Lessons on Islamic Beliefs

when it comes to articulation there is a difference between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. Normally Sunni Muslims mention something about Aqidah and practice together. But the way our Olama have been articulating faith is different. They have tried to keep the doctrinal aspect separate from the practical aspect. Hence, we believe in (osoole din) and (foroe din). we are talking about the principles of faith. Sometimes our Olama distinguish between the principles of Islam and principles of the school of ahlul bayt. Tawhid, prophet hood and resurrection which are shared with all Muslim and in addition to these three, we have two more and that is belief in divine justice and imamate and these five are our (osoole mazhab)

The Unicity of God: why Tawhid? Why not the existence of God? Because, existence of God is more fundamental. We start with the unicity of God because existence of God is not that much considered to be questionable.

Reasons why we have chosen unicity of God as one of our principles: 1. Allah(s) in the Quran rejects any idea that someone may say that I have come in to existence without been created very rationally Allah says: «ام خلقوا من غیر شیءام هم الخالقون» “Are these people created from nothing or they themselves are creators”. « افی الله شک فاطرالسموات و الارض » “Is there any doubt about Allah the creator of the heaven and earth”?

There are also many arguments for the existence of God but according to the Quran the main emphasis is put on Tawhid not on the existence of God because existence of God is something not very difficult to understand. 2. Tawhid or unicity of God in all different aspect that it has is a very substantial and fundamental part of the understanding of Islam. If we understand Tawhid properly then it has lots of implications for every aspect of our life. If we fully understand and implement Tawhid, all our problems will be solved. If I am greedy, jealous, fearful, ungrateful this is because I am not a good Movahed. Imam Reza (a.s) in a hadith of golden chain says ( (سلسله الذهب:

« کلمه لا اله الا الله حصنی فمن دخل حصنی امن من عذابی» To believe that there is no one worthy of worship other than Allah (s) is my fortress or castle. Whoever, enters it will be safe from Allah’s punishment.

Scholars divide Tawhid into different aspects: 1. Theoretical Tawhid (Something that we need to believe in)

2. practical Tawhid (something that we need to practice).

Theoretical Tawhid involves three things: 1) Tawhid (unicity) in respect to divine essence (التوحید فی الذات،التوحید الذاتی) which means that there is only one God he has no partner and no parts. 2) Tawhid (unicity) in respect to his attribute. (التوحید فی الصفات،التوحید الصفاتی) Allah (s) attributes are identical with His (swt) essence. His (swt)’s attributes are not accidental or additional to His (swt) essence. 3) Tawhid (unicity) in respect to divine acts. (التوحید فی الافعال،التوحید الافعالی) whatever happens in this world is an act of Allah (s). There is no one who can do anything in this world except Allah (s). Practical Tawhid: This is Tawhid in respect to worship. This is something to practice not only to know. We must not worship other than Allah(s) (التوحید فی العبودیه). The major aspects of Tawhid are these four and as mentioned they may imply in other things.

Tawhid (unicity) in respect to his attribute: It means that Allah (s) has qualities which are not different from himself and from each other in existence. They are only different in concepts not in reality. His (swt) qualities are different but only different in our understanding not in reality. So, He is one reality from which you abstract different concepts. All the qualities of Allah (s) are the same in their existence they are different in our understanding in other words they refer to different aspects of the same reality. None of the attributes of Allah(s) are accidental or additional to His (swt) essence. Tawhid (unicity) in respect to divine acts: It means that everything which happens in this world is an act of Allah (s) whatever we do, whatever happens in the environment everything is an act of Allah (s) because there is no other source of power, nothing else can influence the world which belongs to Allah (s). We all are free to decide what to do we don’t deny that we must be fully responsible for what we do but at the same time we should know that it was not me independent from Allah (s) who has been able to do this. Allah’s will, power and blessing has made us able to do so.

Difference between Allah’s legislative will and Allah’s generative will. Generative will of Allah(s) is everywhere whatever we do must be presided by a generative will of Allah (s) (الاراده التکوینیه) means Allah must have permitted this to happen. But some of the things that we do are presided by Allah’s legislative will and some are not. If I do something good according to Allah’s legislation so Allah’s legislative will be with me. If I disobey Allah(s) I have acted against Allah’s legislative will but in most cases I have always acted according to Allah’s generative will. So no sinner can think that he has defeated Allah in his power but the sinner is not pleasing Allah (s). whatever happens in this world is an act of Allah (s) and this first relates to the creation of this world but it’s not only the creation of the world. Some people think that Allah (s) has created the world and then there is no further creation. But in reality creation is an ongoing process in every moment the world is being created like a river. We are always being created if for a moment Allah (s) doesn’t create us we cease to exist. Allah (s) is always doing something and never retires. Allah is always creating and generating.

