سورة الأنعام

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ ما مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِی الْأَرْضِ وَ لا طائِرٍ یَطِیرُ بِجَناحَیْهِ إِلَّا أُمَمٌ أَمْثالُکُمْ [And there is no animal that walks upon the earth nor a bird that flies with its two wings but (they are) genera like yourselves] — that is, they are creatures like you. Everything that has been created is a creature like you.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): They asked Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) about the categories of ummah in the Book of Allah the Exalted. He said: "Ummah [means] a gathering of animals and a gathering of birds. Allah the Exalted said: وَ ما مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِی الْأَرْضِ وَ لا طائِرٍ یَطِیرُ بِجَناحَیْهِ إِلَّا أُمَمٌ أَمْثالُکُمْ [And there is no animal that walks upon the earth nor a bird that flies with its two wings but (they are) genera like yourselves]; that is, they are groups that eat, drink, reproduce and the like."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abu al-Tufayl said: I asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him) about the meaning of dabbat al-ard: "O Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him)! Who is it?" He said: "He is the Lord of the earth, by whom everything the earth possesses finds its rest."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Abu Dharr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) when two rams butted each other with their horns. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Do you know why they butted each other?" They said: "We do not know." He said: "But Allah knows, and He will judge between them."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Yunus ibn Ya'qub narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), at the time of his death, said to his son Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "I have gone to Mecca on this camel twenty times and have not struck it once with a whip. Whenever it dies, bury it so that beasts of prey do not eat its flesh, for the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'There is no camel that stands at the station of Arafat seven times but Allah makes it among the cattle of Paradise and blesses its offspring.'" When the camel died, Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) dug a pit and buried it.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): ما فَرَّطْنا فِی الْکِتابِ مِنْ شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book], meaning we did not [forget or] abandon [anything].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for the refutation of the speech of those who believe in ra'y (personal opinion), qiyas (analogy), istihsan (juristic preference) and ijtihad, and likewise those who say that difference is a source of mercy — know that those who believe in ra'y and qiyas, when they became incapable of understanding the correct ruling, acted upon doubtful rulings and said: whatever happens, Allah has a ruling regarding it. This ruling is not outside of two states: either a text (nass) has come regarding it, or there is a proof (dalil) for it. When we do not find a text on a matter, we are compelled to deduce a ruling for it by means of similar rulings and to rule according to its parallels, for if we do not do this we have left that matter without a ruling, and it is not permissible for the ruling of Allah in any matter to be void and suspended. Allah the Glorified says: مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِی الْکِتَابِ مِنْ شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book]; when we see that a ruling must exist and that actions must have a ruling, we search for that ruling from its parallels so that that act does not remain without a ruling, whether by text or by deduction, and this is permissible for us.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Mahmud, with his chain, narrates from Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) that he said: "I came before Harun al-Rashid. He said to me, 'How is it that you say you are the children of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), while the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had no progeny? For progeny is through the male child, not the female child, and you are the children of a daughter, and a daughter has no progeny.' I said, 'By the right of kinship and by the grave [of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)] and the one who is in it, I ask you to excuse me from this question.' He said, 'No, unless you inform me of your proof regarding it, O son of Ali (peace be upon him)! And thus it has been reported to me that you, O Musa, are their chief and the Imam of their time, and I will not excuse you from anything I ask you about until you bring me a proof from the Book of Allah the Exalted regarding it. For you, the group of the children of Ali (peace be upon him), claim that nothing of the Qur'an — neither an alif nor a waw — is missed by you but that its interpretation is with you, and you cite as proof this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: ما فَرَّطْنا فِی الْکِتابِ مِنْ شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book], and you consider yourselves independent of the opinion of the scholars and their analogy.' I said, 'Do you permit me to answer?' He said, 'Bring [your answer] forth.' I said, 'أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّیْطَانِ الرَّجِیمِ، بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ، وَ مِنْ ذُرِّیَّتِهِ داوُدَ وَ سُلَیْمانَ وَ أَیُّوبَ وَ یُوسُفَ وَ موسی وَ هارُونَ وَ کَذلِکَ نَجْزِی المُحْسِنِینَ* وَ زَکَرِیَّا وَ یَحْیی وَ عِیسی [I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. And of his descendants, Dawud and Sulayman and Ayyub and Yusuf and Musa and Harun; and thus do We reward those who do good. And Zakariyya and Yahya and Isa]; O Commander of the Believers! Who is the father of Isa (peace be upon him)?' He said, 'Isa (peace be upon him) has no father.' I said, 'We attached him to the descendants of the prophets (peace be upon them) through the path of Maryam (peace be upon her), and likewise we are attached to the descendants of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) through our mother Fatima (peace be upon her).'