THE AHLUL BAYT ARE THE NATURAL
CONTINUITY OF THE MISSION OF
THEIR GRANDFATHER
When we say 'the Ahlul Bayt', we mean the twelve imams of the immaculate progeny of the Prophet (a.s.) whom we have studied in full in the previous books. The Shia and the Sunni have agreed that the messenger of Allah (a.s.) said :
The imams after me are twelve; all of them are from (the tribe of) Quraysh.
The tradition mentioned in the Sahih of al-Bukhari reads :
This matter (caliphate) shall remain in Quraysh even if (only) two people remain alive.
1
If we know necessarily that Allah the Almighty has chosen Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran and preferred them, a progeny one from the other, to all mankind, the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) has taught and declared to us that Allah the Almighty has chosen from all those people the Hashimites who were the choice of choices. In the Sahih of Muslim, the book of 'Virtues', chapter of 'the preferring of our prophet to all creation' it is mentioned that the Prophet (a.s.) has said :
Allah has chosen Kinanah from the children of Ishmael, chosen the Quraysh from Kinanah, chosen the Hashimites from Quraysh, and chosen me (the Prophet) from the Hashimites.
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1 Sahih of al-Bukhari, book of rulings (ahkam), chapter of 'the emirs from Quraysh', Sahih of Muslim, book of 'emirate', chapter of 'people are followers of Quraysh and the caliphate is in Quraysh'.
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The meaning of this tradition, as it is understood by every reasonable one, is that the Hashimites were the family that had been chosen and preferred to all mankind, and from the Hashimites Allah had chosen Muhammad (a.s.) to be the best of all mankind at all. This shows that the Hashimites come secondly after the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) in preference with no separation. The Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) chose from all of the Hashimites
1 Ali and his progeny to be his successors by the command of the Revelation, and made it obligatory on all Muslims to pray Allah to send His blessings on them. We have found that the most tafsirs (commentaries) mention their names and confirm that it is they who are meant by the Qur'anic verses of 'Purification 33:33', 'Love; mawaddah 42:23', 'guardianship; wilayah 5:55', 'choosing and bequeathing of the Book 35:32', `the people of remembrance 16:43', 'who are firmly rooted in knowledge 3:7' and the Sura of al-Insan (or 'hal ata') 76.
2
As for the Prophetic traditions that were agreed on as true traditions by all Muslims and in which the Prophet (a.s.) referred to their (the Ahlul Bayt) preference and virtues and that they
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1 The Prophet (a.s.) means a certain group from the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), and Qur'anic verses and prophetic traditions on different occasions confirm this fact; otherwise, did the Prophet (a.s.) mean some people whom the nation did not know or could not be led to? Could the nation get to unknown people whether in names, description, or place? This is because the Hashimites were too many and they had spread everywhere in the land that no country or town was empty of them. So, those whom the Prophet (a.s.) meant, besides the nine imams after Ali, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn (peace be on them) were the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) only, due to traditional and mental proofs. He declared them as the second weighty (important) thing beside the Qur'an, so that the nation would not miss a match to him from them in any age, and that the nation would not miss a guide to whom whoever kept would not go astray ...
2 We have mentioned in brief some Qur'anic verses which the Sunni scholars acknowledge that they were revealed concerning the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), whereas ibn Abbas said that one third of the Qur'an had been revealed to talk about their virtues.
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were the imams of guidance, are too much, but here, we just mention two of them.
The first tradition was mentioned by Muslim in his Sahih, the book of Virtues, chapter of the virtues of Ali ibn Abi Talib that the Prophet (a.s.) said :
0 people, I am but a human being. The messenger of my Lord (death) is about to come and I shall respond. I am leaving among you two weighty things; the first of them is the Book of Allah in which there is guidance and light; so follow the Book of Allah and keep to it, and the second is my household. I remind you to obey Allah through (being dutiful to) my progeny, I remind you to obey Allah through my progeny, I remind you to obey Allah through my progeny.