The meaning of “Allah”: In Arabic “Allah” is originally the one who should be worshiped because it is the abbreviation of “al Elah” and “Elah” in Arabic is from “al-ha” which means “Abada”. “Elah” means “Mabood” and “Al-Elah” means “the worshiped” the one who is supposed to be worshiped. When we discuss the first three aspects of Tawhid we talk about something that we should believe in and this is the theoretical aspect of Tawhid. when I say “God is one” meaning He (swt) has no parts or partners, divine qualities or attribute are united or everything which happens in this world is an act of God these are the things that we should believe in or should know. However, in respect to worship it is not enough just to know, we also need to practice. So, this is the practical dimension of Tawhid. Therefore, Tawhid has a theoretical dimension and a practical dimension. The bottom line for being considered as a Momen or Movahed is to have all these and what is related to worship is obedience, because if you say that I must worship Allah (s) and then don’t obey Him (swt) it means that there is not real sense of worship like Sheytan. Sheytan had a good understanding of Tawhid in all different aspects. However, what Sheytan lacked was obedience. In respect to worship he didn’t have a problem as he was worshiping Allah (s) since six thousand years. In some contemporary books it has been mentioned that Tawhid also implies belief, in the fact that it is only Allah’s law and legislation we should be following. No one other than Allah (swt) legislates. Divine Justice: The second principle is divine justice (Adl). First, we should know that Allah’s justice is not the only quality that Allah has as we said Allah (swt) has many different qualities and attributes. So, there is a multitude of divine attribute and qualities but why is justice so important? Why the Shia school of thought have chosen divine justice as one of the principles of faith? The reason is that justice first it is very important and secondly, historically this was questioned by some Muslims.it was controversial. what does justice mean? What was very important was what do you mean by justice? Interestingly, in Islam we see that in the first few centuries a question arose. what is the meaning of good and bad? Some Muslims had the idea that good is something what is commanded by God. It is very easy to understand but very problematic. For example, honesty is good because Allah commanded us to be honest but what if Allah commanded us to act otherwise these people had the idea then in that case the opposite of that became good. So, whatever He (swt) does or commands is good. But the Shia theologians and mutazilites refuted this idea. What we believe is different we believe that whether we are religious or not whether we understand or not in reality there is a difference between virtues and vices. And therefore, you see that basic moral values are understandable even by people who have no faith. So, we say whatever is good is commanded by God whatever is bad is prohibited by God. Shias from the very beginning had the idea that divine justice must be reflected in our life this is the idea of social justice. Allah(s) says that He (swt) had sent all the prophets with clear signs so that people establish social justice. « لقد ارسلنا رسلنا بالبینات و ارسلنا معهم الکتاب و المیزان لیقوم الناس بالقسط » So, from the beginning, the Shia Muslims became concerned with social justice. who is ruling the society? Is he legitimate or not? Is he treating people with justice or not? Therefore. you see that throughout the history there have been many movements by the followers of Ahlul bayt against tyrant rulers. Therefore, justice became very historically and very important for us.

Different answers and the best answer to this question: Firstly, none of these problems are against the existence of God. It is only against understanding God. In other words, these cannot disprove the existence of God they can only say that we have some problems with our concept of God. That God might be there, but He is not all powerful or He is not absolutely good. Secondly, these problems are not the matter of divine justice. It is more related to power of God, benevolence of God or wisdom of God. Because justice is to give everything and everyone what he/she deserves, to give everything its due right. We cannot claim that there is anything that God owes us so that we say ok you have not been giving my rights. Because I didn’t have any right over God. So, in respect to Allah (s) we cannot question His justice. we can say that Allah who is the wise why does he let these things happen? historically we have different kind of solutions, some people in Cristian or Hindu tradition and among some philosophers, they have had the idea that those things which are bad they don’t really exist. The only thing which exists is something which is good. They had the idea that all evil things are only none existence of good things. The best answer is something which is developed by Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sina, mulla sadra, Allameh Tabatabai, this is not to say that everything which is bad is just none existence because, this is what I am suffering from so a better answer is that these evils are relative issues.

