\adíth al­Thaqalayn:

A Study of Its Tawátur

The Various Occasions Related to \adíth al­Thaqalayn:

The various narrations of \adíth al­Thaqalayn also indicate the occasion on which the Prophet (S) proclaimed it publicly. `Allámah `Abd al-`Azíz ^abá>abá'í, who has studied the various narrations of \adíth al-Thaqalayn as recorded by various traditionists mentions four occasions on which the Prophet (S) proclaimed it publicly. First of these is the occasion when the Prophet (S) proclaimed it during his last <ajj at `Arafát. On this occasion, the Prophet (S) was accompanied by more than a hundred thousand Muslims. The second occasion relates to his proclamation at Ghadír Khumm, during the course of his return journey to Madínah. The third occasion relates to his proclamation in the Mosque of Madínah. The fourth one relates to his pronouncement of \adíth al­Thaqalayn in his chamber during his last illness. All these occasions lie within a period of ninety days and pertain to the Prophet's last days.

There are, however, many narrations of the <adíth - in fact, most of them - which do not contain any clue about the time and place of its pronouncement. In the following are given instances of the narrations of \adíth al­Thaqalayn relating to each of these occasions, accompanied by the sources which record them. [2]

1. At `Arafát

Al­Tirmidhí in his Sunan (v, 662, no. 3786) records the following tradition

....Jábir ibn `Abd Alláh said: "I saw the Messenger of Alláh - upon whom be God's peace and benedictions - in the course of his <ajj pilgrimage on the day of `Arafah. The Prophet (S) was seated on his camel, al­Qa#wá', and was delivering a sermon. I heard him say: 'O people, I am leaving among you that which if you hold on to you shall never go astray: the Book of Alláh and my kindred, my household."

Al­Tirmidhí states that the same tradition has been narrated by Abú Dharr, Abu Sa`íd, Zayd ibn Arqam and \udhayfah ibn Usayd.

Among others who have recorded this tradition are:

  1. al­\áfi~ Ibn Abí Shaybah, as in Kanz al­`ummál (1st ed.), i, 48;
  2. al­`Uqaylí in al­¬u`afá' al­Kabír, ii, 250;
  3. al­\ákim al­Tirmidhí, Nawádir al-'u#úl, 68, 50th a#l;
  4. al­^abarání, al­Mu`jam al­kabír, iii, 63, no. 2679;
  5. al­Kha>íb, al­Muttafiq wa al­muftariq, cf. Kanz al­`ummál, i, 48 and Majma' al­zawá'id, v, 195; ix, 163, x, 363, 268;
  6. al­Baghawí, al-Ma#ábí<, ii, 206;
  7. Ibn al­'Athír, Jámi` al­'u#úl, i, 277, no. 65;
  8. al-Ráfi`í, al­Tadwín, ii, 264 (in the biographical account of A<mad ibn Mihrán al­Qa>>án; this <adíth has been deleted in the Indian print, but is present in the manuscripts of the book ! );
  9. al­Mizzí, Tahdhíb al­kamál, x, 51, and Tu<fat al­'ashráf, ii, 278, no. 2615;
  10. al­Qá_í al­Bay_áwí, Tu<fat al­'ashráf;
  11. al­Khwarázmí, Maqtal al­\usayn (A), i, 144;
  12. al­Kha>íb al­Tabrízí, Mishkát al­ma#ábí<, iii, 258;
  13. Ibn Kathír, Tafsír (Búláq edition, on the margin of Fat< al­bayán), ix, 115;
  14. al-Zarandí, Na~m al­durar al­sim>ayn, 232;
  15. al­Maqrízí, Ma`rifat má yajib li Ál al­Bayt al­Nabawí, 38.

2. At Ghadír Khumm:

Al­Nasá'í in his al­Sunan al­kubrá, 96, No. 79, records the following tradition in the chapter "Kha#á'i# `Alí":

Al­Nasá'í narrates from Mu<ammad ibn al­Muthanná, he from Ya<yá ibn \ammád, from Abú 'Uwwanáh, from Sulaymán, from \abíb ibn Abí Thábit, from Abú al­^ufayl, from Zayd ibn Arqam, who said, "When the Messenger of Alláh (A) returned from the last <ajj and came down at Ghadír Khumm....
"Then he declared: 'I am about to answer the call (of death). Verily, I have left two precious things (thaqalayn) among you, one of which is greater than the other: the Book of God and my `Itrah, my Ahl al­Bayt. So watch out how you treat them after me. For, indeed, they will never separate until they return to me by the side of the Pond.' Then he said, 'Verily, God is my master (walí) and I am the walí of every believer.' Then he took `Alí's hand and declared, 'To whomever I am his walí, this one is also his walí. My God, befriend whoever befriends him and be hostile to whoever is hostile to him.'" Abú al­^ufayl says: "I said to Zayd, 'Did you hear it from the Prophet(S)?' He replied, 'There was no one in the caravan who did not see it with his eyes and hear it with his ears,'"

