سورة الأنبياء

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Udhayna said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), "May I be made your ransom! What do you say concerning qada and qadar (divine decree and destiny)?" He said: "I say that when Allah the Exalted gathers the servants on the Day of Resurrection, He will question them about the things He had made a covenant with them upon, but He will not question them about the things He decreed upon them."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) addressing Zurara: O Zurara! Do you want me to tell you a statement concerning qada and qadar (divine decree and destiny)? Zurara said: "Yes, may I be made your ransom." He said: "When the Day of Resurrection arrives and Allah gathers the creatures, He will call them to account concerning the things He had made a covenant with them upon, but He will not call them to account concerning the things He decreed upon them."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju'fi said: Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) said: "Jabir! Do you know what ma'rifah (recognition) is? Ma'rifah is, at the first level, the affirmation of tawhid and the oneness of Allah. Then the recognition of the ma'ani (meanings) comes at the second stage. Then the recognition of the abwab (gates) at the third level, and then the recognition of the people at the fourth level, and then the recognition of the arkan (pillars) at the fifth rank, and at the sixth rank is the recognition of the nuqaba (chiefs, the pure ones), and at the seventh stage is the recognition of the nujaba (nobles) ... Jabir! [As for] the affirmation of tawhid and the recognition of the ma'ani: as for the affirmation of tawhid, it is to recognise the eternal Allah, hidden from sight, whom eyes do not perceive, but He perceives the eyes, and He is the Subtle, the All-Aware. He is the Unseen and the Inward, and you will perceive Him in the manner in which He has described Himself. As for the ma'ani, we are the ma'ani of Allah and His manifestations among you. He created us from the light of His Essence and entrusted to us the affairs of His servants. By His permission, we do whatever we will. When we will, Allah wills, and when we intend, Allah intends. Allah has raised us to this station and chosen us from among His servants and made us His proof on the earth. Whoever denies any one of these and rejects it has rejected Allah, whose Name is exalted, and has disbelieved in His signs, His prophets and His messengers. Jabir! Whoever recognises Allah with this attribute has affirmed tawhid, because this attribute is in agreement with the Glorious Qur'an in this verse: 'Eyes do not perceive Him, but He perceives all eyes, and He is the Gracious [of every kind of blessing, and Aware of the finest details of created things]' (al-An'am/103). And this verse: 'Nothing is like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing' (al-Shura/11). And this verse: لا یُسْئَلُ عَمَّا یَفْعَلُ وَ هُمْ یُسْئَلُونَ [He cannot be questioned concerning what He does and they shall be questioned]."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Imam Askari (peace be upon him) narrated from his fathers: It was said to Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! We heard this hadith from you, but some of the Nasibis say to us: 'If the killing of Husayn (peace be upon him) was wrong and false, then it is greater than fishing on Saturday. So why did Allah not become wrathful on the killers of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) the way He became wrathful on the fishermen?'" Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) said: "In reply to them, say: If the disobedience of Satan was greater than that of those persons who became disbelievers through Satan's misguidance, then why did Allah destroy a group of them — such as the people of Nuh and Pharaoh — but did not destroy Satan, when Satan was more deserving of destruction? So why did Allah destroy that group, although their disbelief and disobedience was not to the extent of Satan's, and let Iblis remain, even though he is active in uncovering ugly deeds? Is Allah not wise in His planning and His ruling, by which He destroys some and lets some remain alive? So those fishermen and the killers of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) too will be in the same situation. The All-Knowing Allah does with these two groups of people that which is the very essence of correctness and wisdom. Allah is not questioned about what He does, while they are questioned."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Nawfali said: Imam Rida (peace be upon him) said to Sulayman al-Marwazi: "O Sulayman! What do you deny of bada (change in divine decree), when Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: أَ وَ لا یَذْکُرُ الْإِنْسانُ أَنَّا خَلَقْناهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَ لَمْ یَکُ شَیْئاً [Does man not remember and consider that We created him before this, when he was nothing, but rather sheer non-existence?] (Maryam/67)." Sulayman said: "Has anything been narrated about bada from your noble forefathers?" He said: "Yes, my father narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: Allah has two kinds of knowledge: a hidden, concealed knowledge which none knows but Him — bada is part of this knowledge — and a knowledge which He has taught to His angels and prophets (peace be upon them). The scholars of the Ahl al-Bayt (the Imams, peace be upon them) have knowledge of this." Sulayman requested: "Say more than this." He said: "My father narrated from his noble forefathers that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Allah revealed to one of His prophets that he should tell a certain king: I shall take his life at such-and-such a day and hour. That prophet delivered Allah's message. The king began to supplicate and beseech at the threshold of his Lord, while he was upon his throne, and he wept so bitterly that he slid down from the throne, saying: O Allah, grant me respite until my son grows up and I set my affairs in order. Allah revealed to that same prophet that he should go to that king and tell him: I have postponed his term and added fifteen years to his life.' The prophet said: 'O Allah, You know that I have never lied.' Allah addressed him: 'You are only a messenger — deliver My message. وَ اللهُ لا یُسْئَلُ عَمَّا یَفْعَلُ [And Allah cannot be questioned concerning what He does].'"

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): O son of Adam (peace be upon him)! By My will you are the one who wills and speaks, and by My strength you fulfill My obligations, and by My favour you gain the strength to disobey Me. مَا أَصَابَکَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللهِ وَ مَا أَصَابَکَ مِنْ سَیِّئَةٍ فَمِنْ نَفْسِکَ [Whatever good reaches you is from Allah, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself] (al-Nisa/79). For I have more right to your good deeds than you do [and you have more right to your evil deeds than I do], and I am not questioned concerning what I do, while they are questioned.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Why did the Imamate reach the descendants of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and not the descendants of Imam Hasan (peace be upon him), when both were sons of the Prophet, his grandsons, and the masters of the youth of Paradise?" He said: "Musa (peace be upon him) and Harun (peace be upon him) were both messenger prophets and brothers, and Allah placed prophethood in the lineage of Harun and not in the lineage of Musa (peace be upon him), and no one may object as to why. Likewise, Imamate is Allah's vicegerency on the earth, and no one can say why Allah placed it in the descendants of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and not in the descendants of Imam Hasan (peace be upon him); for He is Wise in His acts and does nothing except for a purpose. He is not questioned concerning what He does, while they are questioned."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him) — a long hadith from Ali (peace be upon him) in which, in the course of describing the creation of Adam (peace be upon him), he says: "Allah the Blessed and Exalted took a handful of pure sweet water [and made clay from it] and dried it, so it became solid. Then He said to it: 'From you I will create the prophets, the messengers, My righteous servants, and the rightly-guided Imams who call to Paradise, and their followers until the Day of Resurrection, and I do not care, and no one can find fault with what I do — but in their deeds there is room for question and objection!' The meaning of this [verse] is His creation, for they are the ones who will be questioned."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): [Allah the Mighty and Majestic cut off the argument of the creation] and completes the proof against His servants, and says: لَا یُسْأَلُ عَمَّا یَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ یُسْأَلُونَ [He cannot be questioned concerning what He does and they shall be questioned].