The two major sects of Islam relate uninterruptedly the following hadith:
"He who dies before he recognizes the Imam of his age is reckoned with those who died before Islam."
Since the Imam is the Prophet's representative who conveys the laws of Sharia, it is obligatory upon every Muslim to recognize him so that the belief and Sharia will be deliberately understood and the true guidance will be pursued.
In case a Muslim neglects the recognition of the Imam, he will surely go astray from the course of Islam and, thus, will die as disbeliever and hypocrite.
Returning to the aforementioned hadith, it refers to the necessity of the existence, as well as recognition, of the Imam all over lifetime, because attaching the Imam to the age requires continuity of Imamate and its renewal all over times and ages. In the same manner, many hadiths that are related by both sects of Muslims confirm the necessity of recognizing the Immaculate Imams and taking them as guides. For instance, the Prophet (s) is related to have said:
"With every generation, there must be decent individuals from my household whose mission will be to save this religion from the distortion of the deviants, the alteration of the wrong, and the misrepresentation of the ignorant. Your Imams are your representatives before Allah. You therefore should select proper representatives." 395
"This religion will continue to exist up to the coming of the Hour of Resurrection, and there will exist twelve successors, as leaders-all will be from the tribe of Koreish." 396
This hadith is clear-cut evidence on the unquestionable existence of the twelve Imams of the Ahl ul-Bayt (a) exclusively. Because they were more than this fixed number, neither the Umayyad nor are the Abbasid caliphs included.
Recognition of the Imams is meaningless unless loyalty to them is added. In other words, if recognition of the Imams is bare of loyalty to them, it will be worthless. This is because the Imam, whose mission is to confirm the realities of Sharia, elucidate its rulings, guard it against trickeries and false interpolations of the atheists, and exert all efforts for protecting, supporting, and pleasing Muslims spiritually and materially in this world as well as the life to come, is the Prophet's representative and the pioneer towards the Islamic idealities. Such being the case, any negligence of the loyalty to the Imam will lead to deviation. This fact was frequently confirmed by the Prophet (s) who, in more than one occasion, declared that the right guidance and triumph will completely accompany the loyalty to the Immaculate Imams, while deviation will be the share of him who leaves and dissents from them:
"The like of my the Ahl ul-Bayt is Noah's ark-he that embarks on it will be saved, while he that falls behind will be sunk." 397
"I will leave with you things that will save you from deviation so long as you adhere to: the Book of Allah, which is a cord extended from the heavens to the earth, and my family-the Ahl ul-Bayt. These two will never depart each other until they join me on the Divine Pool. Consider how you will regard me through them." 398
On the authority of his fathers, Imam as-Sadiq narrated that Amir ul-Mu'minin (a), once, was asked about the meaning of 'my family' in the Prophet's saying, 'I will leave with you the two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my family'?
He answered: "This refers to me, al-Hassan, al-Hussein, and the nine Imams from the descendants of al-Hussein. The ninth will be al-Mahdi al-Qa'im. They will not contradict the Book of Allah, and the Book of Allah will not contradict them until they will
join the Prophet (s) on His Pool." 399
This hadith substantiates the fact that the Ahl ul-Bayt and the holy Quran are full twins that never depart each other. Like the Quran's being the constitution and the argument against Muslims, an imam from the Ahl ul-Bayt (a) must exist in every age to hold the position of Muslims' leadership and guide them to prosperity. The Prophet (s) said:
"He who desires to live like me, die like me, and be taken to the paradise of eternity of which my Lord has promised me, must be loyal to Ali and his descendants, for they will never take you out of the door of right guidance and will never take you to a door of deviation." 400
God says:
"Believers, obey Allah, His Messenger, and your (qualified) leaders. If you have faith in Allah and the Day of Judgment, refer to Allah and His Messenger concerning matters in which you differ. This would be a more virtuous and a better way of settling differences. (4:59)"
In this holy Verse, God imposes as duty on Muslims to obey the Imams in their capacity as the Prophet's successors, Muslims' leaders, and pioneers of the Islamic ideology. Like imposing as duty the obedience to His Messenger and Him, God imposes the obedience to the Imams. This fact makes clear that they are the true successors of the Prophet (s) and are protected against sins, because no one deserves the absolute obligatory obedience except the sinless leader.
Thus, it is a big mistake to state that 'the qualified leaders' to whom the previous Verse refers includes the other individuals who led the Islamic states, because most of such ones contradicted the instructions of God and the practices of the Prophet (s) and, moreover, went astray from the line of Islam.
Zurara; one of the most celebrated traditionists, relates the following narration that indicates the merit and necessity of loyalty and obedience to the Imams of the Ahl ul-Bayt (a):
Imam al-Baqir (a) said: "The supports of Islam are five: the prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj, and Wilaya." 401
I asked: "Which one of these is the most favorable?" The Imam (a) answered: "It is the Wilaya, because it is the key to the other four supports. The Imam is the guide to these supports After the recognition of the Imams, the obedience to him is the summit, climax, key, and door to the things. It achieves satisfaction of the All-beneficent Allah, Who says: 'One who obeys the Messenger has certainly obeyed Allah. You have not been sent to watch over those who turn away from you (4:80).'
Verily, if a man spends nights with rites of worship, observes fasting during days, gives his whole wealth as alms, and performs the hajj permanently, but he does not know what is the Wilaya and, hence, does not declare loyalty to Allah's Disciples so that all his deeds must be originated from that Wilaya, Allah will not reward him for anything and he will not be attached to people of faith." 402
Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "Allah has attached the obedience to the Leaders to the obedience to His Messenger, and attached the obedience to His Messenger to the obedience to Him. Hence, he who neglects the obedience to the Leaders is neglecting the obedience to Allah and the obedience to His Messenger." 403
God says:
"Know that whatever property you may gain, one fifth belongs to Allah, the Messenger, the kindred, orphans, the needy and those who need money while on a journey. (8:41)"