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Draft:Accursed Scroll

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Accursed Scroll (Arabic: صَحیفة مَلعونة) or Inauspicious Scroll (Arabic: صحیفة مشئومة) was a covenant among a number of the companions of the Prophet (s) aimed at usurping the caliphate from Imam 'Ali (a) shortly before the demise of the Prophet of Islam (s). According to Shi'a sources, a group of companions made a covenant with each other before the Event of Ghadir to prevent the caliphate from reaching the family of the Prophet (s). They intended to assassinate the Messenger of God in the mountain pass of Harsha Mountain. Even after the Event of Ghadir, they gathered in Medina and reaffirmed their covenant, and this gathering has been called the second Accursed Scroll. The Prophet (s), in the Sermon of Ghadir, considered the companions of the scroll as people of the Fire and disassociated himself from them.

Naming

A group gathered during the lifetime of the Messenger of God (s) and signed a covenant to prevent the caliphate from reaching Imam 'Ali (a).[1] This covenant is called the Accursed Scroll[2] and Inauspicious Scroll in Shi'a sources.[3] According to some researchers, the Accursed Scroll occurred twice;[4] once before the Event of Ghadir and the other after it.[5] According to Al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, verses 79 and 80 of Sura al-Zukhruf[6] and Qur'an 58:10 refer to the Accursed Scroll.[7] Also, Ibn Shahrashub has referred to the Accursed Scroll under Qur'an 2:167 and Qur'an 3:118.[8]

Some Shi'a hadith scholars such as Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali,[9] Al-Shaykh 'Abbas al-Qummi,[10] and Sayyid Ibn Tawus (quoting from Irshad al-qulub)[11] have addressed this issue. Also, according to al-Majlisi, this event has been mentioned in the book "Al-Nashr wa l-Tayy" from the books of the Ahl al-Sunna.[12]

Some researchers believe that even if someone doubts the very existence of such a scroll with certain details and elaborations; the approaches, speeches, and behaviors of some companions after the demise of the Prophet of Islam (s) and their stances towards Imam 'Ali (a) and the Ahl al-Bayt (a) were largely similar to what exists in the reports related to this covenant.

The First Accursed Scroll

According to Sayyid Ibn Tawus, the event of the Accursed Scroll occurred after the Days of Hajj and before the Prophet's movement towards Ghadir Khumm in Mecca.[13] The members of this scroll made a covenant with each other beside the Ka'ba not to let the caliphate reach his family after the Prophet, and to take charge of the caliphate themselves.[14] This covenant was signed by all members. Abu 'Ubayda al-Jarrah was the scribe of this contract and buried it beside the Ka'ba.[15] Al-Shaykh 'Abbas al-Qummi believes the writer of this scroll was Sa'id b. al-'As.[16] According to some, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Mu'adh b. Jabal, and Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa are considered among the companions of the scroll.[17] Some have also added the names of al-Mughira b. Shu'ba and 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf.[18]

According to some sources, the companions of the scroll, after consulting with each other, decided to assassinate the Prophet on the way back from the Hajjat al-Wida' on the descent of the mountain pass of Harsha Mountain. These individuals were fourteen people and had the same plan in the Battle of Tabuk.[19] The Prophet was informed of the Accursed Scroll by God before it was written.[20] According to some, this covenant was the first action against the Event of Ghadir and a beginning for taking over the caliphate.[21]

Some believe the hadith, "We prophets do not leave an inheritance, and whatever remains after us is charity," was fabricated for the first time by the companions of the scroll.[22] Based on the Book of Asrar Al Muhammad, Imam 'Ali (a), in his remarks to Talha, in response to the fabricated hadith of the non-convergence of prophethood and caliphate in the Ahl al-Bayt (a), referred to the Accursed Scroll.[23]

The Second Accursed Scroll

After the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Prophet and the announcement of the Wilaya of Imam 'Ali (a) on the day of Ghadir, a group gathered in the house of Abu Bakr after entering Medina and made another covenant there.[24] As mentioned in some sources, this covenant emphasized the caliphate of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Abu 'Ubayda, and Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa after the Messenger of God, and opposed the caliphate of Imam 'Ali (a).[25] 34 people were present in this meeting, most of whom were heads of tribes. According to the report of Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali, fourteen of these individuals were among the Companions of 'Aqaba who were present in the incident of Harsha Mountain.[26][27] This scroll, after being signed by all attendees, was entrusted to Abu 'Ubayda al-Jarrah and buried beside the House of God. This scroll was taken out of its place during the caliphate of 'Umar b. al-Khattab.[28]