Different major parts of the world: This world consists of three major parts. One is that Allah (s) is the creator of this world. Who is the most perfect being. There is no deficiency in Allah (s) and the question of evil or suffering doesn’t come there. Then we come down to the created world we have the immaterial (abstract) world and we have the material world. In the immaterial world like angles they are also perfect and there is nothing wrong about them. In the material world there are problems like shortage, illness, famine there is no doubt about this, but we should know that this is the nature of this material world. Material world by its definition is subjected to these things it cannot be perfect. In this abstract world everything is fixed in the best possible way these things cannot become better. In the material world things are in state of becoming and they are not fixed. You call these problems evil, but these are evil for you not evil for someone else. I cannot blame Allah for creating these problems because these are only problems when they conflict with my interest. I say these are bad, but who am I to think that everything must serve me? We cannot say that everything had to be created in the way that only produces good. So, it is impossible to have a material world and then have no problem. Many of these problems can be avoided. If we human beings were wise and took instructions from our reasoning, conscience and prophet, the world would be much better for us. The creation is ok but still a matter of how to run and manage this world. For example, do you think that it is necessary to have poor people? No. So if there are poor people that is because of mismanagement and this is greediness of some human beings. So many of these problems are avoidable and there are some problems which are not avoidable, but this is not a problem in the world. So, there is no problem in the creation of Allah (s) we just need to be wise enough to put everything in its context and understand what the benefit is. «جهان چون خط و خال و چشم و ابروست که هرچیز به جای خویش نیکوست »

General prophethood (النبوه العامه): General prophethood (النبوه العامه), is shared by all believers in the Abrahamic faith. Of course, in Christianity there is a difference that they believe in the arrival of Jesus, the revelation being changed or transformed. They believed that God decided to send His (swt) own son instead of sending revelation to someone else, so God (swt) revealed Himself through His son. So, they don’t believe Jesus was a prophet and Jesus himself was a revelation but, as mentioned earlier that they believed that there were prophets before Jesus (pbuh). The need of Prophets: why do we need to have a prophet? Why isn’t human reason sufficient for guidance. The answer is very clear although, God has provided us with reason (عقل) and we have great respect for it. Especially, in the school of Ahlul Bayt, to the extent that we take reason as one of two Hujjahs of Allah (s). However, we still believe that we need extra guidance from Allah (s). Human’s understanding is limited and is subjective to change. If we look at our sciences which are a candidate for replacing religion for example psychology. Can psychology guide us? and help us from the division caused by disagreements? No, if you read any textbook on psychology you would find out that even in the definition and methodology there are disagreements. So, they are not giving us a unified message. They cannot save us from going in to different directions.

Specific prophethood (النبوه الخاصه): The fact that we only have one life and we cannot say ok, let us try different schools of thought and then for the second life, when we are more experienced, we know what to do. We don’t have such a chance. We have a very short and limited life and we cannot take any risks. Allah(s) has great concerns for every human being so, He (s) cannot just sit indifferent and see what is happening to people. Therefore, when it comes to human beings, Allah has extra guidance and that is through (true) revelation so, this guidance is not to replace our reason. In fact, it is to support and supplement it. Duties of the Prophets: If we just want to very briefly mention the job of the prophets, we can say: 1) It was to remind human beings of the things that they themselves knew, or at least could know. This is a very detailed discussion about what are the things that we can know by our reason. Especially, when it comes to morality. Are human beings able to understand basic moral values by reason or not? We believe yes. We believe that human beings can understand basic moral values by their reason and the prophets come to remind and to emphasis on them. So, you don’t need to be a Muslim or a Christian to find out that, honesty is good. 2) The prophets come and teach us many things that we couldn’t understand. For example, we could understand that we should worship our creator but, what is the best form of worship? We couldn’t understand that by our reason because we don’t have experience. 3) They not only give us theoretical lessons but in their own lives they give us examples, they exemplify what they say, and this is very important. If we knew everything but we didn’t have the chance to know about prophet Muhammad (s). It would have been a totally different scenario, because just to know is not enough, to see someone who lives his faith and shows you how you can be committed to your faith in all difficulties of life, is something different. So, prophets also act as role models and examples. The infallibility of the prophets: we have a very important doctrine and we believe that all the prophets were infallible. Especially, in the school of Ahlul bayt, because our Sunni brothers believe in infallibility of the prophets, but many of them restrict the infallibility of the prophets just to their mission (Tabligh). That means that they in their personal life may not be infallible. But in the school of Ahlul bayt our idea is that the prophets always immune from sins and mistakes whether in their personal life, or in their prophetic life.

What are those clear proofs?

