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It has, moreover, already been said that the way to understand that total
program for life called religion is not through reason but through revelation
and prophecy, which manifests itself in certain pure beings among mankind who
are called prophets. It is the prophets who receive from God, through
revelation, the knowledge of men's duties and obligations as human beings and
who make these known to men, so that by fulfilling them men may attain felicity.
It is evident that in the same way that this reasoning proves the necessity
for knowledge to guide men to the attainment of happiness and perfection, it
also proves the necessity for the existence of individuals who preserve intact
the total body of that knowledge and who instruct the people when necessary.
Just as the Divine Compassion necessitates the existence of persons who come to
know the duties of mankind through revelation, so also it makes it necessary
that these human duties and actions of celestial origin remain forever preserved
in the world and as the need arises be presented and explained to mankind. In
other words, there must always be individuals who preserve God's religion and
expound it when necessary.
The person who bears the duty of guarding and preserving the Divine message
after it is revealed and is chosen by God for this function is called the Imam,
in the same way that the person who bears the prophetic spirit and has the
function of receiving Divine injunctions and laws from God is called the
Prophet. It is possible for the imamate and prophecy (nubuwwat) either to be
joined in one person or to be separate.
The proof given previously to demonstrate the inerrancy of prophets, also
demonstrates the inerrancy of the Imams, for God must preserve His true religion
intact and in such a state that it can be propagated among mankind at all times.
And this is not possible without inerrancy, without Divine protection against
error.
The
Difference Between Prophet and Imam
The previous argument about the reception of Divine injunctions and laws by
the prophets only proves the basis of prophecy, namely the receiving of Divine
injunctions. The argument does not prove the persistence and continuity of
prophecy, even though the very fact that these prophetic injunctions have been
preserved naturally raises the idea of persistence and continuity. That is why
it is not necessary for a prophet (nabi) always to be present among mankind, but
the existence of the Imam, who is the guardian of Divine religion, is on the
contrary a continuous necessity for human society. Human society can never be
without the figure whom Shi'ism calls the Imam whether or not he is recognized
and known. God, the Most Exalted, has said in His Book: "So if these
disbelieve in it, We have already entrusted it to a people [i.e., the Imams] who
do not disbelieve in it" (Quran, VI, 90).
As mentioned above, the functions of prophecy and imamate may be joined in
one person who is then appointed to the functions of both prophet and Imam, or
to both the reception of the Divine law and its preservation and explanation.
And sometimes they can be separated, such as in periods during which there is no
prophet living but when there is a true Imam living among men. It is obvious
that the number of God's prophets is limited and the prophets have not been
present in every period and age.
It is also of significance to not that in God's Book some of the prophets
have been introduced as Imams such as the Prophet Abraham, about whom is said,
"And (remember) when his Lord tried Abraham with (His) commands, and he
fulfilled them, He said: Lo! I have appointed thee a leader [imam] for mankind.
(Abraham) said: And of my offspring (will there be leaders)? He said: My
covenant includeth not wrongdoers" (Quran, II, 124). And God has also said,
"And We made them chiefs [imams] who guide by Our command..." (Quran,
XXI, 73).
The
Imamate and Its Role in the Esoteric Dimension of Religion
In the same way that the Imam is the guide and leader of men in their
external actions so does he possess the function of inward and esoteric
leadership and guidance. He is the guide of the caravan of humanity which is
moving inwardly and esoterically toward God. In order to elucidate this truth it
is necessary to turn to the following two introductory comments. First of all,
without any doubt, according to Islam as well as other Divine religions the sole
means of attaining real and eternal happiness or misery, felicity or
wretchedness, is by means of good or evil actions which man comes to recognize
through the instruction of Divine religion as well as through his own primordial
and God-given nature and intelligence. Second, through the means of revelation
and prophecy God has praised or condemned man's actions according to the
language of human beings and the society in which they live. He has promised
those who do good and obey and accept the teachings of revelation a happy
eternal life in which are fulfilled all desires that accord with human
perfection. And to the evildoers and in iniquitous He has given warning of a
bitter perpetual life in which is experienced every form of misery and
disappointment.
Without any doubt God, who stands in every way above all that we can imagine,
does not, as we do, possess "thought" moulded by a particular social
structure. The relations of master and servant, ruler and ruled, command and
prohibition, reward and punishment, do not exist outside our social life. The
Divine Order is the system of creation itself, in which the existence and
appearance of everything is related solely to its creation by God according to real
relations and to that alone. Furthermore, as has been mentioned in the Holy
Quran and prophetic hadith, religion contains truths and verities above the
common comprehension of man, which God has revealed to us in a language we can
comprehend on the level of our understanding.
