Tradition of Ghadeer is reliable as per the Scholars of Ahle Sunnah

For those Muslim brothers who blindly without any evaluation say that Hadithe Ghadeer is a weak tradition, we would like to gift them with 12 references of Ahle Sunnat authors who upon their research on the topic of Ghadeer conclude that Hadithe Ghadeer is a mutawatir tradition. Mutawatir is terminologically used for those traditions that have been narrated through various different chains, such that there remains no doubt in the authenticity of the tradition. And every Muslim should know that a mutawatir tradition is just like the verse of Quran from the aspect of correctness and belief. What I mean here is that just like no Muslim can continue to be a Muslim by denying a single verse of the Holy Quran similar is the case with tradiotions of Holy Prophet (sawa). No one can continue to claim Islam yet deny the words of the respected Prophet (sawa). we back this from the verse of Holy Quran where Allah Mighty and Majestic be He says in Surah Hashr verse number 7:

وَمَآ ءَاتَٮٰكُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَہَٮٰكُمۡ عَنۡهُ فَٱنتَهُواْ‌ۚ

whatever the messenger (sawa) gives you then you take it and whatever he prohibits you from then you refrain.

Let us now inspect a list of authors that consider this tradition of Ghadeer from the Holy Prophet (sawa) to be correct and reliable.

1) Shamsuddin Zahabi (exp 748 AH)

vقلت: جمع (طبري) طرق حديث غدير خم في أربعة أجزاء رأيت شطره فبهرني سعة رواياته وجزمت بوقوع ذلك .

 سير أعلام النبلاء ، ج 14 ، ص 277 

I say: Tabari has collected the hadithe Ghadeer khum in four aspects I have inspected it then the amplitude of its narration dazzled me and I affirm the occurrence of this incident.

2) Ibne Hajar Askalani (exp 852 AH)

¡واما حديث «من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه» فقد أخرجه الترمذي والنسائي وهو كثير الطرق جداً وقد استوعبها بن عقدة في كتاب مفرد وكثير من اسانيدها صحاح وحسان .

فتح الباري شرح صحيح البخاري ، ج 7 ، ص 74

As for the tradition "Of whomsover I am the master then Ali is his master", then certainly it is narrated by Tirmizi and Nisaii and it really has many chains of narrators. And certainly bin ukbah in his book Mufrad has broughtforth it through many chains of narration that are correct and accurate

3) Ibne Hajar Haithami (Exp 974 AH)

أنه حديث صحيح لا مرية فيه وقد أخرجه جماعة كالترمذي والنسائي وأحمد و طرقه كثيرة جدا ومن ثم رواه ستة عشر صحابيا وفي رواية لأحمد أنه سمعه من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ثلاثون صحابيا وشهدوا به لعلي لما نوزع أيام خلافته كما مر وسيأتي وكثير من أسانيدها صحاح وحسان ولا التفات لمن قدح في صحته .

الصواعق المحرقه ، ج 1 ، ص 106ـ 107

Surely it is a correct tradition there is no doubt in it and certainly it has been narrted by a group of the likes of Tirmizi, Nisaii, Ahmad and its chains are really excessive. And it is said to have been narrated from 16 companions and in the narration of Ahmad, surely it has been heard from the Prophet (sawa) from 30 companions and they have testified to Ali when he (a.s) called them during his days of khilafat as it has passed. And soon we shall bring a long list of chain of narrators that are reliable and good and there is no way out for the one who slanders its reliability.

 4) Jalaluddin Suyuti (exp 911 AH)

vالمناوي: (من كنت مولاه)... ورجال أحمد ثقات بل قال المؤلف (جامع الصغير): حديث متواتر .

التيسير بشرح الجامع الصغير ، ج 2   ص 442

Al Manawi says:  (of whomsoever I am the master...) the chain of naration of Ahmad is reliable because the author of Jameas sagheer says that the tradition is mutawatir

5) Abu Hamid Ghazzali exp 505 AH

vواجمع الجماهير على متن الحديث من خطبته في يوم عيدير خم باتفاق الجميع وهو يقول : « من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه » فقال عمر بخ بخ يا أبا الحسن لقد أصبحت مولاي ومولى كل مولى فهذا تسليم ورضى وتحكيم ثم بعد هذا غلب الهوى لحب الرياسة وحمل عمود الخلافة وعقود النبوة وخفقان الهوى في قعقعة الرايات واشتباك ازدحام الخيول وفتح الأمصار وسقاهم كأس الهوى فعادوا إلى الخلاف الأول : فنبذوه وراء ظهورهم واشتروا به ثمناً قليلا .

