سورة الأحزاب

Ali ibn Ibrahim: [Regarding] وَ إِذْ أَخَذْنا مِنَ النَّبِیِّینَ مِیثاقَهُمْ وَ مِنْکَ [And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you] — it has been said that the wāw ["and"] in this verse is extra, and its meaning is thus: that it is from you and from Nuh. Allah first took a covenant from the prophets for Himself, then took a covenant from the prophets and the Imams (peace be upon them) for His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and after that also took a covenant from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) for the other prophets.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) asked his Shia about this noble verse and said: "Indeed Allah revealed the Qur'an in seven categories… One of them is a refutation of one who denies the merit and superiority of the Prophet over all creatures… As for the one who denies the superiority of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his family) over others, the noble verse: '[And remember] when your Lord took from the backs and loins of the children of Adam their offspring, and made them witnesses over themselves, [and said:] Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes.' (al-A'raf/172) is proof of the invalidity of their statement. The first prophet who bore witness before Allah was Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), because the soul of that great one was the closest of souls to the divine Kingdom (Malakut). The proof of this matter is the statement of Jibra'il on the night of the Mi'raj, when the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) ascended to the seventh heaven." He said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), move forward, for indeed you have set foot in a place where before you no angel drawn near nor any messenger prophet has entered this rank; and if that Hazrat had been at the rank of the other prophets (peace be upon them), he would not have been able to go beyond this stage. And since Allah took acknowledgement of Lordship from all, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), on account of his nearness to the divine Kingdom, was the first to acknowledge, and after that Hazrat, the rest of the prophets (peace be upon them) acknowledged according to rank. And this matter is expressed clearly in the Qur'an: وَ إِذْ أَخَذْنا مِنَ النَّبِیِّینَ مِیثاقَهُمْ وَ مِنْکَ وَ مِنْ نُوحٍ وَ إِبْراهِیمَ وَ مُوسی وَ عِیسَی ابْنِ مَرْیَمَ [And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Nuh and Ibrahim and Musa and Isa son of Maryam] — for the most excellent of the prophets (peace be upon them) are these five, and the most excellent of these few is Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sinan said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "The first of all who took that covenant ahead of the rest was the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family); for he was the closest of creatures to Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, and he was in a place such that, when he ascended to the heavens on the night of the Isra, Jibra'il said to him: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Come forward, you have set foot in a place where no angel brought near and no messenger prophet has ever set foot.' Had his spirit and soul not belonged to that place, he would not have been able to reach it, and his distance to Allah was, as Allah Himself says, in this way: his distance [with the Prophet] was قابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [as the distance of two bows or less] (Najm/9) — that is, rather nearer. When the command issued from Allah, it fell upon Allah's friends." Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "The covenant that was taken from them was taken upon the lordship of Allah, the prophethood of His Messenger, and the imamate of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) and the Imams (peace be upon them). Allah said: أَ لَسْتُ بِرَبِّکُمْ [Am I not your Lord] (A'raf/172) — and is Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) not your Prophet, and Ali your Imam, and the guiding Imams your Imams?! قالُوا بَلی [They said: 'Yes'] (A'raf/172). Allah said: شَهِدْنا أَنْ تَقُولُوا یَوْمَ الْقِیامَةِ [We bore witness, lest you say on the Day of Resurrection]: إِنَّا کُنَّا عَنْ هذا غافِلینَ [Indeed, we were unaware of this] (A'raf/172). The first thing upon which Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, took the covenant from the prophets was lordship. The verse وَ إِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِنَ النَّبِیِّینَ مِیثَاقَهُمْ [And when We took from the prophets their covenant] carries this meaning. So He mentioned all of the prophets (peace be upon them). Then He highlighted the most excellent among them by mentioning their names. And He said: وَ مِنکَ [and from you] — meaning, O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Allah mentioned the name of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) before the other prophets (peace be upon them), because he is the most excellent among them. وَ مِن نُّوحٍ وَ إِبْرَاهِیمَ وَ مُوسَی وَ عِیسَی‌ابْنِ‌مَرْیَمَ [and from Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa and Isa, son of Marium] — so these five are the most excellent of the prophets (peace be upon them), and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) is the most excellent of these five. Then, after that, Allah took the covenant from the prophets (peace be upon them) that they would believe in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and that they would help Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him)."

