my dictation , he has translated into Urdu this treatise which is the first part of my religious work . I thank him for his sincere devotion which was an encouragement for me to carry out the work , in spite of my indisposition .

I request my readers to go through the work with critical insight and inform me of any shortcoming whatsoever .

Karachi­Pakistan August 1971 , Haji Mirza Mahdi Pooya

and defined in this treatise , the reader will find it the oldest or rather the only religion , the development of which is correlated with the development of human consciousness . In other words as the Quran says it is the only faith with which human consciousness is born . The varieties of religion are nothing but the outcome of the rebellious nature of power­seekers or other selfish motives . The main source of Islam is the Holy Quran which is known to all . The Quran postulates the existence of Superhuman Power or Person as the Creator and Controller of the whole universe of which man with his conscience and volition is a part . Thus the Quran says the religion is a submissive attitude of human conscience towards that Almighty Power . It is the only religion approved by the Almighty­Ultimate Power or person . To Him every finite thing or being has willingly or unwillingly submitted . No salvation can be secured by any being but through submission to Him . All Muslim schools of thought are unanimous in this definition of Islam . The differences between the various schools of thought in Islam concern only with the details of this submissive attitude . The purpose of this writing is to place before the readers a brief outline of fundamentals of Islam as advocated by the Shia Ithna­’Ashari , which is one of the oldest schools of thought in Islam . To achieve this purpose , it is essential to acquaint

the readers with the knowledge of the following Self­Evident Terms and Propositions .

or Final Cause (purpose or motive) .

No man with commonsense , has ever denied or doubted the necessity of the Structural cause . Every thing owes its existence to its component parts and to the Form in which they are arranged together .

The thing or being which depends on or owes its existence to something else is called an Effect or Phenomenon .

The existence of an effect cannot depend on a non­being or nothing or nothingness . This implies that the chain of an effect and its cause should end in a self­existing cause , otherwise it would mean the existence of a being or a thing by a non­being , or naught ; the absurdity of which is self­evident .

Every thing or being of composite nature is an Effect , i . e . , its existence is not by itself , as it depends at least on its parts and its existence is caused by them . The parts of a being or beings cannot be non­beings . The question arises whether the parts exist by themselves or they are also composite whole depending on their parts ? If they are also composed of parts , then we have to trace back the process till we reach the Final components which will lead to the conclusion that they are beings of non­composite nature existing by themselves on which the whole edifice of the effects and their causes stands . But , no being of a dimensional nature presentable in the term of Space

and Time , can ever be of a non­composite nature as the simplest and the smallest being which occupies space is dimensional and geometrically divisible and depends on its parts .

Therefore , no dimensional being can be taken as a self­existing being and thus considered as the First or the Beginning in the chain of beings . We have either to accept that the chain is based on non­beings , the absurdity of which is self­evident , or we are forced to step out of the realm of the material chain in the search of a non­composite , non­dimensional self­existing Being and assert that the chain of cause and effect is based on this Being . This means that the whole dimensional realm presentable in the terms of Space and Time is an effect and the phenomenon of a Non­dimensional Non­material being . On this ground we have to leave the dimensional realm and proceed in search of the self­existing being responsible for the phenomenon of the chain of cause and effect in the realm where the experimental logic and method has no approach to it at all . (1)

Having the definition of the cause and effect in view , mankind has been questioned by the following verses of the Holy Quran :

Or were they created without there being anything , or are they the creators ?

52 : 35

Or did they create the heavens and the earth ? Nay ! they have no certainty

52 : 36

Or have they the treasures of your Lord with them

? Or have they been set in absolute authority !

52 : 37

logical definition . They are also effects , phenomena , unreal and non­self­existing being .

by it . But if the being (or thing) is absent from Itself , it cannot be self­conscious , hence unconscious of other things standing by it .

conscious of itself and consequently conscious of whatever is present before it .

The conclusion is that whatever is non­dimensional is conscious and whatever is conscious is non­dimensional . Therefore the Absolute Unit by which all beings exist and stand is necessarily present with every being , as its holding or sustaining factor is self­conscious and conscious of all that exist by it , hence Living . Therefore , the reference to the Absolute Unit responsible for the whole Phenomenon called Universe , should be in terms of He instead of it .

In the light of the above statement , one can realize that the personal pronoun He refers to a well­known Person , has no real application but to the Absolute One and no term or word can be taken as a real reference to the Absolute One but this personal pronoun He . Therefore there is no real He but the Absolute One , there is no real term for Him but He .

The fundamental articles of faith as given by this school of thought are nothing but various aspects implied in the idea of Absolute Oneness of Self­Existing Being . Therefore , without the knowledge of these articles , the submissive attitude of human consciousness towards that Sacred Object would be imperfect . These fundamental articles of faith are :

1. The belief in the Unity or Absolute Oneness of the Real Sacred Object (God) .

2. The belief in His justice as the total of all His analytical attributes and excellences .

3. The belief

in the necessity of Nubowwat (Prophethood) and

4. Imaamat (the Divine Vicegerency) .

5. The belief in the Resurrection and Final purpose of creation .

being . Although as a Creator , He is with every thing but nothing can be coexisted or coextended with Him . All these negations mean the negation of limitation and composition .

than Himself

Might or Hold over objects other than Himself .

In the popular preliminary treatise on the fundamental articles of faith , Hearing and Seeing are counted as His Relative Real Attributes . Besides these two , Speech is also counted as one of His Relative Real Attributes by some schools of thought in Islam . So far as the first two above­mentioned attributes are concerned , they are Real Relative Attributes but they are not separate Attributes other than His knowledge of the object . Every thing is known to Him , be it quality or quantity , substance or contingent , big or small , seen or unseen , physical or spiritual . He is Omniscient ; every thing is present to Him , be it the object of hearing or seeing , taste , smell or touch or of any other sense , external or internal . The reason for counting Hearing and Seeing among His attributes as it is mentioned in the Quran is just to emphasize that the objects of the two are also present to Him , like the objects of all other senses . Regarding the last one , Speech , if it means the Might and Power and Ability to speak , it refers to His two main Attributes Knowledge and Might . As such it is not a separate Attribute besides Knowledge and Might . If it means the process of speech or origination of audible and intelligible words , then it can not be classed as

one of His attributes . It is one of His acts of creation and as such His words and speech are created by Him like other created things . The origin of the idea of counting Speech among His attributes and considering it as uncreated as other attributes , is to be traced back to the ancient theory of Logos which was formulated by the Alexandrian Jewish school of thought . The same theory was later on adopted by the Christian theologians as the Word of God identified with Him and as the Uncreated Second Person in the Trinity of Godhead .

According to the Quran , every thing or being is an outcome of Divine Will , attention or intention which is termed in the Quran as “Command of God = Be and it is” . In this sense whatever is manifested in any sphere or realm of creation , administration and legislation is the Word of God , an outcome of His Imperative Will . In some way or other , every Word of God represents His Will and is manifestation of His attributes . As such the Quran counts Jesus as one of His created words in the realm of creation and the Quran itself , Tawraat or the other scriptures , as His words in the realm of legislation . The Quran says that the words of God are innumerable in either realms therefore these cannot be accounted for by limited powers .

And were every tree that is in the earth (made

into) pens and the sea (to supply it with ink) with seven more seas to increase it , the words of Allah would not come to an end Surely Allah is Mighty , Wise .

31 : 27

But the words of God , though all are created and manifestation of His Will , differ from each other in comprehensiveness . The more comprehensive the word , the Higher will it be in its representative status and closer to God in the hierarchy of beings from the primal matter upto the highest spiritual entities . On this ground , the most perfect created Word of God in the realm of creation is the Last Prophet , and the Book Quran with which he was sent is the most perfect Word of God in the realm of legislation .

And perfect has become the word of thy Lord in truth and justice . There is none to change His words and He is the All­Hearing and the All­Knowing

6 : 115

However , it should be borne in mind that as Ali (A . S) says , “The Word of God in any realm is His work , therefore , it is created” , be it Christ or Mohammed or the Quran or anything else .

The above qualities are attributed to Him in consideration of His Essence , in a relative sense , in as much as the object is other than the subject . Both types of attributes shown above are the analytical attributes inherent in the very idea of

Absolute unity of the Infinite (Godhead) .

3 . The Relative Attributes are innumerable , such as Creator , Sustainer , Forgiver , Ruler , Helper and so forth . Any adjectival idea about Him in relation to some aspect of his action is the relative attribute . The number of relative attributes are known to Him alone . The Quran says :

Say : Call upon Allah or call upon the Beneficent God Whichever you call upon , He has the best names .

17 : 110

For a more detailed list of His excellent names one can refer to the famous Supplication of Jawshan al­Kabeer . These are attributed to Him in consideration of His Actions or in consideration of His Relation to His Creatures or to what He has been doing and will continue to do .

The third type of His Attributes are drawn from , or are the result of the second type , the Essential Relative Attributes . Again , the second type of Attributes are derived from the first type , the Essential Attributes . Finally , His Essence is beyond any limitation , definition and comprehension , These are all that a finite being in his utmost effort can say about Him - Allah . Allah is the only great name for his essence and existence which is but All­Excellence . A creature cannot conceive beyond this .

This concept of the Absolute Oneness and Infinity of the Essence and Attributes of Godhead present Him as the unique in unity or the Unique

Unit in the true sense of these two terms - to Whom all finite beings owe their existence , qualities , and all excellences they possess . This concept leaves no room for imagining any thing as second or opposed to Him or to match with Him , because any such idea would mean limitation affecting His Absoluteness , and consequently making Him of composite nature , finite and dependent on His components .

This concept eliminates all possibilities of anything emanating from Him , as the very idea of emanation means divisibility contradicting His Absoluteness . He did not beget nor is He begotten ; hence the idea of Fatherhood and Sonship has no place in this concept of Godhead .

All finite beings are His creatures dependent in their very existence on His Will . The word Qayyoom expresses one of His attributes that He is self­sustaining and everything is sustained by Him .

And of His signs is that the heavens and the earth stand firm by His command then when He summoneth you with a (single) summons from out of the earth , lo ! ye come forth .

30 : 25

Being Absolute and Infinite , no finite being or thing , with all their limitations can be considered as His incarnation and His complete manifestation , because the finite beings even as a whole are , after all , finite , while He is Infinite .

Therefore , there is no room for deification of any being in any form , whether man as the

microcosm or the whole Universe as a macro­man , It is quite true that creatures represent His attributes and the representation varies according to the stages of perfection but even the foremost in perfection is limited and submissive to the infinite one . The highest and the most accomplished creature is nothing but His servant and slave , within His complete hold - a hold , in its true meaning of Power . No polytheism , no trinity or dualism , no incarnation and anthropomorphism have any place in this concept of the Unity of God­Head - Allah , “Nothing is like of Him . ”

The Creator of the heavens and the earth He hath made for you pairs of yourselves , and of the cattle also pairs Whereby He multiplyeth you Nothing is like of Him ; And He is the Hearer , the Seer . 42 : 11

The justification for man or any other created and finite being for naming and describing God with Excellent Attributes is that when man and other beings find some excellences in themselves , they feel that the same attributes in its highest sense should exist in the Creator . For example , man found life in his self and felt that something corresponding to this life in its Highest sense , must be Existent beyond his Self , This applies to all other excellences which we may find here in our self and in beings surrounding us . We are thus obliged to feel that these excellences

and beatitude are also present in the Infinite Absolute in such a limitless degree that befit His Absolute Unity and Infinity .

Beyond this point , why and wherefore do not prevail ; and here definition and description fail , but love for realization and assimilation and reflection of His attributes is ever­increasing and surges on . This leads man to a deeper and yet deeper submission to His Will and the desire for coming in communion with Him .

Finally , man approaching to Him in this submissive way will absorb his own will in His . The result is the rise of man from the limitations of the temporal life , which is the cause of the demoralization of the human soul , to the horizon from where he sees , and realizes the whole Universe as the Kingdom of God and manifestation of His universal Love and Grace . Ultimately such man's will becomes His Will , his order becomes His order , his actions become His action . He follows no course in his life and activities but whatever is revealed to him by Him .

Will (Love for Self­Expression) means Creation ; hence Creation is the manifestation of His Love and Might . Thus the purpose of action is Self­Expression therefore , it , necessarily , is in complete accord and harmony with the purpose . This harmonious arrangement and accordant synchronization of His action with His power is His Justice . It is the placing of everything in its precise point in order to create Unity through harmony and to achieve the purpose . Hence Justice is the necessary qualification of His action : that is to say His Action and Justice are inseparable .

His Action , or Creation , being the outcome of Love , is the manifestation of His Grace but not with the expectation of any return for Himself . Therefore , His Grace pervades the realm of creation , which is presented in the term All Pervading Grace . But each creature receives of His Grace as much as its capacity allows it to do so . This is termed as His specific and particular Grace as the specific Grant of Grace is in accord with the capacity or merit of the Recipient ; it is called Justice . Therefore , here again , His Grace and Justice are inseparable .

Whatever He grants , He grants out of pure Love with no expectation of any return for it . Hence His Grace is the Grace in its true sense , and as He grants precisely in accordance to the merit or capacity of the Recipient

- nothing more and nothing less , it is Justice . Taking into account both the aspects , Grace and Justice as inseparable principles of His action , His attribute of Cherishing = Ruboobiyyat is manifested and He is frequently mentioned in the Quran as the “Lord Cherisher of the Worlds .

Of His relative attributes Grace and Justice as presented above are two principles one manifested by the other . Grace implies Justice and Justice implies Grace . They in turn are manifestations of His relative real attributes which are the manifestations of His real attributes ; and the very idea of Oneness implies them in all . Thus justice is the most comprehensive attribute of God through which all His attributes are manifested , as it has been emphasized upon as a fundamental principle of faith , next to the believe in His unity , The same comprehensive excellence , Justice . has been made the ultimate object of human life , It is for the achievement of this Godly excellence that God has established His Vicegerency on the earth and continued to commission prophets after prophets and accompanied them with Books and Wisdom i . e . Balancing Power .

Indeed We sent Our apostles with clear proofs , and We sent down with them the Book and the Scale that people may establish themselves in justice ; And We sent down iron wherein is latent (in its use) mighty power and also benefits for mankind and that God may prove who helpeth Him

and His apostles in secret ; Verily God is All­Strong , the Ever­Prevalent .

57 : 25

Justice and injustice are presented in the Quran in various other verses as the principle standards by which human virtues and vices are to be judged by God and man himself , here and hereafter .

We have tied every man's action (2) to his neck ;

17 : 13

which we will bring forth unto him on the Day of Resurrection in the form of an unfolded book .

(It will be said unto him) “Read thou thy book ; Sufficeth thine own self today , as reckoner against thee . ” 17 : 14

(suitable) form , and then (also) guided it (aright)”

20 : 50

In this way , God cherished matter to develop from its primal form into various complicated forms of celestial and terrestrial bodies , and from the simplest form to more and more complicated forms of elements (air , water , minerals etc . ) and other inanimate beings , till the process of development progressively reached the stage of plant and animal , from its simple and less complicated form into more complicated being , and finally Man - the most complicated form of being - arrived .

The Lord Cherisher of the Universe thus brings forth man according to the Plan . As a rule , in this process of creation and manifestation , the Center of every system or society of beings appears first on the scene , and then its satellites ; so was the First Man caused to appear on the scene of creation as the Central Personality , combining in him all the excellences to which he was apt . Though those excellences might not have been in a developed form yet there was not any defect in the First Man , unworthy of his position in the Order of Creation . The first man was the top in the hierarchy of the beings , the base of which was primal matter . As Adam (A . S) carried in him the potentiality of all excellences which had to manifest and develop in his issues later on . The Quran asserts

:

Indeed , We created man in the best structure (mold) .

95 : 4

Then We reverted him to the lowest of the low ,

95 : 5

Save those who believe and do good deeds , for them shall be an incessant recompense .

95 : 6

This deterioration of man to the animal character is of secondary stage only to which some of the issues of Adam are subjected , otherwise , among his issues there are persons whose potentialities remained intact as the exceptional clause in the above quoted verses asserts . They adhered to their best original mold (mind and body) in which they were created .

It is necessary , here , to clarify certain important points on this subject in order to maintain the continuity of right thinking and remove the ambiguity resulted from wrong interpretations and assumptions :

1. Distinction of Man As Gifted with Controlling Power

2. Refutation of Fall of Adam

3. The Concept of Miracle

4. The Knowledge of the Names Caused Superiority of Adam over the Angels

5. The Quran As the Everlasting Miracle

6. Divine Law of Selection

7. Continuity of Vicegerency in the form of Prophethood or Imaamat (Divine Leadership) - Finality of Prophethood and Continuity of Latter

8. The Application of Man's Intellectual Faculty to the Guidance Acquired By Him

spiritual and material Worlds surrounding him , and to reproduce these impressions in the same form as received , which is termed as Discovery , or in a new form , which is termed as Invention .

With the inherent intellectual faculty and power of Discovery and Invention , man appeared on the scene of Creation not to be governed by the Laws of Nature , but to subdue and employ all the natural resources in order to achieve the ultimate aim for which the process of Creation began . That is to say , in order to develop his own Conscious Self as the focus of all that was in the Universe , hidden or apparent , man was ordained to be the most compact and comprehensive representative of God's attributes and excellences . This true representation of God's attributes and excellences by man is Submission . The various grades of status of vicegerency is in accord with it .

It is the creation of man , which the Quran terms as the appointment of the Vicegerent of God on Earth :

(Recollect O Our Apostle Mohammed) When said thy Lord unto the angels : “Verily I (intend to) appoint a vicegerent in the earth”

2 : 30

Although the angels (intellectual , psychical forces functioning in the process of Creation) and all other material and immaterial , celestial and terrestrial beings represent the Divine Attributes in some way or the other , yet none of them is so compact and comprehensive in the representative status as man .

That is why every other being has been termed as the sign of God but none except man has been chosen and termed as the Vicegerent of God .

the truth of his declaration ; that is , he should utter such words and exhibit such deeds which could not be uttered or performed by any natural means within the power of a finite being . This is termed as a Miracle .

The whole conception , from the Unity of God down to the necessity of Prophethood and Leadership and indispensability of the Prophets and Leaders having sufficient evidence to bear the testimony to the truth of their claim , has been forwarded in the Quran :

But the well­grounded in knowledge among them and the believers (who) believe in what hath been sent down unto thee and what hath been sent down (unto Our apostles) before thee , And the establishers of prayer , And the givers of the poor­rate (charity) and the believers in God and the Last Day (of Judgment) ; These (it is whom) soon We will give a great recompense .

4 : 162

Verily , We have revealed unto thee (O Our , Apostle Mohammed) as We did reveal unto Noah and the Apostles after him ; We did reveal unto Abraham , and Ismaae’el and Isaac and Yaqoob and the tribes and Jesus and Job and Jonah , and Aaron , and Solomon , And We gave to Dawood Psalms

4 : 163

And apostles We have (already) mentioned unto thee before and apostles We mentioned not unto thee ; And God spoke unto Moses directly discoursing .

4 : 164

(We sent) apostles as givers of glad tidings and warners so that there

may not remain any argument for people against God , after (the coming of) these apostles , And God is Mighty , Wise .

4 : 165

But God beareth Witness , through what He hath sent down unto thee (O Our Apostle Mohammed) He sent that down , with His knowledge And the Angels (too) bear witness ; And sufficient is God for a Witness . 4 : 166

Indeed We sent Our apostles with clear proofs , and We sent down with them the Book and the Scale that people may establish themselves in justice ; And We sent down iron wherein is latent (in its use) mighty power and also benefits for mankind and that God may prove who helpeth Him and His apostles in secret ; Verily God is All­Strong , the Ever­Prevalent .

