IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE
COMPASSIONATE, THE ALL MERCIFUL

Surely your Lord is Allah, Who created the
heavens and the earth in six periods of time, and He is
firm in power; He throws the veil of night over the day
which it pursues incessantly; and (He created) the sun
and the moon and the stars, made subservient by His
command; surely His is the creation and the command;
blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

(Holy Quran: Araf: 54)

The discussions put forth here are so that we may
consider and come to understand what role the Imams (a.s)
had after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w), in the preservation
of Islams elements and or in other words, what did they
do to turn Islam over and return it to the community,
removing the alterations that had been made therein. How
did the Al-Mighty God by way of the Imams holy war bring
a faded Islam back to life? On another occasion, how did
what was altered, concealed or changed return to the
Human society being made available to all?

By the grace of the Al-Mighty God it will be made
clear that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) had (unity in action
and aim) with Imam Hujjat ibn-al Hassan (a.s) Imam Sadeq
(a.s) and finally with every one of the Imams. It will
become evident that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) with regard
to his actions and their effect on the community was of
one class with the Holy Imams (a.s), no others belonging
to this class.

This discussion, being put forth in this manner in our
society for the first time needs an introduction which
will be presented in a few lectures. Now, as a foundation
for that introduction it is necessary for us to study
carefully a few Islamic terms. An understanding of these
terms will also be of help in obtaining a better grasp of
all of our remarks in the following lectures.

Of course there are numerous Islamic terms which must
be studied in all of their aspects and parts for an
understanding of their meanings and thus an accurate
complete understanding of Islam. However, because of our
immediate necessities for this discussion we will discuss
only a few of the most important terms, being:
Elah, Abd, Rab and
Islam

1- Elah is derived (rooted) from
Elaha accorded with Kataba taken
as Abada i.e. he worshipped and
Elaha as worshipped one accorded with
Ketab means written

The difference between Elah and
Allah is that Allah is the proper name for
The Exalted God but Elah is not
proper name. In fact Allah is a proper distinguishing
noun, while Elah is a common general noun. To
clarify this matter it is helpful to pay attention to
this example; Tehran is the capital of Iran. If we say
capital it is certain that other than Tehran, Iran has no
other capital. But capital is not the proper name for
this city because many other cities throughout the world
are also called by this name.

With regard to this we repeat that Allah is the name
of The Exalted God but « is the word for
anything worshipped by mankind.

The Holy Quran quotes the Pharoah as saying:

If you will take a god
besides Me, I will most certainly make you one of the
imprisoned.(26:29)

Therefore god is the name for every deity, or in other
words any being that is worshipped; any being man praises
or any being man is humble before or works to gain his
satisfaction.

In the Holy Quran we reed

Have you then considered
him who takes his low desires for his god.(45:23)

Making his desire his god means that he acts for his
hearts and souls desires. If man works for Allahs
satisfaction then they have made Allah their God (deity),
but if for their souls desire they have made the soul
their god (deity).

Therefore, (Elah) God is the deity that we worship,
obey, submit to, and praise. Such a being becomes (Elah)
god and (Mabood) worshipped one, and its obedient is
thus Abd worshipper. 1 there is a remark by
Imam Javad (a.s) on the meaning of worshipper
which greatly enlightens and completes our understanding
of this term. It explains when man becomes a worshipper
and under what circumstances something takes the title
Elah god or deity.

The Imam (a.s) says:

If someone listens to the
words of a speaker, he has worshipped him. In the event
that this speaker speaks from God the listener has
worshipped God. And if he speaks for Satan he has
worshipped Satan. 2

In this discussion with reference to one important
point, the difference between the school of Ahlul-bait
(Shiite) and the school of the Caliphs (Sunni) is
clarified. This point being that none of the Ahlul-bait
ever said I say, rather they would say the
Prophet (s.a.w) said or God ordained. 3 Amir al-Mumeneen
Ali (a.s) never said: I say 4 but the second
Caliph Omar would say I say. It was he who
addressed the Muslims saying:

There were two types of temporary marriage
lawful during the Prophets time, but I prohibit them and
declare them unlawful, and I will punish their agents and
have them flogged. 5

Imam Sadeq (a.s) also did not say: I expound thus, I
vote thus or my personal opinion is this. On the contrary
he would say: Allah ordained, or Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w) said thus. However Abu Hanifa would say: I
expound this or I have this opinion or vote as such. 6

During the first century or so our scholars were only
narrators who narrated from the Imam. Todays scholars
also dont say: I say. They are canonists,
means those who understand the laws of God and the
Prophet, and for the explanation of each law in Islamic
religious law they refer to the Imams remarks, the Holy
Prophets traditions and the Holy Quran. As such, whatever
they do is towards understanding the law of God, and are
not application of their own personal opinion, style and
enterprise. Therefore, the person who has followed Imam
Sadeq (a.s) or obeys the scholars of his school has
listened to Gods commands. He is Gods, servant and he has
worshipped God. But on the other hand those who listen to
persons who say: I say, I expound thus, I vote and I
create laws, have not been Gods, servants having made a
weak despised person their deity or god.

