida, are you sowing discord after me!’

And it is related in the narratives (470), (471), (473), (474), (475), (476 and (477) that Boraia has said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, stated:

 من كنت وليه فعلى وليه ^[49]

‘Whomsoever I am a Master, so is Ali his Master.’

And in the narrative (472) he has related that the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, has stated:

من كنت وليّه فان عليا وليه‏ ^[50]

‘Whomsoever I am a Master, so is Ali his Master.’

And in the narrative (478) he has quoted Boraida that the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, has stated:

من كنت مولاه فعلى مولاه (وليه - خ). ^[51]

‘Whomsoever I am a Master, so is Ali his Master (Guardian).’

And in the narrative (479) he has related that the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, told Boraida: ‘Do you hate Ali?’ Boraida says: ‘I said, ‘Yes, I do.’ The Messenger of Allah said: “Do not hate him!” Then, he signed and continued: “Do love him, because Ali’s share in the welfare due tax is more than that.”

And in the narrative (480) he has related the same meaning with another document.

And in the narrative (481), by means of his document from Amru bin Ateiia, quoting Abdullah bin Boraida and he too quoting his father who had said: When I went to the Messenger of Allah he was washing and doing his hair. I started saying whatever I like but about against Ali. However, it is good mentioning that whenever we were in the presence of the Messenger, we did not look at him eye to eye, so the Messenger of Allah stated: “O Boraida! Keep quiet, and stop saying such things against Ali!”

Then, I raised my head and saw that the Messenger’s face had turned pail; so when I saw him in that state, I said:

اعوذ بالله من غضب الله و غضب رسوله! قال بريدة: و الله لا ابغضه ابدا بعد الذى رايت من رسول الله (صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم).‏ ^[52]

‘I seek refuge in Allah for the wrath of Allah, and the wrath of the Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I will never again hate Ali;’ I said it after noticing the wrath of the Messenger.

And in the narrative (482) that the Messenger of Allah has stated:

فلا تبغضه و ان كنت تحبه فازدد له حبا، فو الذى نفس محمد بيده لنصيب آل على فى الخمس افضل من وصيفة. قال: فما كان من الناس احد بعد قول رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم احب الى من على.‏ ^[53]

‘[O Boraida!] Do not hate him! On the other hand, if you love him, do increase your love towards him! By Allah in whose hand the soul of Muhammad’s rests, Ali’s Household’s share in the welfare due tax is more than a single made-servant.’

Boraida says: After this utterance of the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, no one was more beloved to me than Ali, Upon Him be Peace.

And Hafiz Abu Bakr Haitami explains this narrative from Borada until he comes to this point where Borada says: ‘I arrived Medina and entered the Mosque but the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants was not there, he was at home [and I turned to his home]. There were some of the companions in front of his home, and as soon as they saw me, they asked:

“O Boraida, what news have you brought?’

I said: ‘Good news! Allah made the Muslims victorious!’

They asked me why I had returned so early!

I answered: ‘Ali has picked out a young girl out of the welfare duty tax, so I have come to report it to the Messenger.’

They said: ‘Yes, do it, say it to the Messenger; this news humiliates Ali in front of the Messenger.’ They had no idea that the Messenger was hearing their words inside the home!

Then, all of a sudden, the Messenger walked out of the home in anger and said:

ما بال اقوام يتنقصون عليا؟ من تنقص عليا فقد تنقصنى، و من فارق عليا فقد فارقنى، ان عليا منى و انا منه، خلق من طينتى و خلقت من طينة ابراهيم، و انا افضل من ابراهيم، ذرية بعضها من بعض و الله سميع عليم.‏

يا بريدة: اما علمت ان لعلى اكثر من الجارية التى اخذ، و انه وليكم بعدى!؟

 فقلت: يا رسول الله! بالصحبة الا بسطت يدك فبايعتنى على الاسلام جديدا! قال: فما فارقته حتى بايعته على الاسلام. رواه الطبرانى فى الاوسط. ^[54]

‘What is the aim and agony of the tribe who is blaming Ali? Know that whoever blames Ali, he really blames me. And he who keeps away from Ali, he actually keeps away from me. Indeed, Ali is with me and so am I with Ali. Ali has been created out of my mould, and I have been created of Abraham’s nature; and I have priority over Abraham and am most noble; the chains of offspring of mine is looped one after another, and Allah is the Hearing and Aware [of that].