57 : 25

Entities that caused Adam , the First Man , to be made the Vicegerent of God on earth , and the angels were commanded to prostrate before him . Then through Adam(3) , the angels came to know those Symbolical Names of the Intellectual Entities the knowledge of which made man superior to them . This point is explicitly expressed in the Quran as quoted below :

And He taught Adam the names , all of them , and then set them unto the angels and said , “Declare ye unto Me the names of these if ye be truthful . ”

2 : 31

They said : “Glory be to Thee , we have no knowledge save what thou hast taught us , Werily Thou (alone) art the All­Knowing , the All­Wise . ”

2 : 32

Said He “O Adam inform thou unto them their names , ”

When he had informed unto them their names ; Said (the Lord) : “Said I not unto you that verily , I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth and know that which ye declare and that which ye conceal ? ” 2 : 33

And when We said unto the angels “Prostrate ye before Adam” they all prostrated save Iblees , he refrained and was puffed with pride and was turned into one of the reprobates .

2 : 34

: “Thou art not the Apostle of God . ” Say thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed) : “Sufficient is God a witness between me and you and he with whom is the knowledge of the Book” .

13 : 43

It is proved by the Holy Book that it is not only a testimony of Mohammed (S . A . S) being the last of all prophets and foremost in the order of Divine leadership but also of Mohammed (S . A . S . ) being in himself a proof of the authenticity of other Divine religions and prophets . The personality , excellences and the Divine guidance of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S . A . S . ) are supreme in the order of Divine leadership and every word of his is final . The particular titles which the Holy Prophet has given to his preceding and future Divine leaders should have to be accepted as the only testimonial for their Divine excellence . Whoever has been addressed by the Holy Prophet with the title of Nabi , Rasool , Imam , Mawla , Siddeeq , Khaleefa will be considered as such .

Among all the Divine books the Quran is signified by the title of Mohaimin = authoritative Guardian , which is one of the excellent names of God . The Quran is forwarded to mankind as the unchallengable Word of God and the greatest of all miracles of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S . A . S . ) till eternity .

Had We

sent down this Quran , on mountain , thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) wouldst certainly have seen it (the mountain) humbled itself ; and rent as under for the fear(4) of God ;

59 : 21

And we set forth these similitudes unto mankind that they may reflect

The Quran , as the Word of God , is a prodigious dynamic force and has been working in the minds of mankind by producing revolution and evolution in the human society . It has cured the blind and deaf in heart by feeding them with new thought and knowledge .

By applying even a very negligible portion of this dynamic force - and that too in not quite a proper manner - the Muslims succeeded in establishing the great civilization and culture known to historians as Islamic . If the force of the Quran were to be put into action in its entirety with all the precision implied in it , it will not only totally change the face of human civilization but it will at the same time , change the relation of every part and particle of this apparent Universe as a whole .

The spiritual appreciation of the point that the Holy Prophet Mohammed is the last in the order of Prophethood and the First and Topmost in the order of Leadership , is beautifully expressed in the Persian Quatrain :

Thou hast come before all the proud Kings of the world , though has appeared last of all . O Last of the Prophets , thy

Nearness (to God) has become known to me : Thou comest last , as thou comest from the farthest distance . ” (Which distance is nearest to God) .

پ_يش ازهمه شاهان غيورآمده

هرچ_ندكه آخر بظهور آمده

اىختم رسل قرب تومعلومم شد

دي___ر آم____ده ز راه دور آم__ده

of the task entrusted to them by God and to the extent of the time and space of their jurisdiction . Along with the progress of the human intellectual faculty of Discovery and Invention in the spiritual and material spheres , the task and the jurisdiction of the vicegerency had to expand on one hand and it had to develop from particularity to universality on the other . The Divine Guidance started with Adam and conducted by the successive Vicegerents of God , in the course of its progress towards universality , should reach its final stage . This does not mean the end of progress . It means that mankind does not require any new guidance and instruction to be imparted by the medium of a new Divine Teacher . It implies that the guidance and instructions already acquired by man are now sufficient for him in the course of his further progress .

The above point has an example in the system of education which begins with the primary schools and reaches its finality at the university level . But the attainment of the highest degree will not mean that there is no more room left for any further attainment , in theory , or in practice , for a degree­holder .

of universality and comprehensiveness , there shall be no room left for any new Divine message to be revealed to man . The next phases will be :

the Consolidatory Period or codification of revelation

The Rationalization of Revelation and Lastly

The Implementation of Rationalized Revelation throughout the sphere of humanity .

Thus the very conception of Prophethood and Apostleship has in it the implication of finality when human intellectual faculty reaches its maturity ; maturity in the sense of being able to grasp the denotation , connotation and implications of revelation through rational approach . Man may not always remain incapable of grasping Divine guidance through his power of reasoning . The question of non­recipiency does not arise in relation to the rationalization of revelation because the continuity of life and rationalization are inseparable . The perfection of life is a guarantee for the perfection of the rationalization of revelation and these stages of perfection belong to the period of implementation of revelation through which we are passing . Thus there is no necessity of a new revelation . Divine revelation in this sense came to end with the departure of Holy Prophet Mohammed (S . A . S . ) the last of all prophets .

However , humanity is , indeed , in perpetual need of and dependent on Divine Blessings and Cherishing and it cannot survive without being nurtured by the same . The Divine Leadership or Medium , in his function of receiving Blessings from God and diffusing the same to the World , has

no finality in this sense .

using their discretion and free will in their activities and developing their aptitude . The guidance should not entail any blind following , so the continuity of the presence of the model on the scene of human society as a teacher and guide is not needed . In other words constant and continuous existence of a perfect man one after another as a pivot of human society is a necessary sequence of the Principle of Universal Cherishing or ar­Ruboobiyya al­Mutlaqa , although his presence as a cognizable person is not always necessary . This function of the Pivot is termed as Imaamat or Khilaafat = Vicegerency of God on earth .

Such a personality in functioning as a teacher and guide to the members of human society provides them with all requisite means to develop their aptitude fully , of their own free will and choice . This function is needed only from time to time , and not continuously . Thus , the presence of the Pivot is necessary when he has to perform this function , which is termed as Prophethood = Nobowwat . This is the distinctive function of conveying the Divine Message of God to mankind and informing them of what is right and what is wrong , so that they may choose any one of these two courses , right or wrong , of their own free will .

Thus it will be observed that each and every Prophet of God is an Imam (Divinely Appointed Leader) as well as Rasool or

Nabi (Divine Prophet or Messenger of God) . All the Imams (Divinely appointed Leaders) , on the other hand , are not necessarily Divine Prophets or Messengers of God . They are Divinely appointed Successors (or Executors) to the Prophets of God and the Vicegerents of God on earth .

The first function i . e . Prophethood assumed its complete and perfect form with the Revelation and Declaration of the Quranic verses :

This day have I perfected for you , your religion , and have completed My favor on you , and chosen for you Islam (to be) the Religion ;

5 : 4

And perfect is the word of thy Lord in truth and justice ; There is none who can change His words , and He is the All­Hearing and All­Knowing .

6 : 115

With regard to the second function , the person who has been commissioned by God to deliver the Last Message and Guidance (the Quran) is also the topmost in Leadership . As such his Divine Leadership shall continue till the Resurrection Day . This is the Great Kingdom given by God to Aale­Ibraaheem in addition to the Book and Wisdom which He has gifted them .

Or do they envy the people for what God hath given them of His grace ; But indeed We have given to Abraham's children the Book and the Wisdom and We gave them a Great Kingdom .

4 : 54

The Book refers to the Last Message , the Holy Quran , which comprehends all the previous Revelations .

The Wisdom refers to the intellectual Power of the purified members of the children of Ibraaheem to give true interpretation of the last Book of God . The phrase Great Kingdom refers to the Kingdom , which is declared Great by God and not which man may consider it great or otherwise . This Great Kingdom is the Kingdom of God .

God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what (all) is in them ;

5 : 120

And He (alone) hath the power over all things .

The Great Kingdom means the authority and power that God has gifted them execute His Will on one hand and the absolute obedience to their order and directives that God has made incumbent on the people on the other . This power and authority which the prophet was endowed with and which continued with the successive Imams of his House did not manifest to the mankind in its entirety . In other words , the practical domination and exercise of Divine Authority over mankind in particular and the universe in general , have not come to such evidence as to be realized by each and every man .

The first Gift of God to the Family of Ibraaheem has already come into manifestation in the form of the Quran - the Book , the Word of God . The second Gift that of Wisdom has come into evidence in the form of the Teachings and Precepts of the Last of His Prophets and his Divinely Purified and Declared

Successors . The third Gift , that of the Great Kingdom of God , although has already been bestowed on them along with the other two Gifts , is to be manifested totally at the destined time . Therefore , it is true that Prophethood has reached its final stage through the Last of the Divine Messengers , Mohammed (S . A . S . ) and there is no further Divine Message to be delivered to mankind ; and the Wisdom which Mohammed (S . A . S . ) and his Divinely purified Successors were endowed with by God in its delivery to mankind passed through gradual stages and reached its finality through the 11th Imam of the House of the Holy Prophet , Hasan al­’Askari (A . S) .

The first of the two gifts , the Book in its gradual revelation reached its final stage of completion nearly 3 months before the demise of the Holy Prophet . The second gift i . e . Wisdom or Divinely gifted power of understanding and explaining the contents of the book needed a long period . It took nearly 300 years to reach its final stage . This is the period during which the 11 declared Imams from the House of Prophet had to shoulder the task of placing the requisite wisdom or explanatory Divine directives within the reach of the people as a supplementary part of the constitution of Islam . These two gifts are termed as Kitaab and Sunnat = teachings of

the Holy Prophet . To perform the task of conveying and placing them within the reach of the people , the presence of Imams as teachers was necessary .

However , the constitution reached its final stage in the sense that the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet , as supplementary part of the constitution , were mirrored in the lives and teachings of the Imams of the House and this was recorded in the form of collections like Kaafi . Then there was no need for the presence of Imam as a teacher . On the contrary it was a Divine blessing that the Imam of the time should disappear from the scene as teacher so that the people may have respite and chance to apply their power of reasoning and discretion in order to grasp , understand and digest the denotations , connotations and implications of the Divine constitution i . e . Kitaab and Sunnat . It was a blessing to give people the chance of putting all­out efforts to rationalize the revelation . This period is termed the period of Ijtehaad .

the 12th Imam of the House of Holy Prophet after the completion of the teaching period of the Divine constitution are further manifestations of grace of God .

When this period of rationalization or application of the human Power of Reasoning (Ijtehaad) reaches its climax , in a right or wrong course , the time will be ripe for the Universal Manifestation of the Great Kingdom of Aale­Ibraaheem bestowed upon the Family of Ibraaheem in the person of the Last Guide or Leader (Imam) of the House of Mohammed (S . A . S . ) . This 12th Imam (Mahdi A . S) and nobody else , can claim to combine in him all the spiritual and blood heritage from Adam to the Last Prophet , Mohammed (S . A . S) . He represents both the branches of the House of Ibraaheem - the Ismaae’elite branch through his father and Israilite branch through his mother Nargis , who was a direct descendant of Simon Peter , the true successor of the Holy Prophet Jesus .

The Last Imam will appear with psychic and spiritual forces on his disposal , which surpass in potency all the physical forces known to mankind at the climax or end of the period of Rationalization . The potency of this Force as compared to that of the Atomic Energy can be appreciated if we compare the latter to the primitive energy of mules and camels . The energy used by man at present has overcome all the space distances of

the earth by means of radio , television , supersonic jets and other atomic devices . Above this , man in his rational progress of dominating matter expects to establish communication with outer space regions and other planets . But with the use of psychic and spiritual force of unimaginable dynamism , the 12th and Last of the Divinely appointed Guide and Leader , the last Imam of the Age will not only remove the spatial distance between people of different regions , but he will also remove the time distances in between and establish direct communication with those who in our limited concept of time are considered to have been of the past . This will come to evidence at the advent , or appearance of the Last Imam . The establishment of communication with the Present and Past is termed the “Raj­a’t = Return” which is the minor or Lesser Resurrection . This will usher the era of the manifestation of the Great Kingdom of God , which He has bestowed on the family of Ibraaheem in fulfillment of His promise :

(This is) the promise of God ! Faileth not God His promise , but most people know not (this) .

30 : 6

It must however be emphasized that the appearance of the Last Imam shall not , in whatsoever manner , affect any change or abrogation in the religion of Islam , as presented by the Last of the Divine Messengers , the topmost of the Divine Guides and Leaders , Mohammed (S

. A . S . ) inclusive of the explanatory comments given by him and his Divinely purified successors , the 11 Imams . This Era signifies the evidence of the practical execution of all the denotations , connotations and implications of those Divine Teachings under the Great Kingdom of Aale Ibraaheem .

The state of affairs at the climax of Minor Resurrection and the ushering in of the Major Resurrection can be better appreciated , if we ponder over the comparison already indicated between the ushering in of the Minor Resurrection and the climax of Ijtehaad i . e . application of Human Power of Reasoning .

In concluding the discourse on Belief in Imaamat the following points should be emphatically born in mind as a part of the belief .

1. The Continuity of Imaamat as a medium between Creator and creature ; and that the Imam may live in recognizable or non­recognizable manner .

2. The status of Imaamat is a Divine gift given to none but to a person who is purified from all physical and spiritual defects and uncleanness which may affect the state of his absolute submission to the Will of God . Thus the Imam of the time means a person who is foremost in the hierarchy of creatures in obedience to the will of God and representing His Will to mankind : this is submission for which genie and man are created .

3. This Imaamat starts with Adam and through a successive chain of the most submissive persons descended from him

, reached Ibraaheem ; from Ibraaheem is continued in two branches of Israelites and Ismaae’elites . Israelites branch ended with its last link Jesus who disappeared from this terrestrial scene in an unusual way . This Ismaae’elites branch continued to carry the same submissive status , generation after generation without any gap but remained in non­recognizable manner till it appeared in the person of the Holy Prophet .

And that which We have revealed unto thee of the Book , It is the truth testifying that which hath before it , Verily God ; about His servants is All­Aware , All­Seeing .

35 : 31

Then made We the inheritors of the Book (Quran) those whom We chose from among our servants ; But of them is he who causeth himself to suffer a loss , and of them is he who followeth the middle course , and of them is he who is the foremost in Goodness by God's permission ; That is the greatest excellence . 35 : 32

4. The Quran declared that the chain will continue after the prophet in the same chosen and purified members of the House of Prophet and they shall inherit whatever God has gifted to Ale­Ibraaheem . The Prophet declared in unequivocal terms :

“whoever dies without knowing the Imam of his time , his death will be paganic death . ”

من مات ولم يعرف إمام زمانه مات ميتة جاهلية

He also declared in unequivocal terms that the number of Imams after him shall be 12 , nothing more or nothing less

. He , according to Ithna­’Ashari school of thought mentioned also the names of all the 12 Imams who will succeed each other . There are many traditions narrated from Sunni sources supporting the above contention . In any case , throughout the history of Islam , no one can point out the names of 12 persons from the Ismaae’elite branch of Aale­Ibraaheem who after the Holy Prophet succeeded each other carrying in them the excellence and purity which would make them deserve the status of being foremost in submission to the Will of God but the Holy 12 Imams of the House of Holy Prophet . The last of them , Mahdi is , as already pointed out , the son of 11th Imam . He was born on the 15th of Sha'­baan 254 H . at Saamarra , Iraq . He combines in him , as his 11 predecessors , all the excellences required for inheriting Imaamat (the Divine Leadership) of Ibraaheem which was carried by two branches of Israelites and Ismaae’elites . He represents Aale­Ibraaheem in its full significance . He has been born and is living in terrestrial form as a pivot and medium between the Creator and the creature , but in non­recognizable manner , till the period of Ijtehaad is over . For the person of so great spiritual accomplishment , the question of the length of life does not arise . His soul is strong and high and is far from being fettered with the conditions of matter

. His Will­power controls his body and other material things so his life and death are under his disposal and his will is controlled by none but by His (i . e . God's) Will .

5 . The Imam's reappearance will follow the immediate descent of Jesus as his follower . As such the Imam shall establish the Great Kingdom of Aale­Ibraaheem throughout the world .

of partial and total (Resurrection) . Raj­a’t means al­Qyaamat as­Sughra and al­Qyaamat means Raj­a’t al­Kobraa . In what manner and shape the former and the latter are possible is asserted in the Quran .

brief sketch of the life of 12 Imams along with the life of Holy Prophet and his daughter Faatima (S . A) , the Lady of Paradise , and their contribution towards the advancement of Islam and Message will be dealt with separately .

Here the point to be noted is that the 11th Imam AI­Hasan­al­Askari (A . S) passed away on the 8th of Rabeeul Awwal 260 H . at Saamarra , the Military Cantonment of Abasside Caliphs , in Iraq . The 12th Imam , Al­Mahdi (A . S) was then about 6 years old . Though his birth like the birth of Moses , for almost the same reasons , was kept in secrecy , yet ever since his birth , the 11th Imam used to introduce him to his chosen and confident disciples as his successor and the expected Mahdi of the Holy House . The 11th Imam used to reiterate and confirm the prophecies of his predecessors regarding the occultation of the 12th and his continuous existence for a very long time in the terrestrial realm in non­recognizable manner discharging his duty as a pivot and medium between the Creator and creatures . He is the real administrator of his jurisdiction which is as wide as the jurisdiction of the messengership of his grandfather , the Last Prophet

which is as extensive as Lord Cherisher's universe . He receives Divine blessings and grace and diffuses them to his surroundings in unknown and non­recognizable way . During this period of occultation , his relation in this terrestrial region and his domination over it is not severed and ceased ; it is only the people that ceased to have regular and recognizable communication with him . This period of occultation is divided into two parts : Minor and Major . During the period of Minor Occultation , the regular communication of people with the Imam was not totally ceased . People used to have regular communication and correspondence with the Imam mostly through his 4 nominated successive agents known as an­Nowwaab al­Arba'ah = four deputies . Some of the prominent disciples had even the chance of direct communion with the Imam . The names of the 4 nominated Deputies are :

1.Othmaan bn Sae’ed al­A’amery who used to discharge the duties of Deputy during the life of the 10th and 11th Imams .

2.Othmaan's son , Mohammed bn Othmaan who also used to discharge the duties of the Deputy during the two previous Imams . Both , the father and son were certified by the 10th and 11th Imams as their most reliable and sincere representatives .

3.Abul Qaasim Husain bn Rooh Noobakhti who was nominated by Mohammed bn Othmaan as his succeeding Deputy .

4.Ali bn Mohammed As­Saimuri who succeeded the third through nomination by the third .

All these nominations were confirmed by showing irrefutable testimonies .

This period

lasted for 70 years . It ended with the death of the 4th Deputy in the year 330H . , one year after the death of Kulaini , the author of Kaafi . As­Saimuri received an Epistle from the Imam 10 days before his death to the effect that the period of Minor Occultation was over and he should not nominate anyone to succeed him as his special deputy . During this period , a few impostors claimed to have the status of Deputies but all were exposed by the Imam and were denounced by the Shia School of thought .

Then the Major Occultation started which will be continued till the time of reappearance of the Imam . During this period no person as particularly nominated Deputy has been existing or will exist . Almost all the Imams and particularly the 10th , 11th and the 12h , declared and affirmed the authoritative status of those pious and righteous scholars who were exclusively following the faith of Ithna­ Ashari and have attained the scholarly ability to understand the denotations , connotations and implications of the aforesaid constitution of Islam , Kitaab and Sunnat through sound rational approach which is termed as Ijtehaad . This class of scholars have been declared by the vicegerents of God to have the right of discharging the duty of a person deputized and nominated by the Imams within the limit of their ability . According to Kitaab and Sunnat , the people who have not attained the standard of scholarly

ability termed as Ijtehaad , has to follow in all the controversial issues the opinion of living Mujtahid who is the superior most in knowledge and piety .