The second tradition was mentioned by Muslim in the same book narrated by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas from his father that the messenger of Allah (a.s.) had said to Ali :
You are to me as was Aaron to Moses, except that there shall be no prophet after me.
1
For brevity, these two traditions are enough to prove that Imam Ali (a.s.) was the chief of the Prophet's progeny and was the natural continuity to the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.). Did the messenger of Allah not say :
I am the town of knowledge and Ali is its gate?
Surely, this only saying is enough to show that the whole nation cannot enter the town of Muhammad's knowledge except through the gate of Ali, because Allah the Almighty has ordered His people to enter houses only through their doors.
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1 It has also been mentioned in al-Bukhari's Sahih, the book of Maghazi (battles), the Battle of Tabuk.
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Here, we must point out that Imam Ali (a.s.) had acquired his knowledge from the Prophet (a.s.) who brought him out since childhood and he accompanied the Prophet (a.s.) all his life. The Prophet (a.s.) taught Imam Ali (a.s.) the knowledge of the past and the future where he said :
Gabriel did not pour anything into my chest, except that I poured it into the chest of Ali.
Imam Ali (a.s.) said about that :
If the rug was folded to me (to sit on),
1 I would judge among the people of the Torah according to their Torah, among the people of the Gospel according to their Gospel, and the people of the Qur'an according to their Qur'an.
He often said :
Ask me before you shall miss me.
All the companions and all Muslims throughout history witness that Imam Ali (a.s.) was the most knowledgeable of all people in the affairs of religion and the world, and that he was the most pious, most abstinent, most patient with calamities, the bravest in wars, and the most forgiving.
For more advantage, we have to read what Imam Ali (a.s.) said about the relation between the Prophet (a.s.) and his progeny. He said :
They are the place of his secret, the recourse of his affairs, the bag of his knowledge, the resort of his wisdom, the caves of his books, and the mountains of his religion. By them he has erected the bending of his back, and driven away his fear.
2
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1 If I was allowed to judge among people.
2 Nahjol Balagha, sermon 2.
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He said :
By Allah, I have been taught the information of missions, carrying out of promises, and all words, and with us the Ahlul Bayt there are the doors of wisdom and the light of the affair ...
1
He said :
... where are those who claim that they are deep-rooted in knowledge other than us falsely and oppressively against us, that Allah has exalted us and lowered them, given us and deprived them, included us and excluded them. By us guidance is looked forward to and blindness is recovered...the imams from Quraysh have been sowed in this sept of Hashim that it (imamate) does not fit other than them, and chiefs from other than them shall not be fit.
2
He said :
... surely the example of the progeny of Muhammad, may Allah have blessing and peace on them, are like the stars of the sky; when a star sets, another star shines. As if the virtues from Allah have been perfected in you (the Ahlul Bayt) and He has given you what you hoped.
3
He said :
... no one from this nation can be compared to the progeny of Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him and his progeny, and no one on whom their favor has been bestowed can be equaled to them at all. They are the base of religion and the pillar of certainty. To them resorts the oppressed, and to them followers joins. For them are the specialties of the right of guardianship, and among them is custodianship and inheritance ...
4
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1 Ibid., sermon 11.
2 Ibid., sermon 142.
3 Ibid., sermon 99.
4 Nahjol Balagha, sermon 2.
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He said :
... and surely I am on the clear way that I pick it up picking (from between the ways of deviation and confusion). Observe the progeny of your prophet, cling to their way, and follow their trace for they will not take you out of guidance, nor will they take you back to perishment. If they keep silent, you have to keep silent, and if they rise, you have to rise. Do not precede them lest you go astray, and do not lag behind them lest you perish ...