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): Imam Kazim (peace be upon him), from his fathers, narrated from Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) that he said: "After the passing of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), the companions were seated in the mosque of the Prophet and were recalling the virtues of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), when suddenly one of the Jewish scholars from the people of Sham entered upon us. He had read the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur, and the scriptures of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and the prophets, and he knew their signs. He greeted us and sat down. He paused briefly and then said: 'O Ummah of Muhammad! You have not left any rank of any prophet nor any virtue of any messenger without attributing them all to your own Prophet; if I ask you, do you have an answer?' The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said to him: '... Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, mentioned the messengers, and although he was the last of them, on account of his nobility He began with his name and said: Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Nuh and the prophets after him. (Nisa/163) Although there had been prophets before Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), Allah began with him even though he was the last of them, and Allah has given him superiority over all the prophets... And Allah the Mighty and Majestic increased Muhammad's (peace be upon him and his family) nobility and took a covenant from him before the rest of the prophets, and took a covenant from the rest of the prophets to obey him, be pleased with him and affirm him, and He said: وَ إِذْ أَخَذْنا مِنَ النَّبِیِّینَ مِیثاقَهُمْ وَ مِنْکَ وَ مِنْ نُوحٍ وَ إِبْراهِیمَ [And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Nuh and Ibrahim].'"

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah took a covenant from Nuh (peace be upon him) and the other prophets that they would worship Allah the Blessed and Exalted and not associate anything with Him. He commanded prayer, enjoining good, forbidding evil, and observing what is lawful and unlawful; and He did not make obligatory upon Nuh (peace be upon him) the rulings of the hudud (prescribed punishments) or the obligatory shares of inheritance. Such was the shariah (sacred law) of Nuh (peace be upon him).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Every one of the prophets whom Allah raised up from Adam onwards will return to the world and will aid the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him). This portion of the verse: لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ [You shall indeed believe in him] means that they will believe in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). And the next portion وَلَتَنصُرُنَّهُ [and you shall indeed help him] means that they will help the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him). Then in the world of dharr (pre-existence) it was said to all these prophets: Do you affirm this matter and take upon yourselves this firm covenant?, that is, My covenant. They said: '[Yes] we affirm!' Allah said to the angels: Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses. (Al-i Imran/81) And this is together with the verse that has come in Surah al-Ahzab: وَ إِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِنَ النَّبِیِّینَ مِیثَاقَهُمْ وَ مِنکَ وَ مِن نُّوحٍ وَ ابراهیم وَ مُوسَی وَ عیسَی‌ابْنِ‌مَرْیَمَ وَ أَخَذْنَا مِنْهُم مِّیثَاقًا غَلِیظًا [And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Nuh and Ibrahim and Musa and Isa, son of Maryam, and We took from them a strong covenant], and the verse that is in Surah al-Araf: And [remember] the time when your Lord took from the backs and loins of the children of Adam their offspring. (Araf/172) These three verses are connected with one another but are placed in three separate surahs.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and heard him saying: 'O Ali (peace be upon him)! Allah did not send any prophet except that He invited him to your wilayah (guardianship), whether he willed it or not.'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Hudhayfa said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'The prophethood of no prophet was completed in the world of azillah (shadows) until my wilayah and the wilayah of my Ahl al-Bayt were presented to him, and their images were personified before that prophet. So they acknowledged obedience to them and their wilayah.'

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Indeed Allah, Blessed and Exalted, took the covenant of the prophets upon the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him), and He took the pledge of the prophets to the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Our wilayah is the wilayah of Allah, with which [and with faith in which] He never sent any prophet except.