Nothing
is left without a mention in the Book.1
During
the Farewell Pilgrimage, which was the last days of the Prophet’s
lifetime, God revealed to him:
On
this day I have perfected your religion, completed My favors to you,
and have chosen Islam as your religion.2
The
imamate is a part of the perfection of the religion.
The
Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) did not depart this world
before he had manifested to his umma the points of their religion,
showed them the –right- courses that they should
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1
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-An’aam (6) Verse (38)
2
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Ma’ida (5) Verse (3)
take, situated them on the right path,
and assigned Ali (peace be upon him) as the leader and Imam for them.
As a matter of fact, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)
did not leave anything without thorough manifestation. He whoever
claims that God has not perfected His religion is denying the Book,
and whoever denies the Book is converting to atheism.
Do they acknowledge the true standing
of Imamate and its position in the umma, before they choose for
themselves?
God gave Abraham the prophet (peace be
upon him) imamate as a third rank after prophecy and intimacy and as
a virtue by which He conferred honor upon him –Abraham- and praised
him. God says:
When
his Lord tested Abraham's faith, (by His words) and he satisfied the
test, He said, "I am appointing you as the imam of mankind."
Abraham asked, "Will this imamate also continue through my
descendants?" The Lord replied, "The unjust do not have the
right to exercise My authority."1
Abraham the prophet (peace be upon him)
was highly delighted for gaining this rank; therefore, he hoped it
would be passed to his descendants.
This Verse cancels the imamate of any
unjust one until the Day of Resurrection, and dedicates it to the
choice ones exclusively. Then God honors this imamate when He decides
it to be in the offspring of the immaculate choice ones. He says:
We
granted him –Abraham- Isaac and Jacob as a gift and helped both of
them to become righteous people. We appointed them as imams to guide
the people through Our command and sent them revelation to strive for
good deeds, worship their Lord, and pay religious tax. Both of them
were Our worshiping servants.2
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1
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Baqara (2) Verse (124)
2
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Anbiyaa (21) Verses (73-4)
The successive generations kept on
receiving the imamate in inheritance in that order until it reached
the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family).
In this regard, God says:
The
nearest people to Abraham, among mankind, are those who followed him,
this Prophet (Muhammad) and the true believers.1
In this manner, the imamate became
exclusive for them.2
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) gave it to Ali
(peace be upon him) to be successive in his choice offspring upon
whom God conferred knowledge and faith. This is indicated in God’s
saying:
Those
who have received knowledge and have faith will say, "By the
decree of God, you have remained for the exact period which was
mentioned in the Book of God about the Day of Resurrection. This is
the Day of Resurrection, but you did not know."3
This Verse shows the decree of God
regarding the question of imamate that will persist in the Prophet’s
progeny until the Day of Resurrection, since there will be no prophet
after the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family).
After all, how can those ignorant
people choose for imamate out of their opinions?
Imamate is the rank of the prophets and
the heritage of the prophets’ successors.
________________________________________________________________________________
1
The Holy Quran, Sura of Aal Imran (3) Verse (68)
2
This very form is also recorded in ‘Uyounu Akhbarir Reza’
and An-Nu’mani’s ‘Al-Ghaiba’, but in ‘Al-Kafi’,
it is recorded in this form:
In this manner, the imamate became exclusive
for him –the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny)-. This
form seems to be more suitable.
3
The Holy Quran, Sura of Ar-Roum (30) Verse (56)
Imamate is the representation of God
the Majestic and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family),
the position of Amirul Muminin, and the succession1
of Al-Hasan and Al-Hussein (peace be upon them).
The Imam is the head of the religious
affairs, the system of the Muslims, the goodness of the world, the
stronghold of the believers.
The Imam is the rising principal and
the noble branch of Islam.
The accomplishment of the prayers,
zakat, fasting, hajj, jihad, the availability of spoils and alms, the
execution of the doctrinal provisions and the rules, and the
protections of the fronts and the borders—all these are achieved
through the Imam.
The Imam legalizes whatever God deems
legal, forbids whatever God deems illegal, executes the doctrinal
provisions that God enacts, protects the religion of God, and calls
to the path of God through wisdom, good advice, and strong evidence.
The Imam is as same as the shining sun
whose light covers the whole world while it stands erect in the
horizon and neither sights nor hands can catch it.
The Imam is the luminous full moon, the
bright lamp, the rising light, the guiding star in tenebrous gloom,
the guide to the right, and the savior from demise.
