سورة التوبة

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him): Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilali narrates from Ali (peace be upon him) in a long hadith that His Eminence (peace be upon him), in the time of Uthman, in a large gathering in which more than two hundred people were present, said: 'I adjure you by Allah! Do you know that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed in His book thus: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones]?' Salman (may Allah have mercy on him) asked: 'O Messenger of Allah! Is this verse general or specific?' He said: 'Those who are commanded are general, because the community of believers has been given this command.'

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Burayd ibn Mu'awiya al-'Ijli says: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about this word of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: اتَّقُواْ اللهَ وَ کُونُواْ مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [Be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones]. He said: 'He meant us.'

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): The truthful ones are the Imams (peace be upon them), who are siddiq (utterly truthful) in obedience to them.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed الصَّادِقِینَ [the truthful ones] here are the pure Imams from the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and Ali (peace be upon him).

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): That is, be with Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The Siddiqun (the truthful ones) are three: Habib the Carpenter, who is the believer of the family of Yasin, ... Hizqil (Khirbil), who is the believer of the family of Pharaoh ... and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), who is the most excellent of them.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [And be with the truthful ones]. I am that truthful one.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): By Allah! The truthful ones are we (the Ahl al-Bayt).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Husayn ibn Sa'id has narrated with a chain from Abu Sa'id, who said: When the verse اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the truthful ones] was revealed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) turned to his companions and said: "Do you know concerning whom this verse was revealed?" They said: "No! We do not know, O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)." Abu Dujana said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), we are all among the truthful ones — we have believed in you and affirmed you." He said: "O Abu Dujana! It is not so; this verse was revealed exclusively regarding my cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), to the exclusion of the people, and he is among the truthful ones."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): As for the truthful ones, it is exclusively my brother Ali (peace be upon him) and my successors after him until the Day of Resurrection.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): This verse was revealed solely concerning Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and his Ahl al-Bayt.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): They are Ali (peace be upon him), Fatima (peace be upon her), Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them), and their pure progeny until the Day of Resurrection.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): That is, be with Ali (peace be upon him) and his companions.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): O our Lord! You commanded us to obey the guardians of Your affair and to be with the truthful, and You said: "أَطِیعُوا اللهَ وَ أَطِیعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَ أُولِی الْأَمْرِ مِنْکُمْ [Obey Allah and obey the Messenger of Allah and those in authority (the successors of the Prophet)]" (an-Nisa 4:59), and You said: "اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the truthful]". O our Lord, we heard and we obeyed. O our Lord, make our steps firm and cause us to die as Muslims, submissive to Your friends (awliya') and affirming them. O our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate [from the path of truth] after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from Yourself, for indeed You are the Bestower (al-Wahhab). (Aal Imran 3:8).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu Hamza al-Thumali said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "The friends of Allah (awliya' Allah) are Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), Ali, Hasan, Husayn and Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them); then the imamate reached us, and then my son Ja'far (peace be upon him) [and he pointed to Ja'far (peace be upon him) while he was sitting]. So whoever obeys them has obeyed Allah, and will be with the truthful, just as Allah commanded him."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Sadaqa al-Anbari said: Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said: "The day of Mubahala is the twenty-fourth day of the month of Dhul-Hijjah ... while you are in a state of ghusl (ritual bath), you say this: '... Praise be to Allah who made known to me what I did not know, and had it not been for His making it known, I would have perished. For He whose word is truth said: قُلْ لا أَسْئَلُکُمْ عَلَیْهِ أَجْراً إِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِی الْقُرْبی [Say: I do not ask you for any reward for my mission except the love of my near kin (my Ahl al-Bayt)] (Ash-Shura/23). And He explained the kinship for me and said: Obey Allah and His Messenger. إِنَّما یُرِیدُ اللهُ لِیُذْهِبَ عَنْکُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَیْتِ وَ یُطَهِّرَکُمْ تَطْهِیراً [Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House, and to purify you a thorough purifying] (Al-Ahzab/33). And after the kinship, He also explained the House (Ahl al-Bayt) to me. Then Allah the Exalted, explaining the truthful ones [those whom He commanded us to be with and to refer difficult matters to], said: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the true ones]. And He made them (the truthful ones) clear and made their characteristics plain with His words: Say to them: فَقُلْ تَعالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْناءَنا وَ أَبْناءَکُمْ وَ نِساءَنا وَ نِساءَکُمْ وَ أَنْفُسَنا وَ أَنْفُسَکُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَلْ لَعْنَتَ اللهِ عَلَی الْکاذِبِینَ [Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and our selves and your selves, then let us invoke and place the curse of Allah upon the liars] (Aal Imran/61). So to You, my Lord, belong thanks and favour, since You guided me and directed me so that the family, the House and the kinship were not hidden from me — You made known to me their women, their children and their men. O Allah! I seek nearness to You through that station than which there is nothing greater in excellence for the believers, nor anything more abundant in mercy for them, and this [excellence and mercy] is because You made known to them (the believers) the rank of that station and the excellence of its people — [those] through whom You crushed the falsehood of Your enemies and established the foundations of Your religion, and You made known...'"