1
He said :
They are the life of knowledge and death of ignorance. Their discernment informs you of their knowledge and their silence (informs you) of the wisdom of their logic. They do not contradict the truth, nor do they disagree on it. They are the pillars of Islam, and the associates of resorting. By them, the truth has come back to its right place, and falsehood been kept away from its position and its tongue been cut from its root. They have understood the religion in reason and care, not the understanding of hearing and narration, because the narrators of knowledge are too many, but its carers are few.
2
These passages quoted from Nahjol Balagha and said by Imam Ali (a.s.) give us a real picture about the firm relation between the Prophet (a.s.) and his progeny and make them the only continuity of his mission, and that they are the only ones who can inform of what he has announced for all mankind throughout ages and for all nations and cultures.
Imam Ali (a.s.) was not satisfied with showing the high rank of the immaculate progeny and their position to Muslims, but he showed that he himself was the axis of quern and the chief of the
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1 Ibid., sermon 96.
2 Ibid., sermon 236.
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immaculate progeny, and he showed his role, which he had been entrusted with by Allah and His messenger to manage people and not let them astray. He said :
... whereto do you go and how are you perverted while the banners are being raised, signs are clear, and the light stands are set up? So whereto do you go astray, or how do you be blind whereas among you there are the progeny of your prophet who are the reins of the truth, the leaders of the religion, and the tongues of truthfulness? So observe them in the best positions of the Qur'an, and hasten to them as the hastening of extremely thirsty ones (to drinking fountain).
O people, take it from the messenger of Allah, may Allah have blessing and peace on him and his progeny, that: 'One of us dies, but he is not dead, and one of us is decayed, but he is not decayed.' So, do not speak of what you do not know, because most of the truth is in what you deny and excuse the one against whom you have no argument, and he is me.
Did I not act among you according to the Major weighty thing (the Qur'an) and I left among you (after me) the Minor weighty thing (the Ahlul Bayt; at that time Imam alHasan and al-Husayn)? I fixed among you the banner of faith, showed you clearly the limits of the lawful and the unlawful, dressed you with soundness by my justice, spread to you the favor of my saying and doing, and showed to you the noblest of morals from myself. Therefore, do not use (your own) opinion in that whose inners cannot be perceived by the sight, nor can thinking penetrate into."
1
If You, dear reader, ponder on the saying of Imam Ali (a.s.), you shall find it as the interpretation of the tradition of Thaqalayn (the two weighty things) that has been narrated by the Sunni
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1 Nahjol Balagha, sermon 86.
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from the messenger of Allah (a.s.) who said :
I have left among you the two weighty things; the Book of Allah and my progeny. If you keep to them, you shall never go astray after me at all.
Imam Ali (a.s.) also said :
Did I not act among you according to the Major weighty thing (the Qur'an) and I left among you the Minor weighty. thing (the Ahlul Bayt)?
This saying of Imam Ali (a.s.) is a clear proof that Imam Ali (a.s.) managed people according to the rulings of the Holy Qur'an, which no one could understand their reality except he, and that he left among them after him the Minor Weighty thing that were the infallible imams from his progeny so that each one of them would carry out the same role that the Prophet (a.s.) carried out in his nation. If we ponder on the saying of the Prophet (a.s.) "I am leaving among you the two weighty things" and the saying of Imam Ali (a.s.) "did I not act among you according to the Major weighty thing", we understand that the role of the immaculate progeny is the explaining and declaring of the Book of Allah to the nation lest they disagree after the death of the Prophet (a.s.).
What confirms this fact is this saying of the Prophet (a.s.) :
In every generation of my nation there are just men from my progeny who protect this religion from the distortion of deviants, the fabrication of liars, and the misinterpretation of, ignorants. Surely, your imams are your delegation to Allah, so be careful to whom you delegate.
1
He also said :
Stars are security for the people of the earth from drowning, and, the people of my house are security for my nation from disagreement. If a tribe from the Arabs
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1 As-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah by ibn Hajar ash-Shafi'iy, p. 90, 148.
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disagree with them (the Ahlul Bayt), they shall disagree among themselves and become the party of Iblis.
