(B) The Meaning of “Mawla” in the Hadīth of Ghadīr
The hadīth ofGhadīr issostrikingthat everybody mustin allfairness
noticeandthenbecomecertainthat‘Alibecamethefirstsuccessorofthe
Prophet. So let us look at the crucial word and context of the hadīth.
Mawla,inthishadīth,meanssomeone whohasthe statusof wilāyah
and imamate,and can give his opinion andcommand onit; his com-
mandhas priorityoverall othercommands.Forthisreason, before he
said, "He whose master (mawla) I am," the Prophet asked, "O People,
who among the believers has more authority (awla)?"
Awla,orhavingmoreauthority,meansthattheProphet'swishcomes
beforethewishofthepeople,andthatwhateverhesaysordoesisanau-
thorityforthepeople.Peoplefollowhim;hehaswilāyahandguardian-
shipoverthem.Now,wecanseethatjustasinthefirstsentence,theau-
thorityandwilāyahoftheProphetismentioned,sointhefollowingsen-
tence the word `mawla' for ‘Ali must havethe same meaning so that
there can be some connection between the two sentences.
Thereforethecorrectmeaningwhichwegetfromthesefewsentences
isastheProphetasked:"DonotIhavemoreauthorityoveryou?""Yes!"
everyonereplied."So,whosoeveramongyouonwhomIhaveauthority,
‘Alialso hasauthority. After me,he willbe the mawla of allMuslims
and my successor."
Thus, in this hadīth, there is no question of any other meaning for
`mawla'apartfrom havingauthorityorpriority—wilāyahandimam-
ate;andanyothermeaninginitsplaceisentirelyirrelevant.Weshould
also note that the Prophet of Islam kept people standing in this great
heat.Thishistoricalfact makesitclearthatthe matterhasaspecialim-
portance;for,ifnot,noreasonablemanwouldsupposethattheProphet
woulddetainpeopleundersuchconditionswhenhispurposewasonly
to remind them of a trivial matter, for example, that ‘Ali was his friend!
* * *ThislessonhasbeenadaptedandabridgedfromDarRah-eHaqq,The
Roots of Religion, Qum, Iran.