Eid al-Ghadīr

The story behind the day

Eid al-Ghadīr falls on the eighteenth of Dhū al-Ḥijja and is kept by Shia Muslims. It recalls a speech that the Prophet Muhammad gave at a pool called Ghadīr Khumm, on the road back to Medina after his farewell pilgrimage in 632 CE. Shia hold that in it he designated ʿAlī as his successor, while Sunni interpreters read the words as general praise of ʿAlī, so the two traditions remember the same speech differently. The day is marked by fasting and solemn celebration.^[1–7]

Origins

Ghadīr Khumm is a pool, or marsh, in the district called Khumm, on the road between Mecca and Medina. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta, a Sunni body, preserves a report from Zayd ibn Arqam of a sermon the Prophet gave there, in which he asked the people to be mindful of God concerning his descendants. The festival follows the Prophet's farewell pilgrimage, and Shia tradition dates the event to the eighteenth of Dhū al-Ḥijja in 632 CE. An encyclopedia entry calls Eid al-Ghadīr an exclusively Shiite feast, and the Institute of Ismaili Studies says that all Shia Muslims commemorate it. The two traditions agree that the Prophet spoke at Khumm and differ on what he meant: Shia see an appointment of ʿAlī, while Sunni scholars read the words as an affirmation of ʿAlī's excellence.^{[1–5, 8–9]}

What it marks

The words reported from the speech are: whoever's master (mawlā) I am, ʿAlī is his master. Shia hold that this was a divine appointment of ʿAlī as leader, and Egypt's Dar al-Ifta records this as the Shiite position, the leader being chosen by appointment and textual designation. Sunni scholars, by contrast, read the speech as a general statement in support of ʿAlī's character and excellence. The Arabic word mawlā can mean patron, lord or master: Shia take it here to mean leader and guardian, while Sunnis have read it as friend and confidant.^{[4–5, 10–11]}

How it is kept

festival lights and sweets in Qom, no portraits — Festival lights and sweets in Qom, no portraitsIllustration · AI-generated

Eid al-Ghadīr is a distinctively Shia occasion. It is described as a day of solemn celebration, and Shia legal manuals call it an auspicious day. The rulings of Ayatollahs al-Sistani and Makarem Shirazi list fasting on the day among the recommended fasts.^{[6–7, 9]}

Sources

Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.

Origins

What it marks

How it is kept

Sources

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