Ahl al-Bayt The Whole Truth

Since Ahl al-Bayt stand at the highest level of devotion, submission and endeavor, they reflect the whole truth like a mirror.

The station of devotion and submission is the manifestation of Allah’s Attributes, moral virtues, strong faith and a jumping board for nearness to Allah and meeting Him.

Imam al-H¡d¢ (a.s) describes Ahl al-Bayt as such:

ألسَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ يا أهْلَ بَيْتِ النُّبُوَّةِ، وَمَوْضِعَ الرِّسالَةِ، وَمُخْتَلَفَ الْمَلائِكَةِ، وَمَهْبِطَ الْوَحْىِ، وَمَعْدِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ، وَخُزّانَ الْعِلْمِ، وَمُنْتَهَى الْحِلْمِ، وَأُصُولَ الْكَرَمِ، وَقادَةَ الاُْمَمِ، وَأوْلِياءَ النِّعَمِ، وَعَناصِرَ الأبْرارِ، وَدَعائِمَ الأخْيارِ، وَساسَةَ الْعِبادِ، وَأرْكانَ الْبِلادِ، وَأبْوابَ الاْيمانِ، وَأُمَناءَ الرَّحْمنِ، وَسُلالَةَ النَّبِيّينَ، وَصَفْوَةَ الْمُرْسَلينَ، وَعِتْرَةَ خِيَرَةِ رَبِّ الْعالَمينَ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ، ألسَّلامُ عَلى أئِمَّةِ الْهُدى، وَمَصابيحِ الدُّجى، وَأعْلامِ التُّقى، وَذَوِى النُّهى، وَأُولِى الْحِجى، وَكَهْفِ الْوَرى، وَوَرَثَةِ الأنْبِياءِ، وَالْمَثَلِ الأعْلى، وَالدَّعْوَةِ الْحُسْنى، وَحُجَجِ اللهِ عَلى أهْلِ الدُّنْيا وَالاْخِرَةِ وَالاُْولى وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ، ألسَّلامُ عَلى مَحآلِّ مَعْرِفَةِ اللهِ، وَمَساكِنِ بَرَكَةِ اللهِ، وَمَعادِنِ حِكْمَةِ اللهِ، وَحَفَظَةِ سِرِّ اللهِ، وَحَمَلَةِ كِتابِ اللهِ، وَأوْصِياءِ نَبِىِّ اللهِ، وَذُرِّيَّةِ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ، ألسَّلامُ عَلَى الدُّعاةِ إِلَى اللهِ.

Peace be on you, O Household of the Prophet! You are the center of the Divine mission. Unto you the angels return to adopt your opinions and to learn from you. You are the destination of the Divine revelation; the originating source of mercy, the treasures of wisdom, the ultimate in forbearance, the foundation of generosity, the leaders of all nations. You administer and distribute bounties without interruption. You are the elements of virtues and pillars of goodness. You direct and guide mankind, protect and support lands wherein people live, let in and lead on to faith. The Beneficent Lord assigned to you the responsibility of dealing with His Benevolence; you are the distinguished descendent of the Prophets, the cream of the noble born children of the Messengers, the pure family of the “Best individual”, in the estimation of the Lord of the worlds! Peace be on the Guides (Imams) who show the Right Path, fill the darkness with light, teach and demonstrate the awareness of boundaries laid down by Allah. Peace be on the exponents of the views and beliefs which acquaint with awareness of Allah, wherever you are, there are the blessings of Allah, the wisdom of Allah is deposited with you, the secrets of Allah have been put in your safe keeping, you know the Book of Allah by heart, you are the successors of the Prophet of Allah, peace be on you who invite people unto Allah.[1]

All the Prophets who were before the Holy Prophet of Islam and their books were an attempt to pave the way for the advent of Allah’s Messenger so that all creatures, especially human beings, thanks to these noble ones who are the cord, shadow, and trustees of Allah, move towards perfection. For this reason, they made a covenant to set the ground for the advent of the root of Ahl al-Bayt, namely, the Holy Prophet.

وَلَمْ يُخْلِ سُبْحَانَهُ خَلْقَهُ مِنْ نَبِيٍّ مُرْسَلٍ أوْ كِتَابٍ مُنْزَلٍ أوْ حُجَّةٍ لأزِمَةٍ.

Allah never allowed His creation to remain without a Prophet deputed by Him, or a book sent down from Him or a binding argument.[2]

Based on this, the Holy Prophet says:

نَحْنُ الآخِرُونَ السَّابِقُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ.

We are the last ones in this world but foremost on the Judgment Day.[3]

Sh¢`ite and Sunni reference books of ¦ad¢th have reported Allah’s Messenger as saying:

آدَمُ وَمَنْ دُونَهُ تَحْتَ لِوَائِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ.

Adam as well as all the other human beings will be under my banner on the Judgment Day.[4]

Due to their extensive capacity and knowledge, Ahl al-Bayt are the paragon of “The last ones are the foremost and the foremost are the first ones and nothing is like them.”[5]

The reason for being ‘foremost’ is that Ahl al-Bayt are the beginning and the end of the universe as Allah has so willed. In al-Ziy¡rah al-J¡mi`ah al-Kab¢rah, Imam al-H¡d¢ (a.s) refers to the same truth:

Allah opened the gate of universe and truth with you and will end it with you. The people will return to you and their reckoning is with you.[6]

Therefore, all the Prophets set the ground for the presence of Ahl al-Bayt among creatures. These noblemen were sent to produce a link between Allah and creatures leaving no excuse for the world nations.

Actually their existence on the earth is concurrent with the fall of the sun which is the noon of universe. Then the afternoon of universe begins and universe will become contracted. When the era of the advent of the Holy Prophet and Ahl al-Bayt (a.s) and that of Imam al-Mahd¢ (may Allah expedite his reappearance) comes to an end, and the sun sets, all the universe will merge into an absolute contraction and the second darkness begins after the passage of millions of years of the first darkness. At that time, Allah will say:

To whom belongs the kingdom today? (40:16)

Then, according to the Holy Qur’¡n, the Judgment Day begins: an eternal day without any night.

Neither the Holy Qur’¡n nor have narration made any reference to “the Judgment Night”; rather it is the Judgment Day. Sine the day begins with the rising of the sun, the Judgment Day too begins with the light of Mu¦ammad who is described as light-giving torch in the Holy Qur’¡n (33:46), who will be the first to enter the presence of Allah on that day. Due to his being the face of Allah and His light, the scene of the final gathering will be illuminated and an eternal day emerges:

And the earth shall beam with the light of its Lord and the Book shall be laid down. (39:69)

In view of its content, this verse refers to the Judgment Day and most of the narrations consider the light of the Lord as the Holy Prophet and the Infallible Imams.

With the dawn of the light of Allah, which is the light of Mu¦ammad, the morning of the Judgment Day will dawn and a permanent day begins. Thanks to this light, the entire truth will show itself and all hidden secrets will be disclosed and then the Reckoning begins.

Reporting the Holy Prophet, Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) says:

أنَا أوَّلُ وَافِدٍ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الْجَبَّارِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَكِتَابُهُ وَأهْلُ بَيْتِي، ثُمَّ أمَّتِي، ثُمَّ أسْألُهُمْ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ بِكِتَابِ اللهِ وَبِأهْلِ بَيْتِي؟

I will be the first to stand before Allah along with His Book and Ahl al-Bayt and then my ummah. Then I will ask my ummah, “How did you treat the Book of Allah and my Ahl al-Bayt?”[7]