Those clear proofs vary according to the time or age or understanding of people. For example, according to some Ahadith, in the time of prophet Musa (as), when people considered magic as the highest skill that human beings can achieve. Allah (swt) provided Musa with a miracle, which was much greater than what all magicians could do together. People who appreciated magic, realized that this cannot be a work of a human being. In the time of prophet Isa (as), the most important thing was medicine. Allah (swt) provided Isa with something that the doctors, and physicians could not do and realized, that this cannot be from a human being. He was able to heal the people who were not possible to be treated. He (as) was also able to revive the dead.

When it came to Prophet Muhammad (s), Allah provided him with miracles like these, but the most important miracle of prophet Muhammad (s) was the Quran, for two reasons. One was the same reason as the other prophets which was that in that time the most important thing was rhetoric, especially in a poetic form. Poets had a very high position. So, Allah (s) provided His (swt) prophet with some words which is based on language, those people who were very eloquent they were the first ones to admit that this cannot be the word of a human being.

The other reason was that Quran is unique in the sense that it is available for the all generations to come. The miracles of prophet Musa or Isa are not available today. But the miracle of Muhammad is available today and will be available up to the end of the time because this religion is supposed to remain forever. This is the final message of Allah and the prophet was the final prophet.

Technical definition of miracle:

Our Olama have defined miracle as this. They say any extraordinary act which is performed by someone who claims to be a prophet and is accompanied by challenge. So, there are three requirements, it must be extraordinary, something that people cannot do it by learning or by practice, at the same time it must be performed by someone who claims to be a prophet.So, if something extraordinary is performed by an Imam we don’t call it a miracle( Mojezeh) we call it Karamah . And, it must be accompanied by challenge (تحدی) it means that the person must be able to challenge all humanity and say no one can do what I can do.

The infallibility of the prophets:

The other point which we should discuss today is infallibility (Esmah). This is also something that we believe to be a requirement for all prophets. It is not only about the prophet of Islam. We believe that all the prophets were infallible or immune from committing sins or mistakes.

Here there is different between Muslims. All Muslims to a certain extent accept infallibility (Esmah) but to what extent is there a difference. Normally Sunnis accept Esmah in respect to those things which are related to the mission of the prophets -to their Tabligh. They say prophets never make mistakes or never tell lies about what has been revealed to them in their understanding of revelation or in their presentation of revelation, but some Sunnis say that the prophets may make mistakes in their personal life even some of them say they may commit sins in their personal life. Most Sunnis say the prophets were not Masum before they became prophets.

Arguments of infallibility (Esmah): If we want to classify we can say there are three types of sins:

1) Sins performed after they become a prophet. It is something that normally Muslims reject. If a prophet commits sins after he becomes a prophet this means that his mission will be questioned. How can someone claim that he receives direct communication from Allah (swt) and presents you with the way that can bring happiness and perfection for you and then he himself disobeys Allah (swt)? And the prophets have great role not only in teaching but also in being a role model. 2) What about the period before they became a prophet? If up to yesterday (نعوذ بالله) prophet of Islam was like any Arab in the mecca committing all these sins and then today he comes and says I am a new person I have brought a message and from today, you will not see me committing any sins. would people trust him? 3) Indeed, the people who think that prophets commit sins and then still become prophets they have not understood the meaning of prophethood? To be a prophet, is not like to be appointed as a minister, or as a boss. To be able to receive direct communication from Allah (swt) this needs a very great heart. A heart with a great capacity. As the word of Allah (swt) is the highest manifestation of Allah (swt). So, is it possible to have a sinful life and then become a prophet, even if people trust you it is impossible. You need to have devotion so that you can be chosen with Allah (swt). So Esmah according to the Shia theology is something which is covering both before and after someone becomes a prophet in respect to sins and mistakes intentional or unintentional.

What is the nature of Esmah?

Khaje Nasir al-din al-Tusi says in his book (التلخیص المحصل) page “125” that Esmah is when the servant is able to perform sins but he does not wish to do sins at all and this lack of will for committing sins or the existence of something that prevents him from that, is a divine grace for him .So, he does not disobey God not because he is unable to do so but because he does not will to do so. It means that they have the desire like us, but they have such a great piety and understanding that they were never thinking of disobey Allah (swt) not only they were not disobeying Allah in a conventional sense, for them just negligence not to remember Allah(swt) was a big crime. They understood the greatness of Allah (swt) and had a great amount of love for Allah (swt) that they thought if they spent a moment of their life without showing their love and devotion to Allah (swt) this is a big sin. So, this is the reason that why they didn’t commit sins. The prophets understand the ugliness of sins. Even if someone forces them to commit sins they will not do so. In respect to mistakes Allah (swt) gives extra support if someone doesn’t commit sins then Allah (swt) protects them from mistakes. So, that this person can be fully trusted by people.

