Muslims & The Straight Path [Published 2010]
Part - 3-D
ERRETH NOT THE PROPHET
There are a few occasions when the Ahlul-bayt
are directly referred to in Quran. But there are also countless occasions where
the Ahlul-bayt are referred to in Quran but it is easy to remove their
mention if you do not talk of the background when the verses were revealed. The
verse that was revealed when Ali gave away his ring to the beggar while in
prayers or even the incident described in the opening lines of An-Najm (Ch. 53)
are two such cases.
The houses of the emigrants from Makkah
were built around the Mosque at
Ibne Abbas says that once we offered
our ‘Isha’ night prayer with the Holy Prophet, who after concluding the prayer
turned to us and said “At dawn a star will descend from heaven. On whomsoever’s
house it gets down he shall be my heir, my Caliph and the Imam,” (i.e., the
Divinely Commissioned Guide). Every one sat waiting for the star, and more than
anyone, Abbas the uncle of the Holy Prophet, coveted for the star, but the star
from heaven, descended on Ali’s house.
The Holy Prophet told Ali “O’ Ali! By
the One who has sent me as His Apostle, I say that for thee has been assigned
by God, to be my Heir, my Caliph and Imam.” The hypocrites who could not relish
it, said that the Holy Prophet in his love for Ali had gone mad or gone astray.
On this occasion, this verse was revealed:
By the star when it goeth down.
Erreth not your Companion (our Apostle Mohammad)
nor is he led astray
And nor he speaketh of (his own) inclination.
It (the wording) is naught but a revelation
revealed (unto him).”
53:1-4
Verse of Mastership
(Wilayah)
Many more verses and
traditions reminded the Muslims that Ali was their master after the Holy
Prophet. One of the most important verses is as follows:
Verily, your Master is only
Allah and His Apostle and those who believe, those who establish prayers, and
pay the zakat while bowed (in worship)
(5:55)
The Muslim scholars, Sunni
and Shia alike, agree that this verse was revealed in honour of Imam Ali. It
clearly shows that there are only three masters of the believers. Firstly,
Allah secondly, His Prophet and thirdly, Ali (with the eleven succeeding
Imams).
Abuzar Ghaffari says that
one day he was praying with the Prophet when a beggar came to the Prophet’s
mosque. No one responded to his pleas. The beggar raised his hands towards
heavens and said, “Allah! Be a witness that I came to Thy Prophet’s mosque and
no one gave me anything.” Ali was bowing in ruku at that time. He pointed his
little finger, on which was a ring. This incident occurred in the Prophet’s
presence who raised his face towards heaven and prayed: “O Lord! My brother
Musa had begged of Thee to open his breast and to make his work easy for him,
to loose 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! Thou
said to Musa, ‘We will strengthen thy arm with thy brother. No one will now
have an access to either of you!’ O Allah! I am Mohammad and Thou hast given me
distinction. Open my breast 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
Prophet had not yet finished his prayers when Gabriel brought the above quoted
verse.
References to this hadees
run in hundreds. This verse and the prayer of the Prophet jointly and
separately show that Ali was designated to be the Master of the Muslims after
the Holy Prophet.
Ali as Successor to the
Prophet
Al-Allamah Ibn Abdil-Barr
writes in his book al-Istiab concerning the ahadees (traditions) which
have been narrated about the superiority of Ali that: Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal,
Al-Qadi Islamil ibn Ishaq, Imam Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Shuayb an-Nasai and al-Hafiz
Abu Ali an-Naysaburi have said: “There have not come as many ahadees
(traditions) with good chains of narrators (asnad) about virtues of any of the
Companions as have been narrated on the virtues of Ali ibn Abi Talib.”
It is a fact that the first
open declaration of prophethood was the very occasion when the first open
declaration of Ali’s caliphate was made. It was at the time of the “Feast of
the Clan”.
When the verse: “And warn thy
nearest relations” (26:214), was revealed, the Prophet ordered Ali to
prepare food and invite the sons of Abdul-Muttalib (Prophet’s grandfather) so
that he could convey to them the words of Allah.