In case there is no superior most or is not verifiable , the non­Mujtahid has the option to adopt one of the topmost Mujtahids of equal standard and follow his opinion in the controversial issues . The author has dealt with the subject in his Treatise on Occultation . For further details , one should refer to the Chapters on Ijtehaad and Taqleed in the literature on the Principle of Shia Jurisprudence .

During this period of Major Occultation , there are many reliable stories of certain persons communication and contact with the 12th Imam , but all those stories and events show that the contact or communication was mere accidental and circumstantial . Otherwise none can claim to have the honor of regular communications with him (the Imam) . There is no doubt that piety , devotion and attachment to the Holy House and their directives bring one to the state of receiving more blessings and unnoticed guidance from the Imam in his effort to solve the problems of religious importance facing him .

However , recognition of the authoritative status of qualified living Mujtahids of the time , as representatives and general deputies of the Imam , during his Major Occultation , is the necessary part of the Theocratic form of government recognized and advocated by Ithna Ashari Schools of Shia faith . It differs from all theocratic

forms of government recognized or advocated by other schools of thought in Islam or in other religions of the world . It has nothing to do with any temporal and secular forms of government , (be it monarchy , constitutional or despotic , dictatorship , democracy or republic) . It differs from the form of Imaamat prescribed by Zaidi schools of Shia or the schools of Ismaae’elite Shia . It differs from the authoritative status recognized by some schools for the saints of mystic orders . (Vide author's Treatise on Occultation) .

Rise to a higher state of life . It has been applied to the lives of individuals after death and the intermediary stage . The saying of the Holy Prophet is :

“He who dies his Rise has been realized . ”

من مات فقد قامت قيامته

The term Resurrection has also been applied to the days of the establishment of the Divine Kingdom on earth in the Person of the vicegerents of God as the Lesser Resurrection . But Resurrection is a term mostly used in the Quran and Apostolic sayings for the Final Collective Rise of mankind in particular , and other creatures in general to the highest sphere of manifestation of God's authority and Kingdom :

Verily , in this , there is a sign for him who feareth the chastisement of the Hereafter ; The Day for which mankind shall be gathered together , And that Day shall be witnessed (by all) 11 : 103

Say “Verily the ancients and the later ones” (from beginning to the end) .

56 : 49

Shall certainly be gathered together unto the tryst of the Known Day .

56 : 50

From the Quranic verses quoted herein , and those that are not quoted , together with the Apostolic statements , the following facts are established about the Life Hereafter beyond any doubt .

1.Death does not mean the annihilation of the Conscious and Cognitive Ego . The Ego after its severance from its material body does continue being conscious of itself and of its past .

2.Death is merely a shifting from one state

or phase or stage of lesser sensitivity to a stage (phase) of higher sensitivity .

3.Of the sensory faculties , whether external or internal , none is destroyed by Death ; on the contrary all these are furthermore refined and sharpened .

4.The only relationship which is severed by death is the direct relationship of the Conscious Ego with the Outer material world , with which it was connected through External senses .

5.The whole attention of the Conscious Ego will be diverted to :

the memories of the Past and what are preserved in the subconscious , and even unconscious layers of the Ego

the higher spheres of beings above the Conscious Ego (the angelical realm) . In other words , the focal center of human consciousness will no more receive any direct stimulation through external senses ; but it does receive stimulation from within its limited spheres beyond the material spheres . Therefore Death should be taken as a step towards a higher stage of life whether pleasant or painful . The pleasure or pain of a new born child , whose external and internal sensories are not yet developed , is less in degree to those of a mature person . Similarly , the pleasure or pain of the Conscious Ego after death is greater in degree than the one who is still fettered with the material world . The Quran expresses this fact in the following verse :

(It will be said) : “Thou wert heedless of this , now have We removed from thee thy veil

, so thy sight today is sharp . ”

50 : 22

Therefore , the material life is a veil on human senses and consciousness . On the removal of this veil by death all the faculties are sharpened . This is confirmed by the tradition of the Holy Prophet who said :

“Man is (at present) in a state of sleep , when he will die he will awake” .

الناس نيام فإذا ماتوا انتبهوا

The movement of every Individual , as well as the societies of Beings as a whole , is towards God , who has created them . The Quran points out this fact :

“Verily the death from which ye flee , verily it meeteth you , Then ye shall be returned unto the Knower of the unseen and the seen then will He inform you of whatever ye used to do .

62 : 8

They ask thee of the Hour (the constant move) whereto (is) its anchorage ?

79 : 42

Wherein art thou of its notion ?

79 : 43

Unto thy Lord (alone) is its termination !

79 : 44

The epitome of this movement is expressed in another verse :

Those Who , when misfortune befalleth them , say , “Verily we are God's and verily unto Him shall we return” .

2 : 156

Thus there is no return to the lower stage of Consciousness and there is no possibility whatsoever of any rebirth .

Death is , therefore nothing but a shift and change from one stage of Existence to a higher one which ultimately terminates towards God . This ascending

movement is true of every part and particle of the material Universe with its specific societies and systems and also the universe as a whole .

As mentioned earlier , shifting of any being from this material world means its Resurrection : such Resurrection may be of an individual , or a group of entities , or of all groups and societies of beings . The state or stage between the death of an individual , a member of a group in creation , and the death or Resurrection of the whole group is termed Intermediary stage .

In this Intermediary stage , the individual may enjoy or suffer the effects of his individual faith and action . Therefore , this stage is also known as Purgatory : it begins with the agony of death - the last moment of the departure of the soul from the body - to the next stages , which include the funeral and burial in whatsoever form these may be . The Quran portrays this moment as follows :

Why then do ye not (help) when the soul of the dying man cometh up to the throat ?

56 : 83

And ye then (remain) only gazing (at him) .

56 : 84

And We are nearer to him than ye , but ye see (Us) Not

56 : 85

The immediate and pressing pain and pleasure will be experienced by the departed soul followed by the questionnaires put to him by the specific angelical Guards attached to every individual . This will be augmented by the appearance

of the individual Records of his past which will cause him rejoicing or grief .

And couldst thou see when they are made confronting the (Hell) fire , then they shall say , “Would that we were sent back and we would not belie the signs of Our Lord , and we would be of the believers . ”

6 : 27

Nay , it has been manifested to them what they did conceal before ;

And if they were sent back , they would certainly return to what they were forbidden and most certainly they are liars . 6 : 28

Until when death cometh unto one of them , sayeth he : “My Lord ! Send me back again (into the world)”

23 : 99

That I may do (the) good which I have left undone” . By no means ! it is but a word he sayeth ; And before them shall be a barrier until the day when they are raised (again) . 23 : 100

And indeed We Created Man and We know whatever his soul whispereth unto him , And We are nearer to him than his (very) life­vein .

50 : 16

When receive (and record all doings) the two (angels) appointed to receive , sitting (one) on the right and (the other) on the left .

50 : 17

He pronounceth not a word but is unto him a watcher ready (to record) .

50 : 18

And the stupor of death cometh in truth ; that is (the state) which thou wast wont to shun . 50 : 19

when the Trumpet is blown , It is the day Promised (warned against) .

50 : 20

And every soul shall come , accompanied with it a driver and a witness .

50 : 21

(It will be said) : “Thou wert heedless of this , now We have removed from thee thy veil , so thy sight today is sharp . ”

50 : 22

In this Intermediary stage , the Individual cannot do anything to redeem the wrong done by him in the past nor can he improve his position by any further action of his ; but the good deeds of the living members of the family or Group to which he belongs may be of avail to him in reducing his pain or multiplying his pleasures .

Moreover , the Holy and Exalted souls leading the Group to which he belongs , have the power to redeem his sins and increase his pleasures . Inspite of the severance of physical ties , the spiritual tie of Love between the departed soul with the righteous souls left behind or with those righteous souls who had departed before him , is not severed : this Love transcends all material barriers . Therefore , there is a way possible of salvation for the individual soul in the Intermediary stage - not by his own action but by the blessings and good deeds of the righteous members of his family or the group to which he (that individual soul) belongs . The Quranic verses assert the utility of the prayers and blessings

of the righteous ones such as prophets , for their departed ancestors , their followers , disciples and for their offspring and posterity . The prayers of those who are the Carriers of the Throne of God (Bearers of the Divine Knowledge) and of those Believers whose status is closer to them are the best evidence of the stability of the spiritual tie of Love of the Higher Exalted souls of a group with the lower souls belonging to the same group .

(These are those) who said unto their brethren while themselves held back : “Had they (the Martyrs) obeyed us , they would not have been slain”

Say (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) “Ward off from yourselves death if ye be truthful . ” 3 : 168

And reckon not those who are slain in the way of God , to be dead ;

Nay ! alive they are with their Lord being sustained , (in the presence of their Lord) . 3 : 169

Rejoicing in what God of His Grace hath granted them , rejoicing for those who have not yet joined them from behind them , that no fear shall come on them nor shall they grieve .

3 : 170

And when Abraham said : “My Lord ! Make this city secure and keep me away and my sons from worshipping idols . ”

14 : 35

My Lord ! make me keep up prayer and from my offspring (too) O our Lord , and accept my prayer :

14 : 40

O our Lord ! grant me protection

and my parents and the believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass !

14 : 41

Those who bear the Arsh and those around it celebrate the praise of their Lord and believe in Him and seek forgiveness for those who believe in Him (saying) : “O Our Lord ! Thou comprehendeth all things in (Thy) mercy and knowledge , therefore , forgive Thou those who turn (unto Thee) and follow Thy way , and save them from the torment of the Hell . ”

40 : 7

“O Our Lord ! Admit them into the ever­blissful gardens which Thou hast promised unto them and those who do good from their fathers , and their wives and their offspring ; For Thou art the Almighty , the All­Wise ! ”

40 : 8

And keep them from evil deeds And whomsoever keepest Thou off from evil , this day indeed Thou hast (bestowed mercy on him , And that is a Mighty Achievement . ”

40 : 9

And said Noah , “O my Lord ! Leave Thou not on the earth of the unjust ones , a single dweller (alive) ! ”

71 : 26

“O my Lord ! Forgive Thou me and my parents and him who entereth my abode believing in (Thee) , and the believing men and the believing women , and increase not unto the unjust in caught save perdition ! ”

71 : 28

The Intercessions which are evident from the Quranic verses , may apply to the Intermediary stages or to the stage of Total Resurrection

. However , there shall be no more Intercession after the end of Total Resurrection .

After the Lesser Resurrection , and preparatory to the last stage , all beings shall die , in the sense that they have to depart from their previous forms and shapes . This includes all the celestial and terrestrial entities , which shall give out all their latent potentialities . This state will be preceded by the First Blowing in the Forms = Blowing of the Trumpet by the Angel of Death Izraaeel . It will be followed by the Second Blowing of the Trumpet by Israafeel .

They have esteemed not God , as is His due ; While the whole earth shall be in His grip on the Day of Judgment and the heavens rolled up (shall be) in His right hand , Hallowed is He , and Exalted is He , high above what they associate (with Him) .

39 : 67

And (when) the Trumpet is blown then whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth shall swoon (die) save those whom God hath willed (to keep alive) , Then the Trumpet shall be blown again , then lo ! they shall stand up awaiting (observing the situation) .

39 : 68

And the earth shall get radiant with the light of its Lord , and the Book (of deeds) shall be set , and the prophets shall be brought up and the witnesses , and (it shall) be judged between them , and they shall not be

dealt with unjustly .

39 : 69

And every soul shall be paid in full what it hath wrought , and He knoweth best what they do .

39 : 70

It will be observed significantly in verse 39 : 68 quoted above that God has expressly included an exception , “except such as Allah pleases (to keep alive)” . It means , there are certain Entities who will not be affected by the First Blowing of the Trumpet and will not be subjected to a loss of consciousness described in verses 7 : 46 and 48 as “Men who know all by their marks and the Occupants of the most Elevated Places” and who will still remain in the highest cognitive state even though “All those that are in the heavens and all those that are in the earth shall swoon” .

And on the most elevated places there shall be men who know all by their marks

7 : 46

And the Dwellers of the most elevated places shall call out to men whom they will recognize by their marks saying : Of no avail were to you your amassings and your behaving haughtily .

7 : 48

From the verses of the Quran , it will be observed that the Blowing of the Trumpet will occur twice . The first Blowing will cause a severance of all considerations and ties of kinship , which is clearly expressed .

And when the trumpet is blown , there shall be no ties of kindred between them on that day , nor shall they ask

of one another .

23 : 101

Then (those) whose scales (of good deeds) are heavy , they shall be the successful ones ,

23 : 102

And those whose scales (of good deeds) are light , they are those who shall lose their souls , abiding in Hell ;

23 : 103

Yet God promises in the Quran the re­establishment of the ties of kinship in the form of fatherhood , motherhood , sonship , brotherhood and conjugal relationship in the life after the Major Resurrection . This assertion is contained in the following verses :

Give thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed) the glad tiding unto those who believe and do good deeds , that for them are gardens beneath which flow rivers , And whenever they are provided with fruits therefrom they shall say , “This is what we were provided with before ! ” and they shall be provided with the like (of it) And for them shall be mates purified . They shall dwell therein . 2 : 25

The garden of perpetual bliss which they will enter and also the righteous among their parents , their spouses , and their offspring ; And the angels shall enter unto them from every portal .

13 : 23

“Peace (be) unto you (saying) for that ye persevered in patience ! (and now) how excellent is the sequel of the eternal abode .

13 : 24

, Secure . ”

15 : 46

And We will root out whatever rancor be in their hearts , (they shall be) as brothers , on dignified couches , face to face

15 : 47

And those who believe and follow them their offspring in faith , We will unite with them their offspring and We will lessen not unto them aught of their (good) deeds ; Every man shall be responsible for what he hath wrought .

52 : 21

The two apparently differing situations of severance of relationship and establishment of same have been clarified by the Holy Prophet as his comment on the verse in the following apostolic tradition :

“All the distinctive consideration and ties of kinship shall be severed on the Day of Resurrection except those distinctive consideration and ties of kinship established through me . ”

كل حسب ونسب منقطع يوم القيامة إلا حسبى ونسبى

It implies that with the First Blowing of the Trumpet , all the then existing forms and ties are severed ; and by the second Blowing of the Trumpet new forms and shapes will be given to beings and a new tie of kinship will be established . However , the Root of this ties shall be the Last of the Divine Messengers , Mohammed (S . A . S . ) Who in the highest degree of perfection , is the First and the Last of all created beings .

Therefore , after the Major Resurrection , the relationship or kinship of people to each other , as stated so clearly in the

Quran will be established in accordance with the degree of their attachment to the Root of that Tree which is termed in the Quran as the Good Tree .

Seest thou not how God setteth forth a parable of a good word (being) like a good tree , whose root is firm and whose branches (reach in the heavens) .

14 : 24

Yielding its fruit on every moment by the permission of its Lord ?

And setteth forth God parables for the people that they may reflect .

14 : 25

And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree growing from the surface of the earth , it hast naught of stability .

14 : 26

Establisheth God (in strength) those who believe , with the firm word in the life of this world and in the hereafter ; And God leaveth the unjust ones to stray ; And doeth God what He willeth . 14 : 27

During the stage of Total Resurrection - after the second blowing of the Trumpet - there are series of sub­stages wherein the hidden aspects of the action of man and other creatures will become evident to each individual and to the group to which he belongs ; these aspects of the action have remained hidden to him and his group till that particular stage of the manifestation of the Final authority of the Absolute - Allah - is reached . During the various sub­stages indicated above the individual will be hailed after the leader who had led him . The

Quran says :

(Remember) the Day (of Judgment) when We will summon every people to the name of their Imam (Leader) ; Then whosoever is given his book in his right hand , these shall read their books (with pleasure) , and they shall not be dealt with (even) a shred unjustly . 17 : 71

And whosoever is blind in this (life) , he shall be blind in the hereafter (also) and far more away from the path (right) .

17 : 72

The above two verses also point out the important fact that those who are spiritually blind in this world shall have a keener sense of error and blindness in the hereafter .

Then shall occur the unfolding of the Individual Record of actions of each individual and also the Record of the Group to which that individual belongs as proclaimed in the Quran .

And thou (O Our Apostle) shalt see every people kneeling down ; Every people shall be called unto its book ; Today ye shall be recompensed for what all ye used to do . 45 : 28

This is Our Book that speaketh against you with justice ; Verily , we used to record whatever ye used to do .

45 : 29

The next sub­stage of bringing forth the External and Internal witnesses of Deeds is portrayed and asserted by the Quran in the following revelations :

And thus We have made you a group of middling stand that ye may be witnesses over mankind and the Prophet be (a) witness over you ; And We

did not fix the Qiblah towards which thou wert at , but that We might distinguish him who followeth the Prophet , from him that turneth back upon his heels ; And this was surely a hard thing for many except for those whom God hath guided ; And God would not make futile your faith (in Him) ; Verily God unto mankind is Affectionate (and) Merciful . 2 : 143

Then certainly We will question those unto whom (our apostles) were sent , and certainly will We also question the sent ones .

7 : 6

Then certainly We will relate to them with knowledge For We were not absent .

7 : 7

And the measuring (of the deeds) that day is certain So whomsoever's weight (of good deeds) be heavy , those are they who shall be successful .

7 : 8

And those whose measure (of the deeds) is light , those are they whose souls suffer because of the injustice they used to do to our signs .

7 : 9

And on the day when We will raise up in every people from among themselves , a witness (upon them) And bring thee (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) as a witness upon (all) these ; And We have sent down upon thee the Book (the Quran) explaining everything , and a guidance , and mercy , and glad tidings unto those who submit themselves (to God) .

16 : 89

And on the day when the enemies of God shall be collected together unto the fire , then they

shall be ranked in groups .

41 : 19

Until they come unto it (the hell) ; their ears and their eyes and their skins shall bear witness against them , as to what they used to do .

41 : 20

And they shall say unto their skins : “Why witness ye against us ? ” They shall say : “Who maketh everything speak , caused us to speak and He it is Who created you first , and unto Him ye shall (all) be returned .

41 : 21

And ye covered unto yourselves (merely) lest that your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you , but (it was) that ye thought that God knoweth not most of what ye did .

41 : 22

The Middle (medium or perfectly balanced) Group

أمة وسطا

is not the general Muslim Community ; the word Ummat used here is not in the sense of a community , nation or followers etc . This word means a particular class of people who are endowed with such requisite qualifications as God made them witnesses for Himself over all mankind . Then God addresses the Last of His Prophet , Mohammed (S . A . S . ) that He is to be the witness over all these witnesses . In this manner , God clarifies the expanse of His mercy and justice by entrusting the function of final witnessing to two groups of being , one above the other who are Pure and Perfect and nearest in communion with Him .

Further on

, it will be observed that these Pure and Perfect Beings will be made by God the Distributors of the abode of Bliss and Hell . They will recognize men by their marks and they will be the occupants of the High Place as already clarified before . These Beings , indeed , are those who have been exempted by God's will from being subjected to swoon at the time of the Blowing of the First Trumpet which is expressed in the Quran .

The sub­stages , progressively , will lead to the stage of Reckoning as stated in the Quran :

We have tied every man's action to his neck ; (which) We will bring forth unto him on the Day of Resurrection in the form of an unfolded book .

17 : 13

(It will be said unto him) “Read thou thy book ; Sufficeth thine own self today , as a reckoner against thee . ”

17 : 14

In the stage of Reckoning , as it is apparent from the above verses , the individual creatures are made the Reckoners of their own actions . There are verses also which show that God directly or through His authorized Angels and Vicegerents will perform the Reckoning of actions . There are verses which ascribe the Reckoning to God , using personal pronoun , in first person , plural number . There are some other verses in the Holy Quran which point out that God alone is the Reckoner and that He is the quickest of all Reckoners .

Once

Ali (peace be upon him) was asked how God would reckon the deeds of the innumerable individuals and communities in a single moment or on a single Day . He replied :

“In the same manner as He has been nurturing and sustaining all His Creatures (as it is evident to all) in a single moment of each day” .