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted said: Obey Allah! And obey the Messenger of Allah and the Ulul-Amr [the successors of the Prophet]! (An-Nisa/59). Then in another place He connected a verse to this meaning and said: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the true ones]. This is a statement connected to أُولِی الْأَمْرِ مِنْکُمْ [the Ulul-Amr from among you].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted said: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the true ones]. Then He set signs for the truthful ones by which they may be recognised. He said: التَّائِبُونَ الْعابِدُونَ [Those who turn (to Allah), those who worship (Him)] ... And He also described them [in this way] and said: Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their properties, that they shall have Paradise [in return for it, in the manner that]: they fight in the way of Allah, so they slay and are slain ... (At-Tawba/111). In many places in the Noble Book [He has stated these attributes for the truthful ones].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In the book al-Ihtijaj it is narrated from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) that one of the heretics went to Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him) ... His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: "Allah has appointed a people for knowledge and has made obedience to them obligatory upon the servants. And by His words: اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the true ones]. So every good deed which is carried out by a hand other than the hand of the chosen people, and on a basis other than their covenants, limits, laws, sunan (traditions) and the marks of their religion, is rejected and not accepted; and the people of such a deed, even if they be included under the description of faith, stand in the position of disbelief."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Seeking knowledge is superior to worship, and by means of knowledge they became worthy, in Allah's sight, of the title of truthfulness, and He named them by it "the truthful ones," and made obedience to them obligatory upon all the servants, saying: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the true ones]. So He made them His friends, and made friendship with them friendship with Him, and their party His party.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) narrated that his father visited [Amir al-Mu'minin] on the day of Ghadir with these words: "...whereas Allah the Exalted has commanded following you and has summoned the believers to your aid, and said: يا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the truthful ones]. My master, through you the truth became manifest, and the people abandoned it."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): وَ کُونُواْ مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [and be with the truthful ones] — by obeying them.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for the other category, these are the verses whose interpretation is contained within the verse itself and the explanation of its meaning is given there — such as this saying of Allah the Exalted: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the truthful ones]. Whoever hears this verse from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is obliged to know these الصَّادِقِینَ [truthful ones] with whom he has been commanded to be, and it is obligatory upon the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) to introduce him to them, at which point it is obligatory upon the ummah to carry out this command.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): It means "be with those whose intentions are truthful and whose hearts and deeds are steadfast, who went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and never disobeyed his command."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah has said in His Book: indeed the hypocrites are in the lowest depth of the Fire (Nisa/145). If this is the state of one who breaks his promise — that his punishment is the hypocrisy which leads to the lowest depth of the Fire — then what will be the state of one who openly opposes Allah the Mighty and Majestic and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), rejects their word, disobeys their command, and wrongs and stubbornly resists — despite his awareness — those whom Allah has commanded the people to obey, to cling to their rope, and to be with them, where He says: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the truthful ones]. The truthful ones are those who were truthful in what they pledged to Allah — of struggle against His enemies, giving their lives in His way, aiding His Messenger, and honoring His religion — they were truthful in all of that (and acted accordingly), in accordance with where Allah says: There are men who have been true to the covenant they made with Allah; some of them have fulfilled their pledge [and drunk the draught of martyrdom in His way], and some others are waiting, and they have never changed or altered their covenant and pledge (Ahzab/23).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hisham ibn Ajlan said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "I ask you about something that I will not ask anyone about after you. I ask you about the faith concerning which people cannot afford to be ignorant." He said: "Bearing witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is His Messenger, and acknowledging the truth of everything that has come from Allah, and establishing the prayer, and paying zakat, and pilgrimage to the House of Allah, and fasting in Ramadan, and accepting our wilayah (guardianship), and disassociation from our enemies — so that you may be among the siddiqin (truthful ones)."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Abu al-Tufayl Amir ibn Wathila said: Whenever Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) recited the verse يا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ کُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِینَ [O you who believe! Be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the truthful ones], he would say: "O Allah, place me in the highest degree of this group, and help me with firm resolve of will, and grant me a good outcome for myself. Take me away from myself so that thoughts of this world are stripped from my heart by the coolness of my fear of You. O Allah, grant me a heart and a tongue that run together in dispraising this world and rightly turning away from it, so that I speak nothing but truth. O Allah, show me the tokens of Your answering my prayer through the goodness of the success You grant me, so that in every state I may be as You wish. (Peace be upon him and his family.) It is not fitting for the people of Medina and those of the desert Arabs around them to hold back from the Messenger of Allah and, for the sake of preserving their own lives, to disregard his life. For no thirst, fatigue, or hunger befalls them in the way of Allah, nor any step [taken]…"