The command to warn the nearest kinsmen
was with the idea that when the admonition is given to the very nearest
relations of the Holy Prophet, the others in mankind automatically came under
the warning. On receipt of this command from God what the Holy Prophet did is
recorded in all the basic books of Sunni commentary on the Holy Quran and books
on the biography of the Holy Prophet and Islam viz. Ma’alimut-Tanzil,
Tafsir-e-Durre-Manthur, Musnade Imame Hambal and Riazun-Nazra, etc. When this verse was revealed the Holy
Prophet called Ali and ordered making a few loaves, with some meat on them and
a cup of milk and to invite the sons of Abdul Muttalib. Ali acted as he was
commanded and there assembled forty men from the seed of Abdul Muttalib – among
whom were the uncles of the Holy Prophet, viz. Abu-Taleb, Abbas, Hamza, and Abu
Lahab. The Holy Prophet commanded Ali to serve the food to the guests. Ali kept
before the people the few loaves with the little meat and the milk in a small
cup which would not suffice even for a single one on the assembly. The Holy
Prophet blessed the food with the name of God and told the people to have it.
Every one of the forty guests had his fill and yet the stuff remained the same.
After the feast the Holy Prophet wanted to speak to the assembly but Abu-Lahab
took the initiative and addressing the assembly remarked that it was a great
sorcery and the gathering dispersed giving no opportunity to the Holy Prophet
to speak to them. The next day the Holy Prophet again called Ali and repeated
the same command about the preparation of the food and inviting the same people
but the assembly behaved in the same way. For a third time the same people
gathered, food in the same way as on the previous occasions was served with
God’s blessings from the Holy Prophet and immediately as the eating was over,
the Holy Prophet stood up and addressed the assembly saying:
“O’ sons of Abdul-Muttalib! Would you believe if I tell you that an army is lying in wait behind this mountain to attack you?”
“Aye!” exclaimed the assembly in one
voice saying, “for thou hast never uttered anything but truth.”
Then the Holy Prophet addressed them
saying:
Know ye all that I am the apostle of God to warn you of God
and to warn you of an approaching doom. And I am the bearer of glad tidings of
the abode of eternal bliss to those who believe in the only True God and in my
ministry. And God did not send any apostle of His but he sent along with him
his Heir and his Caliph. Who is there among you who would be a Vazier to me and
my Heir and Caliph, and join me in task of the ministry?
None but the young Ali who was yet only
twelve or fourteen years of age, stood up and readily exclaimed, “I am here for
thee O’ Apostle of God!” But the Holy Prophet bade Ali to sit down and again he
asked the same question and every time Ali alone got up offering himself for
the service to God and the Holy Prophet. When thrice it was asked and every
time none but Ali stood up in response to the call, the Holy Prophet called Ali
to him, opened his mouth and dropping some saliva from his own mouth into Ali’s
mouth, embraced him and holding up his hand aloft declared,
Know ye all! This is my Vazier, my Heir and my
Caliph! Hear him and obey him!
Abu Lahab who was present there
witnessing the whole event, could not suppress his evil feelings any longer and
addressing the Holy Prophet said:
“Thou hast done an evil return to thy cousin for his ready response to thy call. Thou hast spat in his mouth.” To this the Holy Prophet replied, “I have filled Ali’s mouth with the Divine Knowledge.”
Syed Ibne Jubair relates that this
event took place at the mound of Safa.
It is reported by historians the
gathering in a taunt addressing Abu-Taleb remarked saying: “Now obey thine own
son Ali when Mohammad has placed in authority along with himself.” (See Tabari, Ibne Athir, Abul-Fida,
Gibbon, W. Smith, Amir Ali, Early History of Islam, etc.)
This incident may be taken as a miracle
that a boy (Ali) of about 13 years responds to the bargain of a man (the Holy
Prophet) of forty. The boy promises the assistance required and the man
declares the status mentioned in return and throughout the vicissitude of
fortune – throughout all the 23 years of the Holy Prophet’s ministry neither
the boy (Ali) failed to fulfill his declaration wherever the occasion suited it
and thus the declaration of Ali’s succession to the office of the apostleship
(as the First Imam or the First Caliph) and his other status was simultaneous
with the declaration of his apostolic mission and the event of Ghadeer-e-Khumm,
but it was an open and public confirmation of the first declaration in the
presence of the dignitaries of the Qureish.
