2. The Verse on Delivery
We read in verse 67 of S£rah M¡'idah [Qur’¡n 5: 67]:
يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ وَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ وَاللّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ.
O Apostle! Deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message, and Allah will protect you from the people; Surely Allah will not guide the unbelieving people.
The tone of this verse shows the weight of the position of prophethood and the obstacles that accompanied it. The Holy Qur’¡n refers to the fact that his prophethood might be faced with certain hindrances. For this reason, the verse emphatically orders the Prophet to deliver the message of his lord and ensures him that God will protect him against probable hazards.
This important issue is not related to the issues of Monotheism, polytheism or struggle against the enemies of Islam, such as the Jews and other hypocrites because by the time of the revelation of S£rah M¡'idah these problems had been solved.
The simple delivery of Islamic rulings also, did not create any worries because this delivery was on the same level as prophethood itself, one could not exist without the other. Then could the command "Deliver what has been revealed to you" refer to anything else other than the appointment of a successor? This is especially true when we consider the fact that this verse was revealed to the Prophet(s) during the final days of his honorable life and is in harmony with the issue of caliphate, which is a continuation of prophethood (nubuwwah).
Furthermore, there are a great number of narrations by the close followers of the Prophet, such as Zayd Ibn Arqam, Ab£-Sa`¢d Khudr¢, Ibn `Abb¡s, J¡bir ibn `Abdull¡h An¥¡r¢, Ab£-Hurayrah, °udhayfah, and Ibn Mas`£d that have been handed down to us through a large group of Sunni researchers and historians. All of these narrations depict the fact that the verse above is related to Imam `Al¢(s) and what happened on the Day of Ghad¢r. [For further information, refer to I¦q¡q al-°aqq, al-Ghad¢r, al-Mur¡ja`¡t, and Dal¡'il al-¯idq].
The event of Al-Ghad¢r will be dealt with in the discussions on “Narrations and traditions.” But it is worth mentioning here that this verse is a clear sign for this fact that the Prophet(s) of Islam had the obligation of appointing a successor on his last Hajj pilgrimage during the last days of his life. For this reason, he appointed Imam `Al¢(s) as his official successor on that day and introduced him to all the Muslims.
3. The Verse on Obedience to Those in Authority
We read in verse 59 of S£rah al-Nis¡' [Qur’¡n 4:59]:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ.
O you who believe! Obey Allah; obey the Apostle and those in authority from among you.
Here obedience of “those in authority” is on par with the obedience of God and the Prophet(s).
Does the phrase “those in authority” mean the governors and statesmen in every place and time? For instance, do the Muslims of any country in our time have to obey their rulers unconditionally in the same way that a group of the Sunni interpreters tell us?
This is not in harmony with any logic whatsoever because the majority of rulers during the past centuries have been corrupt, filthy, tyrants or simply puppets in the hands of foreign powers.
Could this expression mean, “Obeying rulers on condition that their verdicts and commands are not against Islamic commands”? This, too, is in conflict with the absolute nature of this verse.
Therefore, we can clearly observe that this verse means the obedience towards a sinless Islamic leader in any period or age. This obedience should be unconditional and obligatory and his commands are to be taken as similar to those of God and the Prophet(s).
The numerous narrations in the Islamic sources concerning this issue have interpreted the expression “those in authority” to mean Imam `Al¢(s) and the other Infallibles and are another proof of this claim.([1])
4. The verse on Wilªyah:
In verse 55 of S£rah M¡'idah [Qur’¡n 5: 55], we read:
إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ.
Only Allah is your Wal¢ and His Apostle and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow.
The Holy Qur’¡n employs the word ‘innam¡’ at the beginning of this sentence to emphasize the fact that only three persons could be the wal¢ of Muslims: God, the Prophet and those who believe and pay the poor-rate while they bow.
No doubt, “wil¡yah” does not mean friendship because friendship in general does not carry any pre-conditions: All Muslims are friends and brethren even if they do not pay the poor-rate while they are bowing. Rather, “Wil¡yah” means leadership, both material and spiritual. This interpretation is correct when we realize that the words God, the Prophet and Wil¡yah are used in a row.
It is also clear that this verse with the description that it contains, refers to a special person who paid the poor-rate while bowing, for, it is not compulsory for a person to pay the poor-rate while he is bowing in prayer. The use of this expression is only a sign, not a description.
All these documents and signs refer to the fact that this verse refers to an incident in the life of Imam `Al¢. He was once bowing in the Mosque of the Prophet when a poor man entered and asked for help. Nobody paid any attention to him. At that moment `Al¢(s) signaled to the poor man to come to him and he removed a precious ring that he(s) was wearing and gave it to him. The Prophet(s) noticed the event and after his prayer, he raised his hands toward heaven saying, “O God! My brother Moses begged you to expand his soul and make his affairs easy for him and make his speech fluent and make Aaron, his brother, as his helper. O God: I am Mu¦ammad, Your Apostle, expand my breast, and make my affairs easy. Make `Al¢, a member of my Household, my helper so that my back could become strengthened by him….”
No sooner had the Prophet ended his prayer when Gabriel descended and brought the above verse with him.
It is worth mentioning that most Sunni interpreters and historians have stated that the revelation of this verse is related to Imam `Al¢(s) and more than ten of the close followers of the Prophet(s) have relayed this narration to us.([2])
Concerning Wil¡yah there are many verses, four of which we have already discussed.
THINK AND ANSWER
According to the Holy Qur’¡n who appoints an Imam?
Under what conditions was the verse on delivery revealed to the Prophet?
Whom should we obey unconditionally?
How is the verse related to the leader and Imam?
Related to the issue of Wil¡yah, how could we use the verses of the Holy Qur’¡n?