‘O Boraida! Do you not know that Ali’s share in the welfare due tax is more than a single made-slave that he has picket out – he is the Master and Guardian upon you after me.’

Boraida says, I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I take you for an oath, for this statement of yours, letting me renew my allegiance with you!’

And Boraida says: ‘I did not leave the Messenger until I swore allegiance for his Islam.’

And Tabarani has related this narrative in his “Mo‘jam Au‘sat”.

It is worth mentioning that, as it is obtained in some histories and narratives, ^[55] the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, as the army chief, sent the Commander of the believers twice to Yemen. Once he sent him to chase Amru bin Ma‘di Karab and Najran’s embracing Islam; and in the mean time, he also sent Khalid bin Walid to Banu Jo‘fi and commanded when the armies encountered then the commander of the both armies would be Ali bin Abī Tālib. On that concubine, the Commander of the believers made Khalid bin Saeed bin al-Aas the army chief. On the other hand, Khalid bin Walid trusted his army chieftainship to Abu Mosa Ash’ari. It was in this journey that Khalid disagreed with Ali and later on was reproached for that. And also it was in this journey that Khali bin Walid wrote a complaint letter against the Commander of the believers and sent it to the Messenger of Allah in Medina by Boraida bin Hosaib Aslami. The both armies of Ali bin Abī Tālib and Khalid bin Walid were still on their commanded missions when Boraida reached Medina and went straight to the Messenger of Allah, but no sooner had he handed the letter to him than he was reproached; and the Holiness advised him to follow the Commander of the believers and always obey hi.

And the second one was that after Khalid bin Walid staying in Yemen for six months but his invitation to Islam fell flat, the Holiness Messenger of Allah sent the Commander of the believers to replace him and then, if any of his army wanted to join the Commander of the believers he should accept him. It was in this concubine that that the Commander of the believers, Upon Him be Peace, appointed Boraida bin Hosaib as the chief guard upon the war booties. Then, he went to Mecca along with his army. When in Mecca, he separated from his army and joined the Messenger of Allah for the Hajj rites. However, in his absence, the chief guard of his in the army divided the Yemeni’s garments among the soldiers. Later on, when the Commander of the believers returned to his army and found them wearing the garments and using the jewelries, he commanded them to take off the garments which belong to the charities, put them in their places and take them to the Messenger of Allah. As his action irritated the soldiers, when they reached Mecca, they started to find faults with him. And the Messenger of Allah publically announced that Ali would never be indulgent in the path of Allah, and he was not afraid of anything for the cause of Allah – he was dissolved in the Essence of Allah.

But off course, this Mission of the Commander of the believers had taken place in the tenth of the year of Immigrating, then the Commander of the believers returned to Medina with the Messenger of Allah, and on their way back to Medina, at Johfa (Ghadir Khum), the Messenger of Allah recited that excellent sermon about the Guardianship and the divinity virtue of the Holiness Ali.

And also Abu Bakr Haitami has related it from Amru bin Shas Aslami who was of the Hadibeiia companion of the Messenger of Allah says: ‘I went to Yemen with Ali bin Abī Tālib, Upon Him be Peace. On this journey Ali treated me unkindly, he didit so much that I was quite annoyed with him and was angry. When we returned to Medina, I took my complaint to the people in the mosque and naturally my complaint reached to the Messenger of Allah.

Once, early morning when I arrived at the mosque, I saw that the Messenger of Allah was sitting with some of his companions, when he saw me that I was looking at him he kept grazing at me until I sat down. Then, he said: 

يا عمرو! و الله لقد آذيتنى!

 قلت: اعوذ بالله من اذاك يا رسول الله!

قال: بلى من آذى عليا فقد اذانى ^[56]

“O Amru! By Allah, you have hurt my feeling!”

I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I take refuge to Allah, for my hurting you!’

He stated: “Yes, [you did,] for whoever hurts Ali he indeed hurts me!”