يحاسبون کما یرزقون

“Verily we had been your followers , can ye therefore avert from us any part (of the chastisement of God ? ”

They would say : “If God hath guided us , we too would have surely guided you ; It is the same to us (now) whether we implore (impatiently) or we are patient (now) there is not for us (any) way of escape . 14 : 21

And Satan shall say after the affair is decided : “Verily God promised you the promise of truth , and I gave you promises but failed to keep them to you And I had no authority over you except I called you and ye responded unto me ; So blame me not but (rather) blame yourselves ; I can’t be your aider (now) , nor can ye be my aiders ; Verily I disbelieved in your associating me with God from before ; Verily the unjust ones , for them shall be a painful chastisement . ”

14 : 22

Inspite of the above mentioned dialogues contained in the Divine revelation , there are yet other verses which assert :

Woe on that Day unto the rejecters !

77 : 34

This is the day when they shall speak not ,

77 : 36

And it shall not be permitted unto them so that they may offer excuses

77 : 36

The apparent contradictory assertions will clearly be understood in the light of the fact that there are several sub­stages on the Day of the Major Resurrection . In one of those sub­stages none of the evil

doers shall be allowed to speak or repeat their excuses . This point is very adequately dealt with by the learned and holy scholar of the 4th century Higra , Abu Ja’far Mohammed bn Ali bn Baabawaih of Qum , known popularly as Shaikh Sadooq in his famous Treatise , entitled The Beliefs (I’teqaadaat) .

Then shall come the sub­stage of the Balancing of the Deeds which is mentioned in the Quran :

O ye who believe ! do stand firmly with justice , Witnesses for God's sake , though it be against your own selves or your parents or your kindred , Be he rich or poor , for God is closer (than you) to them both ; Therefore follow not your inclination , lest ye deviate (from the truth) And if ye swerve (from the truth) or turn aside , then Verily God is All­Aware of what ye do .

4 : 135

And We shall set up the balances of justice on the Day of Judgment , so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least ; And even if there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed , (even that) We will bring it (into account) ; And sufficient are We (as) Reckoners .

21 : 47

And the heaven , He did raise it high , and placed the scale (within reach)

55 : 7

So that ye may not transgress in scales .

55 : 8

And maintain ye the measure with justice and do not cut short the scale .

55 : 9

Indeed We sent

Our apostles with clear proofs , and We sent down with them the Book and the Scale that people may establish themselves in justice ; And We sent down iron wherein is latent (in its use) mighty power and also benefits for mankind and that God may prove who helpeth Him and His apostles in secret ; Verily God is All­Strong , the Ever­Prevalent .

57 : 25

The above verses of the Quran which deal with the subject of Balance and Scales indicate that :

1.everything that has been created by God is in a precise and proportionate measure ,

2.for every measured thing , there is a standard scale , or criterion , which if properly used , enables man to apprehend that measured thing , no matter how far such measured things may be away from the reach of man , and

3.human attainments depend to a great extent upon proper measuring of the things created by God .

The height of human attainment and penetration through universe can be achieved by those who have used precisely the Scale set by Allah : thus they have also been granted by Him the Divine Authority . This is referred to in the Quran :

O ye peoples of jinn and humans , if ye can penetrate the bounds of the heavens and the earth , then do penetrate ye through ;

55 : 33

(But) ye cannot penetrate but with (Our) authority !

55 : 34

In every stage for every individual and human society , and for every aspect of creation there shall

be a Balance and Scale till the Final Day of Judgment . This scale or balance shall inevitably be Infallible . An infallible scale can be used effectively only by the All­just and Omnipresent God , or by His Infallible Vicegerents , for however accurate the scale may be , if the one who attempts to use it , is subject to error , the result of the measurement cannot be precise .

Thus according to the Quran , there have been , and are and shall always be the balance and the scales for justice , The Infallible is commanded to measure with precision , and guide mankind with Truth so that man's action shall be in harmony with Divine Ordinance , each and everything created by God . The Quran refers repeatedly in general the necessity of Balance and prescribes it as an inevitable standard for the final measuring of all things including character , beliefs and all actions of human beings individually or collectively as a group .

O ye who believe ! Be upright for God , bearing witness with justice , And let not hatred of a people incite you not to act equitably ;

Act ye equitably that is nearer to piety … .

5 : 8

The importance of the Apostle and the Book and the Scale is obvious from the Divine Revelation . They are supplementary to each other and necessary for the establishment of justice and witnessing of the truth since man was created .

The individual's action falls within the cognizance

of Scale from the time he becomes conscious of his Being which is referred to in the Quran :

And indeed know ye the first growth , why then ye reflect not ?

56 : 62

This is in reference to the origin of the Individual self ; that is the first stage or state when he comes into being .

It is Adam or every descendant of his , who is made to realize upon his becoming conscious of his self , that he has been caused to exist by the Cause of all Causes , the Infinite , the Incomprehensible , through His quality of Cherishing (Ruboobiyyat) . A Covenant is made between man and God ; man accepts the responsibility . Thus no one will be excused on the Day of Resurrection for his denial of the Truth . God reminds and warns man :

When brought forth thy Lord from the children of Adam , from their backs , their descendants and (when) made them bear witness upon their own selves (saying) : “Am I not your Lord ? ”

They replied “Yea ! We do bear witness . ” (This We did) lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment “Verily we were (unaware of this fact)” 7 : 172

Or lest ye should say : “Verily associated (with God) only our fathers from before (us) and we are their descendants after them (following them) :

Wilt Thou then destroy us for what the vain doers did ? ” 7 : 173

Therefore , Islam is the religion

of Universal Justice , and the Holy Prophet of Islam and his purified successive Vicegerents are presented as the scale of all scales in this world and the life hereafter until the Last stage of the Total Resurrection on the Day or Judgment . It makes no difference to ascribe the function of measuring in this world or hereafter to the Absolute Infinite One , (to whom belongs the sovereignty of the entire Universe in the Realms of Creation and Legislation) or to the Angelic Agencies or to the Infallible Vicegerents of the Absolute One . All of these agencies and vicegerents after all , in their actions and thoughts are completely and totally in submission to the Will of God . God has indeed clearly described in the Quran His Infallible Vicegerents , the Purified Ones who shall inherit the Earth :

every stage of development , till the Last stage of Resurrection , the Day of Judgment .

Therefore , every individual and every community of conscious beings will be judged by God , and shall be rewarded or punished . Yet , God will not finalize His Judgment before the stage of Intercession is substantiated by those who have been bestowed by God with the authority of being witnesses over entire creation and truth . These Witnesses of the truth , according to the Quran represent the universal grace and love of God and are authorized to intercede and redeem the shortcomings of the people who are subordinate and attached to them .

Then comes the stage , when every being will assume its Final Form and be placed under the Final Classification :

And ye shall be (sorted into) three kinds :

56 : 7

Then (will be) the people of the Right hand : Oh ! What (a happy state shall) the people of the Right hand (be in) !

56 : 8

And the people of the Left hand : Ah ! What (a wretched state shall) the people of the Left hand (be in) !

56 : 9

And the Foremost (in faith and virtue) shall be the Foremost (in receiving their reward) ,

56 : 10

These are they who shall be brought nigh (unto God)

56 : 11

As pointed out above , there shall be 3 main classifications of Beings on the Day of Judgment . One of which will be the Foremost of the Foremost Ones . This group will

direct or supervise the other two groups towards their earned destination , by the permission of their Lord :

And We will remove whatever rancor be in their breast , there shall flow beneath their abodes rivers , And they will say : “All praise be (only) to God who guided us to this and we would not have been guided had not God guided us ; Indeed did come the apostles of Our Lord with the truth” ;

And it shall be cried out unto them that : “(Behold ! ) This is the Garden of which ye are made heirs for what ye did” . 7 : 43

And will call out of the inmates of the Garden (of Paradise) unto the inmates of the (Hell) fire (saying) : “Indeed we have found what promised us our Lord to be true ; have ye too found what promised your Lord to be true ? ” They will say : “Yes . ”

Then a crier will cry out between them that “The curse of God is on the unjust , ”

7 : 44

Who hinder (people) from Allah's way and seek to make it crooked , and they are disbelievers in the hereafter .

7 : 45

And between the two there shall be a veil And on the heights there shall be men who know all by their marks , And they shall call out to the inmates of the Garden (Paradise) : “Peace be on you , ” 7 : 46

They shall not have yet entered it ,

though they do hope (thereof) .

And will call the occupants of the heights unto the inmates of the (Hell) fire whom they will recognize by their marks ; They will say : “Of no vial had been your amassing and what ye used to act proudly”

7 : 48

(Behold ye ! ) “Are these they whom ye swear that God will bestow not His mercy on them ?

Enter ye in the Garden (Paradise ! ) No fear shall be on you nor shall ye grieve . ” 7 : 49

But (Those) who made their religion a pastime and play and whom the life of the world hath deceived . So today We neglect them as they did neglected this day of theirs and as they did deny Our Signs .

7 : 51

It is clearly understood from the Divine Revelations that the Foremost of the Foremost Ones are indeed those who shall be the Distributors of Paradise and Hell ; and they are referred to in the Divine Revelation as the Dwellers of the Most Elevated Places , Men who know all by their marks , Witnesses of Truth and the Vicegerents of God on Earth . Their ultimate Companionship with us is asserted by the Quran :

And whoever obeyeth God and the Apostle (Mohammed) these shall be with those on whom God hath bestowed favors of the Prophets , and the Truthful , and the Witnesses and the Righteous ones , And excellent are these as companions !

4 : 69

Before giving the details of the Persons

who have been given the authority by God to intercede , the following clarification will have to be noted :

The Quran repeatedly asserts that no intercession forwarded by any created being shall be accepted by God .

O ye who believe , Spend (in alms) out of what We have provided you with ere the day cometh wherein there shall be no bargaining , nor friendship , nor intercession ; And the unbelievers ­ they are the unjust .

2 : 254

And warn thou with it (the Quran) those who fear that they shall be gathered unto their Lord (thinking that) there shall not be for them , besides Him , any guardian or an intercessor , so that they may guard (themselves against evil) .

6 : 51

Those who have leaned on false support and relied on such intercession shall come to grief and will be completely disillusioned on the Day of Resurrection when the final Judgment will take place . Their plight is portrayed in the Quran :

And indeed ye come to us (bare and) alone as We created you at first , and ye have left behind your backs what We bestowed on you , And We see not with you your intercessors , those whom ye asserted that they were , in your affairs , the associates (of God) ; Indeed are now severed the ties between you , and hath gone away from you what ye (falsely) asserted . 6 : 94

Do they wait for aught but the final sequel ?

On the day

when its final sequel comes about , those who neglected it before will say : “Indeed came the apostle of Our Lord with truth ; are there for us (now) any intercessors that they may intercede for us ? Or could we be sent back so that we might act other than what we did act ? ”

Indeed they have lost their souls , and what they forged hath gone away from them . 7 : 53

God clarifies the intercessors whose intercession shall not prevail , and also those for whom there shall be no intercession by any other intercessors as well .

Or , have they taken intercessors other than God ? Say thou : “What ! even though they have no power over anything , nor do they understand . ” 39 : 43

And (thou) warn them , then , of the approaching Day , when (men's) hearts shall rise up to their throats choking , For the unjust shall not have any compassionate friend nor an intercessor who should be obeyed .

40 : 18

Now , it is evident that the intercession of those who are not given any authority or power shall not prevail as they lack Might and knowledge , It is also clear that those for whom no intercession shall prevail are the unjust ones , The Divine Revelations proceed further to assert that the intercession of those who are chosen by God , and specially permitted , authorized and even covenanted by Him to do so , shall be accepted

by God .

God ! There is no God but He , the (Ever) Living , the self­subsistent , by Whom all subsist Slumber seizeth Him not nor sleep , His it is whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth , Who is he that can intercede with Him but with His permission , He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them , While they can not comprehend anything out of His Knowledge save that which He willeth . His Throne extendeth over the heavens and the earth , And the preservation of them both , tireth Him not , And He is the Most High and the Most Great .

2 : 255

Verily , Your Lord is God Who created the heavens and the earth in six days (terms) and is firmly established on Arsh ; He regulateth everything ; No intercessor can there be save after His leave ; This is God , your Lord , Therefore Him (alone) worship ye , Will ye not then mind ?

Unto Him shall return ye all ; (This is) the promise of God in truth ;

Verily , (it is only) He (who) beginneth the creation , then causeth it to return that He may with equity recompense those who believe and do good ; And those who disbelieve , for them shall be the drink from the boiling fluids and a painful chastisement for they did disbelieve . 10 : 3 , 4

is behind them , and they can not intercede but for him whom He approveth , and they , of His fear , tremble .

21 : 28

These specific beings , to whom God has granted permission and authority to intercede , are described by Him as the Ones “whose word God is pleased with” .

On that day shall avail no intercession (of any) save (that of) whom hath permitted God , and whose word He is pleased with .

20 : 109

There is yet another verse which clarifies the above verse by explaining what is meant by the word with which God is pleased with .

On the day whereon shall stand the spirit and the angels arrayed , They shall speak not save he whom the Beneficent God giveth leave and who spoke (only) the truth . 78 : 38

The Divine Revelation proceeds onwards to describe the qualifications of those who are , by the permission and authority from God , the Intercessors with Him on the Day of Resurrection for the final judgment . The following verse of the Quran asserts two of the qualifications , being Witnesses of the Truth and having the Knowledge with certitude .

And those whom they call besides Him , own not any power of intercession , save he who beareth witness of the truth and they know (the truth) .

43 : 86

It has , already , been explained earlier , when discussing Middle Group (2 : 143) that the Witness over mankind is the Middle (perfectly balanced) Group and

the Holy Prophet is the Witness over them and the Word Ummat used in this verse does not mean the general Muslim community . This fact is clarified by God in the Quran .

And remember when his Lord tried Abraham with certain words then he fulfilled them ; (God) said , “Verily I am making thee Imam for mankind; ”

(Abraham) said : “And of my offspring ? ”

(God) said : “My covenant includeth not the Unjust .

2 : 124

Then Ibraaheem prayed :

Our Lord ! Make us (two) Muslims submitting (only) to Thee and of our progeny (make) a group submissive (only) to Thee And show us the ways of Devotion and turn to us (mercifully) Verily Thou and Thou (alone) art the Oft­Returning , the Most Merciful .

2 : 128

This is the prayer of Ibraaheem for himself and his progeny , after he was declared an Imam , Leader by God , and the word used is Ummat for them . Thus does one verse of the Quran clarify the other verse . It is clear that the word Ummat (Group) used here is identical with the other word Imam or the Leader . Ummat (Group) here does not mean the led but it obviously means the Imam i . e . Leader or Guide . This Middle (perfectly balanced) Group of entities Ummat­e­Muslima are indeed distinguished with the quality of leading mankind towards the Right Path .

Having clarified these points , the Divine Revelation proceeds in identifying the two , the Witness of Truth

and the Muslim Group (Ummat­e­Muslima) of Ibraaheem's progeny for whom he prayed . The Quran asserts :

And fight (endeavor) ye in (the way of) God as is due to Him ; He hath chosen you and hath laid not upon you any hardship in religion ; The faith of your Father Abraham ; He (God Himself) named you Muslims before and in this , that the Apostle may be a witness over you and ye be witness over the people ; So establish ye prayer and pay the poor­rate and hold fast by God ; He is your Master How Excellent the Master and How Excellent the Helper !

22 : 78

When God has appointed Ummat­e­Wastaa intercessors , the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S . A . S . ) has been declared by Him the intercessor of intercessors .

These Intercessors have been chosen by God . They are permitted and authorized by God to intercede ; they have been described and their qualifications defined clearly in Divine Revelation . Earlier in the discussion on Prophethood and Divine Guidance and Leadership , the Quranic verses on the Law of Divine Selection and the Divine Endowment have been explained .

God Himself chooses the Intercessors and endows them with the permission to intercede .

And how many an angel in heavens are whose intercession is of no avail at all save after that God permitteth whomsoever He willeth and chooseth .

53 : 26

Some of the descriptions and definitions given in the Quran to recognize the Intercessors are that they shall

be the Best of the Group , the foremost in Goodness and the Middle (or the perfectly balanced) Group - Ummat­e­Wastaa . To quote yet another verse of the Quran :

Then made We the inheritors of the Book (Quran) those whom We chose from among our servants ;

35 : 32

But of them is he who causeth himself to suffer a loss , and of them is he who followeth the middle course , and of them is he who is the foremost in Goodness by God's permission ;

That is the greatest excellence .

The Intercessors have been kept away from all physical and spiritual uncleanness by God and purified by Him with the utmost extent of purification .

Verily , God intendeth but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanness O ye the People of the House , and purify you (with) a thorough purification .

33 : 33

These purified Beings have been in Communion with the Word of God , the Quran , from its primordial state all along ; and shall remain so beyond its historical state of revelation . The Quran asserts :

Verily it is Quran honorable .

56 : 77

In a Book that is protected

56 : 78

Toucheth it not save the purified ones .

56 : 79

Sent down by the Lord of the worlds .

56 : 80

The Holy Prophet reiterates in his famous authentic tradition of the two weighty entities :

إنى تارك فيكم الثقلين : كتاب الله وعترتى أهل بيتى ، ما إن تمسكتم بهما لن تضلوا بعدى أبدا وإنهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا

على الحوض

I am leaving amongst you two Weighty Things : the Book of Almighty Allah and my progeny . So , take care how you treat them after me . They shall never part company until they come to me at the Pool (of Kawthar) .

Therefore , the Imams of the House of the Holy Prophet (S . A . S . ) are the Intercessors besides the Holy Prophet himself and Faatima (S . A . ) the daughter of the Holy Prophet . These Purified and Divinely selected persons are identified with the holy Prophet and distinguished from all mankind by God with great force in the Quran .

But whoever disputeth with thee therein after the knowledge hath come unto thee , Say (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) (Unto them) “come ye , let us summon our sons , and (ye summon) your sons , and (we summon) our women and (ye) your women , and (we summon) our selves and (ye) your selves and then let us invoke and lay the curse of God on the liars ! ”

3 : 61

Our women are represented by Faatima (A . S) , the only daughter of the Holy Prophet ; our sons are his two grandsons , Hasan and Husain (A . S) ; Our souls are represented by The Soul of the Holy Prophet and is identified by God as Ali (A . S) , who happened to be the cousin and son­in­law of Mohammed (S . A . S . )

.

This verse was revealed on the occasion of the great confrontation with Christians (Mubaahala) . There are also Apostolic traditions bearing witness to this fact referred to in the Divine Revelation in connection with the great historical event in the life of the Holy Prophet :

“I and Ali are from one Light”

أنا وعلى من نور واحد

“Faatima is part of myself” ,

فاطمة بضعة منى

Finally God has made covenant with these Divinely selected and purified Beings , and has promised them , as befits His Divine Justice and Mercy , the right of intercession . This promise is in return for the fulfillment of their part of the covenant . The Quran states as follows :

They shall own not any intercession , save he who hath taken a promise from the Beneficent (God to do so) .

19 : 87

(This is) the promise of God !

30 : 6

Faileth not God His promise , but most people know not (this) .

Is the recompense for good aught but good ?

55 : 60

absence of perfection is an inherent property of the finite . These inherent shortcomings are constantly covered by a continuous blessings of the Absolute Perfect One . Each and every finite being receives the Divine gift which covers his inherent shortcomings according to his recipiency . Thus

One ) As God is the Absolute Redeemer , Deliverer and Intercessor , He covers by His continuous gifts , the shortcomings of all finite beings in accordance to their capacity of demand and supplication . There is no exception to this principle of Absolute Redeeming Authority of God over His creatures . The highest finite being as well as the lowest one in perfection is not free from the inherent creaturely shortcomings and destitution and so they are not needless of His gift , grace and blessing .

