History , traditions and mind tell us that Imamate after the Prophet was one
of the most important things which never slipped from the prophet’s memory
nor his followers mind.
In the third year of the Prophet’s mission and when the verse ( And warn your
nearest relations )[38] has been revealed , the Holy Prophet assigned the
guardian after him , and His caliph . One day , He called His relatives to join
Islam and said :
O sons of Abdul Muttalib ! I never heard about any Arabian guy , who brought
his kin anything better than me . I brought you the welfare of the present life
and the hereafter. And Allah the Almighty commanded me to call you for it , so
who is going to help me to carry out this message and be my brother , my
testamentary guardian , and my caliph among you? Nobody answered, but Ali
bin Abi Talib said : I will be your supporter . Then the Holy Prophet hold Ali’s
neck and said : This is my brother and my guardian and my caliph among you , so
you should hear and obey him.
Lets see the verses of the Holy Qur'an that witness Ali’s Imamate and
position:
Allah the Almighty said : ( Only Allah is you Wali and His apostle and those
who believe , those who keep up prayers and pay the poor rate while they bow )
[39]
The whole Islamic nation had agreed that ,Ali Bin Abitalib, is the person who
is meant by this holy verse , it shows frankly that the great Imamate
belongs to Ali (p.b)
Allah the Almighty said : ( O Apostle ! deliver what has been revealed to you
from your Lord , and if you do it not , then you have not delivered His message
, And Allah will protect you from the people ; Surly Allah will not guide the
unbelieving people )[40]
This verse has been revealed to show the merit of Ali bi Abitalib ( p.b)
.
Allah the Almighty said : ( Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself ,
and blood , and flesh of swine , and that on which any other name that that of
Allah has been invoked and the strangled (animals ) and that beaten to death ,
and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn and
that which wild beast have eaten , except what you slaughter , and what is
sacrificed on stones set up (foridols ) and that you divide by the arrows ; that
is a transgression . This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your
religion , so fear them not , and fear Me . This day have I perfected for you
your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a
religion , nut whoever compelled by hunger , not inclining will fully to sin ,
then surly Allah is Forgiving Merciful)[41]
This holy verse has been revealed to perfect the mission and to complete the
blessing with the guardian of Amirul Mu’minin ( P.b.h) .
Allah the Almighty said : (And stay in your houses and do not display your
finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore ; and keep up prayer ; and
pay the poor- rate , and obey Allah and His Apostle . Allah only desires to keep
away the uncleanness from you , O people of the house ! And to purify you a
(thorough ) purifying )[42]
This holy verse shows the infallibility and the purity of Ahlul- bayt (p.b)
.
From the beginning of the mission the traditions and Sunna (of the Prophet)
have explained , referred , and assigned the guardian and the caliph after the
prophet of Allah (p.b.h) repeatedly.
Here we mention some of them :
The Tabook raid:
It is reported in Sehihul Bukhari , Muslim ,
Musnad Ahmad , Al Turmidi and Ibin Majah : that the Prophet of Allah (p.b.h) has
said to Ali (p.b) :
( Your standing to me is as same as Aaron's to Moses , except that there
should be no prophet after me . )
Many traditions have been reported about Ahlul-bayt in general , and no doubt
these traditions included the first of them and their master Ali Bin
Abitalib (p.b.h) . Reported from the prophet of Allah (p.b.h) the following :
Hadith Assafinah (the tradition of the ship) :
The
example of my family among you is like the ship of the Prophet Nuh (p.b)
among his people , whoever rides the ship he is saved, and whoever lingered, he
is drowned .
Hadith Al-Aman:
“ The stars secures the inhibiters of
Earth from drowning ,and my descendants secure them from disagreement , so any
tribe disagrees with them , is going to be with the devil’s
followers ”
Hadith Al-Thaqlain :
The Holy Prophet spoke to the
Islamic nation , saying :
“ I am leaving Thaqlain (the two weighty things ) among you ,they are the
Book of Allah and my descendants , as long as you hold fast on them, your never
get lost . They never break up till they come to me at the fountain ”
Till this point we have explained in general the guardian , the position ,
and the merit of Amirul Mu’minin Ali and his progeny (p.b) .
Now take a look to the command of Allah and listen to the call of the Prophet
(p.b.h), that he sent to the remote and close Muslims from a place named (Gadir
Khum ) in Al – Juhfah region , when the prophet of Allah ( p.b.h ) stopped to
perform prayer of noon , then he made a speech , first he praised Allah
the Almighty , reminded people and preached them then said : “ I am close
to death , and I am going to be questioned and you are going to be
questioned , then what are you going to say? ”
They said : ( We are going to say ;We testify that, you've done the mission
in the best way ,so Allah bless you )
He (p.b.h)said :
( Don’t you witness that, there is no God but Allah , and Muhammad is His
servant and His messenger , and The Paradise is truth and The Fire is
truth ?)
