سورة التوبة

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Abu Abdullah al-Hafiz said: At the time of the Battle of Ahzab, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) marked out forty cubits of land for every ten people to dig. Salman (may Allah have mercy on him) and Hudhayfa were digging their portion when they reached a hard rock and were unable to break it. Salman (may Allah have mercy on him) told the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and he came down, took the pickaxe, and struck three blows, each blow producing a flash of light. He was saying takbir, and the people said takbir with him. Then he said: "O my companions! Allah will convey my sharia to all horizons." And in another report: the first [blow] to Yemen, the second to Syria and the Maghrib, and the third to the East. Then this verse was revealed: لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ [That He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse].

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): He is the Allah who commanded His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) to make a bequest concerning the wilaya (guardianship) of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), and the wilaya is the very religion of truth.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The pronoun ha' in لِیُظْهِرَهُ refers back to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), meaning that Allah teaches him all the religions so that nothing of them (the religions) remains hidden from him.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): So that He may make it prevail over all religions at the time of the rising of the Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): No one will remain except that he will affirm the finality of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): لِیُظْهِرَهُ [that He might cause it to prevail] means so that Allah may make it manifest at the raj'a (the return).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jabir ibn Yazid narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: "Indeed, for Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), along with his son Husayn (peace be upon him), there is a return (raj'a) to the earth. He will come with his banner to take his revenge from Banu Umayya, Mu'awiya, the descendants of Mu'awiya, and those who came along with them to fight against him (peace be upon him). Allah, on that day, will raise up thirty thousand of Ali's (peace be upon him) helpers — all from the people of Kufa — and seventy thousand from the rest of the Shia people to assist Ali (peace be upon him). Once again at Siffin the two armies will meet each other as they did the first time, and he will put every man of Mu'awiya's army to the sword, so that not a single one of them will remain to bring news of them. Then on the Day of Resurrection, too, Allah will raise them up and, together with Pharaoh and the people of Pharaoh, He will subject them to the severest of torments. Then Ali (peace be upon him) will once more return to the world with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and the Prophet will be the king over the face of the earth, and the rest of the Imams will be his governors. Contrary to the first time, this time he will be sent forth openly and will worship Allah openly." Then Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Yes! By Allah, Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) will return twice to the world," and he gestured with his hand [to indicate] how many times he (peace be upon him) will return. Allah will give the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) sovereignty over all the people of the world, from the day Allah created the world until the day He causes it to perish, so that the promise which He gave in the Qur'an to him (peace be upon him and his family) may be realised, as He said: لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ [that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Indeed, that will occur when the Mahdi from the family of Muhammad (may Allah hasten his noble relief) appears; then no one will remain except that he will believe in the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): This verse too is about the Qa'im of the Family of Muhammad (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance), and he is the Imam whom Allah will cause to prevail over all religions, and he will fill the earth with justice and equity just as it will have been filled with tyranny and oppression. This verse too is among those of which we have said that its ta'wil (interpretation) comes after its revelation.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): By Allah! The ta'wil (interpretation) of this verse has not yet appeared, and its ta'wil will not appear until the Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) rises. When the Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) rises, no disbeliever in Allah the Great will remain, nor any polytheist regarding the station of the Imam, without disliking his rising — to the point that if a disbeliever or polytheist is inside a rock, the rock will say: 'O believer! Inside me there is a disbeliever, so break me and kill him!'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I asked my master, Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Does the mission of al-Mahdi al-Muntazar (may Allah hasten his noble relief) have a fixed time that people must know when it will be?" He said: "Allah forbid that Allah should fix the time of his appearance in such a way that our Shia would know it. ... O Mufaddal! He will appear in an ambiguous situation, so that his affair becomes clear, his name is raised high, his cause becomes manifest, and his name, kunya (agnomen) and lineage are mentioned, and his fame is spread widely on the tongues of the followers of truth and falsehood, of those who agree and those who oppose, so that through recognising him the proof (hujjah) is completed upon the people. In addition, we have narrated to the people the account of his appearance, we have pointed them to him, and we have mentioned his name, lineage and kunya, and we have said that his name is the same as the name of his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and his kunya is also the same, lest the people say we did not know his name, kunya or lineage. By Allah! His affair will be realised through the clarification of his name, lineage and kunya which have risen high on the tongues of the people, to the extent that they will mention it to one another. All of this is for the completion of the proof upon them. Then, just as his grandfather promised, Allah will make him manifest; هُوَ الَّذِی أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالهُدی وَ دِینِ الحَقِّ لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ [He it is Who sent His Apostle with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse]." Mufaddal said: "My master! What is the interpretation of لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمشْرِکُونَ [that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse]?" (that is, how does Imam Zaman (may Allah hasten his noble relief) prevail over all religions?). The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Its interpretation is this verse: وَ قاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَ یَکُونَ الدِّینُ کُلُّهُ لِلهِ [And fight them until there is no persecution and religion is wholly for Allah]. O Mufaddal, by Allah! He will remove disagreement from among the nations and religions, and all religions will become one, as Allah has said: إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الْإِسْلامُ [Indeed the religion with Allah is Islam]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): No house of clay in the cities and no house of wool in the deserts will remain on the face of the earth except that Allah will bring the word of Islam into it, either through honour and greatness or through humiliation and disgrace. As for through honour, it is that Allah will make them people of that (religion) so that they will be honoured by it; and as for through humiliation, it is that they will submit to it in humiliation.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): By the One in whose hand is my soul! The fulfilment of this verse is when no village will remain except that in it the testimony of la ilaha illa Allah wa Muhammadun rasul Allah (peace be upon him and his family) [there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah] will be called out morning and evening.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): This verse is not fulfilled until no Jew, Christian, or follower of any religion remains except that they enter into Islam, to the point that the sheep and the wolf, the cow and the lion, the human and the snake are safe [with one another], and no mouse gnaws at a sack, and the jizya is abolished, the cross is broken, and the pig is killed. This is the meaning of the verse: لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ [that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse]. And this situation will be at the time of the rising of al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah has aided al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief) with terror [cast into the hearts of his enemies] and supported him with victory. The earth is folded up beneath his feet, and the treasures [and mines] reveal themselves to him. His sovereignty encompasses the east and the west of the world, and Allah, through him, will make His religion prevail over all false creeds and religions, even though the polytheists may be averse. No ruin will remain upon the face of the earth without his making it prosperous.

