Hayat Al-Qulub Vol.3

Part 9: Different traditions that mention the nomination of all the Imams together

Abu Hurairah has narrated in the book Basharatul Mustafa that the Holy Prophet (S) said the best among you is the one who is the best in favor of my Ahlul Bayt (a.s.).

Likewise Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari has narrated that the Holy Prophet (S) said that people are known according to their paternal relation except the progeny of my daughter Fatima (s.a.) because I am their guardian (Wali) and their Usbah (close relative). They are my Progeny who are born of my essence (Teenat). Woe unto them who deny their gracefulness. Allah befriends those who befriend them (my Progeny) and Allah is the enemy of those who are their enemy.

Similarly, according to reliable chains of narrators, Ali (a.s.) is reported to have said that certainly, Allah has made five things obligatory for His slaves which are the best of all deeds. They are Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, Hajj and the Wilayat of we Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). People acted upon the first four things but they insulted and disregarded the fifth one. By Allah, acting upon the said four things cannot be considered complete unless the fifth one is also acted upon, that is until they do not have the belief in the Imamate of we Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) which a condition for the acceptance of all the four.

Similarly, it is also related by Ali (a.s.) that: We are Najeeb (excellent) and Shareef (Noble) and our progeny is the prophet’s and our group is group of Allah and the group which rises against us is the group of the devil and the one who considers us like others is not from us.

The author of the book Misbahul Anwar has narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

I am the balance of knowledge and Ali (a.s.) is like its two scales and Hasan and Husain (a.s.) are its two strings and Fatima (s.a.) is its beam. The Imams following them will measure (weigh) their friends and foes with this balance. Those who are their enemies are condemned by Allah and by those who condemn.

Ibne Athir has, in Jamiul Usool, quoted from Tirmidhi the words of Ali (a.s.): The Holy Prophet (S) held the hands of Imams Hasan and Husain (a.s.) and said: The one who befriends me and these two children and their parents will be with me and in my company on the Day of Qiyamat.

Likewise, in Sahih Tirmidhi, there is a narration from Zaid bin Arqam that the Holy Prophet (S) said about Amirul Momineen (a.s.), Fatima (s.a.), Imams Hasan and Husain (a.s.) that: I am to fight with those who fight with you and I make peace with those who make peace with you.”

Dailami, one of the Ahle Sunnat traditionists quotes Imam Ali (a.s.) in Firdausul Akhbar that the Holy Prophet (S) said: We are the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) from whom Allah Almighty has kept away all evils, and that the Holy Prophet (S) said: We are the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) for whom Allah has preferred the Hereafter in place of this world.

Sayyid Razi (r.a.) has narrated in Nahjul Balagha that in a sermon in which Imam Ali (a.s.) has described Aale Muhammad (a.s.) has said that he (Ali) is the preserver and custodian of the secrets of the Holy Prophet (S) and also the shelter in connection with the affairs of Prophethood and is the treasure of knowledge and the resounding of his command and the library of his books and the rope of his Religion; that Allah has retained the straightness of His Religion through them (a.s.); that Allah has removed fear from Religion; that the Aale Muhammad (a.s.) cannot be compared with any other persons of this Ummah nor can any other group equal them because Muslims have got blessings only through them and also only through them the people received guidance.

They alone are the solid foundation of religion and the sound pillar of Faith. Everyone should look only at them, that is, should remain connected with them. If anyone has made excess and crossed limits in their praise should return towards them properly and if anyone has lagged behind in appreciating them should rush forward and join other moderates. Specialities of the right of Wilayat are reserved only for them and it is incumbent on every creature to love them. The Holy Prophet (S) has willed only in their favor and they alone are his heirs.

In Amali Ibne Babawayh has quoted Imam Ridha (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

Allah has informed me through Jibraeel that Allah says: Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) is My Hujjat over the creation and he alone would maintain My Religion; I will create many Imams from his loins who will live among people with My Command and invite people towards My Path. I will forgive My male and female slaves because of their blessings and will waive punishment from them and I will shower My Mercy on My creation because of them.