Furthermore Haitami has related it from Abu Rafi that: the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, sent Ali as his deputy and the chief of the army to Yemen, and among his soldiers who left the army was a man from the tribe of Aslam called Amru bin Shas.  

Later, when the man returned Medina, started to slander against Ali and carried his complaint everywhere among the people. So:

فبعث اليه رسول الله صلى الله عليه [و آله‏] و سلم: فقال: اخسايا عمرو! هل رايت من على جورا فى حكمه او اثرة فى قسمه؟! قال: اللهم: لا.

The Messenger of Allah, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, sent for him they brought him in his presence, then the Messenger tole him: “O Amru! Keep quiet and get lost! Have you gone through oppression by Ali’s command? Or have you noticed him being bios in his sharing the booties?”

He said: ‘No, by Allah, I have not noticed!’

The Holiness said: “Then, why do you say something behind him that is announced to me soon after?”

Amru answered: ‘Some of what I have said, was not in deliberate, I have uttered them without noticing what I was doing!’

At that moment the Messenger of Allah was too enraged and stated to him:

من ابغضه فقد ابغضنى، و من ابغضنى فقد ابغض الله! و من احبه فقد احبنى، و من احبنى فقد احب الله تعالى.‏ ^[57]

“Whoever hates him he really hates me, and he who hates me, in fact, he hates Allah; and one who loves him he loves me, and he who loves me, in fact, he loves Allah, the Highest!”

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The difference between the Greater Hajj Pilgrimage with the separate Hajj and the combination Hajj

Now, let us return to the main verse, to the subject that is concerning the Hajj pilgrimage; and that Hajj pilgrimage is incumbent to the entire families of those who live in Mecca and also the nearby villages and the dwelling places. And this is prescribed about the Enjoyment Hajj until the Day of resurrection, and abandoning this Hajj is considered to be among the heinous sins – and the Holy verses of the Qur’an warn people for not fulfilling it.

The Hajj pilgrimage is the legislation imposed by the Holiness Abraham, Upon Him be Peace; after the demise of the Holiness Abraham, although his Divine Commands gradually weakened among the HIJAZ ARABS and the Saudi Arabia and still some of them were totally forgotten, the main Rites of Hajj – with brief alterations – remained forever.

Hajj pilgrimage took place in certain time, the people wore their pilgrimage garbs at a specific place called MIQAT and moved towards Mecca and its neighborhood to perform their Hajj Rites. They brought their sacrificing animals with them to sacrifice them at Mina, and, in that case, their Hajj was known as the QIRAN HAJJ; or they did not bring their sacrificing animals with them and Hajj was called: the IFRAD HAJJ. However, the Enjoyment Hajj, (which is performed nowadays), has not the previous record and no one knew it in the past. This kind of Hajj is of the characteristics of Islam and Gabriel brought it, as it is, down by the command of the Holiness, Lofty Creator – and concerning it, the related verse of the Qur’an was revealed. Therefore, great many of the Muslims are surprised that how they can have Enjoyment Hajj at the time of Hajj pilgrimage!

Of course this astonishment of them was due to their minds’ familiarity with the QIRAN and IFRAD Hajj that a pilgrim wore pilgrimage garbs at MIQAT, went to Mecca and then, in the same state: in pilgrimage garbs, without any enjoyments, using perfume or enjoying the women, they remained until they went to Arafat and Mash‘ar and fulfilled the remaining rites. 

However, now, when a pilgrim enters Mecca, along with the Enjoyment Hajj, he performs Umra (the Minor Hajj) as well and since then he becomes free from the restriction, that is: he takes off his garbs, applies perfume, enjoys his wife and does many things he was restricted before. It goes on until the time of Hajj when he makes intention for the Hajj, he wears the pilgrimage garbs and chants LABBAIK (Here am I) and stays in the restriction state by avoiding any enjoyments – so it is quite different.

When on the QIRAN and IFRAD Hajj, a pilgrim remains in the state of restriction: unshaved, disheveled and the dusty garbs and even body; but on the Enjoyment Hajj, he gets rid of restriction in the middle and for a while he remains in Mecca enjoying whatever he wants, and then again wears the pilgrimage garbs.