According to some sources, the Prophet (s), after the second covenant of the Accursed Scroll, likened them to the leaders of the Ignorance and announced that if God had not ordered him to be patient and test his ummah, he would have beheaded the companions of the scroll.[29] Based on what is mentioned in the book of Sulaym b. Qays, the signatories of this covenant are: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, Mu'awiya, 'Amr b. al-'As, Talha, Abu 'Ubayda al-Jarrah, 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa, Mu'adh b. Jabal, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, al-Mughira b. Shu'ba, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, Aws b. Hadathan, and twenty other people.[30]

Contents of the Covenant

The text of the second Accursed Scroll is mentioned in Bihar al-anwar.[31] Part of its contents, formulated in the month of Muharram in 10 AH, is as follows:

  1. This text is agreed upon by all the Muhajirun and Ansar.
  2. The motive for writing this scroll is that Muslims do not go astray, and that future Muslims follow it.
  3. Prophet Muhammad (s) was one of the divine Prophets, and God ordered him to convey the religion of Islam. After his death, he did not choose a successor for himself and left the choice of his successor to the people.
  4. If a person claims that the Messenger of Allah introduced a specific person as his successor and stated his name and lineage, he has told a lie.
  5. The Prophet (s) said: My companions are like stars. Whichever of them you follow, you will be guided. A person who claims to have superiority over others and is an Imam has spoken falsely.
  6. According to the hadith, "We prophets do not leave an inheritance from ourselves, and what remains from us is charity," the Ahl al-Bayt of the Messenger of God are not caliphs; because close kinship with the Prophet does not constitute a reason for the caliphate.
  7. He who clings to the Book of God and the Sunna of the Prophet will not go astray. If a person did not hold this belief, since he has opposed the truth, the Qur'an, and the community of Muslims, he must be killed.[32]

Reactions

Prophet Muhammad (s), according to some Shi'a sources, referred to the Accursed Scroll in the Sermon of Ghadir and warned about the Imams who would come after him and invite to the Fire. The Prophet considered their place and that of their followers to be in Hell and announced his disassociation from the companions of the scroll.[33] Also, Imam 'Ali (a), in protest against the usurpation of the caliphate by Abu Bakr, reminded him of the incident of the Accursed Scroll. Abu Bakr asked him how he had become aware of the incident. The Imam then ordered al-Zubayr, Salman al-Farsi, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, and Al-Miqdad b. 'Amr to recount the incident of the Accursed Scroll that they had heard from the Prophet (s).[34]

Imam al-Sajjad (a) showed the location of the meeting of the Accursed Scroll in the Ka'ba to Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a) and stated the names of the companions of the scroll.[35] Imam al-Baqir (a) also, after explaining the Accursed Scroll, considered the companions of the scroll as the occasions of revelation of the two verses Qur'an 58:10 and Qur'an 43:79.[36]

