Spiritual Leaders

This chapter concerns all the servants of God. If I enter into detail, it will exceed the limits of this book and will make an independent book by itself. Hence I have dealt with only that part of the matter which it is absolutely necessary for the purpose.

A firm faith in the "Wilayat" of the Imams, submission to the Imamat and devotion to the Imams are the ground work of this book. They are the basic principles which deserve our foremost attention.

Those who are well acquainted with the true position of the Imams and have a firm faith in their Imamat, look upon the duties they owe to them and obedience to their commands as the duties enjoined on them by God. They should have a greater regard for the glory and sublimity of the Imams than the followers and office-holders of the temporal kings have for their masters. They should stand in greater awe of the Imams than these officers stand in awe of their kings.

God has laid down in His Holy Book that it is our duty to obey them. He has associated the devotion to the Imams with devotion to Him and devotion to the Prophet saying "Obey God, the Prophet and your Spiritual Leaders." (Chapter IV Verse 59 Al-Nisa (Women) Holy Quran).

This makes it obligatory for those, who, by the grace of God, belong to the various categories of the followers of the Imams, to have full faith in their Imamat and feel in their hearts of hearts that the pleasure of the Imams is the pleasure of God and that their displeasure is the displeasure of God. They should earn 'jannat' as a reward for seeking the pleasure of the Imams which is the pleasure of God and should shun the hell fire which is the inevitable consequence of the wrath of the Imams which is the wrath of God.

They should concentrate on things which can bring them nearer to the Imams and should train themselves in such a way as to act always to the satisfaction of the Imams. Their love and hatred, their pleasure and displeasure should be regulated by the will of the Imams. If they detect in their minds any inclination to unwillingness in doing this, they should discipline their minds and gain complete mastery over them and see that their un-willingness is turned into willingness. They should solicit God for the forgiveness of this which is the greatest sin. They should realise that repentance is meaningless if they do not uproot that tendency in them and do not like or dislike what the Imams like or dislike and do not love or hate what the Imams love or hate.

They should have implicit faith in these things and they should give a proof of their faith by profession in words and by practice in their intentions and actions. They should not mind it even if in doing this they have to lose their lives and suffer the loss of their families, properties and children. They should submit to the Imams in all their affairs and the motive behind their submission should be obedience and no other consideration.

They must bear in mind that if they fail to do this or make the slightest omission in this direction, they cease to be 'momins'. God says "Certainly by the Lord they will not be considered as 'momins' unless they refer their disputes to you and you are not discontented with your decision and submit to you entirely" (Chapter 4 Annisa (Women) verse 59. Holy Quran).

This is the duty enjoined on the 'momins' by God who has associated with the devotion to Himself, the devotion to the Prophet and the devotion to the Imams and who has made the Imams His Vice-regents on earth after the Prophet, may the greetings of God be on him and on the Imams the chosen and the best of his descendants.

Accordingly it is our bounden duty to hold the Imams in the highest esteem and to acknowledge their supremacy in thoughts, words and actions.

The Imam of the time has as much claim on the followers of his time as the Prophet had on the followers of his time, and the devotion to the Imam must be the same as the devotion to the Prophet because God has associated this devotion with the devotion of Himself, and He is above every body and beyond the comprehension of men.

In short, no devotion of a devotee will be taken into account unless it is made to the Imams and none will be included among the 'momins' unless he submits to the Imams.

What we have said in this chapter will be sufficient for intelligent readers provided they use their intelligence to understand it.