On the other hand, the Arabs, adhering to the bygones rules and customs, consider this kind of Hajj a manifest defect in the foundation of the Hajj – it is because of their previous record of the era of the ignorance – they considered it contrary to the real Hajj and went on objecting it.

And now we know that this objection is improper, because the legislation of the worshipping, the quality of the Hajj’s rites, setting up conditions and assigning obstacles are with Allah. By sending the Revelations, the Books and the Messengers He assigns them for His creatures. On the whole, no matter who a human being is, and no matter how much knowledge he has, he cannot make laws and commandments for the people unless he receives them from the Main Sublime Source – especially those commands that are about worshipping and the people’s direct contact with Allah.

The commands are with Allah and they are explained to people by His messengers; so is the abrogation of the commands with Allah, because the abrogation of a command is a new command for its own and only Allah must alter it.

Until the Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage, the command of Islam for Hajj was based on the same tradition that the Holiness Abraham, Upon Him be Peace, had appointed; it was restricted to the QIRAN and IFRAD Hajj. Nevertheless, in the Farewell Pilgrimage, the same command remained untouched for those living in Mecca or nearby villages and dwellings up to forty-eight miles away from the territory of Mecca. However, it was changed for the people who came to Mecca from far away, but for the Enjoyment Hajj. Then, Gabriel brought down a verse from the Qur’an on that occasion and the Messenger of Allah, after ending his trotting, climbed the Mount Marwa and read it to the people; it was as:

 فمن تمتع بالعمرة الى الحج فما استيسر من الهدى

and he goes on saying:

 ذلك لمن لم يكن اهله حاضرى المسجد الحرام

‏‘…it is incumbent to those performing their Hajj as the Enjoyment Hajj to sacrifice an animal according to their ability … and this Enjoyment Hajj is necessary for those whose homes and families are not in the territory of the Sacred Mosque.’

Therefore, the next sentence ‘ذلك لمن لم يكن اهله حاضرى المسجد الحرام‏’; emphasizes on the people coming to Hajj pilgrimage from far away. And this command is durable until the Day of Resurrection: according to what the verse states, and also the clear announcing of the Messenger of Allah when, answering Soraghat bin Malik, he emphasizes his word and repeats, ‘This command will be remained until the Day of Resurrection.’

And the reason is that: the legislation of Islam, which has the simplest laws and rules, has taken away the excessive two-months or more duty concerning the Hajj pilgrimage. Of course, it is not so difficult for the citizens of Mecca, because their families are there and they can simply put on the pilgrimage garbs at the right time the Hajj and perform the rites of their Hajj. However, those who come to Mecca from far away have to were their pilgrimage garbs at the appointed MIQATS and tolerate the difficulties of the journeying from the one of the MIQATS to Mecca. And they have to remain in the state of the restriction. Therefore, these kinds of difficulties have taken away in the main Hajj.

Between the Enjoyment Hajj and Umra they can go to their families and by resting beside their wives to enjoy whatever is lawful for them. And, concerning this, the interesting thing that the Qur’an says is that:

 لمن لم يكن اهله حاضرى المسجد الحرام‏

which means that a traveler need to have peace, resting and his family. Those, whose families are with them, like the citizens of Sacred Mosque, get benefit of being with their families. However, those who are out-comers to Mecca need peace and serenity; so the permission for enjoying the lawful wives is for them – so enjoying the lawful wives and the lawful maid-slaves is the replacement for their families being with them.

But as there has been differences and objections among some people about this Divine Legislation, Allah, after foregoing verse immediately commands man to the piety; and He warns them of His chastisement.

و اتقوا الله و اعلموا ان الله شديد العقاب.‏

Without any doubt or hesitation, every scholar believes that, in the tradition of the Prophet, Bless be to Him and his Descendants, there is a lack of restrictions for the pilgrims, after fulfilling their Hajj rites, to enjoy and again to wear their pilgrim’s garbs; it was the same at the time of Abu Bakr as well in some extend at the time of Omar.