It is interesting to note here that the Leiden edition (1879 A.D., p. 1173) of at-Tarikh of at-Tabari records the words of the Holy Prophet as “wasiyyi wa khilifati” (my successor and my caliph); but in the Cairo edition of 1963 A.D. (which claims to be checked with the Leiden edition) these important words have been changed to “kadha wa kadha” (so-and-so)! How sad it is to see the academic world sacrificing its honesty and integrity on the altar of political expediency!
Twelve Caliphs or Imams
Revered books like those of
al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmizi and al-Hafiz Sulayman ibn Ibrahim
al-Qunduzi al-Hanafi quote a tradition (hadees) that:
There will be twelve
caliphs, all from the Quraysh.
Al-Hanafi has quoted many
traditions to the effect that the Holy Prophet said:
I, Ali, Hasan, Husain and
nine of the descendants of Husain are pure and sinless.
He also quotes that the
Holy Prophet told Imam Husain:
You are a chief, brother of
a chief; you are an Imam, son of an Imam, brother of an Imam; you are Proof (of
Allah), son of a Proof (of Allah), brother of a Proof (of Allah), and father of
nine Proofs (of Allah), the ninth of whom will be al-Mahdi.
After quoting many such
traditions, he writes: “Some scholars have said that the traditions (which show
that the caliphs after the Holy Prophet would be twelve) are well known, from
many asnad (chains of narration). Now, with the passage of time and
through historical events, we know that in this hadees the Holy Prophet
has referred to the Twelve Imams from his Ahlul-bayt and descendants,
because:
“This hadees cannot
apply to the four Caliphs comprising Khilafat-e-Rashida from among his
Companions, as they were less than twelve.”
“And it cannot apply to the
caliphs from the tribe of Umayyad, because (a) they were more than twelve; (b)
all of them were tyrants and unjust (except Omar ibn Abdul Aziz); and (c) they
were not from the Banu Hashim and the Holy Prophet had said in a hadees
that: ‘all of them will be from the Banu Hashim. . .’
“And it cannot apply to the
caliphs form the Abbassids, because: (a) they were more than twelve; and (b)
they did not comply with (the demands of) the verse: ‘Say, ‘I do not ask of you
any recompenses for it except the love for (my) near relatives’ (42:23), nor
with the Tradition of the Mantle (Hadees-e-Kisa); (i.e., they persecuted the
descendants of the Prophet).
“Therefore, the only way to interpret this hadees is to accept that it refers to the Twelve Imams from the Holy Prophet’s Ahlul-bayt and descendants, because they were, in their times, the most knowledgeable, the most illustrious, the most god-fearing, the most pious, the highest in their family lineage, the best in personal virtues, and the most honoured before Allah; and their knowledge was derived from their ancestor (the Prophet) through their fathers, and by inheritance and by direct teachings from Allah.”
The Distinguishing and the Distinctive Qualities of an Imam
Quran makes it explicitly clear that
one the Day of Judgment, everyone will be called along with his ‘Imam’ or the
leader whom he followed in his life. Those who have been given the Divine
Scriptures will be with their Divinely chosen Imams, if only they are able to
identify them truly from their own scriptures:
Remember the Day (of Judgment) when We will
summon every people with their Imam (Leader): Then whosoever is given his book
in his right hand, these shall read books (with pleasure), and they shall not
be dealt with (even) a shred unjustly.
