سورة غافر

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The Siddiqun (truthful ones) are three: Habib the Carpenter, the believer of the family of Ya-Sin, who said: یَا قَومِ اتَّبِعُوا المُرْسَلینَ [O my people! Follow the messengers]; and Hizqil, the believer of the family of Fir'awn, who said: أَ تَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ یَقُولَ رَبِّیَ اللهُ [Will you slay a man because he says: My Lord is Allah]; and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), and he is the most excellent of them.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Imam Musa Kazim (peace be upon him), in a testament to Hisham ibn al-Hakam, described the intellect thus: "O Hisham! Allah the Exalted has given glad tidings to the people of intellect and understanding in the Quran ... Then Allah praised the small number [of believers] and said: وَ قالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ یَکْتُمُ إیمانَهُ أَ تَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلاً أَنْ یَقُولَ رَبِّیَ اللهِ [And a believing man of Fir'awn's people who hid his faith said: Will you slay a man because he says: My Lord is Allah]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): On the other hand, Fir'awn's treasurer was a believing man who concealed his faith in Musa: وَ قالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ یَکْتُمُ إِیمانَهُ أَ تَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ یَقُولَ رَبِّیَ اللهِ [And a believing man of Fir'awn's people who hid his faith said: Will you slay a man because he says: My Lord is Allah]. When the news of the killing of the Coptic man reached Fir'awn, he decided to punish Musa (peace be upon him). But the believer of the family of Fir'awn sent a messenger to Musa (peace be upon him) to inform him of Fir'awn's plot and to urge him to leave the city; [saying:] this group is taking counsel to kill you, leave the city at once, for I am among those who wish you well! (Qasas/20).

