Alhamdulillah
Bismillahirahmanirraheem
Allahumma salli ala sayyidina Muhammad wa 'ala 'alihi wa sahbihi ajmayin.
Regarding the Hadith of the pond of khumm - The hadith the Shia sect use to claim Ali RA was selected to be Khalifa by Rasulallah saw after himself:
The Shia interpretation of this hadith is incorrect according to Sunni scholars, it is said that the Hadith does not clearly state that Ali RA was selected to be leader, they just interpret it so. If it was as they say. Abu Bakr RA and the immediate Sahaba and Ahlul Bayt May Allah be pleased with them would surely have been aware and followed the order of Rasulullah SAW and there would surely have been no debate in the same way there was no debate when it came to revelation and the commandments of Allah.
To further re enforce the Sunni position, it is a fact that Ali RA gave his Baya to Abu Bakr RA, so that ends any debate on who is right.
And if it was important for a family member of the prophet saw to get the role then it would have been so. The prophet saw was of the position of justice over family ties he even said that if his own daughter stole he would be obliged to enforce the law of Allah upon her. So this claim of the Shia is baseless.
To follow are some versions of the Hadith in question:
Yazid b. Hayyan reported, I went along with Husain b. Sabra and 'Umar b. Muslim to Zaid b. Arqam and, as we sat by his side, Husain said to him:
"Zaid. you have been able to acquire a great virtue that you saw Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) listened to his talk, fought by his side in (different) battles, offered prayer behind me. Zaid, you have in fact earned a great virtue. Zaid, narrate to us what you heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). He said: I have grown old and have almost spent my age and I have forgotten some of the things which I remembered in connection with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), so accept whatever I narrate to you, and which I do not narrate do not compel me to do that. He then said: One day Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stood up to deliver sermon at a watering place known as Khumm situated between Mecca and Medina. He praised Allah, extolled Him and delivered the sermon and exhorted (us) and said: Now to our purpose. O people, I am a human being. I am about to receive a messenger (the angel of death) from my Lord and I, in response to Allah's call, (would bid good-bye to you), but I am leaving among you two weighty things: the one being the Book of Allah in which there is right guidance and light, so hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it. He exhorted (us) (to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and then said: The second are the members of my household I remind you (of your duties) to the members of my family. He (Husain) said to Zaid: Who are the members of his household? Aren't his wives the members of his family? Thereupon he said: His wives are the members of his family (but here) the members of his family are those for whom acceptance of Zakat is forbidden. And he said: Who are they? Thereupon he said: 'Ali and the offspring of 'Ali, 'Aqil and the offspring of 'Aqil and the offspring of Ja'far and the offspring of 'Abbas. Husain said: These are those for whom the acceptance of Zakat is forbidden. Zaid said: Yes.
Reference: Sahih Muslim 2408a
In-book reference: Book 44, Hadith 55
Another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "I am leaving behind me two weighty things. One of them is the Book of Allah; that is the strong rope of Allah. Whosoever holds firmly to it, will be the guided, and whosoever leaves it goes astray".
Reference: Riyad as-Salihin 346
In-book reference: Introduction, Hadith 346
It was narrated that Sa`eed bin Wahb. and Zaid bin Yuthai’ said:
‘Ali adjured the people at ar-Rahbah, saying: Whoever heard the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) speak on the day of Ghadeer Khumm, let him stand up. And (of the people) around Sa’eed, six men stood up, and (of the people) around Zaid, six men stood up, and they testified that they had heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say to ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) on the day of Ghadeer Khumm. “Isn`t it Allah Who is closer to the believers?” They said: Yes. He said: `O Allah, if I am a person`s mawla (friend and supporter) then ‘Ali is also his mawla; O Allah, take as friends those who take him as a friend, and take as enemies those who take him as an enemy.”
A hadeeth like that of Abu Ishaq was narrated from `Amr Dhi Murr, i.e., from Sa`eed and Zaid, and he added to it: `and support those who support him, and forsake those who forsake him.`
A similar report was narrated from Abut-Tufail from Zaid bin Arqam from the Prophet (ﷺ).
Grade:
Sahih because of corroborating evidence]
Reference: Musnad Ahmad 950, 951, 952
In-book reference: Book 5, Hadith 377
The hadith of the pond of Khumm has multiple versions, and a multitude of interpretations based on these different versions. The Sunni view is that the hadith is not an indication, implicitly or explicitly, of successorship, regardless of its authenticity. The answer below is solely from a Sunni point of view.
Background information
The story of the hadith is that the Prophet ﷺ appointed 'Ali ibn Abi Talib as the head of the army that he sent to Yemen. 'Ali appointed another person as the head of the army and returned to Mecca to catch up with the hajj and the Prophet ﷺ. 'Ali then revoked some of the orders that his appointee had put in place (e.g., using the camels donated as charity, taking back some of the war spoils the companions were given, etc.). The companions took this stance from 'Ali to be too harsh, and disagreements erupted. When the Prophet ﷺ finished the hajj, at Khumm, he lectured the companions to tell them that 'Ali ibn Abi Talib was correct in what he had done, to show the stance that 'Ali had among other Muslims, and to clear up the disagreements.
The virtues of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib
The Sunni view holds 'Ali ibn Abi Talib to the highest stance among the companions. He is the fourth among the ten companions told to be from the dwellers of Jannah while still alive (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 49/4112), the fourth of Al-Khulafa' Al-Rashedeen (Sunan Ibn Majah 1/45) that we are ordered to follow their sunnah, etc. If we were to attempt to compile all the virtues of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, which was tried by Ibn Hanbal and Al-Nasa'i and others, the task would almost prove impossible. Moreover, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first boy to embrace Islam, the one who was willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of the Prophet ﷺ on the night of Hijra, and above all, he is from Ahl Al-Bayt (the close relations of the Prophet ﷺ), and the husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatima RA. The Prophet ﷺ had often praised the people Ahl Al-Bayt, in general (e.g., when he said "I have left among you, that which if you hold fast to it, you shall not go astray: The Book of Allah and my family, the people of my house" in Jami' at-Tirmidhi 49/4155), and 'Ali in specific (e.g., when he told 'Ali "You are from me, and I am from you" in Sahih Al-Bukhari 64/286).
It is important to understand that albeit the Sunni view is that the successorship was not specified to 'Ali, that he is and will always be revered by Sunnis in the highest stance.
Rasulallah saw said “ Stay away from sects even if you have to eat from the roots of trees.”
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