Two )No redeeming power and salvation can be exercised by a lower finite being over a higher finite one ; and comparatively imperfect one can not redeem the defects of another imperfect one who is higher in the hierarchy of limited perfection . Nor the one who is in the same level of imperfection can redeem the defects of the other .

Three ) Redemption , salvation , blessing and grace all proceed as a gift from the Absolute Giver , direct and through the agencies of higher finite beings to the lower ones . Whatever blessings and grace , are received by the lower group through the agencies of the higher one , are termed as the intercession of the Divinely

authorized agents in redeeming the defect and covering the shortcomings of the lower group . So it is true that there is no intercession to secure salvation in any stage of existence here or hereafter except of God , and of those finite beings of higher stage of perfection who are witness of truth and have knowledge of the facts as authorized agents of God .

21.To those schools of thought who value religion as a mere tie and relation between the individual and Creator , every individual is responsible for his own ultimate salvation or condemnation through his action . On this ground , the theory of transmigration and rebirth was formed in order to secure ultimate salvation for individuals through the process of rebirth as a purgatory and intermediary stages of punishment and reward till one was totally purified from the consequences of his evil deeds and was absorbed in the Absolute Perfect one . On this ground , another school of thought sought to secure the ultimate salvation for man by considering absolute , arbitrary and autocratic right of rewarding and punishing persons for God . Whomsoever He wills , will be sent to Heaven or Hell disregarding their good and bad deeds .

22.All these doctrines are contrary to what the Quran asserts repeatedly that learned and ignorant , honest and dishonest , virtuous and mischievous , righteous and wicked ones shall not and cannot be treated as equals in requital . The Christian doctrine of salvation , also presents the similar tendency

as indicated above . According to it , Jesus Christ will secure the salvation for those who believe in his being a Divine incarnation and son of God and his crucification and Resurrection . It is quite illogical . It has been dealt with in author's treatise , “Introduction to the Quran . ”

According to Islam though every individual is held responsible for his wrong or right deeds and the Quran has asserted that “whosoever does a bit of good shall see and whosoever does a bit of wrong shall see” , yet the life of man is not only to be valued from individual point of view nor the religion to be considered as a mere tie between individuals and the Creator . The Quran emphasizes the importance of the social aspect of not only the human life , but of every part and particle of universe as a whole in relation with each other . It presents God as the Lord Cherisher of all worlds whose Grace and mercy have pervaded and encompassed the whole and every part according to its merit , and considers the same Lord Cherisher of all as the Master of the day to whom all will return and be judged and requited . As such He presents the whole realm of creation as one interrelated Theme which owes obedience and absolute submission to none but Him alone , Whose and none else’s assistance is to be sought . Thus , as a member of a theme , in

offering prayer in submission to Him and beseeching help from Him , every one has to say “We” instead of “I” converting individual value into social one . Every one , in his continuous movement towards Him , has to pray for Guidance on the right path not as an individual traveler but as a member of the above mentioned theme , beseeching His guidance to the Right Path for theme and to save it from falling short or exceeding the prescribed limits . Evaluating religion in this social perspective proves :

One)the necessity of the existence of interrelated hierarchy of beings , led by the topmost finite being in perfection . who is beseeching Allah's blessings for himself and every member of the theme whom he is leading and receiving blessings from Him (Allah) for himself and all those who follow him in their obedience and prayer ,

Two)the attainment or failure , good deeds or misdeeds of every member of the theme is some way or the other affect the pleasure or pain of the other members of the theme ,

Three)the significance of the Islamic directives about the effect of offerings of the posterity in reducing the evil consequences of the misdeeds or shortcomings of their predecessors or the vice versa .

Though death and length of time has separated the ancestors from the posterity , the ties of Faith , Mutual Love of God and Godly Persons are so firm and communicative that makes one to feel and enjoy the offerings of the other for

him ; or to feel pain and sorrow for the shortcomings and failure of one another . In short the whole universe which is in obedience to His Will and receiving blessings from Him looks like a congregational prayer which ought to be conducted by Imam who will pray on behalf of all for all and receive blessings from Him , and diffuse these among all . The ties between tile members of the theme is nothing but the reciprocal faith and love . This permanent faith and love shall make each member of the theme to divert his attention from his individual defect and shortcomings to the perfection and attainments of the society to which he belongs . An individual might have a defect or may have done a wrong , for feeling of which he could be pained . This pain could be averted by directing his attention with love and faith towards the perfection of the higher members . In the temporary life the person who is extremely worried for some mishap will try to divert his attention from it to a pleasing scene ; so long as the attention is towards that pleasant scene , he will not feel consequent sorrow of the mishap . This diversion is temporal and temporary but in the life hereafter , the diversion caused by sincere faith and real love will be forever . Thus a faithful sinner who enjoys the love of perfect servants of God will enjoy their perfection and is blessed by

not his own action but by their actions .

Say (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) : “I ask ye not aught of any recompense (for my ministry) save that he who will take the way unto his Lord ! ”

25 : 57

Say thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) : “I demand not of you any recompense for it (the toils of the apostleship) save the love of (my) near relatives ;

42 : 23

Thus the Quranic verses assert that the love (Mawaddat) of those who are nearer to God in perfection will avail those who are willing to find their way towards the absolute perfect one .

This is the love which makes one to expand the limits of his ego as to be united with those whose ego is next to God in universality and all­pervasiveness . On the other hand the Quran warns the unjust , liars , mischievous and in short the wrong­doers and disbelievers the painful consequences of the curse of God , angels and the people (believers) . The Quran asserts this social aspect of human life in this verse :

Your creation and Resurrection art nothing but that of a single soul .

31 : 28

From this Quranic declaration of treating men in their creation and Resurrection as a single unit , the social value of human life and the importance of the existence of a balancing power and entity become so obvious that any attempt to separate religion from social and political aspect of human life becomes not only meaningless but

anti­human . According to the Quran the social and political problems of human life are the most sacred and topmost concern of religious directives . It is in this sense that Islam (is termed to be a socio­political religion which puts emphasis on the importance of the leadership (Imaamat) and Khilaafat as the great message of God to be delivered to mankind . Creation and Resurrection cannot be considered as single unit without the existence of a perfect Man as medium between the Creator and creatures to keep up the balance between the members of the theme in their rights and duties towards the Creator . As such the question of Imaamat or Qyaamat is so interrelated that they should be treated as one .

of the life hereafter in the terms understandable to us .

3.Our present mental faculties are too limited and underdeveloped to realize the real objects of pleasure and pain of the life hereafter . Our mental attitude in relation to the objects of life hereafter is like the mental attitude of a person born blind or deaf , who cannot perceive and appreciate the pleasant and unpleasant objects of sight or hearing . To such a person , the object of sight and hearing is to be presented in the terms of the object of other senses as sense of smelling , taste and touch .

4.All that we have to believe is that in the stage of Total Resurrection , the present earth will be changed into a different one and all the heavens will be rolled up and folded (meaning the disappearance of present distances) by the Right hand of God i . e . His Heavenly Might . That earth will be illuminated not by the light of the sun but by the light of its Lord Cherisher . The records of the various aspects and stages of the lives of individuals and groups preserved by the Divine agencies will be brought into light . All the prophets and witnesses will be brought to the scene . After the scene is over , and grouping and intercession are finalized , each individual and group will be led to their permanent abode whether Heaven or Hell or the states in between .

5.According to the Quran

, none of the human mental faculties and senses are destroyed by death but all will develop into a more refined condition and sharper sensitiveness . As such in their permanent abode all the pleasant or painful objects of mental faculties from the sense of touch upto the highest peak of intellectual realization should be presented in some form or other and they should be in utter correspondence with the conditions of the highly developed faculties . Therefore the repeated description of the condition and objects of paradise and hell in physical terms understandable to our mental faculties at present means nothing but emphatic assertion of the fact that the death is not the destruction but development and evolution in more refined conditions which are at present beyond our imagination . The Quran encourages the believers to pace rapidly in competition towards the Grace and Mercy of their Lord Cherisher which are awaiting them , and towards the Paradise which is so spacious that its extent is equal to that of the entire Earth and Heavens , which has been prepared for the pious ones . It is obvious that such an extensive paradise cannot be enjoyed but by the person whose extent of perceptual faculty is so greater that it can encompass it . Similarly the painful objects of hell are immensely horrible and torturing due to the refined conditions of the sensories and the highly developed power of the conductive means . In short , the paradise and hell , the pleasant and

painful objects there , the conditions of enjoyment or sufferings of inhabitants , all are real and true in the exact sense of reality and the truth as presented to us in the terms of similitude so that we may be able to imagine and have a faint glimpse of the life hereafter . Every word and description given in the Holy Book or stated by the Infallible Vicegerents of God should be taken as the absolute fact . According to the Quran this temporal life and its objects of pleasure and pain are nothing but child­play in comparison to the life hereafter and abode wherein everything is living in the real sense of life .

And nothing is this life of the world but a vain sport and play ; And verily the abode of the hereafter is certainly the life ; If they but know .

29 : 64

The life here and the objects which appeal to our senses and our conceptual faculties are unreal and imitation of the realities of the worlds yonder and a far diminished image and figurative presentation of those realities .

the possibilities of existence of societies of invisible beings surrounding our space and beyond it . The infallible saints gifted with Divine means of knowledge had already confirmed the above mentioned Hidden Worlds with which they were in communication . While discouraging people to believe in superstitious world , it is not sensible for us to depend on our limited sensories and deny the invisible world of different nature , functioning in the administration of universe . The stories of jinns , evil and good spirits , angels and accomplished personalities in invisible form such as Ilyaas , Khizr , and above all the 12th Imam of the Holy House of the Prophet whose jurisdiction of domination encompasses the seen and the unseen worlds are all confirmed by the religion of Islam .

Therefore , instead of narrowing the extent of our knowledge about the visible beings , one should try to expand and develop one's power of perceiving to discover the invisible .

There are many prescribed ways of spiritual developments which are not in conformity with Islamic principles . They may be misleading and harmful , therefore , in every stage of spiritual progress , one should be very cautious not to deviate even a bit from the prescribed moral code of Islam given by the 14 Infallible and handed down to us through the Divine Scholars .

following Quranic points should be borne in mind .

unto Us ?

23 : 115

He regulates (all) the affairs from the heaven to the earth , then shall it ascend unto Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what ye reckon .

32 : 5

The process is designed and administered by the Creative Will i . e . intention of the Absolute and Infinite Real One . The Universal Grace and Justice are a Priori factors manifested in His Will and Intention . Grace and Justice are not different attributes , as held by some schools of thought ; they are two different aspects of His Universal love . Grace means to give out of sheer love without expecting any return , and justice means He keeps every thing in its proper place and according to merit , so that the system should function as one harmonious unit representing the absolute unity of its Creator and Administrator . Thus in this sense , grace and justice are always interrelated so far as the Creator is concerned . Whatever He gives is out of sheer love but in accordance with the merit and appropriateness of the state of the receiver .

to their degree of comprehensiveness and perfection . The first created entity , being the most comprehensive in perfection cannot be but one in number and of immaterial and intellectual nature . He is presented in various terms but the most appropriate one is Mohammed in its true adjectival sense . From him , the downward order of intellectual and angelical entities begins . This created unique unit is followed by spheres of beings who are less in the degree of comprehensiveness but larger in number . Thus the order of created beings or the order of manifestations of His Creative Will starts from the one and most comprehensive intellectual entity , unfolding itself in innumerable spheres of intellectual and angelical beings . They are termed in the Quran as Malakoot = realms of unseen active spiritual , and psychic entities , having two aspects of holding and being held . Each sphere is held by the one above it and is holding the sphere below it , till it ends in the 4 dimensional sphere termed as matter or material being . This is the lowest sphere which is held and has no holding faculty at all , so it is termed in the Quran as the held­world =A’alam al­Mulk or seen­world = A’alam as­Shahaadat . It forms the base of the hierarchy , the top of which is the first and the most perfect and comprehensive entity , the one which holds all the spheres next to it and is held by nothing

, but the Absolute , Whose Hand (Might) has hold over everything and nothing has any hold on Him . The base has nothing of actual or creative in it , but it is endowed with unlimited potentiality and recipiency which forms the background of its upward and gradual evolutionary movement . As such it becomes also the ground for another upward hierarchy parallel to the downward one . This gradual evolutionary movement , according to the Quran is actualized by the creative Will of God through the agencies of the downward order of intellectual and angelical entities .

on one hand and to reflect and reproduce all that he has received on the other . So far as the earth is concerned , it is man only and no other earthly being who is endowed with this faculty .

progressive step towards all that he and his issues had and will have to achieve in manifesting in themselves all the Divine excellences .

the first created entity in the downward hierarchy and were unfolded in various spheres of beings next to him .

radiation and reflection . The line of radiation is always conditioned with the state of its immediate source whereas the line of reflection is conditioned to the state of the ground to which radiation reaches . The Divine line of radiation is termed in the Quran as Spirit , Light and Command of God . The line of reflection is termed as soul or psyche or ego­center , of every individual and species . The more pure the ground , more so will the reflection correspond with the radiation and vice versa . The most purified quantity of matter carried by Adam and his chosen issues in the arc of ascent became the ground for reflecting arc of descent . As it has already been pointed out the most appropriate term to present the nature of the first and the last entity in the degree of perfection in their respective arcs of descent and ascent is the term Mohammed in its true adjectival sense . It means the one who has been made praiseworthy , he is not self­praised as God's most submissive servant . He is the one who has been kept away from all defects and gifted with all excellences and perfection by his Creator . Thus the term Mohammed presents spirit and soul of one and the same entity , the most perfect spirit in the arc of descent and the most perfect soul in the arc of ascent . They are almost identical with each other without any gap as these

verses signify .

Then he went near and became hanging (loosing independence due to nearness) 53 : 8

Such as there was the measure between two bows (facing each other) or nigher still .

53 : 10

first and the last among the created beings in degree of perfection , is characterized in the Quran as the representative of this principle attribute of God . He has been sent down not to a particular sphere or region of the universe but as a universal Grace of God to all the spheres which are termed in the Quran as A’alameen = worlds . In other words , to the worlds , wherein the God is the Lord Cherisher , Mohammed is His grace . Mohammed's limit of mission , in extensiveness and intensity is in accord with the universal grace of God :

Verily those for whom blessing from Us went first , Our Grace was ordained first , they shall be kept away from it (Hell) .

21 : 101

They will hear not (even) the slightest sound of it (Hell) ,

21 : 102

And they in what their souls desire , shall abide .

Shall grieve them not that greatest terror and the angels shall meet them (saying) : “This is your Day . which ye were promised”

21 : 103

On the day when We will roll up the heaven as a written scroll is rolled up .

21 : 104

As We began the fist creature , so We will get it return .

(It is) a promise binding on Us , Verily We were doing it .

And indeed We did write in the Psalms (Zaboor given to David) after the Reminder (Tawraat given to Moses) , that the earth shall be inherited by My righteous servants .

21 :

105

Verily this is a far­reaching lesson for devoted people .

21 : 106

And We sent thee not (O Our Apostle Mohammed) but grace unto all worlds .

21 : 107

It is the universal Grace of God , with which Mohammed was commissioned and characterized as person of great character . Next to him are those whom the Quran and Mohammed declare identical in spirit and soul with him as purified as he is :

But whoever disputeth with thee therein after the knowledge hath come unto thee , Say (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) (Unto them) “come ye , let us summon our sons , and (ye summon) your sons , and (we summon) our women and (ye) your women , and (we summon) our selves and (ye) your selves and then let us invoke and lay the curse of God on the liars ! ”

3 : 61

Verily , God intendeth but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanness O ye the People of the House , and purify you (with) a thorough purification .

33 : 33

Verily it is Quran honorable .

56 : 77

In a Book that is protected

56 : 78

Toucheth it not save the purified ones .

56 : 79

Sent down by the Lord of the worlds .

56 : 80

And various verses . To this effect the prophet declared at the time of his departure from this world , “Only Quran and his AhlulBait , are the two inseparable ones” who represent him through all the worlds in all aspects and respects till the day

of Resurrection . The great sage and mystic , Hakeem Sennai says ;

“Nothing was left by the Holy messenger of God to represent him and to remind people of him till the Resurrection day except the Book of God and the Holy members of his House . ”

جزكتاب الله وعترت زاحمدمرسل نماند

يادگ_ارى كوتواند تاروزمحشرداشتن

It is only the two , the Book as the Word of God and Those with whom is the knowledge of the Book , which will always bear the testimony to the truth and Universality of the Prophethood of Mohammed .

And say those who disbelieve : “Thou art not the Apostle of God . ”

13 : 43

Say thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed) : “Sufficient is God a witness between me and you and he with whom is the knowledge of the Book” .

These two give evidence that Islam in its most perfect form and exact sense of absolute submission to the Will of God , is the universal guidance and true religion with which Mohammed first and last in spirit and soul was commissioned by God . As such his religion is bound to overcome ultimately all other religions , despite the disliking of the disbelievers and of all the satanic forces . This aim shall be achieved before the advent of the Resurrection Day by Imam Mehdi , the last member of the Holy Prophet's purified House . He is the one , who bears the blood , name , feature , character and all the excellences which are signified in

the term Mohammed . Through him , truth and justice will ultimately prevail throughout the world . It is due to this sublime status of Mohammed in the hierarchy of both arcs that Quran declares :

As We began the fist creature , so We will get it return . (It is) a promise binding on Us , Verily We were doing it .

21 : 104

God has both directly and through His angelical agencies who are functioning in the administration of the Universes , blessed Mohammed and along with him those dearest and nearest entities who are identical with him in purity of spirit and soul . Next to those blessed ones , blessed are those who are attached to them in spirit and soul and are always invoking God to bless Mohammed and those who are attached to him in accordance to the degree and nature of their attachments .

This is what O Allah bless Mohammed and his family (in blood and spirit) means .

اللهم صل على محمد وآل محمد

Having concentrated so far , it is the duty of those , who are anxious to have a glimpse of the spiritual aspect of the personality of the Holy Prophet , to refer only to these two sources of light : Quran and AhlulBait .

is the All­Hearing , the All­Seeing .

And gave We unto Moses the Book (Towraat) and made it a guidance for the children of Israel , (saying) that “Take ye not other than Me a guardian . ”

17 : 2

Before dealing with the particular question of the Ascension of the Holy Prophet , which is considered to be one of the distinctive aspects of his personality in comparison to all other prophets , a few points may be said about the Ascension in general . Ascension and Descension are two terms used regarding the order of creation and as regards the human cognitive self , moving through the various realms and the spheres of finite beings up to the Absolute One and from there proceeding down again through the various realms of the abstract and the spiritual beings of more comprehensive nature down to the lowest finite material world .

Intellectual and Visual

This journey is of 2 kinds : Intellectual and Visual .

The intellectual journey is common to all seekers of the truth , through metaphysical methods which is based on the external senses and its zenith , the highest intellectual concept .

The visual journey starts from the zenith of the intellectual journey as its base , through the various realms of the spiritual beings higher and ever higher up to the Absolute and down again to its base . There is no Prophet without this intuitive perceptual experience of Ascension and Descension , each according to his individual capacity (Vide 2 : 253) and it may

be in the state of dream or waking or some in between state of sleep and waking and it may take place more than once . As regards the Holy Prophet , it is said that he had this kind of Ascension and Descension many a time and not only he , but even his Divinely commissioned successors , the Imams who in soul and body were his and he was of them and all of whom were of one and the same Divine Light and Origin had this experience .

Now as regards the particular kind of Ascension attributed to the Holy Prophet , and agreed by all schools of thought in Islam as an article of faith , it is his physical ascension along with the visual one . Those who tried to create doubt about this , are of two groups :

1.like Moa’awyia , son of Abu Sofyaan and the people of his type who were too materialistic to appreciate or understand this highest apostolic or prophetic status and ,

2.those philosophers highly influenced by the ptolemaic and the astronomical system who could not imagine the possibility of the penetration of the celestial spheres and the firmaments by . any terrestrial body .