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ قالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ یَکْتُمُ إِیمانَهُ [And a believing man of Firon's people who hid his faith said]; he was Hizqil, who kept his faith hidden for six hundred years. He had been afflicted with leprosy and the fingers of his hand had fallen off, and he would gesture to his people with his two fingerless hands and say: 'O my people! Follow me, that I may guide you to the right path.' (Ghafir/38). And Allah protected him from their evil plots (Ghafir/45). Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) says: 'The people of Firon cut him to pieces, but Allah protected him from their taking his faith away from him.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Yunus ibn Ammar says: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'May I be your ransom! With this illness that has appeared on my face, people think Allah afflicts with this ailment any servant for whom He has no need.' The Imam (peace be upon him) said: 'The believer of the family of Firon also had a defective hand, yet with all of that he propagated the religion.' Then he said: 'When the last third of the night arrives, get up, perform ablution, and prepare yourself for prayer, and when you reach the last prostration in the first rak'ah, say in the prostration: یَا عَلِیُّ یَا عَظِیمُ یَا رَحْمَانُ یَا رَحِیمُ یَا سَامِعَ الدَّعَوَاتِ یَا مُعْطِیَ الخَیْرَاتِ صَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ أَعْطِنِی مِنْ خَیْرِ الدُّنْیَا وَ الْآخِرَةِ مَا أَنْتَ أَهْلُهُ وَ اصْرِفْ عَنِّی مِنْ شَرِّ الدُّنْیَا وَ الْآخِرَةِ مَا أَنَا أَهْلُهُ وَ أَذْهِبْ عَنِّی هَذَا الْوَجَعَ [O Exalted One, O Great, O Most Compassionate, O Most Merciful, O Hearer of supplications, O Bestower of good things, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and grant me from the good of this world and the hereafter that of which You are worthy, and turn away from me the evil of this world and the hereafter of which I am deserving, and remove from me this pain] — and name it — for it has angered me and grieved me. Persist in the supplication.' Yunus said: 'I recited this supplication, and I had not yet reached Kufa when my illness had gone.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A questioner asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and said: "May I be your ransom! Grant me a proof from the Book of Allah by which I may argue that the Aal of Muhammad (peace be upon them) are only his Ahl al-Bayt and no one else." He said: "Yes. Allah the Mighty and Majestic, who is the most truthful of speakers, said: 'Indeed Allah chose Adam and Nuh and the family of Ibrahim and the family of Imran above the worlds.' (Aal Imran/33) Then He explained who those were whom He chose, and said: 'They were offspring [and a lineage], one of them from the other [in purity, piety and virtue], and Allah is Hearing, Knowing [and aware of their striving in the path of His message].' (Aal Imran/34). And the offspring of a people are none other than their descendants. And Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: 'O family of Dawud! Give thanks [for all these blessings].' (Saba/13) And He said: قالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ یَکْتُمُ إِیمانَهُ أَ تَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ یَقُولَ رَبِّیَ اللهُ [And a believing man of the family of Firawn who hid his faith said: Will you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah], and [this believing man] was the cousin of Firawn, and Allah attributed this believer to Firawn because of kinship in lineage, while he was opposed to Firawn in following and religion. And if everyone who believed in Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) were of the Aal of Muhammad (peace be upon them) whom Allah intended in the Quran, He would not have attributed the 'believer of the family of Firawn' to Firawn while he was opposed to Firawn in his religion; so in this matter there is a proof that 'the Aal of a man' are his Ahl al-Bayt, and whoever follows the Aal of Muhammad (peace be upon them), he is one of them."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Yahya ibn al-Halabi from his father narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) that: I was present with the Imam (peace be upon him) when a man said: "Hasan al-Basri narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Whoever conceals knowledge will come on the Day of Resurrection bridled with a bridle of fire in the plain of gathering.'" He said: "He has lied, woe to him! Then where is the word of Allah the Exalted, who said: وَ قالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ یَکْتُمُ إِیمانَهُ أَتَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ یَقُولَ رَبِّیَ اللهُ [And a believing man from the family of Firawn who concealed his faith said: Will you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah]." Then Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) recited that verse aloud and said: "Let them go wherever they wish; by Allah, they will not find knowledge except here." Then he was silent for a moment. Then he said: "Knowledge is with the Aal of Muhammad (peace be upon them)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Taqiyya (dissimulation) is part of my religion and the religion of my forefathers, and whoever has no taqiyya has no religion, and taqiyya is Allah's shield on earth, because the believer of the family of Firawn, had he made his faith manifest, would have been killed.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): The scholars [asked Imam Rida (peace be upon him) and] said: 'Has Allah interpreted istifa' (selection and choosing) in the Quran?' ... Imam Rida (peace be upon him) said: 'Allah has openly interpreted istifa' in twelve places in the Quran, apart from what is in the inner meaning of the Quran ... The eleventh: the saying of Allah the Exalted in Surah al-Mu'min, relating the words of رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ یَکْتُمُ إِیمانَهُ أَ تَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ یَقُولَ رَبِّیَ اللهُ وَ قَدْ جاءَکُمْ بِالْبَیِّناتِ مِنْ رَبِّکُمْ وَ إِنْ یَکُ کاذِباً فَعَلَیْهِ کَذِبُهُ وَ إِنْ یَکُ صادِقاً یُصِبْکُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذی یَعِدُکُمْ إِنَّ اللهَ لا یَهْدی مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ کَذَّاب [And a believing man of the people of Firon, who hid his faith, said: Will you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah, and he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? If he is a liar, upon him is his lie, and if he is truthful, some of what he threatens you with will strike you. Indeed Allah does not guide one who is extravagant, a great liar]. That man was the maternal cousin of Firon; He attributed him to Firon by lineage, not by his religion. In the same way, we are singled out by lineage and birth to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), while we share with the general people in religion — and this is the distinction between the Al (family) and the Ummah (community).'

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Shall I not guide you to a better and more rightly-guided matter than that? Leave him (Abu Dharr) in the position of the believer of the family of Firon: إِنْ یَکُ کاذِباً فَعَلَیْهِ کَذِبُهُ وَ إِنْ یَکُ صادِقاً یُصِبْکُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِی یَعِدُکُمْ إِنَّ اللهَ لا یَهْدِی مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ کَذَّابٌ [If he is a liar, upon him is his lie, and if he is truthful, some of what he threatens you with will strike you. Indeed Allah does not guide one who is extravagant, a great liar].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say about him: 'The green sky has not shaded, and the dusty earth has not carried, a speaker more truthful than Abu Dharr (may Allah have mercy on him).' Place him in the position of the believer of the family of Firon: إِنْ یَکُ کاذِباً فَعَلَیْهِ کَذِبُهُ وَ إِنْ یَکُ صادِقاً یُصِبْکُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِی یَعِدُکُمْ [If he is a liar, upon him is his lie, and if he is truthful, some of what he threatens you with will strike you].