Re: Part 1:The Imams from Ahlebayt whom Shia consider to be their divinely appointed
WSalaam brother Ibne Sadique, lets look at the quran ayat that you quoted above:
O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority*; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.* 4:59]
Please read the text highlighted in red. It clearly states Obey Alalh SWT, his messenger and those who are in authority…it does not say anywhere obey who are in authority conditionally… Furthermore it says, the following:
and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end. 4:59]
Personally to me, it clearly means if there is a dispute on any matter we need to refer to Allah SWT and Messenger… the person who has given the authority would also implement the teachings of Allah SWT and Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H…
Keeping this ayat in mind, I would suggest you ponder on one of the first disputes that arose after the death of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H who should be leader after the Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H?
Certainly Abu Bakr was elected by a limited Shura.
Well lets go back to Quran and Holy Prophet P.B.U.H… Following are the qualities Quran points about the personality we should obey:
Therefore wait patiently for the command of your Lord, and obey not from among them a sinner or an ungrateful one [76:23]
The above ayat clearly indicates the one with the authority is not a sinner… Now does Quran point out who are the pure ones?
And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.[33:33]
Let me quote you another verse of Quran:
[5:55] “Verily, your **Master **is but Allah and His Apostle and those **who believe, who establish prayers, and pay the Zakat while bowed in worship.”
Now lets see if Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. gave us a hadith that points out who our Master should be:
**Following is the hadith of Ghadeer e Khum I have quoted earlier,
“For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla).”
http://www.al-islam.org/ghadir](http://www.al-islam.org/ghadir)
Now let quote you what you had to say in regards to the meaning of Mawla in our last Post
**How do you percieve this hadith and ayat below
**[5:55] “Verily, your **Master **is but Allah and His Apostle and those who believe, who establish prayers, and pay the Zakat while bowed in worship.”
Following is another narration in your Sahih books which relates this verse to Imam Ali AS.
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari says that one day he was praying with the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) when a beggar came to the Prophet’s mosque. None responded to his pleas. The beggar raised his hands towards heavens and said, Allah! Be a witness that I came to the Prophet’s Mosque and no one gave me anything. Ali (a.s.) was bowing, in ruku at that time. He pointed his little finger, on which was a ring, towards him who came forward and took away the ring. This incident occurred in the Holy Prophet’s (s.a.w.) presence who raised his face towards heavens and prayed : O Lord! My brother Musa had begged to You to open his chest to make his work easy for him, to loosen the knot of his tongue so that people might understand him and to appoint from among his relations his brother, as his vizier, and to strengthen his back with Harun and to make Harun his partner in his work. O Allah! You said to Musa, We will strengthen your arms with your brother. No one will now have an access to either of you! O Allah! I am Mohammed and You have given me distinction. Open my chest for me, make my work easy for me and from my family appoint my brother Ali as my vizier Strengthen my back with him.*
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) had not yet finished his prayers when Jibrael (a.s.) brought the above quoted verse.
- Sunni References:
At-Tabari: at-Tafsir, vol.6, pg 186
· As-Suyuti : ad- Durrul Manthur, Vol. 2, Pgs. 293-4
· Ar-Razi: at Tafsirul Kabir, vol. 12, pg. 26
· Az- Zamakshari: at tafsir (al-Kashshaf), vol. 1, pg. 649
· Al- Jassas: Ahkamul Quran, vol.2 pgs. 542-3
· Al- Khazin : at-Tafsir, vol. 2, pg. 68
In regards to your concern about the meaning of Mawla in the hadith of Ghadeer posted above, I would recommend looking into the context of the incident to figure out what Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H may want to imply.
Following is the verse of Quran that was first revealed. This verse highlights the importance of the message that was about to be delivered:
“O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don’t do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people …” (Qur’an 5:67)
Prophet Mohamamd P.B.U.H made the following speech after the revelation of the ayat above
“It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both, you will never go astray after me. They are the Book of Allah and my Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise).”
In the same speech he mentioned the following:
“For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla).”
The following verse was revealed after this, and people gave their oath of alligence to Hazrat Ali AS
“Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favour upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion.” (Qur’an 5:3)
http://www.al-islam.org/ghadir](http://www.al-islam.org/ghadir)
What meaning from the ones you mentioned suits best the incident. Also in the hadith if you claim Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H asked us to follow quran and sunnah won’t he tell us who should our source for sunnah be… considering quran testified islam was perfect at the time of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H … or would he leave us to pick and choose the hadith that suits our interest and rule others out dhaeef… Just to give you an example, I quoted a hadith from your Sahih book which asks to follow Quran and Ahleybait and I have heard there is a similar hadith in your books that claims Quran and Sunnah.
**I have quoted you Ayats from Quran which talks about obeying the personalities given the authority, at the same time Quran tells us not to obey the sinners and talks about the purity of Ahleybait… Doesn’t the hadith with Quran and Ahleybait suits this description ?
