SERMON 87
About the division of the community
into factions
So now, certainly, Allah did not break the neck of
any unruly tyrant in this world except after allowing him time and opportunity and did not
join the broken bone of any people (ummah) until He did not inflict calamity and distress
upon them. Even less than what sufferings and misfortunes have yet to fall upon you or
have already befallen you are enough for giving lessons. Every man with a heart is not
intelligent, every ear does not listen and every eye does not see.
I wonder, and there is no reason why I should not
wonder, about the faults of these groups who have introduced alterations in their
religious pleas, who do not move on the footsteps of their Prophet nor follow the actions
of the vicegerent. They do not believe in the unknown and do not avoid the evil. They act
on the doubts and tread in (the way of) their passions. For them good is whatever they
consider good and evil is whatever they consider evil. Their reliance for resolving
distresses is on themselves. Their confidence in regard to dubious matters is on their own
opinions as if every one of them is the Leader (Imam) of himself. Whatever he has decided
himself he considers it to have been taken through reliable sources and strong factors.
.Forward to Sermon 88.Back to Sermon 86.