2- Lord is the most important Islamic term in this
lecture necessary for us to understand. At this time we
will be using this term more frequently and wish to
search regarding it. We repeat the phrase Praise be
to Allah, Lord of the Worlds very frequently but
for many of us the exact meaning of this is not clear.
What does the term (Lord) mean in this phrase? We dont
know. Certainly until the meaning of Lord is not
clarified God cannot be recognized nor the Holy Prophet
(s.a.w) or Imam (a.s) and neither can the monotheist be
separated from the polytheist nor their differences
understood.

First of all lets see what this word means in the
Arabic language. Ragheb Isfahani the famous linguist
says:

Lord is originally an infinitive means to train or
educate. The person who trains a thing, developing and
nurturing it from its first stage of development to its
last, is this Lord. 7 This is one aspect of the word
lord. In addition to training and nurturing it also has
the meaning of ownership. 8 As such, we may say that a
Lord is the owner, manager and trainer of a thing. As for
someone who has a poultry farm, he takes care of the eggs
until they hatch, gives the chicks water and seed, and
immunizes them from possible sickness until they become
full-grown chickens. He who is the owner and breeder of
these chickens is also seen as their Lord. Lord of
the Worlds thus means the God and nourisher of all
of the worlds inhabitants. He is both their creator
owner, and their trainer and developer. He was the
possessor of their wills from the first stage of their
development and nurtures them to the last stage of
completion.

Consequently The Exalted God is called
Lord. Also another example would be that the owner of a
house who also manages it and is responsible for all of
its internal matters is also called Lord.
However the difference between the two is that god may be
called Lord in a general way and without being added to
something. According to the Holy Qurans interpretation:

(A fair land and an indulgent Lord!) 9

But in other instances lord is mentioned in addition
to something else. Lord of the chicken meaning raiser and
owner of chickens, Lord of the house means owner and
manager of the house, and Lord of the tree meaning the
cultivator and owner of tree.

If we look at the precise meaning of Lord
we will be able to comprehend the reason for the prophets
battles with the evil or rebellious persons of their time
and know what these conflicts were all about. The history
of divine religions shows that usually those who stood in
the prophets way, did so on the matter of
sovereignty not creator because
the majority accepted Allah as being creator
of all beings. They may not have referred to Him by the
name Allah for example calling him
Jehovah. Such being the Jewish name for God.
But our discussion is not about by what name they called
god. We only want to say that they all agreed that the
creator of all beings was God but they
differed on the matter of Lord.

For the clarification of this comment we will mention
a few examples from the Holy Quran and study a few of the
confrontations of the prophets with their people or the
rebellious persons of their time so we may recognize and
understand similar confrontations in the Islamic
community.

The Holy Quran has time and time again told us the
story of Moses (a.s) and his people and their conflicts
with the tyrannical Pharoah and the evil persons of his
time. We may read about a sensitive part of this story in
chapter 79 Al-Naziat of the Holy Quran where Moses
(a.s) confronts the Pharoah with a few divine verses and
the Pharoah assembles a vast group of Egyptians
proclaiming:

I (Pharoah) am your Lord
the Highest! 10

Meaning that if a chicken has a Lord, being he who is
its owner and breeder and who enacts laws dealing with
the life and growth of the chicken he breeds I am in that
very sense your Lord. What being is the
Lord of an object, animal or Human Being? It
is he who provides the necessities of that which he is
lord of, takes care of his requirements and determines
the laws and rules for his life and growth. It was here
that the Pharoah said:

Isnt it true that the
things that you have, your food, your water, what you eat
and drink is mine and comes to you from the extents of my
property? 11

Therefore, Law which is the second feature
of sovereignty or Lordship must be obtained
from me. I supply your necessities therefore I must be
your absolute law and Leader.

