سورة التوبة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the verse: اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبارَهُمْ وَ رُهْبانَهُمْ أَرْباباً مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ [They have taken their scholars and their monks as lords besides Allah]. He said: "By Allah! The scholars and monks of the Jews did not call the people to worship themselves, and had they done so, the people would not have accepted it from them; but they made lawful for them what Allah had made unlawful, and made unlawful for them what Allah had made lawful, and so, without realising it, the people worshipped those scholars and monks."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): By Allah, they did not pray for them nor did they fast for them, but they (the scholars and monks) made lawful for them something forbidden (a forbidden act) and made unlawful for them something lawful, and they followed them.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): By Allah! They did not fast or pray on account of their priests and monks, but rather they (the monks) made something lawful and these people followed, and made something unlawful and these people accepted it.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): By Allah, they did not pray for them nor fast for them, but they obeyed them in disobedience to Allah.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): They did not take them as their gods, but whatever those [scholars and monks] made lawful, they followed it, and whatever they made unlawful, they accepted it, and so they became their lords besides Allah.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for shirk (polytheism) in the Qur'an, it comes in four aspects... The second aspect of shirk is the shirk of deeds. Allah says: "وَ ما یُؤْمِنُ أَکْثَرُهُمْ بِاللهِ إِلَّا وَ هُمْ مُشْرِکُونَ [And most of them do not believe in Allah except that they associate others with Him]" (Yusuf/106). And in another place He said: "اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبارَهُمْ وَ رُهْبانَهُمْ أَرْباباً مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ [They took their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah]." They did not fast for their scholars and elders and did not pray for them, but whatever they commanded or forbade [they obeyed], and thus without knowing they worshipped them; this is the very shirk in deeds and acts of obedience.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): As for their scholars and monks, [the people] obeyed them and adopted whatever that group said; the monks also promoted it and spread their beliefs. They took that group as lords for themselves, and abandoned the command of Allah and His Messenger and the Book of Allah and cast it behind their backs (Al-e Imran/187). And whatever the scholars and monks said, they acted upon it and obeyed them, and disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever obeys a man in disobedience to Allah has certainly worshipped him.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)- Adi ibn Hatim said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) while a cross of gold was around my neck. He said to me: "O Adi! Take this off from your neck." He said: "I took it off." He was reciting this verse from Surah al-Bara'ah: اتَّخَذُواْ أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَ رُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَاباً [They have taken their doctors of law and their monks for lords], until he finished reciting it. I said to him: "But we do not worship them?" He said: "Do they not forbid what Allah has made lawful and you also forbid it, and make lawful what Allah has forbidden and you also regard it as lawful?" He said: "Yes." He said: "That is their worship."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O servants of Allah! By the command of Allah, follow my brother and my successor Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), and do not be like those who [in imitation of their ignorant forefathers who disbelieved in Allah] took lords besides Allah.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him)- As for the Messiah (peace be upon him); some exalted him so greatly that they claimed divinity for him, and that he is the son of Allah. A group among them held to the trinity, and a group among them said that he is Allah.