Likewise, according to a reliable narration Umme Salma says: I have heard the Holy Prophet (S) saying:

After me, Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) and the Imams from their sons are most graceful among the creation on the earth and only they will lead all people to Paradise.

Similarly, it is narrated authentically that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

When I was taken, during the night of ascension ‘(Meraj)’, to the seventh sky and therefrom to the farthest lote-tree (Sidratul Muntaha), and therefrom to the folds of Radiance my Lord called out to me: O Muhammad! You are My slave and I am your Lord.

So be submissive to Me and worship Me and rely on Me and put trust in Me and in none else and that is all. I have chosen you and your brother Ali (a.s.) who is your Vicegerent and deputy and the gate of your city of knowledge. So he is My Hujjat on My servants and My creation and he is their leader and My friends and foes will be identified only through him and (through him) the group of devil will be differentiated from My group and only through him will my religion be established and My Religion’s frontiers will be defined and My Commands will be issued and I will pour My Mercy on My male and female slaves through the Imams who will be from his sons.

I will fill up My earth with the pronouncements of Tasbeeh and Taqdees and Takbeer and Tamjeed and will clean the earth of My enemies through him and I will grant My earth to My friends as heritage. I will bring down the word of deniers and raise up the word of My Religion and Kalimah and I will enliven My male and female servants through him and I will open up My mines and treasures for him through My knowledge and I will reveal the hidden hearts’ secrets of people to him through My Will and I will help him with My angels so that those angels may strengthen him for the task of issuing My Commands and the proclamation of My Religion. In fact he is my friend and he is My Mahdi for guiding My servants truthfully.

Similarly they have quoted Imam Sadiq (a.s.) authentically that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

O Ali, you are, in my Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) and in my Ummah, both during my lifetime and after my demise, my brother, my legatee, my heir and my Vicegerent and caliph. Your friend is my friend and your enemy is my enemy. O Ali! You and the Imams from your sons are the leaders and commanders of the creation in this world and kings in the Hereafter. Those who recognized us have recognized Allah and those who denied us have definitely denied the Almighty Allah.

Likewise, it is reliably quoted through Imam Baqir (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

Catch hold of this Nazaah (skirt) of Ali (a.s.) (as his forehead was wide he was called Nazaa Inzaa) Verily he is Siddiq-e-Akbar (that is, it is he who testified to the Prophethood of the Prophet first of all) and he is most high ranking among all Siddiqs and he is Farooq as he separates truth from falsehood. Allah has guided the one who befriends him and Allah despises him who despises him and Allah destroys him who turns away from him.

From him only will be born the two grandsons of the Holy Prophet (S) (i.e. Hasan and Husain (a.s.) who are my sons) and guiding Imams will be born of Husain (a.s.). Allah has granted him my knowledge and intelligence. So do befriend them and make them your rulers and keep nothing secret from them otherwise you will be caught in Allah’s great anger and chastisement and the one who will be caught in Allah’s anger will be entangled in the web of misguidance and will be targeted by Divine wrath. (Know that) the worldly life is nothing but only a delusion which has no real actuality.

Ali bin Ibrahim has, in his Tafsir quoted Imam Ali (a.s.) that the Imam (a.s.) in one of his sermons said:

Verily those of the companions of the Holy Prophet (S) who remember the traditions of the Holy Prophet (S) know well enough that the Holy Prophet (S) has said: I and my Ahle Bayt (a.s.) are most purified and Infallible so do not try to go ahead of them in any matter otherwise you will go astray and do not turn away from them otherwise you will deviate from the right path and do not oppose them otherwise you will be deemed ignorant and do not try to teach them anything because they know better than you and are much higher than you in rank and despite (even in) their short age they are more tolerant than all the people. So follow the truth and the men of truth wherever they may be.

