Chapter 1
Prophet Muhammad‘s mission to appoint Imam Ali P as his successor was a divine
order as can be seen in the excerpt from a book called Verses of Ghadeer below:
“In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All Praise belongs to Allah alone, and honorable and perfect blessings be upon
Muhammad and his infallible, immaculate Progeny.
Unfortunately, scholars have not regarded adequately three questions concerning
the Prophets’ missions. The first question is the conveyance of the Lord’s
message being the original mission of the Prophets. This point is in fact the pivot
on which the Prophets’ missions and actions are grounded, and is purposed for
substantiating the Lord’s claim on His servants. A Prophet is then a conveyor of
an epistle; he fears the Lord and works for evading His ire and torment in case he
violates the instructions. For this reason, the Prophets were wont to call people to
witness on the perfection of their conveyance. In addition, they are not asked to
enforce people to admit and accept their promulgations and, similarly, not
admitted to submit people to their missions.
As a second rule, coercion in matters of the divine religion is rejected. It is
obligatory to preserve people’s freedom of believing or refutation. They are,
likewise, free to commit themselves to the religion or to deviate. This is the very
meaning of opening the school of life in this world and testing people in guidance
or deviation by giving them the ability to do good and evil, and the result will be
declared on another stage and in another world. Drawing people to the religion by
force is contrary to the principles of this divine test as well as to the freedom of
choice.
The second question is the Prophets’ goals being to minister to the grand issues
of people and societies. A messenger of Allah is compared to an engineer
specialized in the construction of cultures, societies and history. The Prophets’
missions should thus be looked upon from these angles. A scholar must ask
himself how people’s cultures and history should have been if a certain Prophet
(S) had not been given the Divine Mission, and what changes had been made
when that Prophet (S) conveyed the Lord’s Message.
In other words, we should wonder how paganism would have looked like
nowadays if Prophet Abraham had not been chosen for conveying the Divine
Mission or if he had not established the principles of monotheism. We should also
wonder what the situation in the Arab lands in particular and the whole world in
general would have been if Prophet Muhammad (S)1 had not been chosen for the
Divine Mission and what would have occurred had he not perfected the belief of
monotheism giving it its current form.
The Holy Prophet (S)’s mission was to establish a nation and to lead it to occupy
an advanced, if not pioneer, position amongst other nations, and this formation
has been proved the best in content and structure. It is undeniable that the Holy
Prophet (S) was keen on giving the leadership of the Ummah2 to his Ahl al-Bayt3
(a.s.)4 as they have been the choice of Allah Who purified them thoroughly5 and
gave them His Book in heritage exclusively.6 If people reject the Ahl al-Bayt’s
divinely commissioned Imamate,7 it will then make no difference for anyone to
hold it, in order that Allah might bring about a matter that was to be done, which
is the advent of the Concealed Imam (al-Mahdi the Expected).
The third question is that the Holy Prophet (S)’s personality is indisputably
present and effective, yet limited and minute, in the process of the conveyance.
None can deny the fact that the Holy Prophet (S) was intelligent, genius, worthy
of leadership and free to act as well as divinely selected, though his own identity
is restricted during the promulgation of the Mission. What is meant by identity is
not the opposite of mechanism, since the Holy Prophet (S)’s obedience to what
was revealed to him was the result of perfect satisfaction, faith and observance.
The area in which the Holy Prophet (S) was allowed to practice his personal
inference formed a narrow point in proportion to the large area of his practices.
Hence, he was just like an engineer whose manager binds him with giving effects
to a large project. This engineer is satisfied that he should contact his manager
frequently so as to evade any mistake and,
meanwhile, he works, thinks and carries on working; still he contacts the center
so that he receives the strategies and consults saving from problems. This
example is, however, a highly microscopic view of the Holy Prophet (S)’s mission.
Regarding the Center of the Holy Prophet (S), Almighty Allah is unparalleled in
entity and deeds. Depending upon the previous, any study of the Holy Prophet
(S)’s life account should regard three matters;
(1) the Holy Prophet (S)’s mission was to carry what was revealed to him, (2) his
task was to build a nation and help it find its way in history and,
(3) he ought to follow the Lord’s instructions in each and every action.
A deep look at the Holy Prophet (S)’s life proves the three aforementioned points.
Almighty Allah has obviously managed the Holy Prophet (S)’s affairs from start to
finish, and the Holy Prophet (S) obeyed his Lord’s instructions submissively.
Therefore, the results of his deeds achieved an extraordinary attainment that
exceeded all the intellectualities and senses of sociologists.
The Holy Prophet (S) created an international, civilized and ideological extension
in a relative period with the least material and humane casualties. Despite the
truculence of the Holy Prophet (S)’s foes that waged fierce wars against him, the
casualties of both sides did not attain two thousand victims, since it was the Lord
who supervised the Holy Prophet (S)’s management.
The Holy Qur’an was uninterruptedly revealed to the Holy Prophet since the first
day of his Mission up to a few days before his decease. Archangel Gabriel visited
him frequently with Qur’anic Verses, revelation, instructions, directives, answers
and like things. There are innumerable examples on the Divine presence and
intervention to save a situation in the life of the Holy Prophet (S) proving that he
would not have behaved personally except when he applied the general lines and
carried on the detailed commandments drawn by the Divine Revelation. On many
occasions, the Holy Prophet (S), having waited for the Revelation, would not act
personally. He is reported to have said, ‘I have been given the Book and its like.’
‘Its like’ stands for the instructions carried by Archangel Gabriel that later on took
the form of Hadith. This means that his traditions were also revealed to him, just
like the Holy Qur’an. Besides, these instructions included his personal affairs
such as marriage, divorce, dress, eating, sleeping, ablution and even brushing the
teeth. The Holy Prophet (S)’s endowment, detriment, cherishing, malice,
residence, touring, satisfaction and rage; all were determined by revealed
instructions.
