سورة الأعراف

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Indeed the Quran has an outward and an inward meaning. All that Allah has declared forbidden in the Quran is the outward, and its inward meaning is the imams of injustice; and all that Allah the Exalted has declared lawful in the Book is the outward, and its inward meaning is the imams of truth.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah has never sent a prophet who did not come with commands and prohibitions. Allah accepts from His servants their acts of worship and the obligations, within their limits, only on condition of recognising the one who brought them and who calls to Allah. The first obligation is recognising him; then following his instructions. Whoever recognises him, obeys; and whoever obeys, comes to know the forbidden in its outward and inward aspects, and cannot regard the inward as forbidden while treating the outward as permitted. The outward has been forbidden by reason of the inward, and the inward likewise by the outward; both are forbidden together. It cannot be that the root and its branches, with the inward being forbidden, are themselves forbidden while the outward is permitted; the outward being permitted never renders the inward forbidden. Likewise, it is not possible for someone to know the inward prayer but not know the outward prayer, nor zakat, nor fasting, nor Hajj, nor Umrah, nor al-Masjid al-Haram, nor all the divine commands and religious rites; nor is it possible for him to abandon knowledge of the inward, for the inward is the very outward. It is not correct for any one of them to be abandoned. If the inward is forbidden and impure, the outward is likewise. Whoever imagines that only ma'rifah (recognition and knowledge) is required, and that after recognition one has no need of action, has lied and is a mushrik (polytheist). Such a person has neither recognition nor obedience. It has been said: "إعرف و اعمل ما شئت من الخیر [Recognise, then do whatever good you wish]," because a good deed without recognition is not accepted. Once you have attained recognition, then do for yourself whatever obedience you wish, little or much — it will be accepted from you. Pay attention! Whoever is an arif (one who recognises) is obedient. When he has attained recognition, he prays, he fasts, he performs Umrah, he honours all the commands, and does not abandon any of them. He performs all good deeds and the noble traits of character, and keeps away from evils. The foundation of all these is the Prophet, for he is the one who brought them, guided to them, and commanded them; and nothing of them is accepted from anyone except through him. And whoever recognises him keeps away from the major sins, and holds al-fawahish (indecencies) — ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ [those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed] — to be forbidden, and holds all the forbidden things, outward and inward, to be forbidden; because through recognising the Prophet and obeying him he has entered into the commands of the religion and come to know the forbidden things. Whoever regards something as lawful or unlawful without recognition of the Prophet has never, for Allah's sake, held a lawful thing to be lawful nor a forbidden thing to be forbidden. Whoever performs the prayer, zakat, Hajj, Umrah and all these commands without recognition of the one whose obedience Allah has made obligatory upon him — not an atom of it is accepted from him; he has not prayed, nor given zakat, nor performed Hajj, nor Umrah, nor made ghusl for janabah, nor purified himself, nor observed a forbidden thing for Allah's sake, nor a lawful thing. He is not a person of prayer even though he has performed ruku and sujud, and not a person who has paid zakat even though he has given one dirham out of every forty dirhams. Whoever recognises the Prophet and obeys him has obeyed Allah.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): They say that the evil acts which Allah has forbidden — such as wine, gambling, usury, blood, carrion, and the flesh of swine — is a man. They say that what Allah has forbidden of marriage with mothers, daughters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, brothers' daughters, sisters' daughters, and what He has forbidden the believers of marrying certain women (meaning marriage with the wives of the Prophet [peace be upon him and his family]), the rest are all lawful. You have heard that several of them, one after another, sleep with a single woman and bear false witness [for one another]. They say that the prohibitions of the religion have an outer aspect (zahir) and an inner aspect (batin) which they know; the outer is that which is abstained from, and they perform the outer only to defend themselves, but the inner is what they truly seek and, according to their claim, what they have been commanded with. In your letter you had expressed great astonishment at their belief and you asked: is this lawful or forbidden? — and you sought an explanation of this doctrine. Now I will explain it to you so that doubt and confusion may be removed. Pay careful attention; I will explain it to you in this letter... As for what you asked, one who holds such a belief is, in my view, a polytheist associating others with Allah, and there is no doubt about his shirk (polytheism). The inner and outer of a forbidden act are both forbidden, and the inner and outer of a lawful act are both lawful. Fundamentally, the outer of anything is a proof of its inner, and the inner of anything is a proof of its outer; each confirms the other, strengthens it, gives it firmness, and supports it. Whatever is blameworthy in its outer will also be blameworthy in its inner, and whatever is praiseworthy in its outer will also be praiseworthy in its inner. Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) added: These people have heard something whose reality they have no knowledge of and whose limits they do not know, so they define and understand it according to their own opinion and view and the utmost of their comprehension, and they do not wish to interpret and understand those realities according to what they were commanded. They do this because they want to fabricate lies against Allah and to belie the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and for this reason they have become bold in committing disobedience to Allah. Every prophet whom Allah has sent to guide people towards knowledge and gnosis, He has also made obligatory upon them, along with that, worship and obedience [and deeds]; and Allah accepts the deeds of the servants only in accordance with those matters which He has made obligatory upon them, which obligations have reached them together with the knowledge sent to them through their prophet. The first recognition is the recognition of the One to whom they are called, which is the recognition of Allah, who has no partner and is the only Lord; and the recognition of His Messenger who brought the message from Him, and the acceptance of the commands the Messenger brought; then the recognition of the wasi (successor) after him; and after him, the recognition of the Imams who came after the prophets, whose obedience Allah has made obligatory in every age and time upon the people of that time. They must first believe in the Messenger and then in the Imams after him and affirm them. Only after this recognition and gnosis must they act upon the divine obligations, which are the outer and inner acts of worship and the inner and outer prohibitions. Allah has forbidden the outer of a thing because of its inner and the inner because of its outer; one is the root (asl) and the other is the branch (far'). The inner of the forbidden is forbidden just like its outer, and it is not permissible to consider the inner or outer of the forbidden as lawful or to regard it as permissible. Performing the acts of worship which Allah has made obligatory upon His servants — their outer and inner are both obligatory, and it is not permissible to perform only the outer and abandon the inner. And conversely, just as it is not permissible to perform the outer of prayer and abandon the inner of prayer. The other acts of worship and obligations which Allah has made obligatory upon His servants — such as zakat, fasting, and hajj — are likewise.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): We are the root of every good, and every righteous deed sprouts from us. Among the good things are: tawhid (belief in the oneness of Allah), prayer, fasting, restraining anger, pardoning the wrongdoer, mercy to the poor, looking after the neighbour, and acknowledging merit for those who possess it. Our enemy is the root of every evil, and every ugly and indecent act sprouts from them. Among these are: lying, tale-bearing, miserliness, severing family ties, consuming usury, consuming the wealth of the orphan unlawfully, transgressing the limits which Allah the Mighty and Majestic has commanded, and committing indecencies both apparent and hidden, such as adultery, theft, and every other ugly act. Whoever claims to love us while clinging to the deeds of our enemies has lied.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali (peace be upon him), indeed Allah the Exalted said to me: "O Muhammad, I sent Ali with the previous prophets inwardly, and with you outwardly."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): We are a household from whom Allah has removed the indecencies, both apparent and hidden.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): قُلْ إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ [Say: My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed] — what is meant by the hidden indecencies is envy.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَ مَا بَطَنَ [Say: My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed] — the imams of injustice and the leaders of oppression are also among them. And what is meant by وَ الإِثْمَ [and sin] is wine. وَ الْبَغْیَ بِغَیْرِ الحَقِّ وَ أَن تُشْرِکُواْ بِاللهِ مَا لَمْ یُنَزِّلْ بِهِ سُلْطَانًا وَ أَن تَقُولُواْ عَلَی اللهِ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ [and rebellion without justice, and that you associate with Allah that for which He has not sent down any authority, and that you say against Allah what you do not know] — this is a response to one who says something about the religion of Allah without knowledge and information, and passes judgement by other than the ruling of Allah. Such a person bears the same sin as one who associates partners with Allah and makes lawful the forbidden things and the indecencies. Therefore, ascribing a ruling to Allah without knowledge of these meanings and points is forbidden.