Inquiry to the Holy Prophet (sa) regarding Khilafat
Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Abbas relates that one day, Hazrat Ali (ra) bin Abi Talib came out of the house, in which the Holy Prophet (sa) was staying during his final illness prior to his demise. People enquired, “O Abul-Hasan! How is the Holy Prophet’s (sa) health this morning?” Hazrat Ali (ra) replied, “Alhamdolillah [all praise belongs to Allah], he is feeling better this morning.”
Upon this, Hazrat Abbas (ra) bin Abd-il-Muttalib took hold of Hazrat Ali’s (ra) hand and said “By God! You will be under the guardianship of someone else after three days because, by Allah, I can see that the Holy Prophet (sa) will soon pass away owing to this illness. The reason for this is that from my experience, I can tell when the people of the Banu Abd-il-Muttalib are near to their demise simply by looking at the condition of their faces. Come, let us go the Holy Prophet (sa) and ask him who will be entrusted with this matter now”, i.e. Khilafat, “and whether it is granted to someone from amongst us or to someone other than us; in either case we will find out and the Holy Prophet (sa) will impart us with some guidance in relation to it.”
Hazrat Ali (ra) replied, “By God! If we ask the Holy Prophet (sa) about this and he does not grant us this honour, then people will also not grant it to us following his demise. By God! I will certainly not ask the Holy Prophet (sa) in relation to this.” This narration is also taken from Bukhari.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi, Bab Maradh al-Nabisa Wafatuh, Hadith 4447; Translation by Hazrat Syed Zain-ul-Abidin Waliullah Shahra, Vol. 9, pp. 337-338)
The Arabic words which are mentioned in this narration of Bukhari are as follows:
أَنْتَ وَاللّٰهِ بَعْدَ ثَلَاثٍ عَبْدُالْعَصَا [By God! In three days, you will be under the guardianship of someone else.]
In relation to this, Hazrat Syed Waliullah Shah Sahib (ra) has added the following note in his book:
“To say that he shall fall under the guardianship of someone else after the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa) has in fact been used to indicate that the Holy Prophet (sa) would pass away after three days.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Translation by Hazrat Syed Zain-ul-Abidin Waliullah Shahra, Vol. 9, p. 337)