The Ghadir Khumm () was an event that took place in 16 March 632, shortly before the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The event occurred at a pond known as Ghadir Khumm, located near Juhfa between Mecca and Medina. During the event, Muhammad took his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, by the hand and delivered a speech in which he said: “For whoever I am his mawla, Ali is his mawla.” The term mawlā has several meanings and can be used in different contexts. Depending on the context, it may refer to master, patron, protector, ally, supporter, client, associate, friend, or one with authority. Because mawlā has a wide semantic range, the interpretation of the term is central to the differing Sunni and Shia understandings. The event is particularly significant in Shia Islam, where it is understood as Muhammad's formal designation of Ali as his successor and the first Imam. Shia Muslims interpret the term mawla as meaning leader, authority, or one entitled to obedience. The event is commemorated annually as Eid al-Ghadir on 18 Dhu al-Hijjah.
Sunni Muslims accept that the event of Ghadir Khumm took place and that Muhammad made the statement concerning Ali. However, they do not interpret the statement as an explicit designation of Ali as Muhammad's successor. In Sunni interpretations, mawla refer to a close associate, friend, supporter, or one deserving loyalty and affection. Sunni Muslims regards the declaration as a simple affirmation of Muhammad's esteem for Ali, minimizing the event’s importance. Consequently, the event is understood differently in Sunni and Shia branches and forms an important part of the broader debate over Muhammad's succession. The event has played a central role in the development of Shia doctrines concerning the Imamate and the succession of religious authority after Muhammad.
Etymology Ghadir Khumm refers both to the gathering of Muslims for Muhammad's sermon and its location, which was a pond () fed by a nearby spring in a wadi known as Khumm, situated between the cities of Mecca and Medina. The pond was located near the settlement of al-Juhfa, a strategic trijunction where routes from Medina, Egypt, and Iraq intersected.
The word () has been translated as 'deceiver', and the valley was so named because the water of its pond was saline and unfit for consumption. At the time of the event, the original inhabitants of the region, namely, the Banu Khuza'a and the Banu Kinana tribes, had already abandoned the area due to its poor pasturage and harsh climate. Before Muhammad's address there, the location was likely never used as a caravan stop. In Shia sources, the harsh environment of Ghadir Khumm is seen as emphasizing the urgency of Muhammad's divine task as he sought the largest audience for his address before the pilgrims parted ways.
Background
Ten years after Muhammad's migration to Medina and on the last days of Dhu al-Qadah, Muhammad performed the Hajj rituals in Mecca shortly before his death in 632 CE. This Hajj ceremony has become known as the Farewell Pilgrimage. In a sermon in Mecca (at Arafat), and possibly again at the Ghadir Khumm, Muhammad alerted Muslims about his impending death. After the Hajj, he embarked on the return journey from Mecca to Medina, accompanied by an entourage of Muslims. The announcement at the Ghadir Khumm took place during the return journey among a congregation of these Muslims, possibly numbering in the tens of thousands.
The sermon At Ghadir Khumm, Muhammad called the Muslim caravan to a halt ahead of the noon congregational prayer, before the pilgrims parted their ways, and then asked for a dais to be raised. After the prayer, Muhammad delivered a sermon to a large number of Muslims in which he emphasized the importance of the Qur'an and his (, , his family). His statement is widely reported by Sunni and Shia authorities, and the version that appears in , a canonical Sunni collection of hadiths, reads:
Known as the hadith of the (), Muhammad might have repeated this statement on multiple occasions, and indeed several similar variants of this hadith can be found in Sunni and Shia sources alike. For instance, the version that appears in , another canonical Sunni source, also includes the warning, "Be careful how you treat the two [treasures] after me." Taking Ali by the hand, Muhammad then asked if he was not () the believers than themselves, evidently a reference to verse 33:6 of the Qur'an. When they affirmed, he declared,
which is known as the hadith of the (, ) in Shia theology. Muhammad might have repeated this sentence three or four more times, as reported in . He then continued, "O God, befriend the friend of Ali and be the enemy of his enemy," according to some versions, including the Sunni and the Shia . The Sunni scholars Ibn Kathir () and Ahmad ibn Hanbal () relate that Muhammad's companion 'Umar congratulated Ali after the sermon and told him, "You have now become of every faithful man and woman."
Historicity
The historicity of the Ghadir Khumm is rarely disputed within the Muslim community, as its recorded tradition is "among the most extensively acknowledged and substantiated ()" in classical Islamic sources. Nevertheless, several variations exist in the early sources, and there is a significant weight of different accounts. The narrative of the Ghadir Khumm is, for instance, preserved in Chronology of Ancient Nations by the Sunni polymath al-Biruni (), which survives in an early fourteenth-century Ilkhanid copy by Ibn al-Kutbi. The Shia inclination of those responsible for this copy is evident from its illustrations of Ali, including one entitled The Investiture of Ali at Ghadir Khumm.