The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) — Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "When the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) entered Medina and the signs of his truthfulness, the proofs of his reality and the miracles of his prophethood became manifest, the Jews were the ones who carried out the most obstruction, and they rose up in fierce opposition against him, resolved to extinguish his radiant light and to invalidate his proofs. Among them were Malik ibn al-Sayf, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, Judayy ibn Akhtab, Abu Yasir ibn Akhtab, and Abu Lubaba ibn al-Mundhir. Malik ibn al-Sayf said to the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): 'Do you claim to be a prophet?!' He said: 'Yes! The Allah who created the world has said so.' Malik said: 'We will not believe in you unless this carpet which I have spread beneath me believes in you'... The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'It is not for the servants to make proposals to Allah; rather, they must submit themselves to Allah, obey His command, and be content with whatever He has made sufficient. Is it not enough for you that the Tawrat, the Injil, the Zabur, and the scriptures of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) have spoken of my prophethood and pointed to my truthfulness, and have clearly mentioned my brother, my successor (wasi) and my caliph among my Ummah, and the best of those whom I will leave behind me for the creation — namely, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him)? Allah has sent down upon me this Qur'an which has astonished all creation and rendered them all incapable of bringing the like of it or composing anything similar to it. So these proposals which you make, I do not put them before my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic; rather, I say: whatever sign my Lord has bestowed upon me is sufficient both for me and for you. If Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, were to carry out your proposals, that would be an added favour upon us and upon you, and if He withholds them from us, it is because He knows that what He has done is enough for what He has required of us.' When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) finished this speech, suddenly Allah caused that carpet to speak, and it said: 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, He is One and has no partner, the One, Unique, Self-Sufficient, Everlasting Allah, who has taken neither consort nor child, and no one is His partner in His decree. And I bear witness that you, O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), are His servant and His messenger, whom He has sent with guidance and the religion of truth لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَ لَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ [that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse]. And I bear witness that Ali ibn Abi Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf is your brother, your successor (wasi), and your caliph among your Ummah.'"

