Ghadir Khum: Prophetic Initiative to Negate Dominative Power

Though، according to the Islamic political outlook، the original rule is specific to God، belief in superiority of Divine rule and religious laws does not mean limitation of the role played by people to promote the performance of the Islamic government in the large-scale social and political management at all. In the field of the Islamic politics، some schools of thought maintain that the Caliph and the Islamic government take their power directly from God، and consider no role for people to play and contribute in the institution of power in fulfilling duties and expectations resulted from its existence in the public sphere. The Holy Prophet''s (pbuh) tradition to construct the edifice of government، on the other hand، proves the opposite of this idea. After opposition of Meccans to the Holy Prophet''s (pbuh) mission and his forced migration to Medina، with the help of the people of Medina he managed to found a government on the basis of social justice. It is، to be sure، in line with such a manner that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) continues his mission and perfects his religion through the process of appointing his successor in Ghadir Khum. In spite of having the right and full authority to appoint Ali Ibn Abi Talib directly، explaining the various kinds of competence which such a person should have to administrate Muslims'' affairs، he seeks to make acceptance of Imam Ali (pbuh) internalized by the audience، and emphasize necessity of making the Islamic government efficient through public assistance and cooperation.