Accounts of the Ghadir Khumm appear elsewhere in both Sunni and Shia sources, and these accounts have occasionally been used interchangeably without sectarian prejudice. For instance, the Shia scholar Abdul Hosein Amini () relied on Sunni and Shia sources to list over a hundred companions and eighty-four who had recounted the event, most of whom are now counted among Sunnis. Similar efforts were undertaken by the Shia authors Hamid H. Musavi () and Hussein A. Mahfouz (). Other early accounts of the event include those by the Shia-leaning historian al-Ya'qubi (), and by the Sunni scholars Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Asakir (), al-Tirmidhi (), al-Nasa'i (), Ibn Maja (), Ibn al-Athir (), Ibn Abd al-Barr (), Ibn Abd Rabbih (), and Jahiz ().
Some Sunni historians, such as al-Tabari (), Ibn Hisham (), and Ibn Sa'd (), have nonetheless made little or no mention of the Ghadir Khumm, perhaps because the event supports the Shia legitimist claims, or perhaps they wanted to avoid angering their Sunni rulers by supporting the Shia cause. Consequently, Western authors, whose works were based on these authors, also make little reference to the Ghadir Khumm. Even though the Ghadir Khumm is absent from , its author narrates how Muhammad publicly dismissed some complaints about the conduct of Ali in Yemen in the same "chronological slot" as the Ghadir Khumm. The Islamicist Maria M. Dakake thus suggests that al-Tabari deliberately replaced the Ghadir Khumm tradition with another one that praised Ali but lacked any spiritual and legitimist implications in favor of Shia. Alternatively, in the ninth-century Baghdad, some among the Sunni group Ahl al-Hadith apparently denied the event, which may have prompted al-Tabari to refute their claims in his nonextant book , or in his unfinished . Similarly, as a senior employee of the Shia Buyid dynasty, the Shia theologian Sharif al-Radi () does not mention the Ghadir Khumm in his , possibly to avoid the ire of the Sunni Abbasids.
Links to the Qur'an
In Shia and some Sunni sources, two verses of the Qur'an are associated with the Ghadir Khumm: verse 5:3, which announces the perfection of Islam, and verse 5:67, which urges Muhammad to fulfill his divine instructions. The latter, sometimes known as the verse of (, ), has been linked to the Ghadir Khumm by the Sunni exegetes al-Suyuti () and al-Razi (), and the Shi'a exegete al-Qumi (), among others. The verse of warns Muhammad:
Revealed before the Ghadir Khumm, according to the Shi'a, this verse spurred Muhammad to deliver his announcement about 'Ali, which he had delayed fearing the reaction of some of his companions. Sunnis offer different views, one of which connects this verse to Muhammad's criticism of Jews and Christians. Nevertheless, the verse of is highly likely linked to the events that followed the Farewell Pilgrimage, including the Ghadir Khumm, because chapter () five of the Qur'an is often associated with Muhammad's final years in Medina. Verse 5:3 of the Qur'an, also known as the verse of (, ), is similarly connected to the Ghadir Khumm in some Sunni reports by al-Tabari and the Sunni exegete al-Baghdadi (), and by the Shia exegete al-Tusi (), among others. In contrast, most Sunni commentators associate this verse with the Farewell Pilgrimage, and this is also the opinion of al-Ya'qubi. Among various Sunni views, the verse of may refer to the establishment of the rites for Hajj during the Farewell Pilgrimage or the closure of Islamic legislation with the revelation of dietary instructions in the remainder of this verse, although some injunctions about were possibly revealed after this verse. The verse of includes the passage:
Other literary references
The Ghadir Khumm has also been preserved in the Arabic literature. The earliest such instance is a disputed poem attributed to Hassan ibn Thabit (), who accompanied Muhammad during the pilgrimage. For instance, the poem is quoted by the prominent Shia theologian al-Mufid (). The poem appears also in some other Shia and Sunni sources, according to the Islamicist Husain M. Jafri (). Included in this poem is the verse, "Stand up, O Ali, for I find only you to be an imam and a guide after I [Muhammad] depart." In regards to its authenticity, Mohammad A. Amir-Moezzi, another expert, does not find this attribution problematic, while Jafri considers it highly improbable that these events would have passed unrecorded by Ibn Thabit, who was the "official poet-reporter of Muhammad." By contrast, the Islamicists Josef Horovitz () and Ignác Goldziher () reject the veracity of this poem. The Shia al-Kumayt ibn Zayd () is another early poet who composed verses on the same theme.
Historical references On one occasion during his caliphate, Ali is known to have asked Muslims to come forward with their testimonies about the Ghadir Khumm. In doing so, he may have publicly laid claim to a spiritual and political authority greater than others, particularly his predecessors. Muhammad's statement at the Ghadir Khumm, "O God, befriend the friend of Ali and be the enemy of his enemy," was likely the standard formula for pledging allegiance at that time. Indeed, Ali and his son Hasan both demanded a similar pledge from their supporters during their caliphates. The hadith of the is also cited by Ammar ibn Yasir, a companion of Muhammad, to support the legitimacy of Ali's caliphate in the account of the Shia historian Ibn A'tham al-Kufi (ninth century) of the negotiations before the Battle of Siffin (657). This might be the earliest such reference in historical sources.
Interpretation