Many prophets who were chosen by Allah (swt) not necessarily having a new teaching but mostly to preach and to promote the sharia which was relevant to that time. Because firstly, communication was not easy in that time secondly, to keep and preserve the message in its original format was not easy.

How much this had to continue?

Did Allah (swt) need to send prophets generation by generation? And up to the last day of this world Allah had to send new prophets? Or this had to continue till human beings were mature, capable and careful enough to receive the final message and protect it at least in its literal format. So, it is completely rational to think that sending prophets should have come to some end. When human beings become mature, capable and careful enough to receive the final message of Allah and protect it.

when the Quran was given, and people could save and protect the Quran the challenge is now different. The challenge is understanding of the Quran. In respect to the previous nations they had the challenge of understanding but sometimes they didn’t have anything left to understand. So, when human beings become mature to receive the message then the challenge is how to understand the message. So, one job of the prophet which is very important was to teach the Quran.

Do we need a new prophet to come after prophet of Islam to teach the Quran?

In the case of previous nations, they needed a new prophet because those prophets did not bring a new book. As a book was missing they were reequipped with revelation, direct communication from Allah (swt) the book which was lost. Now in the time of Islam we do not have this challenge. we have the book and we do not need any future revelations from Allah (swt) to any prophet to restore to us the main message.

Hujjah of Allah:

We just need a teacher of the Quran. Therefore, after the prophet we have Imams. What is difference between prophets and Imams? According to the definition the main difference is that, they do not receive revelation (Vahy). They all follow the same message, which was given to the prophet Muhammad, but they are pure and infallible teachers for us.

Human beings also need a perfect man. what we call as a Hujjah of Allah (swt). In every generation there must be a perfect man. That perfect man must act as a pure channel of mercy of Allah (swt) and must come down and spread it to all his creation. If such a person is not there nothing would remain.

« لولا الحجة لساخت الارض باهلها»

So, those prophets were acting also as Hujjah of Allah (swt) for that time. After the prophet of Islam, we do not need a prophet. We do not need a revelation, but we do need Hujjah. Firstly, because he is a teacher. Secondly, because his existence is needed for the continuity of the divine grace. This is something which is going on and on. So, up to the end of this world the need for Hujjah will go on. Therefore, we believe that an infallible (Masum) must be there. What about being a teacher, can that come to an end? They can train human beings and give them all the techniques. So, that a day can come that they can be left with the Quran and with the techniques that they have given to us also regarding Sunnah and say now you must manage yourself.

Imamah:

Some people think that prophethood coming to an end ختم النبوه» « means that human beings will no longer need any religion because human beings become very understanding and very mature but they are not careful enough to say that the human beings are mature in preserving the message . We need religion and guidance, but we don’t need a new prophet to come. We don’t need Imams to be present with us.

Also, you understand the mistake of the people who don’t appreciate the need of a teacher after the prophet. They think that the prophet was our teacher and he did enough. As a result, you see those who didn’t follow Ahlul bayt they faced lots of questions, that they couldn’t find answers for. Because the prophet taught the Quran only for 23 years. 23 years for training mankind is not enough and then in those 23 years the prophet was not able to teach people completely. Firstly, for three years he didn’t declare his Dawah in public then, revelation came down slowly and Muslims were facing many problems. So, there wasn’t enough time or opportunities to train people enough and people needed to face new questions. Those 260 or 329 years of Imams, going to different experiences and facing many different challenges was just enough to be trained. So, this is the link between prophethood and Imamah.

Imamate in the Quran and several concepts of Imamate:

One is the concept of Imam in Almizan by Allameh Tabatabai under the verse « یوْمَ نَدْعُو كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ » “The day that we call every people with their Imam or leader”.

Allameh Tabatabai argues that “Imam” here means the Imam who is a divinely appointed leader and every nation on the Day of Judgment will be called by his Imam.

The other concept is the concept of guide or Hadi again according to the Quran for every generation, there is a divine guide for example Allah (swt) says: «وَ يَقُولُ‌ الَّذِينَ‌ کَفَرُوا لَوْ لاَ أُنْزِلَ‌ عَلَيْهِ‌ آيَةٌ مِنْ‌ رَبِّهِ‌ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ‌ مُنْذِرٌ وَ لِکُلِ‌ قَوْمٍ‌ هَادٍ» “The people who are disbelievers they say why no sign has been revealed to him from his Lord … then Allah (swt) says you are truly a person who warns and there is a guide for every nation”.