The Emperor of Egypt, the Pharoah, was the owner of
all of Egypt at that time (from where?) and everyone who
worked was seen as his worker and servant. Therefore, it
appears as if he possessed one pre-requisite for Lordship
which was providing food, bread, water and the peoples
needs, claiming that all of this is my property and I
give to you. Thus, I must enact the laws as well and you
must live according to my will and desires. At any rate,
I must make laws and I must ascertain the law and rules
for life. I say that the Israelites must be slaves, their
sons killed and their daughters remain, and it certainly
must be accepted. I say that the Israelites must be
inferior and the native Egyptians must be the masters and
this certainly must be enacted. I say that a certain way
and is necessary that it becomes so.

The lordship the Pharoah claimed was not in the sense
that I am the creator of the heavens and earth and
I am the creator of man and all other things. On
the contrary, what he said was that You must work
to attain my satisfaction and to execute my intentions
and act according to my laws because I am your Lord the
Highest!.

What does Moses say in reply to this logic? What is
his message and how does he confront the Pharoah? God
commands Moses and Aaron:

«O Moses and Aaron! Go to the
Pharoah and tell him that you are messengers of your Lord
who has nurtured you and brought you to maturity! O
Pharoah, you who claim being the peoples highest and
greatest Lord are greatly mistaken and have a vain, false
claim. We have with us verses and signs from your Lord»12

Of course the Pharoah who recognizes no Lord for
himself rejects their statement and asks:

And who is your lord O
Moses

«You dont accept my Sovereignty and say that it belongs
to another and that law and judgement must be received
from him! Who is this other?»13

Moses replies:

Our Lord is He Who gave to
everything its creation, then guided it (to its
goal) «Our Lord is He who created everything and
ascertained their way of life and rules for living, and
in other words guided him while every being must live by
the law he made for them»14

The Pharoah sees Mosess words as being sound and
fears that these ideas will take root among the people.
Thus he proceeds to create doubt so that erroneous
thoughts would come to be. So he says: (What then is the
state of the generations of old? Did they also have a
lord? Did this lord of which you claim also have a
commander for them?) Moses replies and in his reply
stresses Gods sovereignty: (My lord knows of their state
and their past. He neither ers nor forgets).

These events continue and again the Pharoah tries
another trick to break Mosess, logic and to rally the
peoples sentiments against him. He then says to him: (You
have come with your magic to run us out of our country
and take over our homeland and therefore we will also use
magic to defeat you) The Pharoahs magician came to fight
Moses (a.s) with all of their might, but The Lord
of the Worlds power was apparent and all of their
tricks were defeated. The magicians who were better
informed of magic than the other people flung themselves
down prostrate in the face of the lords power saying:

We believe in the Lord of Haroun
and Musa 15

Throughout this story the name Lord is
repeated, and he is mentioned by both sides. Moses (a.s)
speaks of him. The magicians come to believe in him. The
Pharoah does not accept his existence. As such it becomes
apparent to us that the conflicts between the two sides
of Satan and God the Merciful, Gods friends and His
enemies, the prophets and the evil, rebellious persons
were mostly over matters of Lordship or Sovereignty and
from who we must accept law, order, rule and judgement.

During the lifetime of Gods great Prophet Abraham
(a.s), there were also these same types of conflicts and
struggles:

Have you not considered
him (Namrud) who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord,
because Allah had given him the kingdom? «His
power and absolute authority makes him insolent and he
ceases to believe in Gods Sovereignty» 16

Abrahams quarrel with Nimrood is over this very
matter. Abraham (a.s) says to him:

The rightful legislator
and He who rightfully ascertains and defines human life
is He who brings to life and causes death. Yes, He is
everyones lord and He is my Lord. 17

Nimrood, the rebellious one on that age said:

I also bring to life and
cause death. 18

Bring forth from prison a person sentenced to death
and I will free him. He was considered dead and I brought
him to life. Bring another who is careless and free
walking in the streets and execute him. He was alive and
should have remained alive and it was I who caused his
death. As such the attribute you applied to the Lord, I
also possess, therefore I am also the lord. It was here
that doubt was caused to arise and it became possible for
an ignorant person to accept his words. Without
hesitation Abraham (a.s) offers another attestation:

My lord who is Allah
causes the sun to rise in the East, if you are also lord
and speak the truth then cause the sun to rise in the
West. 19

What could Nimrood say? He had no choice but to remain
embarrassed and powerless.

This was only one scene from the hero of Monotheistic
struggle. In another quarrel he had with those who
worshipped the heavenly bodies the same debate is
repeated. Abraham goes to a gathering of these pagans and
begins to argue with them. Of course this is done with
their own words, with what they believe in and in a way
that will allow them to understand his argument and the
veil of ignorance covering their hearts to be torn away.
It is night and Abraham upon seeing a bright star turns
to the vast group of star worshippers saying:

This bright star is my
Lord. 20

After a time the star sets and as that points out its
weakness and deficiency he says:

This cannot be my Lord, my
Lord must not set and I love not things that set.