In the light of the following ayat, I have aquestions for you:
O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority*;****** and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger****** if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.***** 4:59]
Question: I have given you some reference on wilayat of Imam Ali and Ahleybait based on the light of Quran… Can you give any ayats that justifies the leadership of Abu Bakr
**Again brother I would recommend reading the whole context before jumping to conclusions… Take a part of a text, while ignoring the rest of the passage may lead to wrong idea. I can recall going over the same letter with you awhile back. Following is the background on this letter:
** This is a letter to Mu’awiya and in it Imam Ali (a) has used the same principle that he applied on Talha and Zubayr. Imam Ali (a) in this letter has raised all the points which were once quoted against him. He says if an election on the basis of general franchise is the criterion to decide such a caliphate, then general election took place to elect him the Caliph and nobody can deny this fact, and if limited franchise (Shura) was the criterion then those who represented this group (Muhajirs and Ansars) were amongst those who elected him and therefore even according to the rules formulated by opponents of Imam Ali (a) his election was lawful, regular and bonafide. Thus no Muslim has a right to speak or act against him.
**
Read the letter for yourself with a open mind… Lets start by looking at events after the death of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H… When Imam Ali AS was busy with the funeral services of Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H a group of mahajirs and ansar met at Sakeefa and elected Abu Bakr as khaleefa, the people who were not present at this event were not allowed to oppose this selection and it was presumed whoever was selected by this shura became caliph as per approval of Allah.
When all the people of Medina unanimously swore allegiance to Imam Ali (AS), Muawiyah refused to comply apprehending danger for his own power, and in order to provide an excuse for his disloyalty, he claimed that since he did not participate in the election, the election of Imam Ali (AS) was unlawful, and thus there should be another general election. This was while
Abu Bakr was elected by a very few number of people and there was no national vote so that one could consider the caliphate of Abu Bakr as a result of people’s election. But the rulers who came after the Prophet imposed upon people that this is what election means, and this became a principle imposed on people and assumed to be their verdict that whoever
the nobles of Medina elect would be deemed to represent the entire world of Islam, and no person has right to question it, whether he was present at the time of election or not, and that no one has right to reconsider the matter.
Here, in this letter to Muawiyah, Imam Ali (AS) is quoting the argument which was once employed against him when he refused to give his oath to Abu Bakr. Imam Ali (AS) mentioned that if an election by people is the criterion to decide on the Caliphate, a general election took place in Medina to elect him as Caliph by Emigrants and Helpers and nobody can deny this fact. Therefore even according to the principles formulated by the opponents of Imam Ali (AS), his election was lawful, regular and bonafide.Thus Muslim who already accepted such principles to legitimize the election of the Abu Bakr, have no the right to speak or act against him (Ali). AndMuawiyah had no right to propose re-election nor to refuse allegiance when, in practice, he recognized this principle for Abu Bakr.
http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia/chapter3/9.html](http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia/chapter3/9.html)
I would recommend look at the whole context of the passage, using parts of it that feeds your interest may be misleading.
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**Brother again, I would recommend before jumping to any conclusions, I would recommend look into the whole context for the sermon. Imam Ali AS, gave that sermon when people wanted to elect him Caliph after the murder of Usman. **
Please read the sermon below and it will clear things up for you:
“If you want me for your worldly ends, then I am not ready to serve as your instrument. Leave me and select someone else who may fulfil your ends. You have seen my past life that I am not prepared to follow anything except the Qur’an and sunnah and would not give up this principle for securing power. If you select someone else I would pay regard to the laws of the state and the constitution as a peaceful citizen should do. I have not at any stage tried to disrupt the collective existence of the Muslims by inciting revolt. The same will happen now. Rather, just as keeping the common good in view I have hitherto been giving correct advice, I would not grudge doing the same. If you let me in the same position it would be better for your worldly ends, because in that case I won’t have power in my hands so that I could stand in the way of your worldly affairs, and create an impediment against your hearts’ wishes. However, if you are determined on swearing allegiance on my hand, bear in mind that if you frown or speak against me I would force you to tread on the path of right, and in the matter of the right I would not care for anyone. If you want to swear allegiance even at this, you can satisfy your wish.”******
I hope the above sermon would give you the true intentions of Hazrat Ali AS. It shows, how he perceived khilafat. Imam knew people around him and what their intension might be…. He denied Caliphate if people wanted him for wordly ends, and at the same time he clarified in the matter of right he would not care for any on, he clarified the following stand of his which is a duty of Imam
You have seen my past life that I am not prepared to follow anything except the Qur’an and sunnah and would not give up this principle for securing power.
http://www.al-islam.org/nahjul/91.htm](http://www.al-islam.org/nahjul/91.htm)
If you doubts about this sermon and how Imam perceived Khilafat of that time, I would recommend looking into the history. There are groups of people who did not have any issues with the first few caliphs, but when the great personality who clarified his stand before people paid allegiance to him and who was declared Mawla by Holy Prophet P.B.U.H these people came against him and at the same time regard people who came against him as Ameer ul Momineen. ****