سر العالمين وكشف ما في الدارين ، ج 1 ، ص 13

 And the consensus of the  masses concerning the text of the tradition of Ghadeer from the sermon of the day of Ghadeer is in agreement with all and it is like this " of whomsoever I am the master Ali is his master" then Umar said congratulation congratulations oh Abal Hassan today you have become the master of all the masters and this was submission and satisfaction and judgement but after this his desires overpowered him for the love of kingdom and he then ascribed khilafat for himself, and changed the pillar of khilafat from its original place and with the   means of military and raised the flags and spread it to other frontiers and caused the path of difference for the ummat just like the days of jhahiliyat, and thus became a subject of this verse

They put it (covenant) behind their backs and sold it for a lowly price

 Mulla Ali Qari (exp 1014 AH) 6

vأن هذا حديث صحيح لا مرية فيه ، بل بعض الحفاظ عده متواتراً إذ في رواية أحمد أنه سمعه من النبي9 ثلاثون صحابيا وشهدوا به لعلي لما نوزع أيام خلافته

مرقاة المفاتيح شرح مشكاة المصابيح ، ج 11 ، ص 248

Surely this tradition is reliable there is no doubt in it also some of the traditionalists have recorded it as mutawatir, when we see the tradition from Ahmad being narrated from 30 companions and they testified it for Ali when they were summoned during his khilafat

 Allamah Shamsuddin Jurai Shafeii (exp 833 AH) 7 

vهذا حديث حسن من هذا الوجه ، صحيح من وجوه كثيرة تواتر عن امير المؤمنين علي ، وهو متواتر ايضاً عن النبي9 رواه الجم الغفير عن الجم الغفير ، ولا عبرة بمن حاول تضعيفه من لا اطلاع له في هذا العلم .

 أسني المطالب في مناقب سيدنا علي بن أبي طالب ، ص48

This tradition is good from this aspect and is also reliable to the extent of tawatur from Ali (a.s) and is also mutawatir from the Prophet and is narrated from groups of forgiven ones from the groups of forgiven. And there is no example for the one who considers it weak for him there is no knowledge in this matter

Sibt ibne jauzii (exp 654 AH) 8 

اتّفق علماء السير على أنّ قصّة الغدير كانت بعد رجوع النبي9 من حجّة الوداع في الثامن عشر من ذي الحجّة جمع الصحابة وكانوا مائة وعشرون ألفاً وقال: (من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه) الحديث ، نص9على ذلك بصريح العبارة دون التلويح والإشارة

تذكرة الخواص ، ص 37 

The authors of biography are unanimous that the incident of Ghadeer took place at the return from the hajjatul wida on the 18th Zilhaj. He (sawa) gathered the companions and they were 120000 in number, he (sawa) then said "of whomsoever I am the master then Ali is his master" these are clear traditions that indicate towards  this fact and not just indications  and remarks towards this incident. tazkeratul khwas page 37

Allamah Ismaeel bin muhammed Alajlooni jerahii (exp 1162 AH) 9 

(من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه) رواه الطبراني وأحمد والضياء في المختارة عن زيد بن أرقم وعلي وثلاثين من الصحابة بلفظ اللهم وال من والاه وعاد من عاداه فالحديث متواتر أو مشهور 

 كشف الخفاء ، ج 2 ، ص 361 ، رقم : 2591

 The tradition "of whomsoever I am the master Ali is his master" has been narrated by Ahmad and Ziya on the authority of Zaid bin Arqam and Ali and from 30 companions using the sentence "Oh Allah love the one who loves him and be enemy of the one who is his enemy" then this tradition is mutwatir also famous. Kashfal khafa volume 2 page 361 tradition number 2591