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَ مَا بَطَنَ [indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed]; what is meant by mā ẓahara is marriage with the father's wife, and what is meant by mā baṭana is fornication.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Yaqtin said: Al-Mahdi asked Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him) about wine, whether it was forbidden in the Book of Allah, for people recognise the prohibition [nahy] of it but do not recognise the declaration of its being unlawful [taḥrim]. Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said to him: "Yes, it has been declared unlawful." He said: "O Abu al-Hasan! In what place of the Book of Allah has it been declared unlawful?" He said: "Where Allah the Blessed and Exalted says: قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَ مَا بَطَنَ وَ الإِثْمَ وَ الْبَغْیَ بِغَیْرِ الحَقِّ [Say: My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin and rebellion without justice]. As for this word of Allah the Blessed and Exalted, مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا, what is meant is open fornication and the raising of banners which the harlot women used to raise in the Jahiliyya. And in this word of Allah the Blessed and Exalted, وَ مَا بَطَنَ, what is meant is the women whom the fathers married. For in the era before the Prophet's (peace be upon him and his family) mission, whenever a man died and a wife remained after him, his son, if he [Arabic: if she was not his mother], would marry her. Allah has declared this act unlawful. And as for this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, الإِثْمَ, what is meant by it is wine."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): There is no one more jealous [in honour] than Allah the Blessed and Exalted, and who is more jealous than the One who has forbidden indecencies, both what is apparent of them and what is hidden?!

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In the book Tafsir al-Nu'mani, from Imam Ali (peace be upon him), in explaining the abrogating and the abrogated, [it is reported] regarding the verse: وَ مِنْ ثَمَراتِ النَّخِیلِ وَ الْأَعْنابِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَکَراً وَ رِزْقاً حَسَناً [And of the fruits of the palms and the grapes, from which you obtain intoxicant and goodly provision] (Nahl/67): this verse has been abrogated by the verse of prohibition: قُلْ إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ وَ الْإِثْمَ [Say: My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin]. And what is meant by al-ithm here is wine.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): قُلْ إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ وَ الْإِثْمَ [Say: My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin]. So Allah the Mighty and Majestic informed [people] that sin is in wine and in other than it, and that drinking wine is unlawful.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): When the verse: "إِنَّما یُرِیدُ الشَّیْطانُ أَنْ یُوقِعَ بَیْنَکُمُ الْعَداوَةَ وَ الْبَغْضاءَ فِی الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ وَ یَصُدَّکُمْ عَنْ ذِکْرِ اللهِ وَ عَنِ الصَّلاةِ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنْتَهُونَ [Satan only wants to create enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling, and to prevent you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you then (with all this harm and corruption, and with this strict prohibition) refrain?]" (al-Ma'idah/91) was revealed, [some] said: "We have only been ordered to refrain from it, but Allah has not made it forbidden for us." Then Allah revealed the verse: "یَسْئَلُونَکَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ قُلْ فِیهِما إِثْمٌ کَبِیرٌ وَ مَنافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَ إِثْمُهُما أَکْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِما [They ask you about wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin and some benefits (materially) for people, but their sin is greater than their benefit]" (al-Baqarah/219). The Muslims said: "In wine [according to this verse] there is sin and there are also benefits, and although [in this verse] its sin is greater than its benefit, yet it has not been [explicitly] forbidden to us." So Allah revealed the verse: قُلْ إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ وَ الْإِثْمَ وَ الْبَغْیَ بِغَیْرِ الحَق [Say: My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin and rebellion without justice], and He made explicit the prohibition of wine, because with them, ithm (sin) was another name for wine.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The sign of faith is that you speak the truth even if it harms you, and do not lie even if it benefits you, and whenever you speak, do not speak beyond your knowledge and information, and fear Allah and do not speak about others.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever gives a fatwa to the people out of ignorance, the angels of the heavens and the earth will curse him.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurarah said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "What is the proof of Allah upon His servants?" He said: "That they say what they know and pause at what they do not know."