1
He also said :
Surely, the example of my progeny among you is like the Ark of Noah; whoever rode on it would be rescued, and whoever lagged behind it would drown.
2
Through this brief study, the guidance becomes clearly distinct to us from error, and we can say that the Twelver Shia is the true sect, because it is the only sect that has kept to the two weighty things, ridden on the Ship of Rescue, and clung to the Rope of Allah. The Shia neither precede the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) nor do they turn away from them, but they follow and imitate them; therefore, they are guided by their guidance and they follow their path.
Here is the Qur'an that you can ask to speak out, and it shall not speak out, but I tell you about. It has the knowledge of what shall come, the speech about the past, the treatment of your disease, and the managing of you.
3
Keep to the Book of Allah, for it is the firm rope, the clear light, the advantageous cure, saturating drink, the resort for resorters, and the rescue for clingers. It never crooks to be set right, nor does it err to be blames. The much reciting and listening to it do not make it old. Whoever speaks with it is truthful, and whoever acts according to it wins.
4
He left to you what the prophets had left for their nations that they did not leave them astray without a clear way or a raised banner. The Book of your Lord is among you showing His lawful and unlawful things, obligations and
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1 Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 3 p. 149.
2 Ibid., vol. 3 p. 151, as-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah by ibn Hajar, p. 184.
3 Nahjol Balagha, sermon 156.
4 Ibid., sermon 154.
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favors, abrogating and abrogated things, permissions and necessities, special and general rulings, lessons and examples, absolutes and finites, clear and ambiguous things, interpreting its statements and explaining its obscurities. (In it) there are some verses whose knowledge is obligatory and others whose ignorance by people is forgivable, and what its obligation is fixed in the book, but its abrogation is known in (the Prophet's) Sunna, or that which appears obligatory in the Sunna, but in the Book it is permitted to be given up, and that which is obligatory in its time but not so in its future (passing of its time), and that of His different prohibitions between major (sin) for which He has threatened of His Fires, or minor for which He has promised of forgiveness, and that which is accepted in its small portion (in reciting the Qur'an) and permitted in leaving its big portion.
1
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1 Nahjol Balagha, sermon 1.
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KEEPING TO RELIGION IN THE
PAST AND THE PRESENT
It is well known that Islam, with which the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) had been sent by Allah, is the last of religions as to the matter of the Divine Legislation. Allah the Almighty says :
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the prophets ... 1
Since Muhammad (a.s.) is the last of the prophets and messengers and his Book is the last of the Books revealed by Allah, so there shall be no Divine Book after the Holy Qur'an, and that Islam is the basic religion in which all the divine religions have been fused. Allah says :
He it is Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the true religion that He may make it prevail over all the religions; and Allah is enough for a witness. 2
After the advent of Muhammad (a.s.) as prophet, it has become obligatory on all human beings to turn from the previous religions whether Judaism, Christianity, or and religion else and embrace Islam and to worship Allah the Almighty according to the Sharia of Muhammad (a.s.), because Allah will not accept any religion other than Islam since then. Allah says :
And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter, he shall be one of the losers.
3
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1 Qur'an, 33:40.
2 Qur'an, 48:28.
3 Qur'an, 3:85.
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We understand from this that the Jews and the Christians whatever they claim that their laws and legislations arc true and that they follow the Prophet Moses (a.s.) or the Prophet Jesus Christ, the reality requires that they must follow the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) since the moment Allah sent him as a messenger. A Christian has no right to say that he wants to remain on his religion, nor does a Jew. The fact is that Muhammad (a.s.) was sent a prophet to all mankind and as mercy to all peoples with their different races and beliefs. This does not mean that we condemn the previous divine religions, but Allah the Almighty knew that his people distorted his laws and made lawful what was unlawful and unlawful what was lawful due to their own desires; therefore, they went astray and made those who came after them go astray. So the advent of Muhammad (a.s.) the last of the prophets was mercy to all mankind in order to restore themselves again and turn back to the truth, and so they would win the Paradise. However, most of people hate the truth. Desires, fancies, and fanaticisms play with them, and devils occupy them that they become excessive in their deviation.
