سورة المائدة

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): He recited the verse إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَا التَّوْراةَ فِیها هُدیً وَ نُورٌ [Surely We revealed the Torah in which was guidance and light] up to the portion of the verse بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُوا مِنْ کِتابِ الله [because they were required to guard part of the Book of Allah] and said: This verse was revealed concerning us.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Amr al-Zubayri narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Purification and being clean is a requirement of the station of imamah, and purification means being clean from sins and destructive disobediences that make the fire of Hell obligatory. Likewise, another requirement of imamah is luminous and precise knowledge of everything the ummah needs, including the halal and haram of affairs. Also, the one at the station of imamah must be knowledgeable of the Book of the Qur'an — both the general matters of the Qur'an and the specific matters of the Qur'an — and must distinguish its muhkam (clear) and mutashabih (allegorical) verses, and know its precise sciences, its strange interpretations, and its nasikh (abrogating) and mansukh (abrogated) verses. I asked: "What is the reason that the requirement of imamah is only these matters that you have enumerated?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said in reply: "Allah says concerning those to whom He has given permission to rule and whom He has made the people of rule: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا التَّوْرَاةَ فِیهَا هُدًی وَنُورٌ یَحْکُمُ بِهَا النَّبِیُّونَ الَّذِینَ أَسْلَمُواْ لِلَّذِینَ هَادُواْ وَالرَّبَّانِیُّونَ وَالأَحْبَارُ [Surely We revealed the Torah in which was guidance and light; with it the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged for those who were Jews, and the rabbaniyyun (masters of Divine knowledge) and the ahbar (doctors)]. So these imams are other than the prophets who train the people with their knowledge; and what is meant by ahbar is the scholars, not the rabbaniyyun. Then Allah informed: بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُواْ مِن کِتَابِ الله وَکَانُواْ علَیْهِ شُهَدَاء [because they were required to guard part of the Book of Allah and were witnesses thereof], and He did not say 'by what they were made to bear [i.e., memorize] of the Qur'an.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic transferred the imamate to the descendants of Husayn (peace be upon him), just as He transferred prophethood from the descendants of Ishaq to the descendants of Isma'il (peace be upon him). The ummah is in agreement concerning the descendants of Husayn (peace be upon him) and bears witness to them and to the fact that the imamate flows among them, and they have not reached such a consensus of testimony for anyone besides them. So if a speaker says: "What is the proof that Allah the Mighty and Majestic transferred the imamate from the descendants of Hasan (peace be upon him) to the descendants of Husayn (peace be upon him)?" we say to him: "The Book of Allah has transferred it." And if he says: "How is that? The imamate is only through precedence [in faith] and purity from the destructive sins that make the Fire binding, and then through manifest knowledge," he is told: "[The transfer of] the imamate encompasses everything the ummah needs, namely: what is lawful, what is unlawful, and knowledge of the Book of Allah — [including] its particular and general, its outward and inward, its firm and ambiguous, its abrogating and abrogated, the subtleties of its knowledge and the rare aspects of its interpretation." The questioner asked: "What is the proof that the imam cannot be other than one who knows these things that you have mentioned?" He said: "The saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic concerning those whom He permitted to judge and made worthy of it [where He said:] إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَا التَّوْراةَ فِیها هُدیً وَ نُورٌ یَحْکُمُ بِهَا النَّبِیُّونَ الَّذِینَ أَسْلَمُوا لِلَّذِینَ هادُوا وَ الرَّبَّانِیُّونَ وَ الْأَحْبارُ [Surely We revealed the Tawrat in which was guidance and light; with it the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged (matters) for those who were Jews, and the masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors]. So the 'Rabbaniyyun' are the imams, who — being below the prophets — nurture people by their knowledge, and the 'Ahbar' are below them, and they are callers on behalf of the imams. Then Allah the Mighty and Majestic informed and said: بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُوا مِنْ کِتابِ اللهِ وَ کانُوا عَلَیْهِ شُهَداءَ [because they were required to guard (part) of the Book of Allah, and they were witnesses thereof], and He did not say: 'because of their ignorance.' Then He said: 'Are those who know equal to those who do not know? Only those endowed with understanding take heed.' (Zumar/9) And He said: 'Rather, these are clear signs in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge.' (Ankabut/49) And He said: 'And none understand them except the knowledgeable.' (Ankabut/43). Then He said: 'Indeed, only those of His servants who have knowledge fear Allah.' (Fatir/28) And He said: 'Is then He Who guides to the truth more worthy to be followed, or he who himself does not go aright unless he is guided? What then is the matter with you? How do you judge?!' (Yunus/35). So these verses are proof that the imams cannot be other than knowledgeable ones, so that people are in need of them while they are not in need of any of the people in anything of the lawful and unlawful."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): O people! Take a lesson from what Allah has warned His friends about, such as His censure of the Jewish scholars, where He says: لَوْ لا یَنْهاهُمُ الرَّبَّانِیُّونَ وَ الْأَحْبارُ عَنْ قَوْلِهِمُ الْإِثْم [Why do the masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors not forbid them from their sinful speech], and He says: لُعِنَ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا مِنْ بَنِی‌إِسْرائِیلَ... لَبِئْسَ ما کانُوا یَفْعَلُونَ [Those of the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed... evil indeed was what they used to do]. Indeed, Allah reproached them because they lived among the oppressors and witnessed their ugly and corrupt deeds, yet — out of greed for what those people possessed and fear of falling into difficulty — they did not forbid them from those deeds, even though Allah says: فَلا تَخْشَوُا النَّاسَ وَ اخْشَوْن [So do not fear the people, but fear Me].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Salih ibn Hamza narrates in a marfu' hadith from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed, part of worship is fear of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Allah says: إِنَّما یَخْشَی الله مِنْ عِبادِهِ الْعُلَماءُ [Only those of His servants who have knowledge fear Allah], and He also says: فَلا تَخْشَوُا النَّاسَ وَ اخْشَوْنِ [So do not fear the people, but fear Me], and He also says: And whoever adopts taqwa (Allah-consciousness) of Allah, Allah will make for him a way out. (Talaq/2). And Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Love of rank and fame cannot exist in the heart of one who fears and is apprehensive [so whoever fears Allah does not love leadership and fame].

