God says, "Had those who wronged themselves come to you and repented to God, and had the apostle of God also asked for forgiveness for them, they would have found God forgiving and merciful." With regard to the conduct of hypocrites God says, "When it is said to them 'come in, the Prophet of God will intercede for you' they shrug their shoulders and turn away puffed up with pride."
The above verses show that those who wrong themselves cannot be forgiven unless they approach God through the Imams who are the gates of His mercy for His people and the medium of approach for the people. He who seeks for their intercession is interceded for by them. He who seeks God's mercy through them is favored by God and he who tries to reach God through them is lifted to Him. The approach to God through His Prophet as it is mentioned in the above verse means our obedience to the Prophet through our obedience to the Imams who belong to his "Ahl-e bayt." Had this not been the case the mercy of God would have been cut off from His people and His forgiveness would have disappeared. The doors of our repentance to Him would have been closed and there would have been no way left open to us for forgiveness.
God has not left this world without a medium of approach to Him. This medium is the shelter for shelterless, the gate of divine mercy and a guide for the people. Had there been no such medium left for us, people would have argued in defense of their wrong doing by saying, "There was no one to show us the right path and warn us against the wrong one. There was none to let us know what we did not know and there was none to whom we could have run for shelter and through whom we could have approached God for forgiveness." But God has shut the mouth of these people by leaving the medium on earth.
God has linked the obedience to Him and to the Prophet with the obedience to the spiritual heads who are the representatives of the Prophet on earth and has ordered us to refer to them in all our affairs for guidance and submit to their decision. In short, He wants us to be devoted to Him through our devotion to these Imams. They are the gates of His mercy and the means by which we can approach Him for forgiveness.
If any of the followers of the Imam does contrary to the pledge that he has given to him, to the slightest extent or neglects to do what he has been ordered by him to do or commits positive wrong, then let him go back to him and admit his guilt to him repenting for his sins. Let him regret for the sins of his omission and commission and seek the intercession of the Imam of his time for the forgiveness of these sins. This is what God has commanded us to do in His Holy Book. Let him on no account persist in his misconduct and justify it remorselessly without showing any sign of desisting from this perverse course.
God says in His holy book, "He likes those who repent and those who try to purify themselves." Imam Sadiq (Jaffer Sadiq), greetings be on him, says, "We are the gates of God. We are His medium for His people. He who approaches Him through us is brought near Him. He who seeks our intercession is interceded for. He who seeks favors through us is favored by Him. He who turns away from us goes astray." One of the "Ahl-e bayt" says that Ali, peace be on him, is reported to have said, "It is the duty of every one who recognizes the true position of the Imam to inform him of his shortcomings. Let him tell the Imam what he can do and what he cannot do. The Imam will assign to him the post which he finds him fit. This, in my opinion, is the best course of conduct for the followers of the Imams."
Let us speak the truth and hide nothing from the Imams and let us do, what we do, not for the sake of expecting a post from them or for the sake of gaining power. Let us do this for nothing but for the sake of God. Let us do it for the eternal reward from God in return for our paying back the "amanat" to the Imams and the fulfilment of our pledge to them. Let us show our maximum loyalty and sincerity to them according to the pledge that we have given to them.
If any of the followers of the Imam finds himself unfit for the job which is offered to him by the Imam and yet he intends to accept it to improve his worldly prospects and hides his deficiency from the Imam, does an act of treachery to God, to Prophet and his "Wasee." But if he informs him of all his defects and speaks nothing but truth then the matter rests with the Imam and his duty is to carry out his orders. It matters little whether he knows the job or not. It matters little whether he is competent or incompetent. For, God helps those who are appointed by the Imams provided they discharge their duties with the best of their intentions.
I say an oath that I was ordered by the Imam for innumerable times to do a thing which I believed I could not do. All the same, as soon as I took up the job, I felt competent and I did the work to my satisfaction. I know for certain that God fulfils the expectations of the Imams and they get what they want. Men are nothing more than instruments in the hands of the Imams. When these instruments are used by them they do wonderful things.
I know of a "momin" who was appointed by one of the Imams to a post for which, in my opinion and in the opinion of others who knew him, he was not fit. He accepted the post with promptness. Some one who knew him and knew me to be a close friend of his, mentioned this to me and remarked that the fellow would make a mess of the job. He pressed me hard to advise the man to resign the post. I talked over the matter to the man and he replied: "I know well, that I am what you know me to be. I have no previous experience of the job, at the same time I am convinced that since the Imam has appointed me to do it, I will prove to be suitable. I say on oath that if the Imam were to give me a piece of gold or sliver and ask me to make, out of them ornaments of a particular design I shall accept the job and begin the work in right earnest. I know for certain that God will guide me and inspire me to do what the Imam wants me to do and I shall do it to his satisfaction.
I knew well that he was a man of conviction. I knew for certain that he would not give up the job. To give up the job will be as hard to him as to disobey the Imam. I did not think it proper to argue with him and left him to himself. Next morning I went to his house and found him suffering from a serious disease. He continued ailing till some one else was appointed in his place. After a few days he got over his ailment and became hail and hearty.
I realized for myself that after all God came to his help and relieved him of the job which I was afraid he would make a mess of. This was the result of his implicit faith in the Imam.
All the same the least that is expected of the devotees of the Imam, is, to inform him of their poor abilities, limitations and inefficiency when they are assigned to a job for which they think they are not best fit. After this they have to submit to his decision and hasten to the job to which they are appointed.
We maintain that they look at things with the light of God. He guides them and informs them of what they ask Him about in His subtle ways. He confers on them favors and blessings which they are the only privileged persons to receive. We must bear in mind that the Imams are the light of God.
source : http://www.amaana.org