The answer to these people is that the neo­astronomy has uprooted the whole theory and replaced it with the new findings and postulations which have made them attempt reaching the moon and the other planets . Whether they succeed or not , or their postulations be substituted with other ones or not

, the Quran has already declared the possibility of such penetration in 55 : 33 with the proviso of the attainment of the authority and power to do it .

O ye peoples of jinn and humans , If ye can penetrate the bonds of the heavens and the earth , then do penetrate ye through ;

55 : 32

(But) ye cannot penetrate but with Authority .

55 : 33

Therefore the doubt based on such speculations and the materialistic tendencies should be entirely discarded in connection not only with this particular kind of Ascension but also with the cases of miracles wrought by the Apostles of God and the other holy souls .

Of course a question remains that accepting the physical Ascension of the Holy Prophet by the lightning force of the Divine Will and Might throughout the physical spheres , and the disappearance of his body from the place (his bed) in the house of Umme Haani or the Masjidul Haraam (as it has been asserted by the traditions narrated by a great number of reliable companions and scholars such as bn Abbaas , bn Maso’od , Anas , Jaabir bn Abdullah Ansaari , Hozaifa and Umme Haani and others) , besides the confirmation by Ali and the other Imams of the House of the Holy Prophet . What was the ultimate point to which the journey ended ? Was it physical or beyond the physical realm ?

The end of the journey was to the Absolute . So far as the physical and the dimensional portion of

the journey is concerned , it was undoubtedly physical and there is no argument of logical value to prove its impossibility . But beyond that , there is no room for the conception of the journey of physical object into a non­physical realm . Here it is said that ascending towards the Absolute by the influence of the Spiritual and Divine Light the whole physical aspect is spiritualized and passing the boundaries of the physical realm , the self entirely transcends the physical properties . However , this Ascension is the Total Transformation of the personality of the Holy Prophet into a spiritual entity and Descension means his Reappearance in his ordinary form . However , this may seem to be very difficult for the common readers to grasp and appreciate but this is the fact relating to the status of the person who as a Light is the first in the order of creation , as a Prophet and Messenger of God , the Last in the order of the chosen prophets . Anyone who understands these two facts can understand the Ascension also . Anyway a Muslim has to believe in the physical journey and the Ascension of the Holy Prophet to the farthest mosque , Masjidul­Aqsaa where God is worshipped and which is the highest realm of creation , the surrounding of which is blessed by Allah and whose Signs are in display therein .

Regarding the details of the Ascension journey , the traditionists and commentators have dealt with it at length

in detail but a few points forwarded by the great Scholar Tabrsi in his valuable commentary , Majma'ul Bayaan are worthy of our notice .

He says there are 4 points to ponder about Ascension :

1.The first and the foremost - the Physical Ascension - in the state of wake which is to be accepted without any question .

2.The details given of what the Holy Prophet said during his Ascension journey which are contradictory to any reasoning or principle .

3.There are things which are not apparently in agreement with certain reasoning and principles but they can be interpreted in a sensible way .

4.Such statements are against reason and the articles of the faith and there is no room for any proper interpretation except

The first point is beyond doubt and questioning . The second one , asserts that he visited the heavens and saw the prophets , the Divine Throne , The all­embracing Terminal Realms of the finite beings , Sidratul­Muntaha , Paradise and Hell , etc .

What ! Do you then dispute with him as to what he saw ?

53 : 12

And indeed , he saw Him in another descent

53 : 13

At the farthest Sidra ­tree

53 : 14

Nigh unto it is the Garden Abode .

53 : 15

When covereth (over) the Sidra (Tree) that which covereth it .

53 : 16

Neither his eye did dazzle nor did it rebel .

53 : 17

Indeed he did see of the greatest signs of his Lord .

53 : 18

The third point asserts that he saw some people in Paradise enjoying and some

suffering in Hell . It should be interpreted as he saw their descriptions and names .

The 4th point rejects totally what is narrated that he talked with God openly , he saw God and sat with God on God's Throne , etc . … which is an open anthropomorphism and humanization of God which is far from His glory and absoluteness . Similarly what has been said about the Holy Prophet's chest being split and washed , is totally absurd . First of all , he was pure from all evil and dirt and secondly , if there was any spiritual defect or dirt , there is no meaning in washing it with water . All these nonsensical statements are evidently borrowed from the Christians and the other anthropomorphic sources and the pagan cults by incompetent narrators who thought they should attribute to their Prophet such statements that others have done to their religious leaders .

they crucified him not , but (it) became dubious unto them ; And indeed those who differ therein are only in doubt about (it) , They have no knowledge about the (real) matter , pursuing (only) a conjecture ; And certainly , they slew him not .

4 : 157

But God raised (lifted) him up unto Himself ; And God is Mighty , Wise !

4 : 158

After negating emphatically Jesus being killed , the Quran has affirmed through the use of particle “Bal = but” that God has raised him (the Jesus) towards Him . This particle was used to negate all the suggestions which were contrary to the actual happenings which according to the Quran was raising (lifting) of Jesus (body and soul) by God towards Him . In this conflicting issue , there remains one undisputed fact that Jesus disappeared from the visible world . Disappearance of Jesus could have occurred in one of the following ways :

1. separation of soul from the body by Jesus being killed ,

2. by undergoing natural death , or

3. by raising him in soul and body from this world towards Himself .

In the first two cases the term Death can be used , but it implies raising of soul from visible world towards Almighty God and the burial of the body in the terrestrial world which is partial Death .

If the separation of body from soul by means of killing was emphatically negated , it meant the other manner of separation i . e . natural death :

then the death should have been affirmed in the following manner , “Certainly they did not kill him , on the contrary ; God made him die and then raised him (Jesus)” , but the Quranic verse as it is after negation of killing affirms raising in its highest sense i . e . raising of body and soul together from this visible world . This total raising is another exceptional manifestation of Divine Will in the case of Jesus . He has not been raised in body and soul from this visible world towards Him by the process of separation . However , according to the Quran , the process of separation of body from the soul in some stages of existence or other is inevitable for every limited living being as such Jesus cannot be exempted from undergoing this process .

And peace be on me the day I was born , and the day I die , and the day I am raised alive”

19 : 33

Therefore , he should come down to the visible sphere and undergo the inevitable before the final Resurrection .

God raised Jesus (with soul and body) towards Himself in the manner that the immaterial entities assume bodies and these bodies were transformed into spirit . This kind of total departure which means special hold of God on Jesus in lifting him from the visible world into invisible sphere in the same manner that God has hold over the soul and body of every person at night (in sleep) and

He releases both soul and body in the day , (state of awakening) for certain period . He in this special case of Jesus exercises His hold by raising his soul and body into invisible sphere for a period which may appear to us as long one . Again He will sent him (Jesus) in soul and body back to the terrestrial realm . This return or descent will take place when from every nation a witness will be brought and from every community of disbelievers a group of people (not all of them) will be brought again into visible life .

Be and Then It Is = Kun Fa Yakoon

It should be realized here that whatever appears in any sphere of existence , from the highest spiritual and angelical down to the material or 4 dimensional sphere , and up again to the various stages of ascension , and development into various material species of inanimate and animate such as plant , animal and man , all are manifestations and outcome of His creative and administrative will . In this sense , every creature is the Word of God and outcome of His creative and administrative command , Exercise of their limited will by the Almighty's conscious creatures as directed by Him as submission to His Will is termed as His Legislative Will , The highest form of this Legislative Will is communicated directly or through the angels or prophets to man who is the highest and most complicated creature in the hierarchy of material

beings , This is the Legislative Will or Word of God which His vicegerents on earth were commissioned to preach .

Having this picture in view , one should know that the clause , “Be and Then It Is” , though applies to every entity of every sphere , yet the Quran has emphatically used this clause in the following 8 places :

He is the (Wonderful) Originator of the heavens and the earth

2 : 117

And when He decreeth an affair , He only sayeth to it “Be” and “then it is” .

Said she : “O My Lord ! How can I have a son when hath not touched me (any) man ? ”

3 : 47

He said : “Even so doth God create whatsoever He willeth ;

When He decreeth a thing , then He only sayeth unto it “Be” and “then it is” .

Verily , with God the similitude of Jesus is as the similitude of Adam ;

3 : 59

He created him out of dust then said He unto him Be , and he was .

And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth with truth :

6 : 73

And the day He sayeth “Be” , and “then it is” .

Verily only Our word for a thing when We intendeth it , is that We say unto it , Be and “then it is”

16 : 40

It beseemeth not God that He should take unto Himself a son , Glory be to Him ; When a matter is decreed , He only sayeth unto it Be and

“then it is” . 19 : 35

His command , when intendeth He anything . is only that He sayeth unto it Be , then (and there) it is” .

36 : 82

He it is Who giveth life and causeth death ; And when He decreeth an affair , He only sayeth unto it Be and “then it is” 40 : 68

his departure was another extraordinary and exceptional manifestation of Divine Creative Command . He was not killed as stated in the beginning and he was neither crucified .

It be should remembered that the Quran declares the birth and departure of Jesus as an extraordinary manifestation of Creative Command of God and blames those idolators who compared Jesus with their idols , (deities) for the sake of mere dispute .

And when was set forth (Jesus) son of Mary as an instance (of Our power , lo , thy people laughed out (in ridicule) .

43 : 57

And they say : “Are our gods better or is He ? ”

43 : 58

They do not set it forth unto thee but by way of disputation ; Nay ! they are a contentious people .

He was nothing but a servant of Ours on whom We bestowed Our favor (giving him the miracles) and made him an example (of our power) unto the children of Israel .

43 : 59

And had We willed , certainly We could have made from among you angels to be in the earth (your) successors .

43 : 60

Notwithstanding the Quranic emphasis on the fact that Jesus’ case is an exceptional manifestation of the Divine Will , it is surprising how a believer in the truth of the Quran dares to interpret the verses of the Quran concerning Jesus to prove his birth or departure as absolutely one of the numerous ordinary manifestations of the Divine Creative Command .

The belief of Jews about Jesus as compared to belief

of Christians is diametrically opposed . The Jews believed that he was an illegitimate child and was an impostor who was killed and crucified and that his body was buried from where his disciples stole the body and concealed it . The Christians believe that he was a legitimate child of Virgin Mary , who was spoused to Joseph the carpenter and she became pregnant in spiritual way before marriage . Thus Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph not his real son .

However , inspite of confusing and contradictory statements of 4 gospels about the birth and genealogy of Jesus , they agree that she was pregnant without meeting any human male . There are also confusing statements regarding his ministry and departure from this terrestrial world but the common belief among them is that he was condemned by the Jews as an impostor , arrested , crucified along with the two sinners on the gibbet and his body brought down from the gibbet and buried in the graveyard . After 3 days or less , he was bodily raised to the heaven and appeared after a day or two to his disciples and told them that he would come down again to the terrestrial world for the establishment of Divine Kingdom on earth and disappeared again . Further , they assert that he was the son of God or the uncreated Word of God identified with Him and thus he was His incarnation . It is obvious that both the Jewish and Christian

beliefs about Jesus are in utter contrast to each other . One considers him as a cursed one and an impostor who was crucified and killed and the other considers him as the most blessed and beloved incarnation of God who was crucified , killed and suffered to save his believers from final destruction (as the Savior of his believers) . Refuting both of the extreme views , the Quran confirms the virginity of Mary and extraordinary way of her pregnancy as a special manifestation of Creative Will of God . It confirms also his being the true prophet who was commissioned with Divine book or guidance and was bestowed with miracles of bringing dead to life , creating a live bird from clay and performing other miracles , with the permission of God . The Quran emphasizes the fact that Jesus was one of the Created , chosen servants and prophets of God and his mother a virgin , purified , chosen and virtuous . Both the mother and son lived in this terrestrial sphere , eating and walking like other human beings . So there is no question of Jesus’ uncreatedness nor of his being incarnation of Absolute One . He was one of the created , chosen servants of God . The Quran asserts that even the angels whose creation is quite different from that of Man are servants of God . Nevertheless the Quran lays stress on the fact that among the messengers of God , Jesus’ birth , life and

departure are extraordinary and exemplary manifestations of the Creative Will of God . The Quran emphatically refutes both the Jewish and Christian beliefs that Jesus was crucified , killed or suffered natural death . It asserts that God held Jesus’ soul and body in His Custody and raised him towards Himself . During this period , the Quran asserts that the soul and body of the man in this is in the custody of angels .

And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures­none knows them but He And He knows what is in the land and the sea And there falls not a leaf but He knows it , nor a grain in the darkness of the earth , nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book

6 : 59

And He it is who taketh you away at night (in sleep) , and He knoweth what ye acquire in the day , then He raiseth you up therein so that a prefixed term (of life) be fulfilled ; Then unto Him is your (ultimate) return , then He will declare unto you what ye were doing .

6 : 60

A Total Hold was applied to Jesus as an act of extraordinary manifestation of Divine Command concerning his disappearance from this terrestrial world . This is associated with his being raised towards Him and cannot mean natural death , but Jesus is not exempted from undergoing the process of death when death would come .

Death is a universal law of Divine

Will from which no creature even the angels and spirits are exempted . So Jesus shall also die one day and shall be brought to life again . The question is , that at the time when the Quran asserts his being raised , this inevitable process of death did not take place . In some of the Quranic usages , His raising was a sort of total ascension to invisible sphere which the Holy Prophet also had the honor of experiencing for a short period . The Quran refutes also the paganic idea of comparing Jesus with their idols by stating that this comparison means nothing but an unreasonable argument to which the disbelievers are accustomed . Here , the Quran refutes the comparisons and observes :

Jesus is nothing but a servant of Us on whom We bestowed our special favor , and made him an example of extraordinary manifestation of Divine creative command for Children of Bani Israel” .

Therefore , it is illogical to compare Jesus’ birth , departure , reappearance with the birth , life and departure of other creatures who are the outcome of usual process of manifestations and creative command of God . In confirming the extraordinary and exemplary case of Christ's birth , life and departure , the Quran removes the peculiarity of the case by asserting that even if God wills , he would make angels from men on the earth as the successors .

uncleanness O ye the People of the House , and purify you (with) a thorough purification .

33 : 33

In the beginning of this treatise , it has been pointed out that Religion means the Submissive attitude of human conscience towards the Sacred Object . What refers to submissiveness is subjective and what refers to the sacredness of the object is the objective aspect . The state of submissiveness is a question of degree . The sacredness of the object is in accordance with the excellence of attributes considered in the object . Submissiveness varies in degree in accordance with the notion of the excellent attribute in the object . The absolute submission is in accord with the realization of absolute perfection of the object as absolutely superior in all excellent attributes . As such the subjective and objective aspects are interrelated , the higher the notion of perfection in an object , the greater will be the degree of submission and vice versa . This reciprocal relation is based on the limit of man's ego­center . The wider the potentiality , the higher will be the notion of sacredness . An absolute perfect object can only be manifested in an absolute submissive center . This means that the purity of man's ego­center from all limited notions of the object is required for the manifestation of the Absolute One , All Pure and All Perfect .

The purity of ego­center of an individual depends on the purity of the lineage from which the individual is developed .

The lineage in question includes both human genealogical chain as well as the pre­human stages of the development from primal matter upwards leading towards human being . Every individual of every species will reach the final stage of perfection in accordance with the extent of the purity of lineage from which it has developed . If we suppose human species as the most developed , complicated conscious being , it will necessarily imply utmost purity and refineness in human lineage in comparison to other living species . The same principle applies to every individual man . The purer the lineage , the wider will be its ego­center , which will have a higher notion of the Absolute One . Therefore , in the human race , there must be one lineage more pure than the other lineages , so that there should be of that lineage a continuous chain of individuals with purest ego­center in order to have the highest possible notion of the Absolute , Unlimited One .

had to climb upto the skies :

Thus God puts dirt on those who disbelieve .

Those who lack belief are termed as Rijs due to the perversion and narrowness in their ego­center as opposed to those whose ego­center has been widened to receive guidance from God for their submissiveness . (6)

They will swear unto you by God , when ye return unto them , that ye may turn aside from them ;

9 : 95

So do turn aside from them

Verily they are (filthy)

And their abode is hell ; a recompense for what they did earn .

But as to those in whose hearts is a disease (loath­some filth) addeth unto them (further) filth (to their inherent filth) and they shall die while they are infidels .

9 : 125

The hypocrites have been termed as Rijs for their shaky faith and hypocritical attitude . The unhealthy mind of the hypocrites is termed as inherent Rijs which converts the external guidance given by the prophets into further impurity .

O ye who believe : (a fact and nothing else) that intoxicants and games of chance (dedication of) stones (i . e . idols) and (divination by) arrows , are only loath­some filth wrought by Satan so be ye away from it so that ye may be successful .

5 : 90

The Satan only desireth to cause enmity and hatred in your midst through intoxicants and gambling and keep you away from remembering God and from prayer ;

5 : 91

Will ye then abstain (from them) ?

Intoxicating liquor , gambling , idols , ballot of

lotteries are termed as Rijs wrought by Satan in order to create enmity and vengeance among the people and to divert their mind from the remembrance of God and prayer . A thorough study of the above quoted verses proves the fact that whichever mental process or physical action diverts the ego­center of man towards temporal and sensual desires is Rijs(7) . On the other hand whatever widens the ego­center of man towards the submission to Absolute One and His Will is termed as purity such as prayer , spiritual cleanliness which is called Tawba , the physical cleanliness of body and dress which is essential for the prayer . It is obvious that there are degrees of such impurity and purity .

The highest degree of purity means to be kept constantly aloof from all the causes of impurity . This is termed as the state of infallibility in knowledge , character and action . Such a state of absolute infallibility should be possible and have application to a particular group of humanity . The Divine Order makes one avoid the causes of impurity and adhere to the conditions of purity , may be addressed to all in general but in actuality the application of the order will be confined to those who are really carrying out the order e . g . the order for prayer and ablution applies to mankind but the real application is confined to those who carry out the order . In this sense , all Divine Orders and Precepts

given to man through the prophets are general , but there are certain instances where God confines expressively His Order to certain individuals or groups of people excluding the rest of mankind from it . In these instances whether the Divine Will is legislative or creative makes no difference . In the instance of 5 : 56 and 33 : 33 , the order may be interpreted as manifestation of the legislative or creative Will of God but the application is exclusive . It should necessarily be true of those who are included in the order , otherwise the order will be meaningless .

Verily , God intendeth but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanness O ye the People of the House , and purify you (with) a thorough purification .

33 : 33

And whoever takes Allah and His Apostle and those who believe for a guardian , then surely the party of Allah are they that shall be triumphant

5 : 56

Angels ,

80 : 16

Noble , virtuous .

80 : 16

Those who disbelieved from among the people of the Book and the polytheists could not have separated themselves (from the falsehood) until came unto them the Clear Evidence ,

98 : 1

An Apostle from God reciting (unto them) the purified Scripture ,

98 : 2

Wherein are all the right ordinances

98 : 3

In 56 : 78 God declares , AhlulBait as the persons purified by Him to be constantly in touch with the Quran in its original , hidden , well protected , exalted and purified form . This fact has been explained and supported by the celebrated statements of the Holy Prophet , narrated by the large number of his companions to this effect that he was leaving two inseparable precious entities among his followers i . e . the Book of God and his Itrat (AhlulBait) and that whosoever adheres to these two shall be saved from going astray . But to reduce the importance of and counter the above declaration made by the Holy Prophet another statement has been also narrated from the Holy Prophet on the authority of Abu Horyra whose reliability has remained always questionable . His narration is that the Holy Prophet said :

“I have left among you two things ; if you adhere to them both you shall not go astray after me i . e . , the Book of God and my Sunnat” .

