سورة القصص

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Nasr said: I wrote a letter to Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him) and among the things I raised were these two verses: "If you do not know, ask the people of knowledge (Nahl/43)," and "It is not proper for the believers to march forth all together [to the battlefield]; why then does not a party from every group of them march forth [and a party remain in Madinah], so that they may become learned in the religion [and the teachings and rulings of Islam], and so that when they return to their people they may warn them, that perhaps they may beware [of opposing the Lord's command] and hold back!" (Tawbah/122). Then after raising these two verses I wrote: "It is understood from these verses that asking and investigating has been made obligatory upon others, but answering their questions is not incumbent upon you." Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him) wrote this verse in reply to me: "If the people do not answer your call, know that they are following their own low desires; and who is more misguided than the followers of their own desires?"

Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu Hamzah said: I asked Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Exalted: وَ مَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ اتَّبَعَ هَواهُ بِغَيْرِ هُدىً مِنَ اللهِ [And who is more erring than he who follows his low desires without any guidance from Allah]. The Imam said: "By this Allah means the one who, without following the Imams of guidance (peace be upon them), makes his religion according to his own opinion."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Abd al-Aziz ibn Muslim said: "We were with Imam Rida (peace be upon him) in Marw. On a Friday, at the beginning of our arrival, we gathered with a group in the Jami' mosque, and discussion arose about the matter of Imamate, and the many differences that had occurred concerning it were brought up. Then I came to my master (Imam Rida (peace be upon him)) and informed him of what people were saying about it." He smiled and said: "O Abd al-Aziz! The people were ignorant and were deceived in their own opinions. ... So how can they choose the Imam? While the Imam is a scholar whom ignorance does not reach, and a shepherd who is not overcome by weakness or slackness ... He is always ma'sum (infallible), supported, granted success and rightly guided, and safe from mistakes, slips and falls. Allah has bestowed this distinction upon him so that he may be His hujjah (proof) over His servants and His witness over His creation, and this is the grace of Allah which He gives to whomever He wishes, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty (al-Jumu'ah/4). So do they have the ability to choose in such a matter? Or if they were to choose, would their chosen one necessarily possess these qualities so that they could make him a leader? By the House of Allah, they transgressed against the truth and cast the Book of Allah behind their backs as though they did not know, while guidance and healing were in the Book of Allah, and they cast it aside and followed their own desires. Therefore Allah reproached them, called them sinners, and invoked destruction upon them, and said: Who is more astray than one who follows his own desire without guidance from Allah? Indeed Allah does not guide the unjust people."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Tariq ibn Shihab said: Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The Imam is Kalimatullah (the Word of Allah) ... The Imam must be a scholar whom ignorance does not reach, and a brave one whom fear does not overcome, unmatched in lineage and descent, of the highest family of Quraysh and the greatest of the children of Hashim and the descendants of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and a source of generosity, and like the soul of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and a personality pleasing to Allah and a speaker on His behalf. He is the loftiest of personalities, of the lineage of Abd Manaf, a statesman worthy of the position of leadership until the Day of Resurrection. Obedience to him is obligatory and binding upon the people. His heart is the treasury of Allah's secrets, his tongue is eloquent and infallible and granted divine success, and he is neither cowardly nor ignorant. But O Tariq! Such an Imam they abandoned and followed their own desires — who is more astray than one who follows his own desire without guidance from Allah? O Tariq! The Imam is a heavenly human being and a celestial body.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In Tafsir al-Nu'mani it is narrated that Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Iman (faith), kufr (disbelief), shirk (polytheism), and their decrease and increase are as follows: faith in Allah is the highest of deeds, it holds the loftiest rank, no station is more honourable than it, and its portion is greater than any other." It was said: "O Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him)! Is faith speech and action, or is it speech alone?" He said: "Faith is affirmation by the heart, acknowledgement with the tongue, and action by the limbs and organs. Faith is all action. Faith is sometimes complete, sometimes half-complete, sometimes deficient, and sometimes increased — such that this deficiency and increase can be clearly seen. Allah the Exalted has appointed for each of the human limbs and organs a duty from the duties of faith, a duty that has no connection with another organ. One of them is the heart of man, by means of which he grasps matters, to which