Quran: 17: 71
It must be remembered that ‘Imamat’
which is ‘Khilafat-e-Ilahia’ is not a man-made institution like the
‘Caliphate’, which was started by man and annihilated by man himself, nor is
the position of an ‘Imam’ like that of a ‘Caliph’, who was once appointed at
the choice of a few, once by nomination and once by arbitration and later
became hereditary in dynasty until it was snatched away by another lineage and
ultimately distributed to be held by several at one and the same time, on a
territorial basis in Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Baghdad, etc. ‘Imamat’ is the
institution inaugurated by God Himself for the guidance of man and conferred
upon His Own chosen one among His apostles like Abraham, even that after
Abraham’s proving himself worthy of it, by passing through a test. The
following verse of the Holy Quran declares the actual position of ‘Imamat’ and
the ‘Imam’:
And remember when his Lord tried Abraham with
certain words then he fulfilled them; He said, ‘Verily I make thee an Imam for
mankind;’ (Abraham) said ‘And of my off spring. He said: ‘My covenant reacheth
not the unjust.
2:124
The above verse of the Holy Quran
declares the following points about ‘Imamat’, i.e., God’s appointed leadership
of mankind.
1. ‘Imamat’
is such an important post that it is not conferred upon even great prophets like
Abraham, without passing a special test, affected by God Himself.
2. God
Himself confers the Designation and none else.
3. That
‘Imamat’ is a Covenant between God and the tested one of His own chosen ones.
4. It is not
promised indefinitely to go to one and every one in the off-springs of even the
chosen ones like Abraham who has passed the test and already declared an ‘Imam’
i.e. it is not unconditionally hereditary.
5. ‘Imamat’
will never be conferred upon the Unjust and the greatest injustice according to
the Holy Quran is ‘Shirk’ i.e. Polytheism, which clearly means that one who has
been once polluted with ‘Shirk’, i.e., been a polytheist, can never hold this
post i.e., can never be an ‘Imam’, i.e., a divinely commissioned leader of
mankind.
And when said Luqman unto his son, while he was
exhorting unto him: ‘O’ my son! Associate not aught with God for verily
associating (aught) with God is the greatest iniquity.’
31:13
‘Imamat’ and ‘Khilafat’
The institution called ‘Khilafat’ or
Caliphate is ‘Amarat’, i.e. the political leadership or the rulership of the state instituted by man and is quite
different from the ‘Khilafat-e-Ilahia’ i.e. the vicegerency of God which is
bestowed by God Himself and never could be the choice of mankind.
The one who assumes such an authority,
the Muslims have called him the ‘Khilifatul-Muslimeen’, i.e. the Ruler of the
Muslims. No such ‘Caliph’ could also be the ‘Khalifatur-Rasul’, i.e. the
Successor to the Holy Prophet, for any one who occupied the throne could never
also be the rightful successor to the Holy Prophet, who has to be the
‘Khalifatullah’, i.e., God’s Vicegerent on earth as was the Holy Prophet
himself. Otherwise people like Yazid, the well-known brute in human frame, the
historically acknowledged habitual drunkard and the naturalized libertines and
the most licentious free lances like Valid son of Yazid son of Abdul Malik and
the others of the Omayyads, and the assassin Caliphs of the Abbasids, will also
have to be acknowledged as the vicegerents of God, succeeding the Holy Prophet,
which none in the world with common sense would ever agree to do.
The ‘Khilafat-e-Ilahia’ (Vicegerency
appointed by God) was the Apostleship and after the conclusion of the
apostleship with the Holy Prophet Mohammad, it was conveyed to Imamat,
the divinely inspired heavenly guidance through the godly ones purified by God
Himself, who were born pure, who lived pure and who surrendered themselves in
the way of the Lord in all purity, which historic fact is unanimously
acknowledged by the Muslim world as a whole.
Islam demands faith in these Holy Imams
as in the apostleship of God, as the All-Truthful, Holy and infallible guides
divinely commissioned for the preservation of the verbal form and the true
meanings, both external and internal, of the Holy Quran. They are the Final Word
of God, as its authentic custodians and the divinely inspired interpreters and
the correct models of godly life on earth to be copied by their devotees.
According to the restrictions divinely
laid on Imamat under verse 2:124 quoted above, the following are the essential
qualities for Imamat.
1. He
must be of the same purity physical and spiritual as possessed by the Holy
Prophet. Otherwise an impure cannot rightfully succeed the pure one.
About Ali the Holy Prophet had
declared:
I and Ali are of the same Divine Light (Noor).
