سورة آل عمران

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ الله الْإِسْلامُ [Indeed the religion with Allah is Islam] — Islam is to be submissive to the wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِندَ الله الإِسْلاَمُ [Indeed the religion with Allah is Islam] — meaning the religion in which iman (faith) exists.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Islam is a rank prior to iman (faith). Through Islam they inherit from one another and marry one another, and through iman they earn reward.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Islam is not a partner to iman (faith), but iman is a partner to Islam, and both come together in speech [the two testimonies] and in deed [acting on the ordinances of the religion]; (that is, such a person is both a believer and a Muslim.) Just as the Kaaba is within Masjid al-Haram but Masjid al-Haram is not within the Kaaba, likewise iman is a partner to Islam, but Islam is not a partner to iman. And Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: The Bedouins said, 'We have believed.' Say, 'You have not believed; rather say, We have submitted (accepted Islam),' while iman has not yet entered your hearts. (Hujurat/14) And the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic is the truest of words.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): I shall describe Islam in a way that no one before me has described it, nor will anyone describe it that way after me. Islam is the same as submission (taslim), and submission is the same as certainty (yaqin), and certainty is the same as affirmation (tasdiq), and affirmation is the same as acknowledgement (iqrar), and acknowledgement is fulfilment (ada), and fulfilment is the same as action. The believer is one who has taken his religion from his Lord. The believer's iman is known through his deeds, and the disbeliever's disbelief is known through his denial. O people! Hold fast to your religion, hold fast to your religion; if you are religious and commit a sin it is better than being irreligious and doing a good deed, for a sin within the religion is forgiven, and a good deed outside of the religion is not accepted.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): As much as you are able, hold fast to obedience to your Lord, for Allah is your Lord. And know that Islam is submission and submission is Islam; whoever submits has indeed accepted Islam, and whoever does not submit has no Islam.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الْإِسْلامُ [Surely the religion with Allah is Islam] — Islam is submission to Allah and to His awliya (friends), and submission is the same as affirmation (tasdiq), and Allah has named iman as tasdiq.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I asked my master Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "... What will Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) be like at the time of his appearance?" He said: "O Mufaddal! He will appear amid a state of doubt, until his affair becomes clear, his name is raised high, his affair becomes manifest, and his name, kunya and lineage are proclaimed, and his fame spreads on the tongues of the followers of truth and falsehood, and of those who agree and those who oppose ..." I said: "My master! What is the interpretation of: 'so that He may make it prevail over all religions, even though the polytheists may dislike it' (al-Tawba/33)?" He (peace be upon him) said: "Its interpretation is this verse: 'And fight them until there is no fitna [polytheism and the denial of freedom], and religion [and worship] is wholly for Allah' (al-Anfal/39). O Mufaddal, by Allah! He will lift disagreement from among the nations and religions, and all religions will become one, as Allah has said: إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الْإِسْلامُ [Indeed, the religion with Allah is Islam], and He has also said: 'Whoever accepts any religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers' (Aal Imran/85)." I said: "My master! Was the religion which his forefathers Ibrahim, Nuh, Musa and Isa (peace be upon them) and Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) held the very religion of Islam?" He said: "Yes! It was this very religion of Islam and nothing else." I said: "Do you have proof from the Qur'an for this matter?" He said: "Yes! From the beginning to the end of the Qur'an is full of proof. Among them is the verse إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الْإِسْلامُ [Indeed, the religion with Allah is Islam], and another is this verse: 'Follow the creed of your father Ibrahim; Allah named you Muslims in the earlier scriptures and in this heavenly Book' (al-Hajj/78)."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): O Allah! You ... said: إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الْإِسْلامُ [Indeed, the religion with Allah is Islam], and You said: whoever accepts a religion other than the religion of Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers. (Aal Imran/85) O Allah! I take You as witness that I have conveyed to the people that Allah has completed your religion through the imamate of Ali (peace be upon him).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When the Qaim (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) rises, all the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) will be brought before the Imam (peace be upon him); if a person becomes Muslim by accepting wilayah, it will be accepted from him, and if he does not accept, then either his neck is struck, or he agrees to pay jizyah (a tax taken from non-Muslims who live under the protection of the Islamic government) and pays the jizyah like the ahl al-dhimmah (Jews and Christians who reside in the land of Islam).