They said : We do witness so .
He said :
( O my God witness . Then he said : Don’t you hear ? )
They said : Yes we do .
He said : ( O people ! I am going to depart you , but we are going to at the
fountain, which it’s wide is about the distance between Busra and Safa ,
where you find silver cups as many as the stars , then I am going to ask you
about Thaqlain (the two weighty things ) so , how are you going to deal
with them after me? )
Somebody shouted : O prophet of Allah , what is the Thaqlan?
He said (p.b) : ( The Book of Allah , which has two ends, one end at
Allah’s hand and the second one at yours , so hold fast on it in order not
to get lost and not change . The second thing is my progeny . My Lord has told
me that they shall not separate till they meet me on the Divine Pool . So
don’t precede them and don’t linger after them in order not to be perished. And
don’t teach them since they are knower than you.)
Then He said (p.b) : Don’t you know that I have guardianship upon the
believers more than they have upon themselves?
They said : O Prophet of Allah , yes we know.
Then he grasped the arm of Ali Bin Abi Talib and lifted it till people could
see the whiteness of their armpits , then he said :
( O people , whoever I was his master, this is , Ali , should be his master .
O Allah ! Accede to whomever accedes to him , and oppose whomever opposes him
and give victory to whomever supports him and disappoint whomever disappoints
him.)
Then he said : “ O Allah witness .”
Soon and before they separated - the Prophet and Ali (p.h) - the following
Holy verse has been revealed:
(This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on
you and chosen for you Islam as a religion and compelled by hunger , not
inclining willfully to the sin , then surly Allah is Forgiving ,
Merciful )[43]
Then the Prophet of Allah (p.b.h) said :
( Glory to Allah , for completing the mission , perfecting the blessing , and
for the Lord acceptance to my mission and to Ali’s guardian.)
This is a recurrent narration , it has been narrated by the Companions of the
Prophet , Tabe’in[44] and the Hadith scholars. This narration has been
reported by (110) of the Companions of the Prophet, and by (89) of Tabe’in
and (3500) of scholars and narrators . so there is no way to suspect the truth
of this narration. As to the content of the narration , it is so clear for those
who look for the truth , it refers to the guardianship of Imam Ali (p.b) by the
command of Allah , and the statement of the seal of the prophets (p.b.h) which
says Ali is the successor (Caliph ) of the Prophet of Allah (p.b.h) and the Imam
of Muslims.
The Imam's Duties
We have already mentioned in the beginning
of this research that Imam is the Prophet’s successor which shoulders all duties
of the Prophet except receiving the inspiration. And here we mention the most
important functions of Imam to show the position and the significance of Imamate
:
Explaining the conceptions of Qur'an and solving its mysteries . The
thing which considers the most important function of the Prophet ( p.b.h) that
Qur'an refers to in the following verse : ( With clear arguments and
scriptures ; and We have revealed to you the Reminder that you make clear to men
what has been revealed to them , and that haply they may reflect )[45]
Explaining the rules and the Islamic laws (Sharia) , was one of
the Prophet’s functions, and Imam was explaining these laws either through
reciting the verses that contain the laws or through the Prophet Narrations (
Sunna of the Prophet ).
Since the Prophet was the axis of right, and His directions prevent any
deviation in the creeds of Ummah ( people ) , Imam also shoulders this
task after Him.
Administrating justice , security in the Islamic community and this is
also a common function of Imam (p.b) and the Prophet (p.b.h)
Keeping the Islamic wealth and borders from enemies . Imam like the Prophet
is responsible for doing such matter.
How to Know the Imam
Imam could be known by two
ways:
The declaring of the Prophet (p.b.h) that assigns a certain person as Imam.
And that what exactly happened in Ghadir Khum , when the Prophet (p.b.h)
assigned Imam Ali ( p.b ) as Imam after Him , and the assigning of the Prophet
is assigning of Allah because off all the Prophet’s acts are resulting from the
inspiration as shown in the Book of Allah: ( Nor does he speak out of desire, It
is naught but Revelation that is revealed)[46]
And our duty is to obey and to follow what He says: ( Whatever Allah has
restored to His apostle , and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy
and the wayfarer , so that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich
of you and whatever the Apostle gives , accept it , and from whatever he forbids
you , keep back and be careful of (your duty to ) Allah ; surly Allah is severe
in retributing (evil ) )[47]
The second way is the declaring of an infallible Imam - like Imam Ali
(p.b) - when he stated on the following Imam.
[38] Shu ara’ 214
[39] Ma edah 55
[40] Ma edah
67
[41] Ma edah 3
[42] Ahzab 33
[43] Ma'edah
3
[44] (whoever saw the Companions of the Prophet)
[45] Nahl
44
[46] Najem 3-4
[47] Hashr 7