Jabir asked the Holy Prophet: "O Messenger of Allah! We know Allah and His Prophet; but who are those persons invested with authority whose obedience has been joined by Allah with that of yourself?"
The Prophet said: "They are my Caliphs and the Imams of the Muslims after me. First of them is `Ali, then Hasan, then Husayn, then `Ali son of Husayn, then Muhammad son of `Ali (who has been mentioned as Baqir in Torah).
O Jabir, you will surely meet him; when you see him, convey my salaam (greetings) to him. He will be succeeded by his son Ja'far as-Sadiq (the Truthful), then Musa son of Ja'far, then `Ali son of Musa, then Muhammad son of `Ali, then `Ali son of Muhammad, then Hasan son of `Ali. Then his son whose name and patronymic (kunyah) will be the same as mine. (He will be) `Hujjat Allah' (i.e. the Proof of Allah) on the earth and `Baqiyyat Allah' (the one spared by Allah to maintain the cause of faith) among His servants. Mohammad ibn al-Hasan ibn `Ali. He it is on whose hand Allah will open (conquer) the world east and west; he it is who will remain hidden from his followers and friends so long that the belief in his Imamate will remain only in those hearts which have been tested by Allah for the Faith." Jabir said: "I asked him, `O Messenger of Allah! Will his followers benefit from him during his Seclusion?"'
The Holy Prophet said: "Yes! By Him Who sent me with Prophethood! They will be guided by his Light and benefit by his wilayah (Love: Obedience) during his seclusion just as people benefit from the sun even when it is hidden in the cloud. O Jabir! This is from the hidden secrets of Allah and the treasured knowledge of Allah. So keep it secret except from its people (who deserve to know)."
The Ithna `Asharis believe in those Twelve Imams, and hence, the title "Ithna `ashariyyah" which means `Belonging to Twelve.'
Some people ask: Why this particular number `twelve'? But anyhow any number may be objected to. Can anybody explain why Jesus Christ selected twelve Apostles from among his disciples? Why was this number so important that when Judas betrayed Jesus and Jesus went to heaven, the remaining Apostles wanted to make up their number? And most important of all, why that twelfth Apostle was not elected by the majority of the Christians or by the Apostles themselves? Why his appointment was left in the hands of Allah and the Holy Ghost? All of this shows that representatives of Allah were never elected by the people, they were selected by Allah Himself. If any religious leader is elected by people; then he will work `for people' and not for Allah.
These Twelve Imams are not creation of our fancy. The Bible says that God had promised Abraham:
"And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply, him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, an) I will make him a great nation" (Genesis, 17:20).
These Twelve Imams are the promised Princes who are respected and loved even by those who do not accept them as their Imams.
Our twelfth Imam was born in 256 (Hijrah). His life was in great danger. So he made such arrangements that only selected persons were allowed to meet him. He also appointed four representatives, one after another, to act on his behalf. The last of them was `Ali In Muhammad Simmari. When he was on his deathbed, he received a letter from Imam, saying, inter alia:
"O `Ali ibn Muhammad Simmari! . . . You are to die within six days from now: therefore, wind up your affairs and do not make any will nominating anybody to take your place after you, because now the Total Seclusion has begun and I will not re-appear until Allah (May His Name be glorified) allows; and it will be only after a long period when the hearts will become hard and the earth will become full of tyranny."
He died, as foretold, on the sixth day, and the Imam is now secluded from all. For the religious guidance, during this period, the Imam has made the following arrangement:
"In the events which happen (to you) refer to the narrators of our traditions; because they are my proof (authority) upon you, and I am the Proof (authority) of Allah.
Also, our eleventh Imam had given the following command:
"And whoever among the religious scholars (jurists) saves his Self (from sins), protects his religion, opposes his desire, obeys the command of his Master (i.e. Allah) then the masses should follow him (do his taqlid)."
According to that command, we follow in religious matters the greatest `Alim of the time, keeping in view the other qualities also and we call them `Mujtahids.' At present our greatest Mujtahid is in Iraq; his name is al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim al-Tabataba'i.[7] He lives in Najaf where `Ali, our first Imam, is buried. Najaf is the greatest centre of our religious learning. It is a living institution where the finest deliberations of highest quality on religious matters are carried on day in and day out. Those of us who desire to obtain the highest knowledge of religious laws, go there.
The teachings system, according to my information, is unique in the world. There a subject is taken, the teacher is on the pulpit, the students are sitting on the floor, the teacher explains the sentences of Qur'an pertaining to that particular subject, in the light of commentaries and language; then the traditions of the Prophet and Imams are explained in the same way; then the rulings of past scholars are put before the audience and then all the issues concerned are analysed and explained by the teacher. No".
The students explain why they agree or disagree with the teacher on the particular issue. The arguments are, sometimes, prolonged for days and even weeks. At last, the issues are settled by the teacher in the light of Qur'an and Traditions. Now they are ready to take up another subject. That institution is called `ijtihad' which literally means `striving;' and here it means `striving to reach to the correct ruling in religious jurisprudence, according to the Qur'an and traditions of the Holy Prophet and Imams.'
Financial strength or political power is not the basis of religious authority. How many Prophets of the Old Testament had had political power? How many Apostles of the New Testament had financial stability? The foundation rock of the Christ's Church, Peter Simon, was an ordinary fisherman. Therefore, I think that you will agree with me that religious leadership is not derived from wealth or political power.
In short, according to our thinking, an Imam is appointed by Allah, and it is because of that appointment that he gets the right to govern the Muslim ummah. But that governance is not the basis of his Imamate. Our Sunni brethren, on the other hand, treat that governance as the basic factor and accordingly the right of religious leadership is derived from the political power.