Likewise it has been reliably narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that when Qiyamat will be brought forth Muhammad (S) will be called and he will be adorned with a rose coloured robe and he would be made to sit on the right side of the Throne (Arsh). Thereafter Ibrahim (a.s.) will be called and he will be adorned with a white robe and he would be made to remain on the left side of the Arsh. Thereafter Ali (a.s.) will be called and he will be adorned with a red robe and he would be made to stand on the right side of the Holy Prophet (S).

Then Hazrat Ismail (a.s.) will be called and he would be adorned with a white robe and made to stand on the left side of Ibrahim (a.s.). Then Imam Hasan (a.s.) will be called and he would be adorned with a green robe and will be made to stand on the right side of Amirul Momineen (a.s.). Then Imam Husain (a.s.) will be called and he will be adorned with a crimson robe and will be made to stand on the right side of Imam Hasan (a.s.). Then the Shias of these dignitaries will be called and they will be made to stand before them.

Then Fatima (s.a.) will be called and so also the women and children of their Shias who will be admitted to Paradise in an innumerable number. Then a proclaimer will proclaim (standing in the middle of the Arsh) from the high horizon according to Divine Command: O Muhammad (S) how nice is your father Ibrahim (a.s.) and how nice is your brother Ali (a.s.) and how nice are your sons who are sons of your daughter, namely Hasan and Husain (a.s.) and how nice is your son Mohsin who was aborted during the days of pregnancy who is the son of Ali and Fatima (s.a.) and from their sons are the best and most rightly-guided Imams.

Then everyone will be called by name. Then will come an announcement that the best Shias are your Shias. Doubtlessly Muhammad (S), his legatee and both of his sons Hasan and Husain (a.s.) and the Imams from their sons have attained salvation. Then they will be ordered that all of them be led to Paradise. This is the meaning of the Divine words:

Then whoever is removed far away from the fire and is made to enter the garden he indeed has attained the object… (Surah Ale-Imran 3:185)

Saffar has, with reliable chains of narrators, quoted Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (S) said: A man who wants to lead a life like my life and to die a death like my death and wants to enter the Paradise which has been promised by my Lord and that Paradise is Garden of Adn which is my destination in which my Lord has planted a tree with the hand of His Might (that is, He said ‘Be’ and it became), should befriend Ali (a.s.) and should have faith, after me, in their Imamate and should have faith in the Imamate of my sons whom my Lord has granted my knowledge and intelligence and they are my progeny.

They are born of my flesh and blood I will complain to Allah against those who opposed them in my Ummah that they have denied their gracefulness and have cut off my nearness and relationship. By Allah, they will kill my son. May Allah not make my intercession reach them.

In another narration Imam Baqir (a.s.) is reported to have said that the Holy Prophet (S) said: Whoever wants to live like me and to die like me and to enter Garden of Adn should make Ali (a.s.) his master and Imam and his legatees after me. It is so because they will neither make you enter any deviation nor expel you from any guidance.

Do not venture to teach them anything because they know more than all of you and I have requested my Lord not to allow any gap between them and Quran until both come to me on the side of the Pond of Kauthar. The Holy Prophet (S) joined his two fingers and said: The expanse of that Pond is equal to the distance between Basra and Syria upto Yemen and golden and silvery cups equal to the number of the stars are kept on its bank.

Ibne Bitreeq has written similar traditions from Hilyatul Awliya with a number of evidences quoting Abbas and Zaid bin Arqam.

The author of Kashaful Ghumma has from Manaqib of Khwarizmi, quoted Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and Shaykh Mufeed has, in Majalis, quoted Imam Ridha (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (S) said: O Ali! Allah has initiated Imamate through you and He will conclude it through you only. So be patient against the extortion of the extorters and the oppression of the oppressors because a good end is only for the God-fearing virtuous people. You are the group of Allah and your enemies do not belong to the group of Allah. They are the mob of Satan. Lucky is he who may follow you and woe unto he who may disobey you.