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman said: ... The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Lord, Muhammad is Your servant and Your Messenger. For every prophet You appointed a minister from his family so that You might strengthen him through him and make him a partner in his affair, and You appointed for me a minister from my family — he is my brother Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). What an excellent brother and what an excellent minister he is! O Lord, You promised me that You would aid me with four thousand angels one after another. O Lord, Your promise is Your true promise, You do not break Your promise; You promised me that You would make Your religion prevail over all religions, even though the disbelievers may dislike it." While the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was praying and supplicating at the threshold of his Lord, he suddenly heard a sound from the sky. He raised his blessed head and saw Jibra'il seated upon a throne of gold, and with him were four thousand angels one after another, and Jibra'il was saying: "There is no sword but Dhu'l-Fiqar, and there is no youth [of valour] to be found but Ali." Jibra'il descended upon the rock, and the angels surrounded the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and gave salutations to him. Jibra'il said: "O Messenger of Allah! By the One who honoured you with guidance, the angels are astonished at this man's assistance and self-sacrifice with his own life to protect your life." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Jibra'il! How could he not sacrifice himself for me, when he is from me and I am from him?" Jibra'il said: "And I too am from you both." And he said this phrase three times. Then Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) took his sword in hand, and Jibra'il and the angels armed themselves, and Allah the Exalted shattered all the polytheists and they were scattered.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) that he said: The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) ascended the pulpit and said: Allah looked upon the people of the earth and chose me from among them. A second time He looked, and He chose Ali (peace be upon him); my brother, my minister, my heir, my successor (wasi) and my caliph among my community, and the guardian (wali) of every believer after me ... . أَتُرِیدُونَ أَنْ تُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللهِ بِأَفْوَاهِکُمْ وَ اللهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ [Do you want to extinguish the light of Allah with your mouths? But Allah will perfect His light, even though the polytheists may dislike it!] (al-Saff/8), [and in another narration it comes: even though the disbelievers may dislike it]. The enemies of Allah wish to extinguish the light of my brother, but Allah refuses anything other than to perfect His light. O people, let those of you who are present convey my words to those who are absent. O Allah, be witness over them.

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): From us there are twelve Mahdis; the first of them is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), and the last of them will be the ninth from my descendants, who will rise with the truth. Allah will revive the earth through him after it has died, and through him He will strengthen the religion and give it might and make it manifest, and He will establish the truth so that He may cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse. He will have an occultation during which, on account of its length, a group will apostatise, and another group will remain in expectation and will suffer hardship and harm on this path. The opponents will say to this group: "If you are truthful, then when will this promise be fulfilled? Whoever endures patiently the length of his occultation and suffers harm and torment on this path is like one who fights with the sword at the side of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I heard the Imam (peace be upon him) say: "All the occultations of the prophets are also carried out in the life of our Qa'im, the Ahl al-Bayt, exactly step for step (al-na'l bi'l-na'l)." I said: "Is the Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief) from you, the Ahl al-Bayt?" He said: "O Abu Basir! He is the fifth descendant of my son Musa al-Kazim (peace be upon him), and the son of the mistress of the handmaids of the world. His occultation will be so long that the people of falsehood will fall into doubt. Then Allah will make him appear and will open the east and the west of the world through his hands, and Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) will descend from heaven and pray behind him. The earth will be illuminated with the light of Allah, and no place will remain on the face of the earth in which anything other than Allah the Mighty and Majestic is worshipped — all religions will vanish, and He will cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The birth of Musa (peace be upon him) was in this manner: when Pharaoh learned that the downfall of his kingdom would come about at his hands, he summoned the soothsayers, and they told him that this man would be from the tribe of Bani Israil. So he ordered his officers to slit open the bellies of pregnant women and slaughter their infants. To achieve this aim they killed more than twenty thousand infants, but Allah preserved Musa (peace be upon him), and they were unable to reach him. Likewise, when the Bani Umayya and the Bani Abbas learned that their state and their princes and tyrants would be destroyed at the hands of our Qa'im, they took enmity toward us to heart and, with drawn swords, set about killing and cutting off the offspring of the household of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), in the hope that they might succeed in killing the Qa'im of the family of Muhammad (may Allah hasten his noble relief); but Allah did not allow a single one of the oppressors to lay hands upon him, so that He might perfect His light, though the polytheists may be averse.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The true promise draws near — the very promise which Allah the Exalted gave in His Book, saying: Allah promises those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors upon the earth, just as He granted succession upon the earth to those before them (Nur/55). That is when nothing will remain of Islam except its name, and nothing of the Qur'an except its script, and the Master of the Affair (may Allah hasten his noble relief) will have vanished from sight, and the reason for that will have become clear to him — for tribulation will have so gripped the hearts that the closest people to him will be his fiercest enemies. At that time, Allah will support him with armies you have never seen, and He will make the religion of His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) prevail — through his hand — over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse.

Lady Zahra (peace be upon her): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was anxious and troubled about ten matters, and the Almighty Allah kept him in His protection and gave him glad tidings concerning them: ... and for the spread of that noble one's religion He revealed this verse: لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّه [that He might cause it to prevail over all religions].