And Ali had never worshipped any one
besides God, as had done the Holy Prophet whereas all the others were once
polytheists, i.e., idol worshippers.
2. He
must possess the same store of knowledge as did the Holy Prophet. About Ali
alone the Holy Prophet had declared:
I am the City of
O’ Ali! Thy flesh is my flesh, thy blood is my
blood, thou heareth what I hear and thou seest what I see save that there is no
apostle after me.
3. He
must be as truthful as was The Holy Prophet. The greatest falsehood is
polytheism and that was far away from Ali, whereas all the others were once
polytheists. The Holy Prophet had declared:
Truth shall always be with Ali and Ali will always be with
Truth.
4. He
must be brave and courageous, as was the Holy Prophet to face any situation
that may arise. The Islamic World knows that it was Ali and none else who was
titled as Asadullah the ever victorious Lion of God and a heavenly voice had
announced at Ali’s valour that there is no youth but Ali and there is no sword
but his sword the ‘Zulfiqar’. ‘La fata illa Ali’ ‘La saif illa Zulfiqar’. Ali’s
bravery is unchallengeable and universally accepted on all hands, even by his
antagonists. History records that it was Ali’s bravery and valour that saved
Islam and the Muslims on more than one occasion when the companions of the Holy
Prophet - including the most prominent of them - had fled away from the field
deserting the Holy Prophet in the thick of the battle, practically, in the
valley of death. It was Ali who knew not what fear was, save the fear of God.
5. He
must always be as just and impartial as was the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet
had declared Aqza Kom Ali ibne Abi Talib - ‘The Most just among you is
Ali’. Al-Haqqo Ma’al Ali wa Aliyyun ma’al Haq – ‘Truth will always be
with Ali and Ali will always be with the Truth.’ There is the famous well-known
declaration of the Holy Prophet about Ali’s position and relationship to him
saying:
O Ali! Thou art to me as Aaron was to Moses.
Guidance to Choice of an Imam
Though man has been put into the field
of a continued test but the All-merciful Lord while subjecting man to the test,
has also placed at man’s disposal the necessary guiding factors to enable him
to get through it successfully if he chooses to avail of the merciful
opportunities and chances.
The supreme power and the ruling
authority vested in the office of an apostle and a divinely chosen Imam
has tempted many an imposter to claim the heavenly office for himself.
Practically in every age have arisen several false prophets and false Imams.
God, of His infinite mercy, has cautioned man against such dangerous and
grossly misleading elements among mankind, through very eloquent declarations
in the Holy Quran announcing the definite qualities of His own commissioned
Guide or Imam. The following two verses are more than sufficient to any one
with common sense, who sincerely desires to be guided aright in choosing or
identifying the correct guide for himself:
Say thou (O’ Our Apostle Mohammad) ‘Of your
associates is there any one who can guide unto truth?’ Say thou! ‘It is God
alone Who guideth unto truth; Is then He Who guideth unto truth more worthy to
be followed or he who himself goeth not aright unless he is guided?’ What then
hath befallen you? How (ill) ye judge?
(10:35)
What! Is he who goeth along groveling on his
face, better guided or he who walketh upright upon the straight path?
(67:22)
The qualities of a true Imam mentioned
in both the above verses are clearly manifest in the personalities of all the
Holy Imams who were never educated under any one save by divine native
endowment in them inherited from the Holy Prophet Mohammad who was inspired
directly by God and through the Messenger Angel and by none else and yet each
one of them was the fountainhead of knowledge and guidance for mankind and this
is a factor of history acknowledged by those correctly aware of these chosen
holy ones of the Lord.
Imamate is a Divine
Authority
Very few sects of Muslims
are of opinion that the institution of Imamate is a divine grace which brings
the creature towards obedience and keeps him away from disobedience, without
compelling the creature in any way. It is incumbent on Allah to appoint an Imam
to guide and lead the ummah after Prophet very much like the Supreme
Head of Islamic State Mohammad was appointed without the consultation of the
people, but in fact it was done against their expressed wishes.