The Imam is the guiding fire on
highlands, the heat to the seekers of warmth, and the rescuer from
dangers. He whoever departs the Imam will surely perish.
The Imam is the raining clouds, the
torrential downpour, the shady sky, the plain land, the abundant
spring, the brook, and the garden.
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1
In ‘Uyounu Akhbarir Reza’, ‘Al-Ghaiba’, and
‘Al-Kafi’, the word ‘inheritance’ is recorded instead
of ‘succession’.
The Imam is the lenient custodian, the
humane father, the full brother, the like of the sympathetic mother
to her baby, and the shelter of the servants.
The Imam is the trustee of God on His
land and creatures, the argument of God against the servants, the
successor of God in His countries, the caller to God, and the
protector of the sanctities of God.
The Imam is purified from sins, freed
from defects, given knowledge exclusively, characterized with
forbearance, the system of the religion, the stronghold of the
believers, the punishment of the hypocrites, and the perdition of the
disbelievers.
The Imam is the unique in his time. No
one can catch up with him and no scholar can amount to him. There is
no substitute for him and there are no like or match to him. The
whole virtue is dedicated to him without seeking or acquisition. It
is only the choice of the Favorer Endower God.
How is it then possible for anybody to
understand the reality and the quality of the Imam? How impossible
this is! Minds are too astray, intellects are too lost, wits are too
perplexed, the speakers are too mute, the poets are too unversed, the
authors are too impotent, the eloquent are too wordless, and the
scholars are too weak to describe a single feature or a single virtue
of the Imam’s features and virtues. As a consequence, they
confessed of their shortcoming and inadequacy to do so. How is it
then possible to describe him as a whole or portray his manners? How
it is possible to find anyone who can do his role or represent him?
How is this possible while the Imam is as far as stars from the reach
of the debaters and the describers? Do they think they can find
imamate in anybody other than the Prophet’s family?
They are deceived by their opinions and
they are indulging in the false hopes. They are surely climbing a
rugged ascent and a slippery mount that will surely cause them to
stumble to the rock bottom because they have intended to nominate an
imam out of their opinions. How can they nominate
an imam while the true Imam is permanently knowledgeable that
ignorance never reaches him and a custodian that never betrays? He is
the core of the prophecy whose lineage is too honorable to be
criticized and no highborn individual can ever dare him. The Imam’s
tribe is Koreish, his clan is Hashim, his root is the Messenger of
God (peace be upon him and his family), the master of the
celebrities, and he is the offspring of Abd Menaf.
God leads the prophets and their
successors (peace be upon them) to success and the right, and gives
them (a part of His stored) knowledge and wisdom exclusively so that
they become the most knowledgeable of people. God the Majestic says:
Is
the one who guides to the Truth a proper guide or one who himself
cannot find guidance unless he is guided (by others)? What is wrong
with you that you judge (so unjustly)?1
Relating the story of Saul, God says:
God
has chosen him as your ruler and has given him physical power and
knowledge. God grants His authority to anyone whom He wants.2
About David the prophet (peace be upon
him), God says:
David
slew Goliath and God granted David the kingdom and wisdom and also
taught him whatever He wanted.3
Addressing to the Prophet Mohammed
(peace be upon him and his family), God says:
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1
The Holy Quran, Sura of Younus (10) Verse (35)
2
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Baqara (2) Verse (247)
3
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Baqara (2) Verse (251)
God
has revealed the Book to you, has given you wisdom, and has taught
you what you did not know. Certainly God's favor to you has been
great.1
About the Imams of the Prophet’s
family, progeny, and offspring, God says:
Are
they jealous of the favors that God has done to some people (the
Imams)? We have given to the family of Abraham the Book, Wisdom, and
a great Kingdom. Some have believed, others have disbelieved and
tried to prevent people from believing. For these people, only the
intense fire of hell is a sufficient punishment.2
When God selects someone (the Imam) for
managing the affairs of His servants, He grants him the inclination
to do so, fills in his heart with springs of wisdom, and bestows upon
him with fluency. Hence, he will have the ability to answer any
question and will say nothing but the truth. The Imam is therefore
granted success-fullness right guidance, and advocacy and will be
saved from error and flaw.
He is given such characteristics so
that he will be an argument against the creatures and a witness on
the servants (of God). Can they then ensure such characters for the
one they choose as imam out of their opinions?
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1
The Holy Quran, Sura of An-Nisa (4) Verse (113)
2
The Holy Quran, Sura of An-Nisa (4) Verse (54-5)
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