Allah says in this concern :
Those who disbelieved from among the followers of the Book and the polytheists could not have separated (from the faithful) until there had come to them the clear evidence; a messenger from Allah, reciting pure pages, wherein are all the right ordinances. And those who were given the Book did not become divided except after clear evidence had come to them. 1
It is not sufficient too that a Jew or a Christian says, 'I believe in Muhammad, but I will remain on my religion', as I myself have heard from some Arab Christians. We say to such people that Allah does not accept from them except when they actually follow him. Allah says in this concern :
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1 Qur'an, 98:1-4.
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Those who follow the Messenger-Prophet, who can neither read nor write, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel (who) enjoins them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things, and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them; so (as for) those who believe in him and honor him and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful. 1
This invitation from Allah the Almighty was not limited to the Jews and the Christians, who all represented "the People of the Book", but it included all the human beings with no exception.
Allah the Almighty says :
Say: 0 people! surely I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, of Him Whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, there is no god but He; He brings to life and causes to die; therefore believe in Allah and His messenger, the Prophet, who can neither read nor write, who believes in Allah and His words, and you follow him so that you may walk in the right way. 2
The Holy Qur'an is too clear in the obligation of following the Prophet (a.s.) and not only the believing in his prophethood, and this is the wisdom of Allah in sending the messengers. We have never heard in all the history of humankind that Allah has sent a messenger to say to people: 'remain on your religion that you have inherited from the messenger that had come before me.
3
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1 Qur'an, 7:157.
2 Qur'an, 7:158.
3 Therefore, the Jews turned to be racists not accepting except those whose blood was Jewish. Thus, they gathered together their scatterings claming that they were "the chosen people of Allah" and any other than them were not human, depending on the Torah that was lost and ruined after the Babylonian Captivity at the hands of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar
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All of the prophets called for the belief in all the messengers of Allah, so that no one might harm their prophethood or be excessive as to their actual position and give them the position of deity.
Allah the Almighty says :
(The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course. 1
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who occupied Jerusalem in the year 586 BC. The Jews, who were not killed, remained captives in Babylon until the year 457 BC., when they could go hack to Palestine by the assistance of Cyrus the great king of Persia. After their going hack to Palestine, a man called Ezra collected and reformed the hooks of the Old Testaments, which are the Torah of today.
From this, we know that between the loss of the Torah and its regathering, there was more than 125 years. During this period, most of the memorizers of the Torah were killed or they died in prison where they were forbidden to practice any religious activity. Therefore, the Torah came to have interventions of human beings that it is now full of fables, contradictions, untruths, distorted events and realities ... etc.
The same thing happened to Christianity; the four Bibles were not written down at the time of Jesus Christ (a.s.). The oldest one, which is "the Gospel of Mark", was written down forty years later on in Rome. Therefore, it was like the Torah as to distortion, besides that all that was at the time of Augustine who mixed between idolatry and the statements of the Bible; the idolatry on which the idolaters of India, China, and old Egypt agreed on, such as the belief of Trinity and the ascribing of vices to the prophets (a.s.) and even to Jesus Christ (a.s.). Moreover, they annulled the main purpose of religions, which is the guiding of human beings, when they claimed that Jesus Christ (a.s.) had redeemed the criminals and sinners, so there was no necessity of guidance after him or to send other prophets. For more details, refer to "the School journey" and "the Guidance to the Religion of alMustafa" by Sheikh Muhammad Jawad al-Balaghi.