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Umarah ibn Zayd al-Waqidi said: Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik came to Mecca for hajj in one of the years, and in that year Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and his son Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) had also come for hajj... Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik said: "Ali claimed knowledge of the unseen, whereas Allah did not make anyone aware of His unseen; so from where did he claim that?" [It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that] my father said: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent down upon His Prophet a Book, and in that [Book] He explained what was and what will be until the Day of Resurrection. In this saying of His [there is an indication of this matter]: 'And We have sent down the Book to you as a clarification of everything, and a guidance and mercy' (Nahl/89), 'and an admonition for the pious' (Baqarah/66). And in this saying of His: 'Everything We have enumerated in a manifest Imam' (Yasin/12). And in this saying of His: ما فَرَّطْنا فِی الْکِتابِ مِنْ شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book]. And in this saying of His: 'And there is no hidden thing in the heaven or the earth but it is in a manifest Book (in the Preserved Tablet and the boundless knowledge of the Lord)' (Naml/75). And Allah revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) that he should not leave anything of His unseen, His secret and His hidden knowledge without confiding it as a secret to Ali (peace be upon him), and He commanded him to have Ali compile the Quran after him... Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to his companions: 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) will fight for the tawil [interpretation] of the Quran just as I fought for the revelation of the Quran. And the complete and full tawil of the Quran was with no one except Ali (peace be upon him).'"

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not take the soul of His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) until He had perfected the religion for him and sent down upon him the Quran, in which is the detail of everything, and in which He fully explained the lawful and the unlawful, the limits, the rulings and everything that people need, and He said: ما فَرَّطْنا فِی الْکِتابِ مِنْ شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book]. And at the Farewell Hajj, which was at the end of the Prophet's (peace be upon him and his family) life, He sent down: "Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favour upon you and have chosen Islam as your [eternal] religion" (Maidah/3). So the matter of Imamah is part of the completeness of the religion, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) did not depart from the world until he had explained to his community the signs of their religion, and made clear their path for them, and left them upon the pursuit of the truth, and appointed Ali (peace be upon him) as the sign of guidance and Imam for them, and he did not leave anything that the community needs without explaining it. So whoever imagines that Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not perfect His religion has rejected the mighty Book of Allah, and whoever rejects the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic is a disbeliever.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) that he said: "Sometimes a dispute is brought before one of them and the judge gives a ruling according to his own opinion; then the very same case is brought before another judge, and he gives a ruling directly opposite to the first. Then they all gather before their leader who appointed them to judgeship, and he endorses the opinion of all of them and declares the fatwa of every one of them correct — while their Allah is one, their Prophet is one, and their Book is one! Has Allah the Exalted commanded them to differ and disperse, and they have obeyed Him? Or has He forbidden them from disagreement, and they have disobeyed Him? Or did Allah send down a deficient religion and seek their help in completing it? Or are they partners with Allah, so that they have the right to speak and it is incumbent upon Allah to be pleased with what they say? Or did Allah send down a complete religion, but the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) fell short in conveying and delivering it? Yet Allah says: مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِي الْکِتَابِ مِنْ شَیْءٍ وَ فِیهِ تِبْیَانُ کُلِّ شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book, and in it is a clarification of everything]. And He has reminded us that the verses of the Qur'an confirm one another and that there is no disagreement in it, as He says: 'If it had been from any other than Allah, they would have found in it much discrepancy.' (al-Nisa 4:82). The Qur'an has an outer form that is beautiful and wondrous, and an inner meaning that is rich and profound; its marvels do not perish and its hidden secrets are never exhausted, and never will the darknesses of ignorance be dispelled except by it."