section_path: Companionship of Muhammad/Ghadir Khumm
section_name: Ghadir Khumm
paragraph_text: Ghadir Khumm
  
  On his return trip from the Hajj pilgrimage in 632, Muhammad halted the large caravan of pilgrims at the Ghadir Khumm and addressed them after the congregational prayer. After the prayer, Muhammad delivered a sermon to a large number of Muslims in which he emphasized the importance of the Quran and his ahl al-bayt (lit. ' people of the house ', his family). Taking Ali by the hand, Muhammad then asked if he was not awla (lit. ' have more authority over ' or ' closer to ') the believers than themselves, this is evidently a reference to verse 33:6 of the Quran. When they affirmed, Muhammad then declared, "He whose mawla I am, Ali is his mawla." Musnad Ibn Hanbal, a canonical Sunni source, adds that Muhammad repeated this statement three or four more times and that Umar congratulated Ali after the sermon, "You have now become the mawla of every faithful man and woman." Muhammad had earlier alerted Muslims about his impending death. Shia sources describe the event in greater detail, linking the announcement to verses 5:3 and 5:67 of the Quran.
  
  The authenticity of the Ghadir Khumm is rarely contested, as its "among the most extensively acknowledged and substantiated" reports in classical Islamic sources. However, mawla is a polysemous Arabic word and its interpretation in the context of the Ghadir Khumm is split along sectarian lines. Shia sources interpret mawla as 'leader', 'master', and 'patron', while Sunni sources interpret it as love or support for Ali. Shias, therefore, view the Ghadir Khumm as the investiture of Ali with Muhammad's religious and political authority, while Sunnis regard it as a statement about the rapport between the two men, or that Ali should execute Muhammad's will. Shias point to the extraordinary nature of the announcement, give Quranic and textual evidence, and argue to eliminate other meanings of mawla in the hadith except for authority, while Sunnis minimize the importance of the Ghadir Khumm by casting it as a simple response to earlier complaints about Ali. During his caliphate, Ali is known to have asked Muslims to come forward with their testimonies about the Ghadir Khumm, presumably to counter challenges to his legitimacy.