سورة الأنعام

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ أَنَّ هذا صِراطِی مُسْتَقِیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ [And that this is My path, the right one, so follow it, and do not follow (other) ways] — the intended meaning is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and the Imams (peace be upon them) from the children of Fatima al-Zahra (peace be upon her), who are the path of Allah; whoever turns away from them has entered into the other ways which the verse refers to.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The meaning of the straight path is the Imam.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu Barza narrated to us: We were sitting in the service of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) when he pointed towards Ali (peace be upon him) and recited this verse: وَ أَنَّ هذا صراطی مُسْتَقیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبیلِهِ ذلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَتَّقُونَ [And (know) that this is My path, the right one therefore follow it, and follow not (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way; this He has enjoined you with that you may guard (against evil)]. A man said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), is not the meaning of the verse that Allah has given this path superiority over all other paths (that is, Islam)?" The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "This is an injustice which you commit regarding Ali (peace be upon him); as for what you said, that Allah has given Islam superiority over other religions, that is correct, but this verse was revealed at the time when I was returning from the first battle of Tabuk. I said: 'O my Lord, I have appointed Ali (peace be upon him), among my ummah, as my successor, just like Harun the brother of Musa (peace be upon him), except that there is no prophethood after me.' Allah confirmed my words and fulfilled my promise. He mentioned the name of Ali (peace be upon him) in the Quran just as the name of Harun was mentioned, as you yourself have read in the Quran." Then the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) recited a verse from the Quran in which Harun was named and said: "Allah confirmed my words with this verse: هذا صِراطٌ عَلَیَّ مُسْتَقِیمٌ [This is a right way with Me]; this is My path which is straight. That path is this very Ali (peace be upon him) who is sitting here. Listen to his advice and hear his words. Whoever insults me has insulted Allah, and whoever insults Ali (peace be upon him) has insulted me."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): هذا صِراطِی مُسْتَقِیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبِیلِهِ [This is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way]. We are the straight path. Whoever refuses our path, those are the other ways [that lead to disbelief]. And Allah says: ذلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَتَّقُونَ [This He has enjoined upon you that you may guard against evil]; this is Allah's counsel to you so that it may cause you to be Allah-fearing.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ أَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِی مُسْتَقِیمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ [And that this is My straight path, so follow it]. The path He has indicated is the path of the Family of Muhammad (peace be upon them).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): أَنَّ هذا صِراطِی مُسْتَقِیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبِیلِهِ [That this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way] — I asked Allah to make this path for Ali (peace be upon him), and He did so.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)- It is narrated from Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him): "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) had summoned the companions, and pointing to Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), he said: هَذَا صِرَاطٌ مُسْتَقِیمٌ فَاتَّبِعُوهُ [This is a straight path, so follow it]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him)- وَ أَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِی مُسْتَقِیمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ [And that this is My straight path, so follow it]; that is, the path of Imamate. فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ السُّبُلَ [So follow it and do not follow the (other) paths] means paths other than it. ذَلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُم بِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَتَّقُونَ [This He has enjoined upon you that you may guard against evil].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him)- Abu Malik al-Asadi said: I said to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "What is meant by this verse: وَ أَنَّ هذا صراطی مُسْتَقیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبیلِهِ ذلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَتَّقُونَ [And that this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow (other) paths, for they will separate you from His path; this He has enjoined upon you that you may guard against evil]?" The Imam (peace be upon him) opened his left hand and with his right hand drew a circle over it. Then he said: "We are the straight path; follow it and do not follow the other paths, for they will divert you to the right and to the left." Then he drew a line with his hand.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)- Abu Hamza al-Thumali said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about this word of Allah the Exalted: وَ أَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِی مُسْتَقِیمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ [And that this is My straight path, so follow it]. He said: "By Allah, that [straight path] is Ali (peace be upon him); by Allah, the path and the balance is he."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)- وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ [And do not follow the (other) paths]; we are the path for one who follows us. And we are the guides to Paradise, and we are the handholds of Islam.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O group of people! Allah has commanded me and forbidden me, and I too have commanded Ali (peace be upon him) and forbidden him. So he has received the command and prohibition from his Lord. Therefore, listen to his words so that you remain safe, and obey him so that you are guided, and refrain from what he forbids so that you walk on the straight path, and move according to his wish, lest the various paths keep you away from his path and cause you to be scattered and dispersed. O group of people! I am that very straight path which Allah has commanded you to follow. And after me, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), then my children from his loins, are the straight path. They are the very leaders who guide people towards the truth and judge with truth and justice. (Al-A'raf/159).