1 Qur'an, 2:285.
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If we know that Islam is the last religion that Allah the Almighty has endowed His faithful people with, so its laws and rulings are valid for every time and every place, because there is no prophet coming after the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) and no divine book coming after the Holy Qur'an according to this saying of Allah :
This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion. 1
However, some Muslims, if not most of them, do not abide by the laws and rulings of Islam claiming that they are difficult to carry out and that most of (ordinary) people are unable to carry them out. Some, who are the learned people, say that it is necessary to develop the rulings according to the requirements of the modern life. They see that ijtihad
2 is necessary in every thing and claim that ijtihad is one of the virtues of Islam and one of its prides. These learned peopled may affect the minds of many young students, especially that they pretend they love Islam too much and are too careful to apply its rulings. They justify the underdevelopment and deterioration of Muslims as because they have not developed their religion, which had been established fifteen centuries ago in a time where there was no means of transportation except mules and donkeys. But as for today where we live in the age of rockets, whose speed exceeds the speed of sound, telephone, fax, and computer, through which man can contact with any spot in the world within a few seconds, we cannot remain looking at the Qur'an with that superficial look and we judge against a thief by cutting his hand, or a criminal by cutting his head by the sword...they often say so and have odd philosophies in this concern.
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1 Qur'an, 5:3.
2 Using of one's (usually a mujtahid) effort to form a judgment on questions concerning the Sharia and religious affairs.
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Once, I was talking with a university professor of this line. In my talk with him, I said that the messenger of Allah (a.s.) had said :
There is no magnanimous young man except (like) Ali, and no sword except Thul Faqar."
He laughed at me and said, "0 doctor, do not say like this again. It was valid at the time of the Prophet (a.s.) when the sword had a role in wining the battles and it was the only weapon of which heroes prided in their poems, but now we are in the age of the machine gun that shots seventy bullets in a second, and the jet fighter that can destroy a whole city in some minutes. In fact, we are in the age of the atom and nuclear bombs that can destroy a continent in some moments. Are you ignorant of all this and are still talking about the sword and the courage of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib?"
I said, "This does not refute that or contradict it, and every occasion has its own context. Do you not see that when Allah talked about weapons, He included in one word all means of destruction when He said in brief :
And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier. 1
Thus, the Qur'an connected what military means the people at the time of the Prophet (a.s.) had to win battles with what the people of this time have. So, this Qur'anic statement :
And prepare against them what force you can,
can be understood by every one according to the language of his time. The source and meaning of "force" is the same to the all, and this is like the saying of Allah :
... and We have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men ... 2
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1 Qur'an, 8:60.
2 Qur'an, 57:25.
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Therefore, all weapons, whether the simple ones like the sword or spears or the developed like tanks, machine guns, and bombs, are defined as of "violence", and all means of ease and comfort such as cars, airplanes, ships, televisions, and others are defined as "advantages to people". Glory be to Allah Who has created iron and made it usable for people and taught. them what they did not know.
Thus, the Holy Qur'an is in the hands of all kinds of people that every generation can understand it by the language of its age. But as for your saying "we cannot look at the Qur'an with a superficial look that we judge against a thief by cutting his hand or a criminal by cutting his head by the sword", if by this you try to replace the laws of Allah with human made laws whose makers claim that they arc more beneficent and merciful to people than their Creator is to them, then this can never be accepted and it is undoubtedly clear disbelief.
But if you mean by "development" the development of the means of execution against a criminal or the means of cutting a thiefs hand, this can be discussed, because these are minor things that the Islamic Legislation did not concentrate on, but it concentrated on the abiding by the carrying out of sentences determined by Allah the Almighty concerning "retribution". Allah says :
0 you who believe! retaliation is prescribed for you...And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, 0 men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves against evil. 1
As for cutting the hand of a thief by a sword, a cleaver, or a modern tool, the legal ruler (judge) or the religious authority can give his opinion in the matter (by deriving it due to the legal proofs).
What is important, dear sir, is that we should not replace the laws of Allah by positive laws that agreed on by the European systems that have abrogated the death sentence against criminals whatever extreme their crimes are.