The text itself does not stand a sound critical scrutiny . There is no doubt that Sunnat in

the sense of the Holy Prophet's sayings , actions and endorsement has the same authoritative status as the Quran , but the question is that the Quran was in a written form and distinctly recorded to be referred to while the Holy Prophet's Sunnat was not then recorded in a distinct form to be adhered to when disputes would arise . On the contrary the disputants used to take advantage of the unrecorded Sunnat against each other . Therefore , to declare such controversial source to have the same authoritative status of the Quran would not only be meaningless but would mean encouraging controversies . The term Itrat or AhlulBait was well defined and known to every body as the embodiment of teachings of the Holy Prophet . In short to follow Sunnat as it is in our hand will lead to controversies and errors but to follow Itrat along with the Quran would mean following Kitaab and Sunnat in its true sense which would save the adherents from going astray and committing errors . Therefore , we shall leave the tradition of Abu Horyra to himself and his followers .

Regarding the disputes about the personalities to whom the term AhlulBait or Itrat has been applied , there is hardly any need of discussion . The application of the term in question to the nearest members of the House of Prophet through whom the Holy House was established and continued to last for ever is undoubtedly unquestionable , They are the persons to whom reference

has been made in this verse :

But whoever disputeth with thee therein after the knowledge hath come unto thee , Say (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) (Unto them) “Come ye , let us summon our sons , and (ye summon) your sons , and (we summon) our women and (ye) your women , and (we summon) our selves and (ye) your selves and then let us invoke and lay the curse of God on the liars ! ”

3 : 61

The traditions and historical reports are unanimous that they are none but Hasan , Husain , Faatima and Ali . It is true that through Faatima and Ali , the House of Prophet was established and their progeny continued to propagate until now . They are the certified members of the House of Prophet and the certified members of Aale­Ibraaheem from the Ismaae’elite branch , The efforts of some Muslim antagonists and writers to include the wives of the Holy Prophet or his other relatives in the term Itrat and AhlulBait are uncalled for against the verdict of the Quran and sayings of the Holy Prophet .

The AhlulBait mentioned in 33 : 33 , includes none but Ali , Faatima , Hasan and Husain and the other 9 Imams of the descendants of Imam Husain (A . S , ) who possess the same excellence of infallibility . The wives of Holy Prophet who remained childless cannot be included in it as the wives of Prophet , though they are respectable and are of high

standard yet better females than these wives are possible :

Haply his Lord , if he divorceth you , will give him in your place wives better than you , submissive , faithful , obedient , repentant , observers of fast , widows and virgins .

66 : 5

They cannot have the same position as AhlulBait . As such 3 : 104 and 110 is only applicable to the AhlulBait and none can lay claim to it or the leadership incumbent on Khair Ummat”

And that these should be among you a group who call (mankind) unto virtue and enjoin what is good and forbid wrong ;

3 : 104

And these are they who should be successful .

ye are the best group that hath been brought forth for mankind : ye enjoin goodness and ye forbid evil , and ye believe in God .

3 : 110

And if the people of the Book had believed (similarly) , it would have been better for them Of them (some) are believers and most of them are transgressors .

The other relatives of the Holy Prophet , even of Haashimite House on whom Sadaqa (charity) is forbidden , do not come under the definition of Ayat at­Tat­heer and Ayat al­Mubaahala . Of the descendants of Ali and Faatima , also , all do not come under the term in its strict sense . It applies only to the 11 Imams of the House who have been certified to possess the requisite qualification and absolute purification .

Even the inclusion of fallible persons of the House

of Holy Prophet and Haashim in Ayat Mawadat al­Qurba 42 : 23 is questionable because the love on account of nearness to the Holy Prophet merely in blood or faith cannot be the reward of Risaalat unless there is nearness in blood as well as spiritual attainment . They should be originated from the same light from which the Holy Prophet has been originated . As tradition asserts the number of such infallible personalities after Holy Prophet who succeeded as vicegerents of the Holy Prophet is limited to 12 .

This is what God gives , as good tidings to those servant of Him who believe and do right deeds .

42 : 23

Say thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) : “I demand not of you any recompense for it (the toils of the apostleship) save the love of (my) near relatives ;

For a detail discussion on this verse , the readers may refer to the writer's treatise , Introduction to the Quran topic : Muh­kam and Mutashaabih .

declaration of Ibraaheem as appointed Imam for the people by God . This status of Imaamat is specifically meant for the progeny of Ibraaheem , excluding the unjust ones .

God declares in 3 : 33 and 34 . that Adam , Noah , Aale­Ibraaheem and Aale­‘Imraan as the Chosen Lineage from which the Imam is to be appointed by God ;

Verily , God did choose Adam and Noah and the descendants of Abraham and the descendants of ‘Imraan above all the worlds ,

3 : 33

Offspring , one from the other ;

3 : 34

In 35 : 31­33 : the Quran asserts that this Holy Book which is revealed to the Holy Prophet certifying all previous scriptures in their true forms shall be inherited by those servants of God who are from the chosen lineage , but not all of them :

And that which We have revealed unto thee of the Book , It is the truth testifying that which hath before it , Verily God ; about His servants is All­Aware , All­Seeing .

35 : 31

Then made We the inheritors of the Book (Quran) those whom We chose from among our servants ;

35 : 32

But of them is he who causeth himself to suffer a loss , and of them is he who followeth the middle course , and of them is he who is the foremost in Goodness by God's permission ; That is the greatest excellence .

The members of the chosen lineage are of 3 types : some unjust , some of average standard

and some of them are designed by God to be foremost in all that is good , which is a great distinctive virtue . The term “being foremost , in all that is good” is almost synonymous with the term Imam . The Imam means the Head of all in obedience to God .

The term Khaleefa (vicegerent on earth) in 2 : 30 . has been used for man only , exclusive of all other creatures :

(Recollect O our Apostle (Mohammed) When said thy Lord unto the angles : “Verily I am appointing a vicegerent in the earth”

2 : 30

They said , “Wilt Thou appoint therein one who will cause mischief and shed blood , while we celebrate by Thy praise and hallow Thee alone ? ”

Said (the Lord to the Angels) “Verily , I know what ye know not . ”

Every creature is a sign of God , but none is a vicegerent of God , except the man who is foremost in absolute obedience to God . The man of this type has been described in 59 : 9 and 10 as the foremost in obedience and nearest to God and in 2 : 143 and 3 : 110­114 as the group of Distinguished Persons who are ahead of all , in all the excellences and have to lead mankind towards this noble aim .

And thus We have made you a group of middling stand that ye may be witnesses over mankind and the Prophet be (a) witness over you ;

2 : 143

Ye

are the best group that hath been brought forth for mankind : ye enjoin goodness and ye forbid evil , and ye believe in God .

3 : 110

They are not alike ; of the people of the Book is a group (so) upright (in faith) that they recite the signs of God all along the night and prostrate themselves in adoration .

3 : 113

They believe in God and the Last Day (of Resurrection) , and they enjoin goodness and forbid evil , and compete hastily to do good and these are of the righteous ones :

3 : 114

And the Foremost (in faith and virtue) shall be the Foremost (in receiving their reward) ,

56 : 10

These are they who shall be brought nigh (unto God)

56 : 11

Ibraaheem has been presented as Ummatan Qaanetan which cannot mean anything but Imam .

Verily Abraham was an Imam (leader in religion) (for the) people , devoutly obedient to God , upright , and he was not of the polytheists ,

16 : 120

22 : 78 supports the idea that Ummat or Imam in this sense means Ummat­e­Muslima mentioned in 2 : 128 which includes Ibraaheem , his son Ismaae’el and of the descendants of Ismaae’el and those who continued to follow in the footsteps of Ibraaheem and Ismaae’el .

And strive hard in (the way of) Allah , (such) a striving as is due to Him

22 : 78

He has chosen you and has not laid upon you any hardship in religion

The faith of your Father Ibraheem

He (God Himself) named you Muslims before

and in this , that the Apostle may be a witness over you and ye be witness over the people ;

And remember when Abraham raised the foundations of the House with Ismaae’el , (praying) “Our Lord ! accept (this service) from us ; Verily Thou and Thou (alone) art the All­Hearing and All­Knowing .

2 : 127

“Our Lord ! Make us (two) Moslems submitting (only) to Thee and of our progeny (make) a group submissive (only) to Thee and show us the ways of Devotion and turn to us (mercifully) Verily Thou and Thou (alone) art the Oft­Returning , the Most Merciful .

2 : 128

“Our Lord : raise up amongst them an apostle from among them , who shall recite unto them Thy revelations and teach them the Book and Wisdom and purify them Verily Thou and Thou (alone) art the Mighty , the Wise”

2 : 129

This Ummat­e­Muslima continued to be guided by God towards the Right path of Devotion , the last Prophet Mohammed (S . A . S . ) being chosen from this Ummat and commissioned with the final message of God to mankind . These personalities are from Aale­Ibraaheem mentioned in

who are gifted by God with the Book , wisdom and the Great Kingdom :

Or do they envy the people for what God hath given them of His grace ?

But indeed We have given to Abraham's children the Book and the Wisdom and We gave them a Great Kingdom . 4 : 54

Most of Chpater5 is considered to be the last Chapter

among the lengthy chapters during the gradual revelation of the Quran as Chapter110 is considered to be the last one among the short chapters . For recitational purposes , this Chapter has been arranged where it is now according to Divine Order . It follows Ch . 4 and most of the contents of both the Chapters4 and 5 are interrelated . Particularly the point worth consideration is that the last few verses 4 : 163­166 assert the purpose of Divine Revelation and coming of the Prophets one after another so that no room shall be left for people to argue against God about the incompletion of Divine Mission after the coming of the Last Prophet .

And apostles We have (already) mentioned unto thee before and apostles We mentioned not unto thee ; And God spoke unto Moses directly discoursing . 4 : 164

(We sent) apostles as givers of glad tidings and warners so that there may not remain any argument for people against God , after (the coming of) these apostles , And God is Mighty , Wise .

4 : 165

, after him , any chance of arguing the defects in the means of Divine Guidance . The contents of Chapter5 are mostly concerned with the completion of the requisite guidance after the last Prophet . So this is the first Chapter which begins with addressing the believers and not the people in general . Here God declares ,

1.the completion of religion for the believers and approval of Islam for them as the only religion ,

2.the importance of the fulfillment of the Divine covenant with God and

3.blames the Jews and Christians for their failure in fulfilling the Divine Covenant .

God announces the importance of this Chapter to be so great that if the Holy Prophet fails to deliver its contents to people , it would not only be his failure but also the failure of the Divine Mission from the beginning to end . Here the verse shows that many prominent people were reluctant about the announcement of the contents to the extent that the very life of the Holy Prophet was in danger .

(O our Apostle Mohammed ! ) Deliver thou what hath been sent down unto thee from thy Lord ; And if thou do it not , then thou hast not delivered His message ; And surely will God protect thee from (the mischief) of men , Verily , God guideth not an infidel people .

5 : 67

Knowing the importance of this chapter in view of verses 54 , 55 and 56 complete attention of a true believer is required :

O Ye

who believe ! whoever of you turneth away from his religion , soon will God bring (forward) a people , whom He loveth and they love Him , who are humble before the believers , mighty against the infidels , striving hard in God's way , and they fear not the censure of any censurer ; This is the grace of God , He giveth it to whomsoever He desireth , Verily God is Ample­Giving , All­Knowing .

5 : 54

Verily , Verily , your benevolent authority is (none else but) God and His Apostle (Mohammed) and of the believers those who believe , those who establish prayer and pay the poor­rate , while they are in the state of bowing down in prayer .

5 : 55

Whoever accepts Wilaayat of Allah (in the sense above) and of the Apostle (Mohammed) and of those who believe (the prescribed believers) , Verily he hath joined God's party ; they are triumphant .

5 : 56

These verses address the believers who were present at that time . It shows the possibility of their reversion to their paganic cult and faith , and then warn them of God's decision to bring in their place a group of people who are loved by God and who love Him . The description of this group is that it is humble towards believers and mighty towards the infidels . The members of the group wage war for the sake of God without caring for the blame of the masses . The Quran describes these

qualifications as special grace of God bestowed upon these people . Then the Quran addresses the believers in emphatic tone of 5 : 55 . The exclusive Arabic particle “Innama” confines the term Waali to God , prophet and the particular believers of the above mentioned qualifications . Wilaayat in this sense cannot mean anything but authority of one over the other due to his extreme love and attachment towards God and his creation - the meaning which is found in the attribute of God as Rahmaan . This outstanding qualification cannot be attained by all believers except those who have reached that state of submissiveness where at one and the same time , they are totally absorbed in the realization of the greatness of God and are alive to the needs of destitutes . They can continue to have in the focus of their consciousness , at one and the same time , two opposite realizations - absolute nearness to God and absolute nearness to His creatures . Such a selfless person is the medium representing God's gracious authority over mankind and representing man's destitution to God : so for the believers there is no Waali in this sense of authority but God Himself , His Prophet and among the believers those who can combine at the same time Rukoo , the extreme state of One's complete absorption in realization of the greatness of God and his being alive to the needs of the creature . This principle applies not only to Hazrat Ali

(A . S) , the first vicegerent of God after the Holy Prophet but to all the 12 Infallible Imams of the Holy House (including Hazrat Ali) .

Waali , Imam , Khaleefa and other synonyms refer to the same and one qualification of vicegerency of God (Wilaayat) which must continue without any break from the start of creation upto its termination . The application of the contents of this verse is confined to the 3 classes mentioned therein .

In verse 5 : 56 the Quran declares that of the believers those who accept the Wilaayat of God and the Prophet and of the above mentioned particularly defined class of believers , are of the party of God , who will ultimately overpower and dominate all other parties .

The insignia of this party is the reciprocal love between God and themselves . This insignia was bestowed by the Holy Prophet to Ali in the battle of Khaibar . It means that the insignia of Godly party is in the hands of Ali and the other 11 Infallible Imams of the Holy House . Whosoever is under this banner and adheres to the principle of reciprocal love will be of the successful party , chosen by God . This banner and insignia are the manifestations of universal grace of God and it shall be in this Holy House till the Resurrection Day . None can take it from them nor anybody can give it to them . The Holy Prophet says that on the Resurrection Day Adam

and all the prophets after him shall be under his banner which Ali will carry .

The importance of Imaamat , Wilaayat , Khilaafat and the synonymous terms , which refer to the vicegerency of God and the representative status of man are so great that the Quran , though brief in dealing with the other subjects of Islam , has dealt with this particular problem in various chapters and verses . It has declared that the appointment of man of such status is His own responsibility and none else .

Hast thou not seen the chiefs of the children of Israel , after Moses , when they spake to a Prophet (who was) unto them (saying) “Raise up for us a king , that we may fight in the path of God” ;

He said “May it not be that if fighting were ordained unto you , ye would not fight ? ”

They said : “And what aileth us that we should not fight in the path of God when we have indeed been driven out from our homes and our children ? ”

But when fighting was ordained unto them , they turned back , save a few of them ; And verily , God knoweth the unjust .

2 : 246

And their Prophet said unto them “Verily , God hath raised up for you Taloot (to be) the king (over you) ; ”

They said : “How can the kingdom be his over us , whereas we are more rightful for it than he while he is not

gifted with abundance of wealth ? ”

He said : “Verily , God hath chosen him over you and hath increased him abundantly in knowledge and physique ;

And verily , God granteth His kingdom unto whomso He pleaseth ;

God is Omniscient and All­Knowing” .

2 : 247

And (then) said their Prophet unto them : “Verily , the sign of His kingship shall be that the Ark shall come unto you wherein shall be the tranquillity from your Lord and the Relics of what the family of Moses and family of Aaron left behind ; the angels (of God) shall bear it ; Verily , therein shall be a sign for you if ye are (indeed) believers” 2 : 248

So , even the prophets have no right to appoint . They have only to convey the name and qualification of the Divine nominee to mankind .

In 24 : 55 the Quran asserts that the method of appointment of vicegerent on earth after the prophet shall be the same as before which means that the appointment shall remain the responsibility of God alone .

; And whosoever disbelieveth after this , these are they who are the wicked ones . 24 : 55

The instance of God nominating Khaleefa , Imam and vicegerents has been mentioned in many verses . The very verse 2 : 30 , regarding Adam is enough to prove that it is God who shall continue appointing His vicegerents on the earth .

The verses 4 : 59 and 83 refer to the obligation of mankind in obeying the Olil­Amar which implies obedience to the Supreme Commanding Authority in the same way as the necessity of obedience to the Prophet .

O ye who believe ! obey God and obey the Apostle and those vested with authority from among you ; And then if ye quarrel about anything , refer it to God and the Apostle if ye believe in God and in the Last day of Judgment ;

This is the best and the fairest way of ending the dispute . 4 : 59

And when there cometh unto them news of security or fear , they spread it abroad ; And if they had referred it to the Apostle and to those in authority among them , those among them who can search out the knowledge of it would have known it ; And were it not for the grace of God upon you and His mercy , you would certainly have followed the devil save a few . 4 : 83

The Supreme Commanding Authority endowed with such excellent qualifications which cannot be found in anyone but in

those whom God has certified to be purified from all defects and who shall possess the highest standard of perfection possible for a created being in the sense of ability to guide every being to the truth and be not in need of guidance by any other created being :

Say thou (O Our Apostle Mohammed) “Of your associates , is there any one who can guide unto truth ?

Say : It is God alone Who guideth unto truth ; Is then He Who guideth unto truth more worthy to be followed or he who himself goeth not aright unless he is guided ?

What then hath befallen you ? How (ill) ye judge ? ”

10 : 35

This is the basic verse on which the Queen of Paradise Faatima (S . A . ) , daughter of the Holy Prophet , based her argument against her opponents in her famous speech in the Masjidul an­Nabawi when she was compelled to expose those who began to reverse towards their own paganic cult . On this speech is based the Shia theory of Imaamat . In support of this statement , the 6th Imam of the Holy House , Ja’far as­Saadiq (A . S) , in the course of discussion between him and the leaders of Mo’tazelite school of thought including Wasil bn Ata , Amr bn Obiad , Hafs bn Salam who approached him to comply with their proposal of adopting Mohammed bn Abdullah bn Hasan bn Ali bn Abi­Talib (A . S) as Khaleefa in place of

Umayyed rulers , narrated on the authority of his father , the 5th Imam Mohammed­e­Baaqer (A . S) that the Holy Prophet had said :

Whosoever calls people to obey him and draws sword to make people to accept his claim while amongst the people of his time , there is one who is superior to him in knowledge of Kitaab and Sunnat , he is an impostor and the one gone stray” . (Vide Thazeeb by Shaikh Toosi : Ch . Jihaad) .

The political and religious importance of this discourse for every generation of Muslims is very great as it reflects the ideology of Shia school of thought .