This story continues as such for the sun, and moon and
in the end after the setting of the sun, the brightest
most powerful heavenly body, Abraham says:

O ye people! Lo, I am free
of all you associate with Gods lordship (sovereignty). I
have turned my face towards He who created the heavens
and earth and is my Lord. 21

The people will not leave Abraham alone and the
dispute continues. In the face of their arguments,
Abraham declares that:

«My Lord Allah has guided me
and I fear not the false gods you set beside him»22

It is clear that Abrahams people recognize God but
they gave Him partners and it is this matter Abraham
(a.s) disputes and has proceeded to argue with them
about.

In yet another scene we have Abrahams dispute with the
idol worshippers among his people. When he enters one of
their gatherings he proceeds to oppose them because of
his inner sight, insight and natural purity, saying:

«What are these images you bow
and prostrate yourselves before?»

They replied:

«Our fathers did the same!»

Abraham says in answer to them:

«You and your fathers were
surely in error»

They then said:

«Are you joking or are you
speaking to us seriously?»

He answered:

«No, I speak seriously. Your
Lord is the Lord who created and organized the heavens
and earth»23

The people of the cave, brave worshippers of god in
ancient times also have the same to say. They rose up
against the rebellious person of their time and spoke of
The Lord of the heavens and earth.

This person who claims
lordship saying that mankind must follow my commands and
I must lay down laws for him and give order to his life.
No he is not lord. He is not the lawgiver and organizer
of our lives. Our lord is the lord of the heavens and
earth. 24

These are examples of the history of divine religions
which reveal to us the principle motive for the
confrontations of the prophets and evil persons of their
age. It also clarifies the main reason for the battles
between the men of God and Gods party and their
opponents. On one side are the men of God who say that
no-one may ascertain mankinds way of life except God, He
alone being the lord of mankind because only He is the
Lord of all earthly beings. On the other side are the
evil persons who themselves claim being the legislators
and the agents of giving order to mans life.

In the ninth year of the Hejrat, Edy the son of Haatam
Taaey who was a Christian came to the Holy Prophet
(s.a.w) and after some discussion embraced Islam. 25 In
this meeting Edy wore a golden cross around his neck. The
Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said: «Throw that idol away which
you have hung from your neck» Edy threw the cross away
and left the Prophet. During their second meeting Edy
heard that the Prophet had revealed a Quranic verse:

The Jews and Christians
have taken their religious leaders as lord instead of
Allah. 26

Edy then said:

«We did not worship our religious leaders»

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w) then said:

«Didnt he forbid that which God allowed and allowed
that which he prohibited while you followed him without
questions?»27 This situation even exists today amongst
the Christians. The Pope has the right to change Catholic
religious law and they accept without questions. The
church claims on the basis of existing Bible verses that
he may be legislator and that which he ratifies on earth
will be accepted in Heaven. This is exactly what the
Quran refers to in this verse.

In the new Testament, Mathew 16:18-19 we read:

And so I tell you Peter. on this rock foundation
I will build my church and not even death will ever be
able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the
Kingdom of Heaven what you prohibit on earth will be
prohibited in Heaven and what you permit on earth will be
permitted in Heaven.

So the Holy Quran in giving Jewish and Christian
scholars and priests the title lord did so because they
legislated and showed partial views on mans way of life.
They prohibited what God made lawful and allowed what He
prohibited.

As such, the prophets battles were so that mankind
would accept the Sovereignty of The One God, and embrace
only His command deriving what is allowed and prohibited
from Him. The entire spirit and content of religion is
nothing other than this. If in a certain country I am
forced to accept an order that goes against the command
of God at the hand of some powerful person, I have not
made him my lord. Submitting to someones lordship is
when willingly you accept his law against Gods will and
act upon it. It is here that you have made that being
your lord. For example a Christian priest said not to
circumcise and the Christians accepted refraining from
circumcising, and/or said drink liquour is lawful and
religion allows it and they once again accepted. It is
here that the matter of making man ones lord comes to
light.

In the future in our further investigations we will
see to what extent the two. schools of thought of Islam,
Shiite and Sunni, differ from one another. One school
(Shiite) relies on nothing but the word of God while the
other school (Sunni) has allowed the opinions and views
of men to infiltrate religion. With insight into the ways
and means of these two schools we will see the true role
of the Holy Imams (a.s) in the Islamic community, and
will comprehend the fact to be mentioned that the Holy
Prophet (s.a.w) and Hazrat Mahdi (a.s) had one aim and
means for accomplishing it.