Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
2

Arabia before
proclamation of Prophethood

I praise Allah
seeking completion of His Blessing, submitting to His
Glory and expecting safety from committing His sins. I
invoke His help being in need of His Sufficiency (of
protection). He whom He guides does not get astray, He
with whom He is hostile gets no protection. He whom He
supports does not remain needy. Praise is most weighty of
all that is weighed and the most valuable of all that is
treasured.

I stand
witness that there is no god but Allah the One. He has no
like. My testimony has been tested in its frankness, and
its essence is our belief. We shall cling to it for ever
till we live and shall store it facing the tribulations
that overtake us because it is the foundation stone of
Belief (iman) and the first step towards good actions and
Divine pleasure. It is the means to keep Satan away.

I also stand
witness that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) is His slave and
His Prophet. Allah sent him with the illustrious religion,
effective emblem, written Book,(1)
effulgent light, sparkling gleam and decisive injunction
in order to dispel doubts, present clear proofs,
administer warning through signs and to warn of
punishments. At that time people had fallen in vices
whereby the rope of religion had been broken, the pillars
of belief had been shaken, principles had been sacrileged,
system had become topsy turvy, openings were narrow,
passage was dark, guidance was unknown and darkness
prevailed.

Allah was
being disobeyed, Satan was given support and Belief had
been forsaken. As a result the pillars of religion fell
down, its traces could not be discerned, its passages had
been destroyed and its streets had fallen into decay.
People obeyed Satan and treaded his paths. They sought
water from his watering places. Through them Satan's
emblems got flying and his standard was raised in vices
which trampled the people under their hoofs, and treaded
upon them with their feet. The vices stood on their toes
(in full stature) and the people immersed in them were
strayed, perplexed, ignorant and seduced as though in a
good house(2) with bad
neighbours. Instead of sleep they had wakefulness and for
antimony they had tears in the eyes. They were in a land
where the learned were in bridle (keeping their mouths
shut) while the ignorant were honoured.

In the same
sermon Amir al-mu'minin referred to Al an-Nabi (the
Household of the Holy Prophet) as under:

They are the
trustees of His secrets, shelter for His affairs, source
of knowledge about Him, centre of His wisdom, valleys for
His books and mountains of His religion. With them Allah
straightened the bend of religion's back and removed the
trembling of its limbs.

In the same
Sermon he spoke about the hypocrites

They sowed
vices, watered them with deception and harvested
destruction.

(Alu Muhammad)

None in the
Islamic community can be taken at par with the Progeny(3)
of the Prophet (Alu Muhammad). One who was under their
obligation cannot be matched with them. They are the
foundation of religion and pillar of Belief. The forward
runner has to turn back to them while the follower has to
overtake them. They possess the chief characteristics for
vicegerency. In their favour exists the will and
succession (of the Prophet). This is the time when right
has returned to its owner and diverted to its centre of
return.

(1).
The Preserved Record.

(2).
Good House means 'Mecca' while the bad neighbours mean the
'Unbelievers of Quraysh.'

(3).
About the Progeny of the Prophet Amir al-mu'minin has said
that no person in the world can be brought at par with
them, nor can any one be deemed their equal in sublimity,
because the world is overladen with their obligations and
has been able to secure eternal blessings only through
their guidance. They are the corner stone and foundation
of religion and the sustenance for its life and survival.
They are such strong pillars of knowledge and belief that
they can turn away the stormy flow of doubt and suspicion.
They are such middle course among the paths of excess and
backwardness that if some one goes far towards excess and
exaggeration or falls behind then unless he comes back or
steps forward to that middle course he cannot be on the
path of Islam. They possess all the characteristics which
give the superiority in the right for vicegerency and
leadership. Consequently, no one else in the ummah enjoys
the right of patronage and guardianship. That is why the
Prophet declared them his vicegerents and successors.
About will and succession the commentator Ibn Abi'l-Hadid
Mutazili writes that there can be no doubt about the
vicegerency of Amir al-mu'minin but succession cannot
imply succession in position although the Shiite sect has
so interpreted it. It rather implies succession of
learning. Now, if according to him succession is taken to
imply succession in learning even he does not seem to
succeed in achieving his object, because even by this
interpretation the right of succeeding the Prophet does
not devolve on any other person. When it is agreed that
learning is the most essential requirement of khilafah
(caliphate) because the most important functions of the
Prophet's Caliph consist of dispensation of justice,
solving problems of religious laws, clarifying intricacies
and administration of religious penalties. If these
functions are taken away from the Prophet's deputy his
position will come down to that of a worldly ruler. He
cannot be regarded as the pivot of religious authority.
Thereforه either we should keep governmental authority
separate from Prophet's vicegerency or accept the
successor of Prophet's knowledge to suit that position.

The
interpretation of Ibn Abi'l-Hadid could be acceptable if
Amir al-mu'minin had uttered this sentence alone, but
observing that it was uttered soon after Ali's (p.b.u.h.)
recognition as Caliph and just after it the sentence
"Right has returned to its owner" exists, this
interpretation of his seems baseless. Rather, the
Prophet's will cannot imply any other will except that for
vicegerency and caliphate, and succession would imply not
succession in property nor in knowledge because this was
not an occasion to mention it here but it must mean the
succession in the right leadership which stood proved as
from Allah not only on the ground of kinship but on the
ground of qualities of perfection.