Yawm al-Ruhba

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Yawm al-Ruḥba (Arabic: يَوْم الرُحْبَة) is the day in which Imam Ali (a) asked those people in al-Ruhba in Kufa who had witnessed the Event of Ghadir to testify about Hadith al-Ghadir. A number of the Prophet (s)'s companion and companions of Imam Ali (a)—between twelve to thirty people—stood up and testified that they had heard Hadith al-Ghadir from the Prophet (s). The story of al-Ruhba is also known as "Munashadat al-Ruhba" (مناشدة الرحبة). It is cited in many Shiite and Sunni sources. 'Allama Amini maintains that the story of the Day of Ruhba is mutawatir.

What is al-Ruhba?

There are different things to which "Al-Ruhba" can refer.[1] However, it seems that in this story it refers to a place in the middle of the courtyard of the Mosque of Kufa where Imam Ali (a) usually sat for adjudication or preaching. It is said that during the period of Ziyad b. Abih, transmitters of hadiths who did not dare explicitly mention Imam Ali (a), referred to him as "Sahib al-Ruhba".[2]

According to Mutarrazi (d. 610/1213-4), al-Ruhba in Kufa was a stone bench in the middle of the Mosque of Kufa where Imam Ali (a) sat and preached people. This is the same "Ruhba" on which Imam Ali (a) put the booties of the battle with Khawarij.[3]

Munashadat al-Ruhba

The story of the Day of Ruhba is also referred to as "Munashadat al-Ruhba". "Munashada" means to make a request for the sake of God. The story is thus known because at the beginning of his remarks, Imam Ali (a) said, "Unshid Allah" (أُنشِدُ الله), that is, for the sake of Allah I ask you. Thus he asked the participants to testify about Hadith al-Ghadir.

"For the sake of Allah, I ask those who have met the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, and have heard his remarks on the Day of Ghadir al-Khumm, to stand up and testify what they had heard!"[4][5]

Date of the Event

The story of al-Ruhba took place in 35/655-6, that is, at the beginning of the caliphate of Imam Ali (a). For according to the hadith by Ya'la b. Murra, Amir al-Mu'minin (a) made these remarks when he arrived in Kufa.[6]

The Story of al-Ruhba

According to 'Allama Amini, in 35/655-6, when there were conflicts and disputes with Amir al-Mu'minin (a) with respect to caliphate, some people expressed doubts about what was allegedly transmitted from the Prophet (s) over the superiority of Ali (a) over others with respect to imamate and caliphate. When he heard about such doubts, Imam Ali (a) went to a huge square at the center of Kufa. He defended the truth and rejected the arguments of people against his caliphate among a large population of people there".[7]

After the Imam's (a) remarks, some companion stood up and testified that they had heard Hadith al-Ghadir from the Prophet (s). According to some sources, some people such as Zayd b. Arqam refused to testify and were then cursed by the Imam (a).[8]

Number of Testifiers

The number of people who testified on the Day of al-Ruhba that they had heard Hadith al-Ghadir is differently reported in different Shiite and Sunni sources. According to these reports, they were at least twelve and at most thirty. 'Allama Amini appeals to reliable Sunni sources to show that they were twenty four.[9] However, other Sunni scholars such as Ahmad b. Hanbal made it explicit that they were thirty.[10]

The best-known people who testified on the Day of Ruhba:

Abu 'Umra al-Ansari, Abu l-Haytham b. al-Tayyihan, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khuzayma b. Thabit (Dhu l-Shahadatayn), Sahl b. Hunayf, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Sahl b. Sa'd al-Sa'idi, 'Abd Allah b. Thabit al-Ansari (the servant of the Prophet (s)), 'Ubayd b. 'Azib al-Ansari, 'Adi b. Hatim al-Ta'i, Najiya b. 'Amr al-Khuza'i, Nu'man b. 'Ajlan al-Ansari.[11]

Transmitters

According to 'Allama Amini, transmitters of "Munashadat al-Ruhba" were eighteen, four of whom were from the companions (sahaba) and fourteen of whom were followers (tabi'un).[12] Here are those transmitters:

  1. Habba b. Juwayn al-'Urani
  2. Zayd b. Arqam
  3. Abu l-Tufayl al-Kinani
  4. Ya'li bin Marra bin Wahab al-Thaqafi
  1. Abu Sulayman Mu'adhin
  2. Asbagh b. Nubata
  3. Zadhan b. 'Umar
  4. Zar b. Hubaysh
  5. Ziyad b. Mundhir
  6. Zayd b. Yathi' al-Hamdani
  7. Sa'id b. Abi Haddan
  8. Sa'id b. Wahb al-Hamdani
  9. Abu 'Ammara 'Abd Khayr b. Yazid al-Hamdani
  10. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Layli
  11. 'Amr Dhi Marra
  12. 'Umayra b. Sa'd al-Hamdani
  13. Hani b. Hani al-Hamdani
  14. Haritha b. Nasr[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Imām Shināsī, vol. 9, p. 41.
  2. ↑ Madanī, al-Ṭarāz al-awwal, vol. 2, p. 61.
  3. ↑ Muṭarrazī, al-Maghrib, vol. 1, p. 324.
  4. ↑ Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 4, p. 74.
  5. ↑ انشد الله من بقی ممن لقی رسول‌الله صلی‌الله‌علیه‌وآله و سمع مقاله فی یوم غدیر خم الا قام فشهد بما سمع
  6. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Imām Shināsī, vol. 9, p. 41.
  7. ↑ Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 2, p. 14.
  8. ↑ Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-Ḥalabīyya, vol. 3, p. 308.
  9. ↑ Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 2, p. 41-42.
  10. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Imām Shināsī, vol. 9, p. 46.
  11. ↑ Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 2, p. 41-42.
  12. ↑ Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 2, p. 14.
  13. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Imām Shināsī, vol. 9, p. 47-48.

References

  • Amīnī, ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Ghadīr. Translated to Farsi by Jalāl al-Dīn Fārsī. Tehran: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 1368 Sh.
  • Ḥilabī al-Shāfiʿī, ʿAlī b. Burhān. Al-Sīra al-Ḥalabīyya. Cairo, [n.p], 1353 AH.
  • Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Ṣayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Imām Shināsī. Mashhad: Nashr-i ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāyī, 1427 AH.
  • Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Hibat Allāh. Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Qom: Nashr Maktabat Āyatollāh Marʿashī al-Najafī, 1404 AH.
  • Madanī, ʿAlī Khān b. Aḥmad. Al-Ṭarāz al-awwal. Mashhad: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1384 Sh.
  • Muṭarrazī, Nāṣir b. ʿAbd al-Sayyid al. Al-Maghrib. Edited by Maḥmūd Fākhūrī & ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Mukhtār. Aleppo: Maktabat Usāma b. Zayd, 1979.
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