Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25 and al-Ghadir
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Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25 is a verse condemning the companions of the First Cursed Scroll who hid the text of their scroll inside the Ka'ba.
Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25 was revealed in condemnation of two anti-Ghadir activities at the Ka'ba: first, the selection of the Ka'ba by the companions of the scroll to take action against the divine religion, and second, the entrusting and hiding of the scroll inside the Ka'ba.
There is a historical precedent for this act by the companions of the scroll in the history of Islam: when the Quraysh, before the migration of the Prophet (s), in order to pressure him, made a pact at Dar al-Nadwa to imprison him, his companions, and the Banu Hashim in the Shi'b Abi Talib, and to avoid interacting or trading with them, they hung that scroll in the Ka'ba. The Prophet (s) also said regarding the scroll of the people of Saqifa: "In this ummah, a group has emerged that, in writing a scroll against us, resembles those who in the Jahiliyya wrote a scroll against us and hung it in the Ka'ba."
A Verse Regarding the Actions of the Hypocrites at Ghadir
The context of the revelation of Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25 has been depicted by some researchers as follows: One of the actions of the hypocrites in the final year of the life of the Prophet (s) was the incident of the writing of the Cursed Scroll. After the Hajjat al-Wada', and before Ghadir, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Mu'adh b. Jabal, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa, and Abu 'Ubayda al-Jarrah wrote a scroll to prevent the caliphate from reaching the Ahl al-Bayt (a). A scroll that was an act against the divine religion and human salvation. God, by revealing nine consecutive verses, condemned various aspects of this conspiracy and recorded it in the text of the Quran.
Since this scroll was signed in the Ka'ba, and it was an act of infidelity in the House of God, Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25 was revealed, introducing it from this dimension: 
وَ مَنْ یُرِدْ فیهِ بِاِلْحادٍ بِظُلْمٍ نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذابٍ اَلیمٍ
.[1]
An Action Similar to the Act of the Polytheists in the Jahiliyya
Some researchers have depicted the historical situation of the revelation of Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25 as follows: The selection of the Ka'ba by the companions of the scroll for action against the divine religion is a noteworthy matter. Swearing an oath and making a pact in the House of the Lord to persist in destroying the divine religion of humanity has also been considered strange; strange in the sense that this oath was to God, yet its subject was against God, and if it was to idols, why did they swear by idols in the House of God?
Another strange subject is the entrusting and hiding of the scroll inside the Ka'ba, where they entrusted an anti-God pact to God. This type of anti-God action in the House of God has a precedent, when the Quraysh, before the migration of the Prophet (s), in order to pressure him, made a pact at Dar al-Nadwa to imprison him, his companions, and the Banu Hashim in the Shi'b Abi Talib, and to avoid interacting or trading with them, and they hung that scroll in the Ka'ba.[2] The Prophet (s) also said regarding the scroll of the people of Saqifa: "In this ummah, a group has emerged that, in writing a scroll against us, resembles those who in the Jahiliyya wrote a scroll against us and hung it in the Ka'ba."[3]
Theological Analysis of the Revelation of the Verse
In the theological analysis of the revelation of Surah al-Hajj, Verse 25, it has been said: God has recorded this heretical act against the wilaya of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the Quran. Imam al-Sadiq (a) also says in explaining it: The verse وَ مَنْ یُرِدْ فِیهِ بِإِلْحادٍ بِظُلْمٍ… was revealed regarding the companions of the scroll; when they made a pact and agreement inside the Ka'ba on their infidelity and denial of what God had revealed regarding the wilaya of the Commander of the Faithful (a), and in this way, they committed heresy in the House of God by oppressing the Prophet (s) and his wali.[4]
Imam al-Baqir (a) was asked about the verse وَ مَنْ یُرِدْ فِیهِ بِإِلْحادٍ بِظُلْمٍ …, and he said: "They made a pact against the progeny of Muhammad (a) that if the Prophet (s) passed away, they would prevent the caliphate from reaching the progeny of Muhammad (a) and would not give them any of the khums."[5] In another hadith regarding the occasion of the revelation of this same verse, it is stated: نَزَلَتْ فى مَنْ يَلْحَدُ بِأَميرِالْمُؤْمِنينَ عليه السلام وَ يَظْلِمُهُ.[6] "Ilhad" means turning away and deviating from the truth, which regarding the wilaya of the Commander of the Faithful (a) means deviating from the divine path of wilaya and being drawn toward the anti-God path, i.e., Saqifa.[7]
Footnotes
- ↑ Bihar al-anwar, vol. 36, p. 168.
- ↑ Bihar al-anwar, vol. 18, p. 120.
- ↑ Bihar al-anwar, vol. 28, p. 106.
- ↑ al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 421, h. 44; al-Sirat al-mustaqim, vol. 1, p. 290; Ta'wil al-ayat al-zahira, vol. 1, p. 335, h. 6; Bihar al-anwar, vol. 23, p. 376, h. 59; Bihar al-anwar, vol. 30, p. 265.
- ↑ Ghadir dar Quran, vol. 1, p. 288.
- ↑ Tafsir al-Qummi, vol. 2, p. 83; Bihar al-anwar, vol. 36, p. 168, h. 153.
- ↑ Ghadir dar Quran, vol. 1, pp. 287–288; Waqi'a-yi qur'ani-yi Ghadir, p. 52.
References
- Biḥār al-anwār al-jāmiʿa li-durar akhbār al-aʾimma al-aṭhār; Muḥammad Bāqir b. Muḥammad Taqī Majlisī, Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
- Taʾwīl al-āyāt al-ẓāhira fī faḍāʾil al-ʿitra al-ṭāhira; Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAlī Ḥusaynī Astarābādī, edited by Ḥusayn Ustādwalī, Qom: Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1409 AH.
- Tafsīr al-Qummī; ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm Qummī, edited by Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāʾirī, Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1404 AH.
- Al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm ilā mustaḥiqqī al-taqdīm; ʿAlī b. Muḥammad Nubāṭī ʿĀmilī, edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Bihbūdī, Tehran: Maktabat al-Murtaḍawiyya, 1384 AH.
- Ghadīr dar Qurʾān, Qurʾān dar Ghadīr; Muḥammad Bāqir Anṣārī, Qom: Dalīl-i Mā Publications, 1387 Sh.
- Al-Kāfī; Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq Kulaynī, edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghiffārī and Muḥammad Ākhūndī, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1407 AH.
- Wāqiʿa-yi Qurʾānī-yi Ghadīr: Guzārish-i safar-i yak-māha-yi Payāmbar barā-yi iʿlām-i wilāyat dar sāya-yi āyāt-i Qurʾānī; Muḥammad Bāqir Anṣārī, Qom: Dalīl-i Mā Publications, 1386 Sh.