One day, a man asked Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) whether the Holy Prophet (S)’s
nomination of Imam `Ali as his successor and the Muslims’ next leader had been a
personal conduct or a divine directive. ‘Woe is you!’ Imam al-Baqir said angrily,
‘The Holy Prophet (S) was too reverent to say what Allah did not order him to say.
Like the prayers, zakat, fasting and Hajj, the Holy Prophet (S)’s nominating Imam
`Ali for his vicegerencey was a divine order.’
The question of holding the Holy Prophet (S)’s position after his decease is
simple, not complicated. The Ahl al-Bayt and their Shi`ah –followers- claim the
Holy Prophet (S)’s nominating Imam `Ali (a.s.) as Muslims’ next leader and it is
thus unacceptable for people of Quraysh, or any others, to choose anyone else
since the Holy Prophet (S)’s nomination was only the conveyance of the Lord’s
instruction. People of Quraysh, unfortunately, denied this nomination a few hours
after the Holy Prophet (S)’s demise claiming that the Holy Prophet (S)’s
‘authority’ should be distributed among the twenty-three clans of Quraysh.
Therefore, they selected Abu-Bakr who belonged to the Qurayshite clan of Taym
ibn Murrah for the leadership. This man nominated `Umar ibn al-Khattab who
belonged to the Qurayshite clan of `Adi as his successor. By the so-called Shura
(the Advisory Council), `Umar nominated another Qurayshite man who belonged
to the clan of Umayyah ibn `Abd-Shams, namely `Uthman ibn `Affan, as his
successor.”
This excerpt shows that the Quraysh didn’t want Imam Ali P to be selected as the
successor of the Prophet Mohommad S. Their denying the Prophet’s S order was
a denial of Almighty Allah’s order - which makes them hypocritical companion of
the prophet Mohommad S.
In the introduction and Chapter 1, we discussed how Almighty Allah had decreed
an order on Prophet Mohommad S to appoint Ali ibn e Abu Talib P as his
successor.
In chapter 2 we will look at the importance of loving imam Ali P as a believer and
Caliph based on the Ahadees revealed to Prophet Mohommad S by Allah.
In the name of Allah the Beneficient The Merciful
Forty-Seven Sayings About Imam Ali (A.S) From Prophet (P.B.U.H)
1) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “The title of the believer's book is love for Ali
(A.S).” Al-Manaqib of Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 243; Tarikh Baghdad of Al-Khatib Al-
Baghdadi, 4/410; Al-Jami^ of Al-Sayuti, 2/145; Yanabi^ Al-Mawda.
2) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “There is no sword but Dhul-Fiqar, and there is no
man but Ali (A.S).” Mustadrak Al-Sahihain of Al-Hakim Al-Nisabori, 2/385; Sunan
Al-Bayhaqi, 3/376; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 197; Al-Tabari, 2/514; Al-Riyadh Al-Nudhra,
2/190.
3) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “The carrier of my flag in this life and the Hereafter
is Ali (A.S).” Kenz Al-Omal, 6/122; Al-Tabari, 2/201; Al-Khawarizmi, 250; Al-
Fadha’il of Ahmad, 253; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 42/200.
4) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “My Lord commanded me to close all the doors
except the door of Ali (A.S).” Al-Khasa’is of Al-Nisa’i, 13; Mustadrak Al-Sahihain
of Al-Hakim Al-Nisabori, 3/125; Al-Tirmidhi, 13/173; Al-Bayhaqi, 7/65; Yanabi^ Al-
Mawda, 282; Musnad Ahmad, 4/369; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 245; Yanabi^ Al-Mawda,
126.
5) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “The truest believers are three: the believer during
the time of Al Ya-Sin, the believer during the time of Pharaoh, and the best of all,
Ali (A.S).” Al-Manaqib of Ahmad, 194, 239; Kenz Al-Omal, 5/31; Al-Jami^ of Al-
Suyuti, 2/83; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 245; Yanabi^ Al-Mawda, 126.
6) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “The one who wants to live my life and die my
death will attach himself to Ali (A.S).” Musnad of Ahmad, 5/94; Mustadrak Al-
Sahihain of Al-Hakim Al-Nisabori, 3/128; Kenz Al-Omal, 6/217; Al-Tabarani.
7) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “The caller will call out on the Day of Judgment, ‘O
Muhammad, blessed be your father, and Ibrahim, and blessed be your brother, Ali
(A.S).” Al-Fadha’il of Ahmad, 253; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 67; Al-Khawarizmi, 83; Al-
Riyadh Al-Nudhra, 2/201.
8) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “Every prophet has an executor and inheritor, and
my executor and inheritor is Ali (A.S).” Kenz Al-Omal, 6/158; Tarikh Baghdad of
Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi, 11/173; Shawahid Al-Tanzil, 2/223; Yanabi^ Al-Mawda,
94.
9) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “Dear God, don’t take my life until you have shown
me the face of Ali (A.S).” Al-Riyadh Al-Nudhra, 2/201; Al-Fadha’il of Ahmad, 253;
Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 67; Akhtab Khawarizm, 83.
10) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “We were created from the same tree, I and Ali
(A.S).” Al-Tirmidhi, 13/178; Ibn Al-Maghazeli, 122; Asad Al-Ghaba, 4/26; Al-
Riyadh Al-Nudhra, 2/216.
11) The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, “The most knowledgeable person in my nation
after me is Ali (A.S).” Manaqib Al-Imam Ali Ibn Abi TAlib (A.S) of Ibn Al-Maghazeli
Al-Shafi^i.