سورة الأنعام

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): And beware of insulting the enemies of Allah where they can hear you: فَیَسُبُّوا اللهَ عَدْواً بِغَیْرِ عِلْمٍ [lest they should insult Allah out of enmity, without knowledge], and it is fitting that you know to what extent insulting Allah reaches, and how it is. Truly, whoever insults the friends (awliya) of Allah has uncovered the insulting of Allah, and who is more unjust in the sight of Allah than the one who invites insults against Allah and His friends?!

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ishaq ibn Musa said: My brother and my uncle narrated to me that Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: There are three gatherings that Allah detests and upon whose people He sends His wrath, so do not sit with them: a gathering in which there is a tongue that lies in its fatwa; a gathering in which the mention of our enemies is fresh and the mention of us is worn and faded; and a gathering in which there are those who turn [people] away from us, while you know it. Then Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) recited three verses from the Book of Allah, as though they were in his mouth (or in his palm): وَ لاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِینَ یَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللهِ فَیَسُبُّواْ اللهَ عَدْوًا بِغَیْرِ عِلْمٍ [And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they abuse Allah exceeding the limits out of ignorance], وَ إذَا رَأَیْتَ الَّذِینَ یَخُوضُونَ فِی آیَاتِنَا فَأعْرِض عَنْهُمْ حَتَّی یَخُوضوا فِی حَدِیث غَیْرِهِ [And when you see those who enter into vain discourse about Our verses, withdraw from them until they enter into some other discourse]. Because of the lies your tongues utter [declaring things permitted or forbidden], do not say: "This is halal and that is haram", so as to forge lies against Allah. (Nahl/116).

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): Ibrahim ibn Abi Mahmud said: I said to Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! With us there are reports concerning the virtues of the Commander of the Faithful and of you, the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), that have been narrated through the opponents, reports which we have not heard from you. Shall we believe in those reports and accept them?" He said: "O son of Abi Mahmud! My father narrated from his father, from his grandfather, that the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Whoever listens to a speaker has worshipped him; if the speaker is from Allah, he has worshipped Allah, and if he is from Satan, he has worshipped Satan.'" Then Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him) said: "Our opponents have fabricated reports about our virtues, which are divided into three categories: reports in which they have exaggerated (ghuluww); reports in which they have fallen short concerning us; and reports which explicitly state the faults of our enemies. When people hear the reports of exaggeration and excess concerning us, they declare our Shia unbelievers and accuse them of holding that we, their Imams, are gods. When they hear the reports that fall short concerning us, they hold that same belief about us. When they hear the faults of our enemies mentioned explicitly by name, they in turn abuse us by our names, even though Allah the Mighty and Majestic says in the Quran: وَ لا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِینَ یَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ فَیَسُبُّوا اللهَ عَدْواً بِغَیْرِ عِلْمٍ [And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they abuse Allah exceeding the limits out of ignorance]. O son of Abi Mahmud! When people incline to the right and to the left, do not deviate from our path. Whoever does not let go of us, we do not let go of him, and whoever separates from us, we separate from him. The least thing that takes a person out of faith is that he should say of a pebble that it is a date-stone, then adopt that as his belief and dissociate from those who oppose him in it. O son of Abi Mahmud! Preserve what I have explained to you; I have gathered for you in it the good of this world and the Hereafter."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): He was asked about this saying of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): "Indeed, shirk is more imperceptible than the walking of an ant upon a smooth black stone on a dark night." He said: "The believers used to revile that which the polytheists worshipped besides Allah, and the polytheists used to revile that which the believers worshipped. So Allah forbade the believers from reviling their gods, so that the disbelievers would not revile the Allah of the believers, and thereby the believers would not, without knowing, associate partners with Allah the Mighty and Majestic." Then he said: "وَ لاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِینَ یَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللهِ فَیَسُبُّواْ اللهَ عَدْوًا بِغَیْرِ عِلْمٍ [And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Umar Tayalisi said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about this word of Allah the Exalted: وَ لاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِینَ یَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللهِ فَیَسُبُّواْ اللهَ عَدْوًا بِغَیْرِ عِلْمٍ [And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance]. He said: "O Umar! Have you seen anyone who reviles Allah?" I said: "May Allah make me your ransom, how is that possible?" He said: "Whoever reviles the friend of Allah has reviled Allah."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Do not revile [the object of worship of] those people, for they will revile against you.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): In the Torah it is written, in the intimate discourse which Allah the Mighty and Majestic held with Musa (peace be upon him), it is stated: O Musa (peace be upon him)! Conceal My hidden secret within your inner self, and openly display gentleness on My behalf toward My enemy and your enemy among My creation, and do not, before them, invite reviling of Me by disclosing My hidden secret, lest you become a partner with your enemy and My enemy in reviling Me.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): کَذَلِکَ زَیَّنَّا لِکُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ [Thus have We made fair seeming to every people their deeds] means that after putting them to the test and after their entering into that deed, Allah has ascribed this act to Himself; and the proof that this (making fair seeming) is on account of their earlier deed is this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: ثُمَّ إِلَی رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَیُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا کَانُواْ یَعْمَلُونَ [Then to their Lord shall be their return, so He will inform them of what they did].