سورة آل عمران

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): May Allah curse the Qadariyya, may Allah curse the Khawarij, may Allah curse the Murji'a — each one once, but why did you curse the Murji'a twice? These people say: 'Our killers are believers, so our blood will stain their garments until the Day of Resurrection. Allah has related about a people in His Book: أَلاَّ نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّیَ یَأْتِیَنَا بِقُرْبَانٍ تَأْکُلُهُ النَّارُ قُلْ قَدْ جَاءکُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِی بِالْبَیِّنَاتِ وَبِالَّذِی قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِن کُنتُمْ صَادِقِینَ [that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering that the fire consumes. Say: Messengers before me came to you with clear proofs and with what you have said; why then did you kill them, if you are truthful?]. Between those who spoke these words and those who did the killing there was a gap of five hundred years. Allah attributes the killing to them because they were pleased with this act.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn al-Arqat said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to me: 'Do you reside in Kufa?' I said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Do you see the killers of Husayn (peace be upon him) among you?' I said: 'May I be your ransom, none of them remains.' He said: 'So in your view a killer is only the one who killed or the one who took charge of the killing. Have you not heard the word of Allah: قُلْ قَدْ جَاءکُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِی بِالْبَیِّنَاتِ وَبِالَّذِی قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِن کُنتُمْ صَادِقِینَ [Say: Messengers before me came to you with clear proofs and with what you have said; why then did you kill them, if you are truthful?]. Which prophet was killed by those in whose loins Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was? Whereas between Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and Isa (peace be upon him) there was no prophet. They were pleased with the killing of the prophets (peace be upon them), and for that very reason they were called killers.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): قُلْ قَدْ جَاءکُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِی بِالْبَیِّنَاتِ وَ بِالَّذِی قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِن کُنتُمْ صَادِقِینَ [Say: Indeed, there came to you messengers before me with clear signs and with that which you demanded; why then did you kill them if you are truthful?]. Allah knows that they [themselves] did not commit the killing, but their inclination was towards those who did commit the killing. So because they inclined towards such a deed and were pleased with it, Allah called them killers.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When these verses were revealed — قُلْ قَدْ جَاءکُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِی بِالْبَیِّنَاتِ وَ بِالَّذِی قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِن کُنتُمْ صَادِقِینَ [Say: Indeed, there came to you messengers before me with clear signs and with that which you demanded; why then did you kill them if you are truthful?] — and Allah knew that they said: "By Allah, we neither killed anyone nor were we witnesses." This is because they were told to disassociate from those who killed the prophets, but they refused.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, in His Book, while recounting the words of the Jews, said: إِنَّ اللهَ عَهِدَ إِلَیْنا أَلَّا نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّی یَأْتِیَنا بِقُرْبان [Indeed, Allah has taken a covenant from us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering...]; then in reply to them He said: "So why did you kill the prophets of Allah (peace be upon them) before this?!" This verse was revealed concerning the Jewish people who were in the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and they had not killed the prophets with their own hands, nor were they in the time of the prophets; rather, their predecessors who were before them killed them, and these ones were placed in the position of those killers, and Allah counted them among them and attributed the deed of their predecessors to them, because they followed them and loved them.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A questioner asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! ... Tell me, what are those conditions which, whoever preserves them and upholds them, becomes one of the Family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is upholding the conditions of the Quran and following the Family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). So whoever follows them and accepts their wilayah and gives them precedence over all creation, just as Allah gave them precedence through their kinship with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), he in this sense is one of the Family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). And the ruling of Allah in His Book is likewise. And concerning the Jews, while recounting the words of those who said: الَّذِینَ قالُوا إِنَّ اللهَ عَهِدَ إِلَیْنا أَلَّا نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّی یَأْتِیَنا بِقُرْبانٍ تَأْکُلُهُ النَّارُ [Those who said: Surely Allah has enjoined us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering which the fire consumes], Allah said to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): قُلْ قَدْ جاءَکُمْ رُسُلٌ مِنْ قَبْلِی بِالْبَیِّناتِ وَ بِالَّذِی قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِنْ کُنْتُمْ صادِقِینَ [Say: Indeed, there came to you messengers before me with clear arguments and with that which you demand; why then did you kill them if you are truthful?]. And in another place He said: Say: 'If [you are truthful and] believe [in the verses that were revealed to you], then why did you kill the prophets of Allah before this?!' (al-Baqarah/91). And this verse was revealed concerning a people of the Jews who were in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and they did not kill the prophets with their own hands, nor were they in their time; rather their predecessors killed them, and these people were pleased with their deed and loved them for that deed. So Allah the Mighty and Majestic attributed the deed of those to these, and placed these among them because of their following them."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Concerning the saying of Allah the Exalted: الَّذِینَ قالُوا إِنَّ اللهَ عَهِدَ إِلَیْنا أَلَّا نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّی یَأْتِیَنا بِقُرْبانٍ تَأْکُلُهُ النَّارُ [Those who said: Surely Allah has enjoined us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering which the fire consumes]; the Children of Israel had a basin in which they used to offer their sacrifice, and they would place the sacrifice inside the basin, and a fire would come and burn the sacrifice. They said to the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): "We will not believe in you until you bring us a sacrifice which the fire consumes, as the Children of Israel used to do." Allah said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), say to them: قَدْ جاءَکُمْ رُسُلٌ مِنْ قَبْلِی بِالْبَیِّناتِ وَ بِالَّذِی قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِنْ کُنْتُمْ صادِقِینَ [Indeed, there came to you messengers before me with clear arguments and with that which you demand; why then did you kill them if you are truthful?]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whenever the Children of Israel brought a sacrifice to the presence of Allah, a fire would come out and consume the sacrifice of the one from whom it was accepted; and Allah placed ihram in the place of sacrifice.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The previous nations had to carry their offerings on their shoulders and bring them to Bayt al-Maqdis. Whoever's [offering] I accepted, I would send a fire to consume that offering, and he would return joyful; whoever's I did not accept would return in despair. I have placed the offering of your ummah in the bellies of the poor and needy of your ummah. From whoever I accept it, I multiply it many times over, and from whoever I do not accept it, I remove from him the punishments of this world. I have lifted this from your ummah, and it was among the hardships upon the previous nations.