It means that every group of people are provided with a guide. Who is that guide? Allah (swt) in surah Yunus explains what He means by guidance here. Guidance here doesn’t mean that you go to learn something and then teach other people. When we talk about divine guidance we mean people who can guide towards Allah (swt) without them been guided. So, it means that guidance which we are talking about is a kind of guidance which comes from its source directly, the prophets and Imams are a guide because they don’t need to be taught they don’t need to go to school.

the other concept is the concept of witness. The concept of Shahid or Shahed. According to the Quran in every generation there must be a witness. So, not only there must be an imam and guide, there must also be a witness. For example, in surah Nisa: « فَکَيْفَ إِذا جِئْنا مِنْ کُلِّ أُمَّةٍ بِشَهيدٍ وَ جِئْنا بِکَ عَلي‏ هؤُلاءِ شَهيداً» “Allah (swt) says that how shall it be when we bring from every nation a witness, and we bring you as a witness over them”.

So, every generation on the Day of Judgment when they are resurrected, Allah (swt) will call someone from them and say come here, now you are to witness over them, how did they behave? How did they believe? Did they accept or reject you? Were they true Momens or hypocrites or disbelievers? That witness would tell all the truth about them. And you can see how much knowledge that person must have! To be able to understand what has happened to every single member of that nation. It is not something that you can learn it is something that comes from Allah (swt). Sunni brothers have accepted this idea that on the Day of Judgment there will be a witness for every nation, but some Sunni brothers like Zamakhshari, have suggested that this witness is not necessarily contemporary to the people over whom he wants to be a witness. It means that prophet Muhammad (saw) acts as a witness for the people of his own time and all the people to come after him. But we say also Prophet Muhammad (saw) even after his death is aware of what we do but this is an official position for Hujjah of Allah in every generation and he must live with his people. Our reason is that this verse that Isa says: « كُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنْتَ أَنْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ » And I was a witness to them so long as I was among them. But when you had taken me away, You Yourself were watchful over them, and you are witness to all things. This is very important proof which suggests that witness in this sense is a person who lives with his people So, after prophet Muhammad (saw) passed away we must look for another witness. In addition to that we have two more verses of the Quran which refer to the time after prophet (s): «وَ يَقُوْلُ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لَسْتَ مُرْسَلاً، قُلْ كَفَى بِاللهِ شَهِيْدًا بَيْنِيْ وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ»

The faithless say, ‘You have not been sent [by God].’ Say, ‘God suffices as a witness between me and you, and he who possesses the knowledge of the Book. (13:43) The people who don’t believe they say that you are not saying what God has said, tell them it’s sufficient for me that Allah is a witness between me and you and the one who has knowledge of the book. . In Arabic there is a big difference between the phrases “‘ilmun min al-kitāb” (some knowledge of the Book), and “‘ilm al-kitāb” (the knowledge of the Book). This ayah says there is a witness who has all knowledge of the book. «أَفَمَنْ كَانَ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَيَتْلُوْهُ شَاهِدٌ مِنْهُ …»

Is he who stands on a manifest proof from his Lord, and whom a witness of his own follows? [Like one who is not such?] (11:17) Allah (swt) tells the infidels who didn’t believe in the prophet and disputed over him, do you reject over someone who has been given clear proofs from his Lord? And he is followed by a witness from himself, so a witness from the prophet. Witness means someone who knows everything which is happening. Then says (min-hu) is very important. To be from a prophet is very significant it’s not just to be a Muslim. It’s much more than being a Muslim and it is much more than being a relative of the prophet, so to be from the prophet means to be 100% following the prophet and resembling prophet as much as possible. These verses and hadiths prove that, there must be someone after the Prophet (s) vested with this knowledge and authority over the people. And this responsibility of bearing witness, of course, continues after Imam Ali (a) until the end of time. And the witness in our time is Imam Mahdi (a). Imamate in Hadiths:

Hadith of al-Ghadir: ‘for whomsoever I am a mawla, Ali is his mawla’ Even if we were to assume that by mawla, he meant friend, the very fact that the Prophet (s) asked thousands of Muslims to gather together in the heat of the midday desert sun just to proclaim that Ali is his friend should be enough to tell us that we must follow him. And was this the way muslims treated Ali? There are many other hadiths too. Interestingly our Sunni brothers have a group of hadith in which number twelve is mentioned that prophet said after him there would be twelve Amir or Khalifah and all of them from Quraysh and that Islam would have dignity if there are these twelve. Ahl al-Bayt, the Authoritative Teachers of Islam: How should we learn Islam? How do you understand your Islam today? What are the sources from whom you learn your Islam? We believe that we should refer to the Quran and Ahlul bayt. In many Hadiths prophet said I leave among you two weighty things, the Quran and my household and if you appeal to them you will be safe from going astray. If today, we want to understand Islam properly we need refer to the Quran and Ahlul bayt. And this Hadith interestingly suggests that in every generation there must be someone from Ahlul bayt with the Quran because it says they will never separate each other till the Day of Judgment. In some sources they have « کتاب الله و سنتی» instead that « کتاب الله و عترتی». Firstly, that version is not well-known « کتاب الله و عترتی» is narrated by all Muslim across sets. Secondly, even if we suppose that « کتاب الله و عترتی» is correct it means that you must refer to the Quran and my Sunnah, the way to understand my Sunnah is to refer to Ahlul bayt. So, this leaves no doubt that we need to refer to Ahlul bayt.

Raj’at: when people die, certainly they will not perish or cease to exist. This is just a transition from one kind of life to another kind of life, there is no chance of coming to the world again except in rare cases. So, there are rare cases in which people have come back to this world or as we believe in the return in the idea of ‘Raj’at that in end of the world, certain people who are very good and the people who are very bad will be coming back to this world to experience the victory of the party of Allah over the party of Sheytan. However, we don’t believe in the possibility of people coming back to this world. The main judgment or the main reward and punishment take place in the hereafter not in this world.

Different names of resurrection in the Quran: The Quran emphasizes on this concept of the resurrection in different ways and with different names. You have resurrection, (یوم القیامه) the day that we all will stand again before God almighty, (یوم الجزاء) (یوم الدین) the Day of Judgment,d that we would be judge and rewarded or punished, (یوم التغابن) when people would regret for everything bad they have done .

what is the reality of death from Quranic perspective: Some people had the problem in the understanding of the concept of death and the Quran speaks on occasions about the people who thought that death means that our body is damaged or destroyed and then because our reality is made of by our body, then it would not be possible to be resurrected.

وَقَالُوْا أَإذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِيْ الأرْضِ أَإِنَّا لَفِيْ خَلْقٍ جَدِيْدٍ، بَلْ هُمْ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ كَافِرُوْنَ. قُلْ يَتَوَفّاكُمْ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِيْ وُكِّلَ بِكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُوْنَ They say, ‘When we have been lost in the dust, shall we then be created anew?’ Rather they disbelieve in the encounter with their Lord. Say, ‘You will be taken away by the angel of death who has been charged with you. Then you will be brought back to your Lord.’ (32: 10 & 11) Semi abstract body: When we die the angles of death receive our soul, so our reality is preserved as if you have changed a dress. You are taken from this bodily form and then will be given a new body. which is the body suitable for the life after death (بدن مثالی) means a kind of body which is more abstract than the physical body a kind of semi abstract body. Another verse is about death and sleep. Both death and sleep are very mysterious and closely related to each other. Death is obvious but also to sleep and then to become awake is quite mysterious, especially then to have true dreams. (39:42). So, when we sleep it’s somehow like when we die. It is a matter of reduction of the relation between the soul and the body and when we die the relation is cut off between the soul and body. Allah (swt) receives the souls then if we are supposed to die while we sleep then our soul will not be sent back. If we are supposed to be given some chance to live more, then our soul will be sent back. And this why our souls can have true dreams because when the soul is departing the body partially the soul would be able to be connected to the other world and to witness facts which are there. So, death is not the matter of destruction this is like a deep sleep. In another verse in the Qur’an, God says: (4:97) Unlike with some people who think when we die then we would be in idle situation till the Day of Judgment, but interestingly as soon as we die conversation with the angles start. We have a life here so according to the Quran death is not destruction it is like a very deep sleep and we would be given a new life with more understanding and with a stronger life, which we’ll continue till the day of judgment. However, depending on what we have done we may be suffering or we may be enjoying. Barzakh: The last point is that there is one verse in the Quran in which an expression has been given to this world between death and the day of resurrection that is Barzakh.

حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُوْنِ لَعَلِّيْ أَعْمَلُ صَالِحًا فِيْمَا تَرَكْتُ. كَلاَّ إنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَائِلُهَا وَمِنْ وَرَائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُوْنَ When death comes to one of them, he says, ‘My Lord! Send me back that I may act righteously in what I have left behind.’ ‘By no means. These are mere words that he says.’ And ahead of them is a barrier until the day they will be resurrected. (23:99 & 100) Barzakh is a world between this physical life and the Day of Judgment, but this world is parallel to the physical life. So, while I am still in this physical world there are many people are in that world. Therefore, it is not something which is created after this world. So, when people die depending on what they have done, they would have some fixed situations, then after the Day of Judgment everything would be finally decided by Allah (swt) and everything would be defined.