Only you are the Hujjat (argument) of Allah on His creation and you are His sound rope. The one who will hold it firmly will get salvation and the one who will leave it will go astray and I beseech Paradise for you from Allah. No one can surpass you in obeying Allah rather you deserve to be obedient to Allah more than all others.

Similarly, Ali (a.s.) is reported to have said that the Holy Prophet (S) said: O Ali! Allah will conclude the Religion on us as He initiated it on us and it is because of us, O people! It is because of us that Allah creates our love in your hearts after enmity and hatred.

In the book Kitabul Fazail, Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and his pious elders have been quoted saying that Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari said: The Holy Prophet (S) had said: Fatima is the happiness of my hearts and both her sons Hasan and Husain (a.s.) are the fruits of my soul and her husband is the light of my eyes and the Imams from their sons are my trust and rope which has been extended from the heaven to the earth. Anyone who will keep hold on it will get salvation and the one who will turn his face from them will get stuck in the quagmire of deviation.

In the book Rawdatul Fazail, it is narrated from Ibne Abbas that after returning from the Farewell Hajj, we were sitting with the Holy Prophet (S) when he said:

Beware! The Almighty One has favored the religious people by guiding them through me and my favor on them is that I guide them through Ali (a.s.) who is my cousin and the father of my sons. Whoever will get guidance from them will get salvation and whoever will turn away from them will go wayward. O people Remember Allah regarding my Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) and fear Him.

Verily Fatima is a part of my body. Both of her sons are my two arms and I and her husband are the two lamps on the road of guidance. O Lord! Shed mercy on those who are kind to them and do not forgive those who oppress them. Then he began to weep saying: It is as if I am observing how they will be oppressed.

In Uyoon Akhbar Ridha, it is mentioned from the same reliable source that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

O Ali! You and your sons are the chosen ones from Allah’s creation.

Likewise the same sources say that the Holy Prophet (S) said:

The one whose Master and authority is I, Ali is also the Master and authority for him. O Allah! befriend him who befriends Ali and help him who helps Ali and degrade his enemy and be helper of Ali and his sons and be sustainer of his sons and grant abundance in what You have given to them and assist them through Ruhul Quds (The Holy Sprit- an angel). Protect them wherever they proceed in the earth from all sides and keep Imamate only in them and grant real life to those who obey them and destroy those who disobey them. Doubtlessly You are close to those who invoke You and You answer their prayers.

Ibne Babawayh has, in Fazailush Shia, quoted Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that: People forgot the Holy Prophet’s (S) order in favor of Ali (a.s.) on the day of Ghadeer Khum just as the Holy Prophet (S) had said in favor of Ali (a.s.) in the room of Ibrahim’s mother when people were visiting him (prophet) during his illness. Ali (a.s.) also had arrived and he wanted to sit near the Holy Prophet (S) but he could not get space.

When the Holy Prophet (S) saw that people did not give room to Ali (a.s.) he said: O people! He is my Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). So do not decrease their honour. At present I am living among you. If I go out of your sight, Allah will not go away from you. Do remember that ease and comfort and happiness and good tidings and love is for the one who follows Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) and who believes in his Imamate and who after him follows his successors. It will be incumbent on me to include in my intercession those who follow them because in fact they will be following me and the one who follows me is from me and this is the example which has been given in the case of Ibrahim (a.s.):

Then whoever follows me, he is surely of me, and whoever disobeys me, Thou surely are Forgiving, Merciful: (Surah Ibrahim 14:36)

Because I am from Ibrahim (a.s.) and Ibrahim is from me. My Religion is his Religion and my Sunnah is his Sunnah and my grace is his grace and I am more graceful than him and my grace is his grace according to the testification of my Lord as His Words convey:

Surely Allah chose Adam and Nuh and the descendants of Ibrahim and the descendants of Imran above the nations. (Surah Ale-Imran 3:33)