The Epistle written by the 8th Imam of AhlulBait , Ali bn Moosa Ar­Riza for Khaleefa Ma­moon , outlines the fundamental beliefs and practical precepts of Islam . After giving a brief account of the Divine Attributes which a true Muslim has to believe and profess , the Holy Imam writes as follows :

And to believe and to confess that Mohammed (S . A . ) is His devoted servant , His messenger , His trusted agent , His selected and outstanding and purified among the creatures , the Head of all messengers , the Last one among the Prophets , and the superior to all realms of creation : there is no Prophet after him and no substitute to his religion and no change in his law and that whatever he , the Prophet Mohammed bn Abdullah has brought is clear truth , necessary to be

believed and confessed along with all that the messengers of God and His prophets and vicegerents have brought before him . And it is necessary to believe and confess the truth of His Book Quran which is unique in its form and matter and so purified that no falsehood would approach it from any direction , the front or behind . It is a revelation from the All­Wise , All­Praiseworthy (Allah) . It is to be believed and confessed that the Book Quran is the Supreme - most Guardian over all the Divine Books , It is thoroughly true from its beginning to the end . We believe in all its contents , unequivocal passages equivocal ones , its particular and its general significance , its promises and its warnings , its abrogating and abrogated passages , its stories and information ; and of the creatures , none can bring the like of it . We believe and confess that the guide and supreme authority over the believers after prophet and the person who is in charge of the affairs of Muslims and who has the right to speak on behalf of the Quran and the one who is well­acquainted with the contents of the Quran is his brother , successor , executor of his will and commanding authority between God and his creature ; the one who is to the Prophet as Haaroon is to Moosa ; Ali bn Abi­Talib ,

the commander of the faithfuls

أمير المؤمنين

the leader of righteous people

إمام المتقين

(the chief of those

who are bright and famous in righteousness

قائد الغر المحجلين

the superior among all the executors of the wills of Prophets

أفضل الوصيين

the inheritor of knowledge of all Divine messengers and prophets

وارث علم النبيين والمرسلين

We believe and confess that Ali has been succeeded by his sons Al­Hasan and Al­ Husain (the two chiefs of the youth of paradise) , in turn , one after the other , Ali , the son of Husain , (the ornaments of all devotees) , then Mohammed bn Ali (who penetrated the length , breadth and depth of knowledge given to the prophets) , then Ja’far bn Mohammed (the truthful saint and inheritor of the knowledge of all the successors of the Prophets) , then Moosa bn Ja’far (who used to restrain his anger against) the wrong doers in order to set example of tolerance) , then Ali bn Moosa Ar­Riza (who is pleased with whatever pleases God) , then Mohammed bn Ali At­Taqi , then Ali bn Mohammed An­Naqi , then Hasan bn Ali Al­'Askari then the authoritative proof (Hujjat) standing in charge of Divine Order , whose appearance is awaited for (Al­Muntazar) - the peace and blessings of God may be upon them all . We believe and confess for them the status of Divine Leadership and executor of Divine Wills . We believe and confess that the earth never for a moment is devoid of such an authoritative proof (Hujjat) appointed by God over his creatures . We believe and confess that the above mentioned Saints (Imams) are the strong

rope between God and His creatures . They are the guiding leaders , supreme authority over the people of the terrestrial realm , succeeding one by the other till the return of earth and all that it contains to God . We believe and confess that whoever disagrees with them is misled and misleading , impostor and pervert to the truth and guidance . We believe and confess that they are the sole­interpreters of the Quran and authorized to speak on behalf of the Holy Prophet ; and whosoever dies without knowing and recognizing them , he would die a paganic death . We believe and confess that the following are some of the virtues which are the practical part of their religion :

ever­mindful of what pleases and displeases God ,

Iffat (self­control) ,

truthfulness , love for the well­being of mankind to lead people to righteousness and return of whatever is trusted to them by virtuous and wicked etc . ”

The study of the entire text of the Epistle will enlighten the seekers of the Right Path .

be physical when perceived by the external senses , and it may be mental and spiritual , when observed and realized by one’s cognitive self . In any case Shahaadat or witnessing is a state or attitude of unshakable realization of a fact .

Usually in 4 : 69 and 72 , the word Shaheed has been translated by some commentators to mean martyrdom but a deep study of these two verses will prove beyond doubt that even there , it has been used in the sense of witnessing . The justification for translating as martyrdom is because the martyrdom for the Divine Cause will make one reach that high stage of witnessing the reality as it has been explained here .

And whoever obeyeth God and the Apostle (Mohammed) these shall be with those on whom God hath bestowed favors of the Prophets , and the Truthful , and the Witnesses and the Righteous ones , And excellent are these as companions !

4 : 69

And verily of you is he who certainly hangeth back : If then a misfortune befalleth you sayeth he : “God had been gracious unto me , that I was not present with them” .

4 : 72

God , the Creator of the universe , is described in the Quran as witness (Shaheed) over every being , big or small , concrete or abstract , apparent or hidden . Nothing is hidden from Him , everything is present to Him as it is in . itself . He is the Witness , Witnessing

and witnessed . He is the Knower , Knowing and the known :

God (Himself) witnesseth that there is no God but He , and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge , standing firm for justice ; There is no God but He , the Mighty , the Wise .

3 : 18

Soon We will show them our signs in the horizons (of world) , and in their own selves until He becometh manifest unto them that He is the Truth . Is It not sufficient for thy Lord that He is a witness over all things ?

41 : 53

(Be it known that) verily they are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord ! (Be it known that) verily He encompasseth every thing .

41 : 54

In these verses , Knower and knowing can not be but one and the same as is the case with every conscious being . The angels , the intellectual and spiritual beings and entities have been described to be the witness of His Unity , Oneness , Omniscience and Omnipotence .

Among the mankind , the Prophet and the Vicegerents of God , the spiritual leaders , Imams have been presented in the Quran as the witness of the Truth in the seen and unseen world ;

And thus We have made you a group of middling stand that ye may be witnesses over mankind and the Prophet be (a) witness over you ;

2 : 143

And on the day when We will raise up in every people from among themselves

, a witness (upon them) And bring thee (O Our Apostle Mohammed ! ) as a witness upon (all) these ;

16 : 89

And fight (endeavor) ye in (the way of) God as is due to Him ; He hath chosen you and hath laid not upon you any hardship in religion ; The faith of your Father Abraham ; He (God Himself) named you Muslims before and in this , that the Apostle may be a witness over you and ye be witness over the people ; 22 : 78

The Holy Prophet with the status of being sent by God as the Universal Grace or His Grace for all the worlds , has been described in the Quran as the Witness over all the witnesses . The leading personalities chosen from among the descendants of Ibraaheem , who were the topmost in whatever was good and foremost in submission to the will of God , are presented as witness over mankind and whatever is true , and the Prophet be witness over them .

Thus according to the Quran , Shahaadat is the highest spiritual status bestowed by God on the persons who have attained the state of realization of the Creator and the creatures , and the true relation between them . In short , Shahaadat is the state of realization of the Truth in accordance with the stage of spiritual attainment secured by Godly personalities . This stage of realization and its various degrees depend on the degree of submission to the will of

God . The more submissive one is , the higher and greater will be the stage of his realization .

Submission implies sacrifice . It means to give up a limited interest for a higher and greater attainment . It means an effort to give up all that is loved by one , in order to comply with His Will ;

Never shall ye attain to righteousness until ye give away (in the way of your Lord) of what ye love ; And of whatsoever ye give , Verily , God knoweth it .

3 : 92

And (while needing it for themselves) they give away food out of love for Him , to the poor and the orphan and the captive .

76 : 8

(Saying) We feed you only for God's sake , we intend not of you any recompense , nor (even) thanks (thereof) .

76 : 9

فرأيتك ظاهرا فى كل شىء

After a few sentences wherein he describes the various stage of his realization , Imam Husain says :

O my Lord ! what has gained the one who had missed Thee and what has missed the one who has gained Thee . ماذا وجد من فقدك وما الذى فقد من وجدك

It means the one who has Him and is in constant communion with Him is having everything with Him : and the one who has everything but is not in communion with Him , he has nothing .

This state of realization depends on the purity of ego­center , whether he is in this world or the world hereafter , whether he is a child or a grown up , whether he kills or is killed . He is always in the state of Shahaadat and in all circumstances he is Shaheed . Ibraaheem by proving his readiness to sacrifice Ismaae’el and Ismaae’el by his readiness to be sacrificed in the hands of his father prove that both were in a high state of submission , realization and witnessing .

The Holy Prophet , as the first and the last in the degree of submission to the will of God , is the Witness of all witnesses . His ego­center being purified from all sorts of impurities , be it spiritual or physical , is the seat of the manifestation of the Divine Will which implies all truth and justice . Next to him are those holy souls who have been termed in the

Quran as AhlulBait and the Prophet declared them to be identical with him and they are in constant touch with the Quran in its hidden form which is with God . All these holy personalities were Shaheed , witness ever since their birth and are continuing to be Shaheed here and the life hereafter . But of all these holy persons , Husain , in the course of his leadership was entrusted by God to give a new interpretation to the term witness , sacrifice and intercession by readiness , ever since his birth , to give all that is nearest and dearest to him in the name of Allah and in absolute submission to His Will .

Husain and those who were with him did not become Shaheed after being killed in the battlefield of Karbala but they , and the ladies headed by Husain's sister , Zainab , all were Shaheed in the sense that they have been in complete realization of all the sufferings and sacrifices which were awaiting them . Many a time Imam Husain , used to declare :

God has willed that I should be killed and my sisters , wives and daughters be taken as captives : we are pleased with whatever pleases God . Whatever pleases Him , pleases us ; and in this sacrifice of our dearest and nearest lays the ultimate salvation of mankind .

The prophet Noah made his ark to save a few at the destruction of others , Husain preferred destruction of his ark of

life and of the chosen few , who were dearest and nearest , in order to save the whole mankind from the final destruction . Being in the highest stage of realization , Husain and his companions , male and female , young and old welcomed all the heart­rending , immeasurable sufferings .

The true sense of Shahaadat , as manifested by Husain , proves that not only those who took active part in those sufferings had attained the stage of Shahaadat , but even those who die in the love of this Holy House , or those whose heart will be moved by witnessing or hearing the scenes of martyrdom of Husain and his companions and those who commemorate it by shedding few tears will secure the stage of Shahaadat and enjoy the ultimate salvation and secure salvation for others too . And this is called the right of intercession which the Quran gives to those who are the real witness of the truth :

Of those whom people invoke besides God , none possesses the right of intercession , save those who have stood as witness to the truth as they have realized it . 43 : 86

Here is an extract from the sermon delivered by Imam Husain when leaving Mecca for Iraq ;

“All praise is God's ; His Will is final ; there is no power or might but His and by Him . His Grace and blessings and peace be on His Holy Prophet . Death for the children of Adam is nothing

, but like an ornament round the neck of a bride . My love and longings to join the company of my predecessors is as vehement as the love and longings of Yakoob to meet his son Yoosuf . A place has been chosen (by God) for my martyrdom towards which I am proceeding . I am seeing my body is cut into pieces by the wolves of the desert at the place between Navawees and Karbala . There is no , escape from what is decreed by the Divine Pen . We , the members of the Holy House , are pleased with whatever pleases God . His pleasure is ours . We tolerate his ordeals and He pays us in full the rewards awaiting the forebearers . Nothing detaches us from the Holy Prophet . Our attachment to him is so great that it places us with him in the sublime and highest stage of life hereafter and God will make him (the Holy Prophet) rejoice our being with him and God shall fulfill His promise with us . Whosoever is ready to lay down his life for us in order to come in communion with God , let him accompany us . I am proceeding next morning” .

These few words will prove undoubtedly how clear was the scene of Karbala before Husain and his companions and how he desired to acquaint his companions with the aim and object of his movement , which was a covenant with God undertaken by him since

his birth . Not only Husain was witnessing the trials and sufferings awaiting him but also his sister Zainab was fully acquainted with the tragedy which they had to bear in order to save Islam from being ruined . She told her nephew Ali bn Husain :

“After the martyrdom of Husain , the enemy thought that by their ruthless and inhuman action they would succeed in destroying our cause , but as I have been told by my father Ali (A . S) and Grandfather the Holy Prophet , the tragedy will result in nothing but the destruction of the enemy and the revival of our cause . This place where Husain's body is left unburied will become the everlasting center of attraction for the faithfuls to visit and pay their homage to the great sacrifice (Zebh Azeem) offered to God by the House of the Holy Prophet” .

A great thinker had paid his homage with these words :

“If others have the honor of being martyred , martyrdom is honored by having Husain martyred” .

Day referred to here is not the ordinary day of 24 hours known to us . It is the Day wherein God has approved Islam as a Deen to us and according to other verses of the Quran , the only Deen approved by God from eternity to eternity is Islam , to which every heavenly and terrestrial being has , willingly or unwillingly submitted . No religion other than Islam is acceptable to Allah . And emphatically enough the person “Mohammed” was commissioned with this universal grace , And Ali was made identical in degree of perfection so he was ordained as Mohammed's vicegerent . The result is that the Day referred to here is the Day or rather the stage wherein the creation begins with Mohammed and Ali . The perfection of Deen , and bounty of God and approval of Islam for all worlds coincide with the creation of the two identical entities , Mohammed and ‘Ali . Thus the Day obviously transcends all our concepts of time and space and refers to the highest stage of ascension Me’raaj as pointed out by the 6th Imam Ja’far as­Saadiq , a stage which is identical with the starting point of Descension . And the Day of Ghadeer has been honored as one of the manifestations of this Day . Whenever the Holy Prophet announced his Prophethood he declared Ali's vicegerency , as both are identical with each other at every stage .

Moreover one should know that this Day , mentioned twice in the

same verse , is a sequence to Sublime Day .

There are various manifestations of the perfection of Deen (religion) as such it is not out of place when the perfection of Deen is declared with all its aspects , the Satan and his followers (infidels) give up hope . All the clean things have been declared lawful for the believers and the unclean things unlawful .

There is another point which needs our attention that this verse (5 : 4) begins with the declaration of the unlawful food but after the middle of it , “This day are despaired those who disbelieve” and “This day have I perfected for you your religion” the clause “But whosoever is helplessly forced by hunger not inclined to sin” implies that unlawful food should be avoided except in the case of complete absence of lawful food . The structure of the verse draws the attention of the reader that he is permitted to obey the unlawful authority to the minimum extent as the case of unlawful food where and when circumstances compel him . To eat a dead body and obey the order of an unlawful authority are permissible when lawful is not available . This verse refers to the perfection of Deen by God .

The verse 67 of the same chapter should normally be placed next to the above verse (This Day have I perfected for you , your religion) because Perfection (Takmeel) by God precedes , and next is Conveying of the Message (Tableeg) by the Holy Prophet

.

(O our Apostle Mohammed ! ) Deliver thou what hath been sent down unto thee from thy Lord ; And if thou do it not , then thou hast not delivered His message ; And surely will God protect thee from (the mischief) of men ,

Verily , God guideth not an infidel people .

5 : 67

God is the Divine testimony to prove all that God proclaims regarding Himself and the prophet . The Quran has challenged mankind at several places to bring the like of it if they have any doubt about its being a Word of God . As such the Quran claims to be the self­evident proof of its Divine status .

Therefore wherever in the Quran , God is presented as the witness to the truth of the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet or other subjects it refers to the Quran itself . To this self­evident status of the Quran , Ali (A . S) refers briefly in Nahjul Balaagha :

Surely God has manifested to His creatures in His Book” , (with angelic force)

: 28th Safar 49 A . H at the age of 63

How Martyred : Assassinated by Abdur­Rahmaan b . Muljim while Leading morning prayer

Place of Burial : Najaf

2nd Imam Al­Mujtaba

Name : Hasan b . Ali

Date of Birth : 15 Ramazaan 3 A . H

Date Martyred : 18th Safar 49 A . H at the age of 47

How Martyred : Poisoned by Jo’da b . Asha’th at the instance of Moa’awya b . Abi Sofyaan

Place of Burial : Madina

3rd Imam Syyed ash­Shohadaa

Name : Husain b . Ali

Date of Birth : 3rd Sha’baan 4 . A . H

Date Martyred : 10th Moharram 61 A . H at the age of 57

How Martyred : With 72 followers by Yazeed Army

Place of Burial : Karbala / Iraq

4th Imam Zainul A’abideen

Name : Ali b . Al­Husain

Date of Birth : Jamaadul­Awwal

Date Martyred : 25th Moharram 95 A . H at the age of 58

How Martyred : Poisoned by Waleed b . Abdil­Malik

Place of Burial : Madina

5th Imam Al­Baaqir

Name : Mohammed b . Ali

Date of Birth : 1st Rajab 57 A . H

Date Martyred : 7th Zil­Hujja 114 A . H at the age of 57

How Martyred : Poisoned by Hishaam b . Abdil­Malik

Place of Burial : Madina

6th Imam As­Saadiq

Name : Ja’far b . Mohammed

Date of Birth : Rabiul­Awwal 83 A . H

Date Martyred : 15th Rajab 148 A . H at the age of 65

How Martyred : Poisoned by Mansoor

Place of Burial : Madina

7th Imam Al­Kaazim

Name : Moosa b . Ja’far

Date of Birth : 7th Safar 128 A . H

Date Martyred

: 25th Rajab 183 A . H at the age of 55

How Martyred : Poisoned by Haroon ar­Rasheed

Place of Burial : Kazimain / Iraq

8th Imam Ar­Riza

Name : Ali b . Moosa

Date of Birth : 11th Zil­Qo’da 148

Date Martyred : 17th Safar 202 A . H at the age of 55

How Martyred : Poisoned by Haroon ar­Rasheed

Place of Burial : Mash­had / Iran

9th Imam At­Taqi

Name : Mohammed bn Moosa

Date of Birth : 7th Rajab 195 A . H

Date Martyred : 10th Zil­Qo’da 220 A . H at the age of 25

How Martyred : Poisoned

Place of Burial : Kazimain / Iraq

10th Imam An­Naqi

Name : Ali b . Mohammed

Date of Birth : 2nd Rajab 213 A . H

Date Martyred : 3rd Rajab 254 A . H

Age at Martyrdom : 42

How Martyred : Poisoned by Mo’tamad b . Motawakkil

Place of Burial : Saamarra

11th Imam Al­Askari

Name : Hasan b . Ali

Date of Birth : Rabiu ath­Thaani 232 A . H

Date Martyred : 8th Rabiul­Awwal 260 A . H

Age at Martyrdom : 28

How Martyred : Poisoned by Mo’tamad b . Motawakkil

Place of Burial : Saamarra

Last Imam AL­Mahdi

Name : Mohammed b . Hasan

Date of Birth : 15th Sha’baan 256 A . H

Living (May Allah hasten his noble reappearance)

(A . S . ) Addressed to Ma’moon ar-Rasheed

as soon as committed .

3- There is no precise declaration in the Quran about Adam being «Nabi = prophet or Rasool = divine messenger» but the relevant verses in Ch . 2 , Baqrah assert clearly that God directly taught Adam 'names' and Adam taught these names to angles . Angles prostrated before Adam due to his knowledge of names and the Satan rebelled against Him and was inflicted by the wrath of Allah . Adam , after his descent , received word of prayer from God directly and turned towards Him to redress his destitution and was blessed . In the light of those verses it is an un-deniable fact that Adam was Divine Vicegerent andProphet .

4- «Fear» means Awe felt due to the gravity and grace of the object . «Khashiat» in the Quran almost always conveys the above sense .

5- The process of divine selection begins with Adam and reaches to Noah and Ibrahim and from Ibrahim it divides into two branches of Ibrahim progeny i . e . Ale Ibrahim and Ale Imran (Israiletes) . Though in this particular verse name of Ibrahim is not mentioned but Mohammed (S . A . S . ) being in the lineage of Ibrahim , the process of Divine selection can rightly be attributed to him (Ibrahim) . Here , in our discussion on this point it should be borne in mind that every member in the line of Mohammed-e-Mustafa (S . A . S . ) is not divinely selected person , because

in accordance to the law of inheritance the excellence of posterity is the result of ancestor's (i . e . root's) excellence but the excellence of ancestors (i . e . of root) is not a guarantee for the excellence of the posterity (branches) . At various places in the Quran it is asserted that Ale Ibrahim are divinely selected beings but this particular phrase in this particular context refers to the infallible persons from Ale Ibrahim (i . e . 14 infallabils = Masooms) .

6 - This term 'Rijs' has been also applied to those who are lacking sound reasoning .

And (Although) It is not for any soul to believe except By God's Permission : 10 : 100

وما كان لنفس أن تؤمن إلا بإذن الله

While casteth He cIeanliness (of infidelity) on those who use not (their) sense . 33 : 33

ويجعل الرجس على الذين لا يعقلون

7- It is noteworthy that the learned translators of the Quran did not select one word . The words used for Rijs are abomination , uncleanliness , impurity , loathsome filth and dirt , which they deemed appropriate according to the context . Moreover it should be realized that Rijs in its usages signifies one and the same sense as the author has explained in his works .