Yaum ur-Rahbah and an Analysis of the Confrontation of Witnesses of Ghadir Khom with It

The hadith of Ghadir Khom is one of the most important Shia documents in proving Imam Ali’s (AS) guardianship. Despite its being frequently received and explicit implications for Imamate (leadership), one of the opponents` reasons against Imam Ali`s (AS) Imamate lies in the claim that he himself never has taken the hadith as a proof for his Imamate. As most period of his Imamate was spent in Kufa in which one of the famous square and open space for important speech and sermon was Rahbah, the paper reviewed one of Imām Ali’s (AS) speech and Sermon in this square, through a library-based approach and descriptive-analytical method. As explained in the paper, Imam has mentioned the hadith in Rahbah when about 30 companions of the Prophet (s), some explicitly testified it and some acknowledged it later. Based on the evidence, it is clear that this speech/ Sermon, in addition to being narrated by the companions, has also a frequency of meaning (authentic chain). There are some evidences – such as the fact that this speech was made after the war of Jamal in which doubts raised in obedience to Imam Ali (AS) and he severely reacted and dealt with the wrongdoers, as well as some people`s involvement in and suffered from an infectious diseases and, then, their confession to the hadith – based on which, it can be inferred that the meaning and aim of hadith of Ghadir is Imamate and guardianship, not merely affection and friendship