Kha#á'i# `Alí is part of al­Nasá'í's al­Sunan al­kubrá as shown by the 3rd volume of the MS in the king's collection in Morocco, written in 759/1358 folios 81-117. See also in this regard the introduction of al­Kha#á'i# (Kuwait: Maktabat al­Mu`allá, 1406), ed. by A<mad Mírayn Balushí. The editor states that this tradition is #a<í< and its transmitters are thiqah.

Among others who have recorded it in their books are:

  1. Al-Bukhárí, al­Ta'ríkh al­kabír, iii, 96;
  2. Muslim, @a<í<, báb fa_á'il `Alí, no. 2408;
  3. A<mad, Musnad, iii, 17, iv, 366;
  4. `Abd ibn \umayd, Musnad, no. 265;
  5. Ibn Sa`d, and
  6. Abú Ya`lá from Abú Sa`íd, as mentioned in Jam` al­jawámi` and Kanz al­`ummál;
  7. Is<áq ibn Ráhwayh, in his @a<í<., as mentioned by Ibn \ajar in al­Ma>álib al­`áliyah, iv, 65, no. 1873, where he states that its isnád is #a<í<, and also by al-Bu#ayrí in It<áf al­sádah (MS in Topcopi Library, vol. 3, F.55b) who, too, considers the isnád as #a<í<;
  8. Ibn Khuzaymah, @a<í<, MS in Topcopi Library, F.240;
  9. al­Dárimí, Sunan, ii, 310, no. 2319;
  10. Abú Dawúd, Sunan, as mentioned in Sib> ibn al­Jawzí, Tadhkirat khawá## al­'ummáh, 322;
  11. Abu 'Uwwánah, Musnad, as mentioned in al­Shaykhání, al­@irá> al­sawí;
  12. al­Bazzáz, from Umm Hání, as mentioned in Wasílat al­ma'ál;
  13. Ibn Abi 'Á#im, Kitáb al­Sunnah, 629, no. 1551, 630, no. 1555, 629, no. 1551;
  14. al­Ya`qúbí, Ta'ríkh, ii, 112;
  15. al­Baládhurí, Ansáb al­'ashráf, 110, no. 48, the biographical account of `Alí (A);
  16. al­\áfi~ al­\asan ibn Sufyán al­Nasawí, the author of Musnad, from \udhayfah ibn Usayd, as mentioned by Abú Nu`aym, al­\ilyah, i, 355,
  17. al­Fasawí, al­Ma`rifah wa al­ta'ríkh, i, 536;
  18. Ibn Jarír al­^abarí, from \udhayfah ibn Usayd, Zayd ibn Arqam (with al­Nasá'í's wording as well as with the wording of Muslim), Abú Sa`íd al­Khudrí, as cited in Jam` al­jawámi`, ii, 357, 395, Kanz al-`ummál, 12911, xiii, 36441, 36340, 37620, 37621, 36341, Jámi` al-'a<ádíth, vii, 14523, 15112, 15122, 15113, iv, 7773, 8072, 8073;
  19. al­Dúlábí, al­Dhurriyyat al­>áhirah, no. 228;
  20. al­\áfi~ al­^a<áwí, Mushkil al 'áthár, ii, 307, iv, 368;
  21. al­\akím al­Tirmidhí, Nawádir al-'u#úl, from \udhayfah ibn Usayd;
  22. al­^abaráni, al­Mu`jam al­kabír, iii, 2679, 2681, 2683, 3052, v, 4969, 4970, 4971, 4986, 5026, 5028;
  23. al­\ákim, al­Mustadrak `alá al­@a<í<ayn, iii, 109, 110 where he expressly states, as mentioned above, that the tradition is #a<í< in accordance with the criteria of al­Bukhárí and Muslim; al­Dhahabí has confirmed his judgement;
  24. Abú Nu`aym, \ilyat al­'awliyá', i, 355, ix, 64;
  25. al­Bayhaqí, al­Sunan al­kubrá, ii, 148, vii, 30, x, 114;
  26. al­Kha>íb, Ta'ríkh Baghdád, viii, 442;
  27. Ibn al­Magházilí, Manáqib Amír al­Mu'minín (A), 23;
  28. Ibn `Asákir, Ta'ríkh Dimashq, ii, 45, no. 547, the biographical account of `Alí (A), and v, 436 of Badrán's edition in the biographical account of Zayd ibn Arqam;
  29. al­Baghawí, Ma#ábí< al­Sunnah, ii, 205 and Shar< al­Sunnah (MS in Topcopi Libary, vol. 2, F. 718), báb Manáqib Ahl al­Bayt;
  30. Ibn al­'Athír, Usd al­ghábah, iii, 92 in the biographical account of 'Ámir ibn Laylá, no. 2727;
  31. Ibn \ajar, al­'I#ábah in the biographical account of 'Ámir;
  32. al-Mizzí, Tu<afat al­'ashráf, iii, 203, no. 3688 from Muslim and al­Nasá'í;
  33. al­¬iyá' al­Muqaddisí, al­Mukhtárah, as cited by al­Samhúdí and al­Sakháwí;
  34. Ibn Taymiyyah, Minháj al­Sunnah, iv, 85;
  35. al-Dhahabí, Talkhí# al­Mustadrak, iii, 109;
  36. Ibn Kathír, al­Bidáyah wa al­niháyah, v, 209, vi, 199, from al­Nasá'í, where he quotes al­Nasá'í's statement that this narration is #a<í<;
  37. al­Kházin, Tafsír under verses 42:23 and 3:103;
  38. al­Mullá, Wasílat al­muta`abbidín, v, 199;
  39. al-Haythamí, Majma` al­zawá'id, ix, 163 from Zayd, 164 from \udhayfah.