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever, in his judgement over two dirhams, judges unjustly and then enforces that judgement, is among the people of this verse: وَمَن لَّمْ یَحْکُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ الله فَأُوْلَئِکَ هُمُ الْکَافِرُونَ [And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed — those are the disbelievers]. I asked: "How can he enforce his judgement?" He said: "He has a whip and a prison; he issues the judgement, and if the condemned accepts the judgement, well and good; otherwise the ruler strikes him with his whip and imprisons him in his prison."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): A woman went to her husband and six months later gave birth to a child, and they took her to Uthman, and he ordered that the woman be stoned. Then Ali (peace be upon him) came to him and said: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: And the period of her bearing him and weaning him is thirty months. (Ahqaf/15). And [in another verse] Allah the Exalted said: And his weaning is completed in two years. [So the period of a woman's pregnancy may be six months, and this woman should not be stoned]." But his messenger did not reach them until after they had finished stoning that woman, and because of his ignorance of the ruling of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, he killed that woman, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکافِرُونَ [And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed — those are the disbelievers].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) ruled concerning the diyah (blood-money) of the nose, if it is cut off from its root, at one hundred camels: thirty four-year-old she-camels, thirty two-year-old she-camels, twenty pregnant she-camels, and twenty two-year-old male camels. The diyah of the eye, if it is gouged out, is fifty camels; the diyah of a man's private part, if it is cut off at the upper portion through unintentional error, is one hundred camels; likewise the diyah of the leg, and likewise the diyah of the hand, if it is cut off, is fifty camels. Likewise the diyah of the ear, if it is cut off and severed, is fifty camels. But as for wounds and injuries to the limbs, two just persons from among you must judge concerning it — meaning by them the Imam — and he said: وَمَن لَّمْ یَحْکُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ الله فَأُوْلَئِکَ هُمُ الْکَافِرُونَ [And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed — those are the disbelievers].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The blood-money for the nose, if it is cut off completely, is one hundred camels. The blood-money for the eye, if it is gouged out, is fifty camels; the blood-money for the hand, if it is severed, is fifty camels; the blood-money for the male organ, if it is cut off, is one hundred camels; and the blood-money for the ear, if it is cut off, is fifty camels. As for wounds short of mutilations, and for the finger and the like, let two just men from among you judge concerning it; وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکَافِرُونَ [and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The blood-money for the hand, if it is severed, is fifty camels; and for what is a wound short of severance, two just men from among you judge in order to assess the extent of the wound: وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکافِرُونَ [and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A bribe in judgement is an instance of unlawful wealth. He was asked: "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), even if he judges by the truth?" The Imam said: "Even if he judges by the truth. As for judging by falsehood, that is itself unbelief. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکافِرُونَ [and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever judges between two people and errs regarding two dirhams has disbelieved. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکافِرُونَ [and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers]. One of the Imam's companions said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), it may be that two of our companions dispute over something and both agree to accept the judgement of one of us." The Imam said: "This is not of that kind. That refers only to one who compels people to accept his judgement by the sword and the whip."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Whoever passes judgement concerning two dirhams by other than what Allah has revealed has indeed disbelieved.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are themselves the unbelievers, the wrongdoers, and the transgressors.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکافِرُونَ [And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers]; they are unbelievers, but not like one who disbelieves in Allah and the Day of Recompense.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Masruq said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about injustice in judgement. He said: "That is disbelief." And I asked about suht (unlawful gain). He said: "A man fulfils another's need [by an unlawful means], and as a result a gift is presented to him. Allah the Exalted said: وَ مَنْ لَمْ یَحْکُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ الله فَأُولئِکَ هُمُ الْکافِرُونَ [And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers]; this is when he regards it as lawful."