The Holy Prophet, who was
the supreme executive, judicial and overall authority of the Islamic
government, was not elected by the people. In fact, had the people of Makkah
been allowed to exercise their choice they would have elected either Urwah ibn
Masud (of at-Taif) or al Walid ibn Al-Mughirah (of Makkah) as the prophet of
Allah! According to the Quran:
And they say: “Why was not
his Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?”
(43:31)
In Islam it is not the
government ‘of the people’; it is the ‘government of Allah’. How do people govern
themselves? They govern themselves by making their own laws; in Islam laws are
made not by the people, but by Allah; these laws are promulgated not by the
consent and decree of the people, but by the Prophet, by the command of Allah.
The people have no say in legislation; they are required to follow, not to make
any comment or suggestion about those laws and legislations:
And it is not for a
believer man or believer woman to have any choice in their affair when Allah
and His Apostle have decided a matter . . .
(33:36)
Why to have choice
regarding the successor of the Prophet?
As we have said, Islam is
neither the government of the people nor by the people. There is no legislation
by the people; and the executive and judiciary is not responsible to the people.
Nor is it, for that matter,
a government ‘for the people’. The Islamic system, from the beginning to the
end, is ‘for Allah’. Everything must be done ‘for Allah’; if it is done ‘for
the people’, it is termed ‘hidden polytheism’. Whatever you do-whether it is
prayer or charity, social service or family function, obedience to parents or
love of neighbour, leading in prayer or deciding a case, entering into war or
concluding a peace – must be done with “qurbatan ila llah”, to become nearer to
Allah, to gain the pleasure of Allah. In Islam, everything is for Allah. In
fact, even the Hindu system was supposed to be the same; that is why Krishna
talked of God and the Manifest Self to Arjuna, who had thrown away his arms,
and then once Arjuna’s thoughts had reached to the Creator, told him that it
didn’t matter any further if death comes to him or he conquers death.
In short, the Islamic form
of government is the government of Allah, by the representative of Allah, to
gain the pleasure of Allah.
And I did not create the
jinn and the human beings except that they should worship me.
(51:56)
If the Imam is an
appointment by Allah, he should be infallible (masoom); one who does not err or
deceive others.
Allah says in the Quran:
O ye who believe! Obey
Allah and obey the Apostle and those vested with authority from among you; then
if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Apostle, if you
believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end.
(4:59)
This verse obliges the
Muslims to two obediences: First, the obedience of Allah; second, the obedience
of Apostle and ‘those vested with authority from among you’ (ulul-amri minkum).
The arrangement of the words shows that the obedience of ulul-amr is as
much obligatory as is the obedience of the Apostle. Naturally, it means that ulul-amr
should be of the same caliber as the Apostle; otherwise Allah would not
have joined them together in this verse.
Before deciding who the ulul-amr
are, it will be of help to have a look at the commandment of obeying the
Apostle, to see how all-encompassing and all-pervading this commandment is and
how great the authority of the Apostle of Allah is.
Allah says in the Quran:
And We did not send any
Apostle, but that he should be obeyed by Allah’s permission.
(4:64)
The Prophets and Apostles
were to be obeyed and followed; the followers were not expected to check every
action of the prophet to decide what was to be obeyed and what not. Clearly, it
shows that the prophets and apostles were free from error and sin; otherwise
Allah would not have ordered the people to obey the apostles unconditionally.
There are many verses in
which Allah commands us to obey the Prophet:
O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Apostle.
(47:33)
Again, He says:
And whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle…
(4:13)
In the same surah, it is
said:
Whoever obeys the Apostle, he indeed obeys Allah
(4:80)
In these as well as
numerous other verses of the Quran, obedience of Allah is synonymous with the
obedience of the prophets. Such assertion would have been impossible if the
prophets were not masoom (infallible).
There is another verse:
. . . And obey not from among them a sinner or an ungrateful one
(76:26)
The prophets are to be
obeyed; the sinners are not to be obeyed. The only conclusion is that the
prophets were not sinners or wrong-doers. In other words, they were masoom -
infallible, sinless.