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was giving judgment while Ali (peace be upon him) was in front of him, and a man was on his right and another man on his left. So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The right and left directions lead to misguidance, and the correct road is the straight path." Then he pointed with his hand and said: وَ أَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِی مُسْتَقِیمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ [And that this is My path, the right one, so follow it].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ أَنَّ هذا صِراطِی مُسْتَقِیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ [And that this is My path, the right one, so follow it]; the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) are that path to which Allah guides.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The path of Allah is the path of Ali (peace be upon him) and his descendants.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): By Allah, we are that very path which you must follow; by Allah, we are the straight path.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), I bear witness that whoever doubts you has not believed in the Trustworthy Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), and whoever regards others as equal to you has deviated from the firm religion that the Lord of the worlds chose for us and completed through your wilayah (guardianship) on the day of Ghadir. And I bear witness that you are the one intended by the words of Allah the Mighty, the Merciful: وَ أَنَّ هذا صراطی مُسْتَقِیماً فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبِیلِهِ [And (know) that this is My path, the right one, so follow it, and follow not (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way]. By Allah, whoever followed anyone other than you went astray and led others astray, and whoever became your enemy deviated from the truth. O Allah, we heard Your command, obeyed, and followed Your straight path.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from him that he said: "Misguidance has several meanings — some of them are praiseworthy, some are blameworthy, and others, such as misguidance in the sense of forgetfulness, are neither praiseworthy nor blameworthy... This is the meaning of the misguidance which is attributed to Allah the Exalted; for Allah set up for them a leader who was a guide and a warner concerning what he had brought from his Lord, but they opposed him, and although they acknowledged the obligation of obeying him they turned away from him. Since Allah had made clear to them what they should act upon and what they should abandon, and they opposed [him], they lost this [path]... When they opposed Allah the Exalted they went astray and led [others] astray, and Allah the Exalted warned the ummah against following them, saying: وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا أَهْواءَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ ضَلُّوا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَ أَضَلُّوا کَثِیراً وَ ضَلُّوا عَنْ سَواءِ السَّبِیلِ [And do not follow the desires of a people who went astray before and led many astray and strayed from the even way], where what is meant by "the way" here is the wasi (successor); and Allah the Glorified said: وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبِیلِهِ ذلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُمْ بِهِ [And follow not (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way; this He has enjoined you with]. But they opposed what Allah the Exalted had enjoined upon them and followed their own desires, and altered the religion and the ordinances of Allah, exalted is His majesty, and changed His obligations, His rulings, and everything they had been commanded to [perform], just as they turned away from the one whom they were commanded to obey and with whom Allah had taken a covenant from them to hold loyalty (walayah), and this act of theirs compelled them to resort to opinion and analogy, and caused their bewilderment and confusion to increase."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ [And follow not (other) ways] — meaning, [do not follow] anyone other than the Imam. فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمْ عَنْ سَبِیلِهِ [for they will lead you away from His way] — meaning, do not become divided and do not differ concerning the Imam; if you differ concerning the Imam, you will stray from His way.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَ لاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ السُّبُلَ [So follow it, and follow not (other) ways] — meaning, ways other than it.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): ذَلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُم بِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَتَّقُونَ [This He has enjoined you with that you may guard (against evil)] — meaning, so that you may adopt taqwa (Allah-consciousness).

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): And Allah's victory over His enemy will come, and Allah is Subtle, All-Aware; and in less than what you have heard there is sufficiency and conveyance. So may Allah have mercy on you, and reflect upon that to which Allah has urged and encouraged you.