his understanding and awareness return, which resolves difficulties and understands its good and its evil. The heart is the commander and ruler of the body; every action carried out by the other limbs and organs is carried out by the order of the heart, and command and prohibition in the body are executed through the heart, and they obey the heart and act upon its orders … It is not so that Allah would place among the limbs and organs of men a leader and imam — namely the heart of man — who removes doubt and uncertainty from them and establishes certainty for them, yet fall short in appointing an imam and hujja (proof) [to guide the people] …" Then he explained the holders of authority who are among the people of knowledge, and clarified their station, and in His Book He said: "Whereas if they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority [among them] — who have sufficient power of discernment — they would have known the roots of the matters." (Al-Nisa/83) … From this it is clear that the people are incapable of the ta'wil (interpretation) of the Book, and only the holders of authority can derive it, for they are the ones firmly rooted in knowledge and are the trustworthy ones in the ta'wil of the Qur'an … The people perished when they made no distinction between the leaders of truth and the leaders of disbelief and regarded them all as equal, and said: "Whoever sits in the place of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), obedience to him is obligatory, whether he be righteous or wicked" — and from this very point they perished. Allah the Exalted said: "Shall We then treat those who submit as We treat the guilty? What is the matter with you? How do you judge?" (Al-Qalam/35–36) In another place He said: "Are the blind and the seeing alike? Or are darkness and light equal?" (Al-Ra'd/16). Concerning those who consider the leaders of disbelief to be the true leaders, and count the usurpers of rights as the rightful imams, and support the misguided in their oppression and corruption, He said: "These titles and names you yourselves have invented, and your fathers occupied themselves with these titles; Allah the Exalted has sent down nothing concerning them that would indicate their authority." And on account of this great slander which they have levelled against all the believers, He has strongly reproached them and censured them, saying in the Qur'an: "Only those forge falsehood who do not believe in the signs of Allah." (Al-Nahl/105). And He said: "Those are more astray who follow their own low desires and take a path other than the path of Allah."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, Blessed and Exalted, sent Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and sealed the prophets with him — there is no prophet after him. He sent down upon him a book with which He sealed the [heavenly] books, and there is no book after it. He specified its lawful and unlawful; so its lawful is lawful until the Day of Resurrection and its unlawful is unlawful until the Day of Resurrection. Your religion and the accounts of those before you and those after you are in it... And the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) asked his followers about the like of this (reports) and said: 'Allah, Blessed and Exalted, sent down the Qur'an in seven parts... and among those parts is a refutation of one who denied faith, disbelief, polytheism, injustice and misguidance... In this world, truth and falsehood, faith and disbelief, knowledge and ignorance, felicity and wretchedness, and Paradise and Hellfire are mixed together, and truth and falsehood cannot gather in the heart of any person. Allah has said in His book: ما جَعَلَ اللهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِنْ قَلْبَیْنِ فِی جَوْفِهِ [Allah has not made for any man two hearts within him] (Al-Ahzab/4). People perished when they made no distinction between the leaders of truth and the leaders of disbelief and considered all of them equal, and said: "Whoever sits in the place of the Noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), obedience to him is obligatory, whether he be righteous or wicked." And from this very point they perished. Allah the Exalted said: أَ فَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِینَ کَالْمُجْرِمِینَ ما لَکُمْ کَیْفَ تَحْکُمُونَ [Shall We then make the Muslims like the criminals? What is the matter with you? How do you judge?] (Al-Qalam/35-36). And in another place He said: هَلْ یَسْتَوِی الْأَعْمی وَ الْبَصِیرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِی الظُّلُماتُ وَ النُّورُ [Are the blind and the seeing equal? Or are the darknesses and the light equal?] (Al-Ra'd/16). Concerning those who take the leaders of disbelief to be the true leaders and count the usurpers of rights as rightful imams and support the misguided in their oppression and corruption, He said: إِنْ هِیَ إِلَّا أَسْماءٌ سَمَّیْتُمُوها أَنْتُمْ وَ آباؤُکُمْ ما أَنْزَلَ اللهُ بِها مِنْ سُلْطانٍ [These are only names which you and your fathers have named; Allah has not sent down any authority for them]. And He has strongly objected to them and censured them for this great fabrication, and said in the Qur'an: إِنَّما یَفْتَرِی الْکَذِبَ الَّذِینَ لا یُؤْمِنُونَ بِآیاتِ اللهِ [Only they forge the lie who do not believe in Allah's signs] (Al-Nahl/105). And He said: وَ مَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ اتَّبَعَ هَواهُ بِغَیْرِ هُدیً مِنَ الله [Who is more misguided than those who follow their own desires without any guidance from Allah] — indeed those who follow their own desires and take a path other than Allah's path are more misguided.'