3. In the Mosque of Madínah:

Ibn `A>iyyah in the introduction of his tafsír, al­Mu<arrar al­wajíz, i, 34 records the following narration:

...It is narrated that he (i.e. the Prophet) - upon whom be peace - said in the last sermon that he delivered during his illness: "O people, I leave behind two precious things (thaqalayn) amongst you...: the Book of God - which is a rope between Him and you, whose one end is in His hand and whose other end is in your hands ­ so act according to its mu<kamát and believe in its mutashábihát; consider as lawful that which it regards as lawful and consider as forbidden that which it regards as unlawful - and my `Itrah and my Ahl al­Bayt, who are the second thaql. So don't outstrip them (fa lá tasbiqúhum ), for then you shall perish."

Unfortunately in the printed versions of it fa lá tasbiqúhum has been altered as fa lá tasbi`úhum (a meaningless expression). This tradition has also been narrated by:

  1. Abú \ayyán in his tafsír, al­Ba<r al­mu<í>, i, 12 (with identical wording, except that in a published version of it there is fa lá tasubbúhum, i.e. so don't curse them, instead of fa lá tasbiqúhum);
  2. Ibn \ajar, al­@awá`iq al­mu<riqah, 75, 136;
  3. Ya<yá ibn al­\asan, Akhbár al­Madínah with his isnád from Jábir, as cited in Yanábí` al­mawaddah, 40.

4. In the Prophet's Chamber During His Last Illness:

Ibn Abí Shaybah, as cited by Al­`I#ámí in Sim> al­nujúm al­'awálí, ii, 502, no. 136, has narrated the following tradition:


The Messenger of Alláh (S) said during his last illness: "Soon I am going to pass away and I have extended to you my plea of excuse. Lo, verily I leave behind amongst you two precious things: the Book of Alláh , the Almighty and the Glorious, and my kindred (`Itrah)." Then he took `Alí's hand and raised it, saying, "This `Alí is with the Qur'án and the Qur'án is with `Alí. The two will not separate until they return to me by the Pond. Then I will ask the two as to how they were treated after me."

Among the narrators of this tradition are:

  1. al­Bazzáz, Musnad, as mentioned in Kashf al­'astár, iii, 221, no. 2612;
  2. Mu<ammad ibn Ja`far al­Razzáz, from Umm Salamah (where she is explicit that the Prophet [S] made this pronouncement in his chamber which was filled by the Companions), as cited in Wasílat al­ma'ál;
  3. Al­'Azharí, Tahdhíb al­lughah, ix, 78;
  4. al­Kha>íb al­Khwarazmí, Maqtal al­\usayn (A), i, 164, from Ibn `Abbás;
  5. Ibn \ajar, al­@awá`iq al­mu<riqah, 89, from Umm Salamah.