Notes:
[5] Tafsir al-Wahidi, on the margin of the translation of Qur'an, by the same author, printed at Gelani Press, Lahore, par.22, p.549, Foot-note No.7
[6]Anwar al-lughah, par-22, p. 51
[7] He expired in June, 1970. Now al-Sayyid al-Sistani of Najaf, is the greatest living Mujtahid. (Note of the Author) That is the opinion of the author [DILP]
Qiyamah, Day Of Judgment
Now some words about the fifth root of religion and that is the `Day of Judgment.' It is the common belief of all Muslims that one day Allah will bring life to every human being and he will be judged according to his belief and actions. A man having true faith and doing right deeds will receive the Grace of Allah and will be sent to Paradise where he will find contentment according to his spiritual qualities. Persons having the wrong kind of belief will be punished in Hell.
A man having right belief but doing wrong actions will be either forgiven by Allah and sent to Paradise straight away or punished at first and then sent to Paradise.
It is impossible to deal with this topic here in detail, but it will be sufficient to say that all this depends upon so many things and all those things depend upon the Mercy and Justice of Allah.
Branches of Religion
Now allow me to give here a short list of some of the `Branches of Religion.' These are called `ibadaat or `Worship of God.' According to Islam even alms-giving is an act of worship.
However, the most important branches of religion are ten in number:
First of them is `salat,' that is, the prayers five times a day and special prayer on Fridays and `id (Islamic festivals) days and some other occasions.
Second is `sawm,' that is, fasting during Ramadan.
Thirdis `hajj,' that is a special pilgrimage to Mecca once in life-time.
Fourth is 'zakat,' that is giving for the pleasure of Allah a portion of gold, silver, cattle and farm produce.
Fifth is `khums,' that is giving 20% of the net income of the year after deducting the lawful expenses of the year.
Sixth is jihad,' that is the holy war. This topic requires some explanation. Islam does not like to exterminate wrong-doers, it wants to remove the wrong. Evil deeds are like disease. They need treatment and every doctor wants to cure the ailments with medicines as far as possible. But sometimes the ailment reaches a stage where no medicine can do any good; he feels that surgical operation is necessary if the life of the patient is to be saved.
Then he decides, not happily but reluctantly, to amputate one or more limbs of the patient. It may cause hardest pain for the time being; but it is not torture, it is mercy.
Likewise, suppose that this humanity is a compact body, some of its parts become infected with spiritual disease and every medicine of sympathetic persuasion and rational pleading has failed. And there is a danger that their infection is causing and inflicting hardships upon other parts, and the spiritual doctor, I mean the Prophet or Imam who is guided by Allah, is confident that now the surgical operation is essential to save other parts of mankind from trouble. Then, and only then, he will order a Holy-War; and then also it will be limited to that part which is most necessary to remove.
But even if you feel that there is necessity of a surgical operation you will never entrust this most dangerous task to an unauthorized person. It will be a very foolish and irresponsible action. You can never be satisfied that the operation is essential unless a qualified doctor tells you so. Therefore, according to Ithna`Ashari law, a war cannot be started unless specifically authorized by the Prophet or Imam himself, and that also to the limits prescribed by that Representative of Allah. After all, life is a creation of Allah and it should not be destroyed unless it has been authorized to do so by a Representative of Allah. Accordingly, the Holy-War is forbidden for the Shi'ah Ithna `Ashari during the period when our Imam is hidden from us.
The Prophet himself never started any war unless it was thrust upon him by the enemies. A study of the map of Arabia will show the actual facts. As I have mentioned earlier, when the Prophet took refuge in Medina, the Meccans became infuriated because they could not satisfy their anger against him. So they made repeated attacks on him. The battle places of three important wars will tell the story. The first was `Badr' was fought at Badr in the second year of Hijrah. Badr is 30 miles from Medina and 220 miles from Mecca. Is there any doubt that the Meccans were the aggressors? The second war named ` Uhud' was fought next year at Uhud.
Uhud is 3 miles from Medina and 247 miles from Mecca. Three years after Uhud, Medina was surrounded by Meccans and Jews for about one month. They had come 250 miles from Mecca to attack Medina. Is there anybody who can say that the Prophet should not have fought in self-defence? The first ayah of Qur'an permitting the war, after fourteen years of continual oppressions, speaks for itself. Qur'an says:
"Permission to fight is given to those upon whom war has been thrust, because they are oppressed ... " (22:39).
Regarding those wars that were fought after the death of the Prophet to conquer neighbouring countries, everybody knows that our Imams had nothing to do with them. Our Imams were the right authority to allow or disallow those wars. But they had no political power. And all those wars were fought without their authorization. So, according to the Ithna`Ashari law, all such wars were political manoeuvres; they were not Holy-Wars or Religious Jihad.
And Islam is not responsible for them.
To discourage such unauthorized wars, it is laid down that any booty obtained in such wars will not belong to the fighters. Instead, all of it will vest in the Prophet or Imam, as his personal property; and he may dispose it according to his own discretion. The Holy Prophet sometimes in such circumstances used to return the booty to its former owners. But if it appears to the Imam that the enemy might use that returned booty against Islam, he will not return it at all and use it according to his discretion. That is why it has been declared as his own property to keep his hands free.
This is our law about the Holy-War, Self-defence is permitted at any time. But to start a war is forbidden without specific authority of the Prophet or Imams. Holy-Wars cannot be started for political or worldly gains.
Seventh and Eighth of the branches of religion are
(i) To propagate good works and
(ii) To desist others from bad deeds and evil doings.
Ninth and Tenth are to love the Holy Prophet, his daughter Fatimah and the Twelve Imams; and to remain aloof from their enemies.