Just imagine what
impossible situation would have been created if any prophet began exhorting his
followers to commit a mistake or sin. The wretched followers would have been
condemned to the displeasure of Allah in any case. If they obeyed the Prophet
and committed that sin they disobeyed the command given by Allah and thus were
disgraced. If, on the other hand, they disobeyed the Prophet, they again
disobeyed the command of Allah about obeying the Prophet. So, it appears that a
non-masoom prophet could bring nothing but disgrace and condemnation to
his people.
Not only his actions even
his words were the Commands of Allah. Allah says in the Quran:
Not does he speak out of (his own) desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed.
(53:3-4)
Here we find the highest
degree of infallibility which can be imagined. Compare this to the
self-proclaimed modern day mullahs like Dr. Zakir Naik who claim that
the Holy Prophet was just a common man like him.
In the aforementioned
verse, ulul-amr have been given exactly the same authority over the
Muslims, because both the ‘Apostle’ and the ‘ulul-amr’ have been jointly
mentioned under the one word “obey”; which shows that the obedience of ulul-amr
has the same standing as the obedience of Allah.
It naturally follows that ulul-amr
must also be masoom (sinless) and free form any type of error and sin.
Otherwise, their obedience would not have been joined with the obedience of the
Prophet. Ali said:
The one who disobeys Allah
is not to be obeyed; and verily obedience is of Allah and of His Apostle and
those vested with authority. Verily, Allah ordered (the people) to obey the
Apostle because he was sinless and clean (pure), who would not tell the people
to disobey Allah; and verily He ordered (the people) to obey those vested with
authority because they are sinless and clean (pure), and would not tell the
people to disobey Allah.
Ulul-amr does not mean any
Muslim ruler
Many scholars tend to
interpret ulul-amr as ‘the rulers from among yourselves’, i.e., Muslims
rulers. This interpretation is not based on any logical reasoning; it is solely
based on twists of history. The majority of the Muslims have remained as a
vassal of the monarchs and rulers, interpreting and reinterpreting Islam and
the Quran to please the powers to be.
The history of the Muslims
(like any other nation) is replete with the names of the rulers whose
injustice, debauchery and tyranny have tarnished the name of Islam. Such rulers
have always been and will always be. And we are told that they are the ulul-amr
mentioned in the Quran.
If Allah were to order us
to obey such kings and rulers, an impossible situation would be created for the
Muslims. The wretched followers would be condemned to the displeasure of Allah,
no matter what they did. If they obeyed these rulers, they disobeyed the
Command of Allah: “Do not obey a sinner.” And if they disobeyed such rulers,
they again disobeyed the Command of Allah to “to obey the Muslim rulers”. So,
if we accept this interpretation, the Muslims are condemned to eternal disgrace
whether they obey or disobey their non-Masoom Muslim rulers.
Also, there are Muslim
rulers of different beliefs and persuasions. There are Shafiis, Wahhabis,
Malikis, Hanafis, as well as Shias and Ibadis. Now, according to this
interpretation the Sunnis residing under an Ibadi Sultan (like in
In Kifayatul-athar, there
is a tradition from Jabir ibn Abdillah Ansari, in explanation of this verse.
When it was revealed, Jabir said to the Prophet: “We know Allah and the
Prophet, but who are those vested with authority whose obedience has been
conjoined to that of Allah and yourself?” The Prophet said: “They are my
caliphs and the Imams of the Muslims after me. The first of them is Ali, then
Hasan, then Husain, then Ali, son of Husain; then Mohammad, son of Ali, who has
been mentioned as al-Baqir in the Torah. O Jabir! You will meet him. When you
see him, convey my salam (greetings) to him. He will be succeeded by his
son Jafar as-Sadiq (the Truthful); then Musa, son of Jafar; then Ali, son of
Musa; then Mohammad, son of Ali; then Ali, son of Mohammad; then Hasan, son of
Ali.
He will be followed by his
son whose name and patronym (kunyah) will be the same as mine. He will be Hujjatullah
(Proof of Allah) on the earth and Baqiatullah [the remaining part of (the
spirit of) Allah] among mankind. He will conquer the whole world from east to
west. So long will he remain hidden from the eyes of his followers and friends
that the belief in his Imamah will remain only in those hearts which have been
tested by Allah for faith.
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