It can thus be concluded that there is a real relationship between good and
evil actions and the kind of life that is prepared for man in eternity, a
relation that determines the happiness or misery of the future life according to
the Divine Will. Or in simpler words it can be said that each good or evil
action brings into being a real effect within the soul of man which determines
the character of his future life. Whether he understands it or not, man is like
a child who is being trained. From the instructions of the teacher, the child
hears nothing but do's and don'ts but does not understand the meaning of the
actions he performs. Yet, when he grows up, as a result of virtuous mental and
spiritual habits attained inwardly during the period of training, he is able to
have a happy social life. If, however, he refuses to submit to the instructions
of the teacher he will undergo nothing but misery and unhappiness. Or he is like
a sick person who, when in the care of a physician, takes medicine, food and
special exercises as directed by the physician and who has no other duty than to
obey the instructions of his doctor. The result of this submission to his orders
is the creation of harmony in his constitution which is the source of health as
well as every form of physical enjoyment and pleasure. To summarize, we can say
the within his outward life man possesses an inner life, a spiritual life, which
is related to his deeds and actions and develops in relation to them, and that
his happiness or misery in the hereafter is completely dependent upon this inner
life.
The Holy Quran also confirms this explanation. In many verses it affirms the
existence of another life and another spirit for the virtuous and the faithful,
a life higher than this life and a spirit more illuminated than the spirit of
man as we know it here and now. It asserts that man's acts have inner effects
upon his soul that remain always with him. In prophetic sayings there are also
many references to this point. For example, in the Hadith-i mi'raj (hadith of
the nocturnal ascension) God addresses the Prophet in these words: "He who
wishes to act according to My satisfaction must possess three qualities : he
must exhibit thankfulness that is not mixed with ignorance, a remembrance upon
which the dust of forgetfulness will not settle, and a love in which he does not
prefer the love of creatures rather than My love. If he loves Me, I love him ; I
will open the eye of his heart with the sight of My majesty and will not hide
from him the elites of My creatures. I will confide in him in the darkness of
the night and the light of the day until conversation and intercourse with
creatures terminates. I will make him hear My word and the word of My angels. I
will reveal to him the secret which I have veiled from My creatures. I will
dress him with the robe of modesty until the creatures feel ashamed before him.
He will walk upon the earth having been forgiven. I will make his heart possess
consciousness and vision and I will not hide from him anything in Paradise or in
the Fire. I will make known to him whatever people experience on the Day of
Judgment in the way of terror and calamity."
Abu 'Abdallah - may peace be upon him - has recounted that the Prophet of God
- may peace and blessings be upon him - received Harithah ibn Malik ibn
al-Nu'man and asked him, "How art thou, Oh Harithah?" He said,
"Oh Prophet of God, I live as a true believer." The Prophet of God
said to him, "Each thing possesses its own truth. What is the truth of thy
word?" He said, "Oh Prophet of God! My soul has turned away from the
world. My nights are spent in a state of awakedness and my days in a state of
thirst. It seems as if I am gazing at the Throne of my Lord and the account has
been settled, and as if I am gazing at the people of paradise who are visiting
each other in heaven, and as if I hear the cry of the people of hell in the
fire." Then the Prophet of God said, "This is a servant whose heart
God has illuminated."
It must also be remembered that often one of us guides another in a good or
evil matter without himself carrying out his own words. In the case of the
prophets and Imams, however, whose guidance and leadership is through Divine
Command, such a situation never occurs. They themselves practice the religion
whose leadership they have undertaken. The spiritual life toward which they
guide mankind is their own spiritual life, for God will not place the guidance
of others in someone's hand unless He has guided him Himself. Special Divine
guidance can never be violated or infringed upon.
The following conclusions can be reached from this discussion :
(1) In each religious community the prophets and Imams are the foremost in
the perfection and realization of the spiritual and religious life they preach,
for they must and do practice their own teachings and participate in the
spiritual life they profess.
(2) Since they are first among men and the leaders and guides of the
community, they are the most virtuous and perfect of men.
(3) The person upon whose shoulders lies the responsibility for the guidance
of a community through Divine Command, in the same way that he is the guide of
man's external life and acts, is also the guide for the spiritual life, and the
inner dimension of human life and religious practice depends upon his guidance.
The
Imams and Leaders of Islam
The previous discussions lead us to the conclusion that in Islam, after the
death of the Holy Prophet, there has continuously existed and will continue to
exist within the Islamic community (ummah), an Imam (a leader chosen by God).
Numerous prophetic hadiths have been transmitted in Shi'ism concerning the
description of the Imams, their number, the fact that they are all of the
Quraysh and of the Household of the Prophet, and the fact that the promised
Mahdi is among them and the last of them. Also, there are definitive words of
the Prophet concerning the imamate of Ali and his being the first Imam and also
definitive utterances of the Prophet and Ali concerning the imamate of the
Second Imam. In the same way the Imams before have left definitive statements
concerning the imamate of those who were to come after them. According to these
utterances contained in Twelve-Imam Shi'ite sources the Imams are twelve in
number and their holy names are as follows: (1) 'Ali ibn Abi Talib; (2) Hasan
ibn 'Ali; (3) Husayn ibn 'Ali; (4) 'Ali ibn Husayn; (5) Muhammad ibn 'Ali; (6)
Ja'far ibn Muhammad; (7) Musa ibn Ja'far; (8) 'Ali ibn Musa; (9) Muhammad ibn
'Ali; (10) 'Ali ibn Muhammad; (11) Hasan ibn 'Ali; and (12) the Mahdi.