In this subject, there is no difference between the Shiite and the Sunnite; however, the Shiite says: As the Qur’an and the Messenger of Allah have legislated it will remain in the same way until the Day of Resurrection. But the Sunnite says: It was abolished at the time of Omar, Omar took it away and, similar to the Messenger’s command, his order is indispensible 

This main and the spirit of all dispute is the most severe difference between the two parties: Shiite and Sunnite. Certainly in this subject we do not need to quote the narratives and the instructions of the Imams, because after clear explanation of the verse in the Qur’an, and the Messenger of Allah’s explanations times and again in Mecca, there remains no doubt for the Shiite to speak about it anymore.

However, merely for directing the Sunnite’s brothers, and in friendly way, we are to quote some of the most exact texts from their authentic books, and then, we will briefly discuss on them. It is hoped that, if they come to it impartially, will learn the fact clearly and will by our side. We begin with:

إِنَّ في‏ ذلِكَ لَذِكْرى‏ لِمَنْ كانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَ هُوَ شَهيدٌ ^[58]

…surely in this [command] there are admonitions and warnings for anyone who has a heart, or lends ear when he stands as a witness, (Qur’an: 50/37).’

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References

[24] "تاريخ الامم و الملوك‏", volume 3, page 149, the Al-Moaarif Printing. And "مجمع الزوائد", volume 9, page 129.
[25] "حلية الاولياء", volume 1, page 68. And Shah Wali-ul-lah Dehlavi, by quoting Hakim, has related the second in "إزالة الخفاء", page 265. And Heithami has mentioned the narrative 2, in "مجمع الزوائد", volume 9, page 130. And "سيره ابن هشام‏", volume 4, page 1022.
[26] "حلية الاولياء", volume 1, page 68. And Shah Wali-ul-lah Dehlavi, by quoting Hakim, has related the second in "إزالة الخفاء", page 265. And Heithami has mentioned the narrative 2, in "مجمع الزوائد", volume 9, page 130. And "سيره ابن هشام‏", volume 4, page 1022.
[27] "تفسير أبو الفتوح‏", Mozaf'fari's printing, volume 2, pages 190 and 191.
[28] "البداية و النّهاية", volume 5, page 106.
[29] "البداية و النّهاية", volume 5, page 106.
[30] "ارشاد" of Mofid, Lithography, page 93 and 94. 
[31] The apostasy of Amru bin Ma'di was that in Medina, he caught sight of Abu Ath'ath Khath'ami, the murderer of his father. He arrested him and dragged to the Messenger of Allah that he might punish his; the Holiness stated: "أهْدَرَ الإسلام ما كان فى الجاهليّة", 'Islam does not believe or care the blood which was shed at the time of the ignorance. Now that Abu Ath'ath has embraced Islam we cannot revenge him what he has done before embracing Islam.' Hearing what the Messenger say, Abdu bin Ma'di Karab gave up the Islam. ("اعلام الورى‏", page 134, and "حبيب السّير", volume 1, page 403, and "روضة الصّفا", volume 2, mentioning the Commander of the believers' setting out to Yemen.
[32] "اعلام الورى‏", pages 134, and 135' "حبيب السّير", volume 1, page 404, "روضة الصّفا", volume 2, mentioning the Commander of the believers' setting out to Yemen.
[33] " طبقات‏", volume 2, page 170, and " سيره حلبيّه‏", volume 3, pages 232 and 233.
[34] "البداية و النّهاية", volume 5, page 104.
[35] "ارشاد مفيد", lithography printing, from the page 85 to 87.
[36] "أمالى‏" of Tousi, lithography printing, volume 1, page 157.
[37] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, pages 365 and 366.
[38] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 366.
[39] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 366.
[40] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, pages 366.
[41] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, pages 366 & 367.
[42] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 367 & 368.
[43] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 368.
[44] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, pages 368 & 369.
[45] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 369; and Heithami in "مجمع الزوائد", volume 9, page 128.
[46] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, pages 370.
[47] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, pages 370 & 371.
[48] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 371, and Heithami has related this narrative in "مجمع الزوائد", volume 9, pages 128 and 129, and Sheikh Tousi has mentioned it in "أمالى‏".
[49] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 372 & 375.
[50] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 373.
[51] The first part of the translation of the Commander of the believers, upon him be peace, of the History of Damascus, page 375.

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