Notes

  1. ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Mufīd, al-Fuṣūl al-mukhtāra, 1413 AH, vol. 1, p. 232; Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad, 1416 AH, p. 232.
  2. ↑ Qummī, Safīnat al-biḥār, 1414 AH, vol. 5, p. 56.
  3. ↑ Amīnī Gulistānī, Āyā wa charā, 1392 SH, p. 91; http://pdmag.ir/article-1-1938-fa.
  4. ↑ Amīnī Gulistānī, Āyā wa charā, 1392 SH, p. 91.
  5. ↑ Amīnī Gulistānī, Āyā wa charā, 1392 SH, p. 91.
  6. ↑ Al-Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, 1415 AH, vol. 4, p. 884.
  7. ↑ Al-Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, 1415 AH, vol. 5, p. 316.
  8. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, al-Manāqib, 1379 AH, vol. 3, p. 231.
  9. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  10. ↑ Qummī, Safīnat al-biḥār, 1414 AH, vol. 5, p. 56.
  11. ↑ Sayyid Ibn Ṭāwūs, Ṭaraf min al-anbāʾ wa l-manāqib, Nashr Tāsūʿā, p. 564.
  12. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl, 1404 AH, vol. 5, p. 55.
  13. ↑ Sayyid Ibn Ṭāwūs, Ṭaraf min al-anbāʾ wa l-manāqib, Nashr Tāsūʿā, p. 564.
  14. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 28, p. 86.
  15. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl, 1404 AH, vol. 5, p. 50.
  16. ↑ Qummī, Safīnat al-biḥār, 1414 AH, vol. 5, p. 56.
  17. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  18. ↑ Amīnī Gulistānī, Āyā wa charā, 1392 SH, p. 91.
  19. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  20. ↑ Anṣārī, Ghadīr dar Qurʾān, 1387 SH, vol. 1, p. 239.
  21. ↑ Anṣārī, Ghadīr dar Qurʾān, 1387 SH, vol. 1, p. 230.
  22. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Ḥaqq al-yaqīn, Intishārāt-i Islāmiyya, vol. 1, p. 191.
  23. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 301.
  24. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  25. ↑ Al-Daylamī, Irshād al-qulūb, 1412 AH, vol. 2, p. 333.
  26. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  27. ↑ The mountains of "Harsha" are located between Mecca and Medina. Three days after the Event of Ghadir, meaning the night of Dhu l-Hijja 22, the Holy Prophet (s) moved towards Medina. The hypocrites, who considered the Prophet's arrival in Medina dangerous for themselves and feared that the Prophet would retell the message of Ghadir in Medina and block their path, decided to assassinate the Prophet of God (s) before reaching Medina to divert Imamate and caliphate from its path, according to their own imagination. For this reason, they hid in the mountains of "Harsha" between Mecca and Medina, and positioned themselves on the path the Prophet's camel was supposed to pass, which had a precipice, to execute their plan at the right opportunity by scaring the Prophet's mount or attacking him. Gabriel descended and informed the Prophet (s) that fourteen people were ambushing in the Harsha pass to scare your camel. The Prophet (s), with the help of a number of close companions, implemented security measures.
  28. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  29. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 28, p. 106.
  30. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  31. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 28, p. 104.
  32. ↑ Al-Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 28, p. 104.
  33. ↑ Al-Ṭabrisī, al-Iḥtijāj 'alā ahl al-lajāj, 1403 AH, vol. 1, p. 62.
  34. ↑ Sulaym b. Qays, Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s), 1416 AH, p. 232.
  35. ↑ Amīnī Gulistānī, Āyā wa charā, 1392 SH, p. 92.
  36. ↑ Anṣārī, Ghadīr dar Qurʾān, 1387 SH, vol. 1, p. 259.

References

  • Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. al-Manāqib. Qom: Nashr ʿAllāma, 1st ed., 1379 AH.
  • Amīnī Gulistānī, Muḥammad. Āyā wa charā. Qom: Sipar Ādhīn, 1392 SH.
  • Anṣārī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Ghadīr dar Qurʾān, Qurʾān dar Ghadīr. Qom: Nashr Dalīl Mā, 1st ed., 1387 SH.
  • Al-Baḥrānī, Hāshim b. Sulaymān. Tafsīr al-Burhān. Qom: Muʾassasat al-Biʿtha, 1st ed., 1415 AH.
  • Al-Daylamī, Ḥasan b. Muḥammad. Irshād al-qulūb. Qom: Nashr Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1st ed., 1412 AH.
  • Sulaym b. Qays. Asrār Āl Muḥammad (s). Qom: Nashr al-Hādī, 1st ed., 1416 AH.
  • Sayyid b. Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Ṭaraf min al-anbāʾ wa l-manāqib. Mashhad: Nashr Tāsūʿā, 1st ed., n.d.
  • Al-Ṭabrisī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. al-Iḥtijāj ʿalā ahl al-lajāj. Mashhad: Nashr Murtaḍā, 1st ed., 1403 AH.
  • ʿAbbāsī, Ḥabīb. Darsnāma-yi khuṭba-yi Ghadīr. Tehran: Nashr Payām-i Safīd, 1388 SH.
  • Qummī, Shaykh ʿAbbās. Safīnat al-biḥār. Qom: Nashr Uswa, 1st ed., 1414 AH.
  • Al-Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 4th ed., 1407 AH.
  • Al-Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 2nd ed., 1404 AH.
  • Al-Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 2nd ed., 1403 AH.
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