Muhammad bin Ismaeel Sanaanie (exp 1182 AH) 10

حديث من كنت مولاه فعلى مولاه أخرجه جماعة من أئمة الحديث منهم أحمد والحاكم من حديث ابن عباس وابن أبي شيبة وأحمد من حديث ابن عباس عن بريدة وأحمد وابن ماجه عن البراء و ... وقد عده أئمة من المتواتر

 توضيح الأفكار لمعاني تنقيح الأنظار ، ج 1 ، ص 243

The tradition "of whomsoever I am the master Ali is his master" has come from group of Imams of tradition from them are Ahmad and Hakim from the tradition of Ibne Abbas and Ibne Abi Shaibahand Ahmed brings from Ibne Abbas from Buraidah and Ibne Majah from Bura... and from a group of Imams  such that it is mutawatir

Mohammad bin Jafar Alkatani (exp 1345 AH) 11

وفي رواية لأحمد أنه سمعه من النبي9 ثلاثون صحابيا وشهدوا به لعلي لما نوزع أيام خلافته وممن صرح بتواتره أيضا المناوي في التيسير نقلا عن السيوطي وشارح المواهب اللدنية وفي الصفوة للمناوي

 نظم المتناثر من الحديث المتواتر ، ج 1 ، ص 195

And from the tradition of Ahmad surely it has been heard from the Prophet (sawa) from 30 companions and they witnessed it before Ali when they were summoned during his khilafat and it is declared as tawatur also Manawi in tayseer has narrated this from suyuti and Shareh Almawahib addaniyat and in Sifwato of Manawi

Muhammad Nasir Albani (exp 1420 Ah) 12

vو للحديث طرق أخرى كثيرة جمع طائفة كبيرة منها الهيثمي في المجمع و قد ذكرت و خرجت ما تيسر لي منها مما يقطع الواقف عليها بعد تحقيق الكلام على أسانيدها بصحة الحديث يقينا، و إلا فهي كثيرة جدا، و قد استوعبها ابن عقدة في كتاب مفرد، قال الحافظ ابن حجر: منها صحاح و منها حسان.

و جملة القول أن حديث الترجمة حديث صحيح بشطريه ، بل الأول منه متواتر عنه9 كما ظهر لمن تتبع أسانيده و طرقه ، و ما ذكرت منها كفاية

السلسلة الصحيحة ، ج 4 ، ص 249

As for the tradition its chains are numerous amongst which are a group of great scholars like Haisami in majmaa, and indeed he has remembered it and brought it what  made easy for us that which cuts the arguments for the one who investigates into its chains to confirm the reliability of the tradition and except that they are great in numbers and certainly ibne uqdah has exposed these in his book Mufrad, Hafiz ibne Hajar says: amongst it is correct and amongst it are good. And the conclusion of the saying is that the tradition and its meaning are correct in its context as due to the fact of its being mutawatir as it is manifested for the one who investigates its chains and its paths and what has been discussed in Kifayah

Final word: After looking at the comments of the pillars of Ahle Sunnah traditionalists and scholars there remains no doubt that the tradition of Ghadeer is reliable and acceptable and this is definitely a truth that can never be denied by the seeker of truth. Our question to the Muslim ummat is this that why would scholars like Bukhari and Muslim did not deem fit to include such an important tradition? specially when the great scholars of all time have considered it a mutawatir tradition? The answer could only be one of the two options. either their books are incomplete and miss some of the important declarations of Imamat and wilayat of Ahle Bayt (a.s) or they have not dealt the right of Ahle Bayt (a.s) as ought its due. we leave it upto the readers to decide which one is true specially relating the fact that Bukhari has not narrated a single tradition from Imam Baqir (a.s) who was considered at the least an important Tabeieen if at all Bukhari did not know his relation to the Holy Prophet (sawa) but at the same time Bukhari deems fit to narrate traditions from the killer of Imam Hussain (a.s) the accursed Ibne Saad. May Allah Hasten the reappearance of His Last Hujjat (atfs) who takes the revenge of the killing of the grandson of the Holy Prophet (sawa) Ameen! Ameen

کیوں علیؑ ہی ولایت کے لئے چُنے گئے