DESCENT OF THE STAR AND THE KHILAFAT AND THE IMAMAT

Suarah An-Najm Ayah 1 to 4: “Wan-Najm-e-Iza Hawa, MaZalla Sahebukum Wa Ma Ghawa,Wa Ma Yantiqu Anil Hawa,  In Howa Illa Wahian Yuha.” “By the star, when descending (in space), your companion (Muhammad) is not in error nor has he deviated. He does not speak out of his own desires. It (whatever he says) is a revelation which has been revealed to him.”

This Surah was revealed in Madinah. The houses of the emigrants from Makkah were built around the Masjid-e-Nabawi with doors opening inside the mosque. When the number of Muslims increased, the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) received the Commandments from Allah (s.w.t.) to close all the doors of the houses of Muslims except the doors of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). When the revelation was announced, Imam Ali (a.s.) was prepared to close the doors of his house. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) said: “O ‘Ali! The order does not apply to you, as you are of me and I am of you. Some people remarked that the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) has been maddened of his love for (Imam) Ali and has gone astray.

The famous narrator of the Traditions Ibne Abbas says: “Once we offered our ‘Isha’ prayer, the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) turned towards us and said: “At dawn a star will descend from heaven. On whosoever’s house it gets down, he shall be my heir, my Caliph, and the Imam.” Everyone sat waiting for the star, and more than any one, Abbas the uncle of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.), coveted for the star, but the star from heaven, and descended on (Imam) Ali’s house. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) told Imam Ali (a.s.): “O’ Ali! By the One Who has sent me as His Apostle, I say that for you have been assigned by Allah, to be my Heir, my Kalif and Imam.” (Minhaj -us-Sadiqeen, Persian Tafsir). The hypocrites, who could not relish it, said that the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) in his love for Ali had gone mad or gone astray. On this occasion this Ayahs were revealed.

The famous Sunni scholar, Suyuti narrated in his book “Durrul Manshur” as: “One day the Prophet of Allah ordered that all doors of the houses which opened in the Mosque should be closed, (Except the doors of Ali’s house). It was not like by the Muslims. The Prophet’s uncle Hamzah complained that why his doors and the doors of Abu Bakr, Omar and Abbas were closed?

 On hearing these complaints, the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) ascended the pulpit and delivered a matchless sermon and said: “O’ People! Neither I have opened nor closed the doors; I did not expel any one from the mosque nor stationed him (Ali) in the mosque. (Whatever happened was in accordance with the Commands of Allah). Then he recited these Ayahs of the Glorious Qur’an.

This hadith not only highlights the supreme stature of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a.s.) after the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.), but also points out to the fact that all actions (speech or otherwise) of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) has the backing and support of the Divine Commandments. It also strengthens the Shia belief about the Infallibility of the Prophets and the Pure Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)

Sources used:

The Glorios Qur’an (English Translation) by Muhammad Sarwar

The Glorious Qur’an (English Translation) by Ayatollah Agha H.M.M. Pooya Yazdi

The Glorious Qur’an (Urdu Translation) by Ayatollah Nasir Makarem Shirazi

The Glorious Qur’an (Urdu Translation) by Maulana Farman Ali

Al-Amali by Shaikh Saduq

Manaqib Mullah Abul Hasan bin Mughazili Shafe’I, Sharf-ul-Mustafa Abu Hamid Sha’fei, Ibne Marduya