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1 Qur'an, 2:178-179.
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Allah says :
And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, 0 men of understanding.
The meaning of the saying of Allah is that if we abrogate the laws of Allah and abolish the law of retaliation, our life shall be with no safety and security, and criminals shall corrupt everything. Then, life shall become as hell with no goodness or peace.
This university professor debated saving, "Evil is not to be treated with evil. Statistics has proved that some of those, who were sentenced to death for the accusation of crime, were innocent."
I said, "With my respect to you professor, but by your saying "evil is not to be treated with evil" you have made yourself more aware than Allah the Creator of everything and this is not your right. And as for your saying that some of those, who were sentenced to death, were innocent, this is another matter. To your knowledge, I say that Islam does not punish just for suspicion or accusation, but after evidence, witnesses, and confession."
The debate came to no use, because each one of us clung to what he had.
1
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1 The likes of this professor who have westernized and who live with the complex of the yielding before the masses of iron and bricks arranged there even if by stealing and assassinating other peoples, or even all humankind. The Nazis, for example, and since they felt that they had some arms, adopted the slogan of "the Aryan race". Under this banner of racism, they destroyed civilizations and killed ten millions of people in two destructive wars within no more than a quarter of a century. And the allies were not better than them; they invaded the different nations as colonists and tore those nations into pieces in order to be able to rule them and control their treasures and resources. In this way, they built their false civilization on the bloods, sweat, and efforts of the subdued peoples. In the same way of the Nazi model, the American tyranny succeeded in blackmailing different countries and adopting the illegitimate child "Israel" and secretly and openly brought up and assisted it by all means until it became a pit of the
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It would be better to end this section with what Imam Ali (a.s.) has said about the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) and about Islam. He said :
He (Allah) has sent him with the shining light, the clear proof, the right method, and the guiding Book. His family is the best of families and his tree is the best of trees; its branches are straight and its fruits are hanging loosely. His birth was in Mecca and his immigration was in the Good City where his mention went high and his call reached too far. He has sent him with a sufficient argument, curative breach, and preventing invitation (that prevented every corruption of the pre-Islamic age). He (Allah) has declared by him (the Prophet) the unknown laws, suppressed by him the irrelevant heresies, and explained by him the decisive judgments. So whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, his misery becomes certain, his firm hold is broken, his fall becomes great, and his end comes to eternal sadness and severe torment ...
1
This is exactly as what has been declared by the Holy Qur'an :
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worst criminals and blood-suckers in the world.
Whereas, Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) came to enliven humanity inside man following the true Mohammedan Islam and saying, "A strong man is weak before me until I take the right from him, and the weak is strong to me until I take back the right for him." He liberated man when he fought against the enemies of humanity. He said to Malik al-Ashtar when appointing him as the governor over Egypt, "...and do not he as predacious beast over them...for people are of two kinds; either your brother in religion or your equal in creation." He also said, "Do not be a slave to another while Allah has created you free."
So man whatever he is; the black, the poor, and the weak walk under the banner of Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) that carries the high values of liberation and human rights, whereas some people become mean and weak before technology that is possessed by the traders of wars and the suckers of peoples' bloods.
1 Nahjol Balagha, sermon 159.
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And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers. 1
I think that after this explanation, no argument or excuse shall remain for those who flatter their Jewish and Christian friends and say to them: We and you arc on the truth as long as we all believe in one God Who has sent Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, and if we are different as to the prophets, we have agreed on the One Who has sent them to us.
Allah says :
Say: Do you dispute with us about Allah, and He is our Lord and your Lord, and we shall have our deeds and you shall have your deeds, and we are sincere to Him. Nay! do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Jacob and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Are you better knowing or Allah? And who is more unjust than he who conceals a testimony that he has from Allah? And Allah is not at all heedless of what you do.
2
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1 Qur'an, 3:85.
2 Qur'an, 2:139-140.