يُبْعَثُوْنَ When death comes to one of them, he says, ‘My Lord! Send me back that I may act righteously in what I have left behind.’ ‘By no means. These are mere words that he says.’ And ahead of them is a barrier until the day they will be resurrected. (23:99 & 100) There are fifteen verses in the Quran which refer to this type of life (transitory life) For example, in some of the verses, Allah (swt) says, when people who are good or faithful die the angels would welcome them and would offer them salutation of peace and tell them please enter the heaven: (16:32) As you see right after the death they are invited to heaven, so this heaven is not the eternal heaven this is the heaven which is already there and as soon as a momin who is good or pious dies goes to that heaven. (36:26 & 27) As you see when a person who is a believer dies he is told to enter heaven before resurrection. Or Allah (swt) speaks about the people who go to hell right after death: (40:45) Imam Ali (as) explain this verse and says: the beginning refers to the punishment in the Barzakh because in Barzakh you have timings like days and weeks but in Akhirah there is no time. When Allah says (غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا) they are exposed to fire in the morning and in the evening it cannot be Akhirah, Imam Ali says this is Barzakh and then Allah says (وَيَوْمَ تَقُوْمُ السَّاعَةُ) the second part is about the Day of Judgment, so both hell and heaven are already there for people who die to enter. So, this about the concept of Barzakh. Questioning in the grave: According to some Ahadith and some of our great Olama especially Ayatollah Mutahari this idea can be maintained that there would be a kind of question and answer in Barzakh, but that is exclusive to basic Aqaed to beliefs (who your Lord is, who is your prophet is, …) but the details of our practices will be asked later the day of judgment. The Day of Resurrection: When Allah decides to put an end to this world the trumpet will be blown, everyone will die, and humans and non-humans will cease to exist in the form they have will be taken away. People will be resurrected and there will be an eternal life after resurrection. There are some elements which are important about resurrection:

1) resurrection is for everyone it is not like Barzakh, in Barzakh people go separately, but resurrection is for all people in all ages and all nations at the same time so it happens once. 2) Our life after resurrection is very much based on our life in this world. The life in Akhirah is based on what we do in this life there is no chance there is no luck which works. Gender, age or language nothing works. (26:88-89) يَوْمَ لاَ يَنْفَعُ مَالٌ وَ لاَ بَنُوْنَ ٌإلاَّ مَنْ أَتَى اللهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيْمٍ The day when neither wealth nor children will avail except him who comes to Allah with a sound heart. What happens after the resurrection: According to the Quran we understand that our acts will be embodied, and we will see our acts, we don’t see only the result or outcomes of our acts we see our acts themselves. So, if we do something good the very good act will come and if we do something bad the very bad will come and we’ll see. There are several verses in the Qur’an for example: (99:7-8), (18:49) يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ سُوْءٍ تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَهُ أَمَدًا بَعِيْدًا The day when every soul will find present whatever good it has done, and as to whatever evil it has done, it will wish there were a far distance between it and itself. (3:30) what would be the case about who may do good things and they didn’t have faith? Very briefly we can say that Allah (swt) certainly would take it to account everything that people do, even if they are not believers but still they do something good with a good intention, may be the intention is not obedience to Allah because they don’t know. However, they have good intentions for example: they see that there is someone suffering and, in their conscience,, they find that if they can reduce the suffering of people they should do so that is because of the love and mercy that they have. They try to be helpful and to be kind to the people. إنَّا لاَ نُضِيْعُ أَجْرَ مَنْ أَحْسَنَ عَمَلاً Indeed, we do not waste the reward of those who are good in deeds. (18:30) There are different types of rewards and punishments. The only reward is not just to go to the heaven or the only punishment is not just to go to hell. Allah will reward these people, maybe He rewards them by giving them happy life in the world or by reducing their suffering or by not punishing them and even if someone believes in Allah (swt) and is sincere, but he’s not a Muslim there is a possibility that Allah(swt) will send them to heaven. (2:62) these people if they believe in God, they believe in resurrection and do good deeds they will be sent to heaven by Allah (swt). So, going to heaven is a matter of sincerity in the heart, and basic belief in God and resurrection. There is a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that explains this. He says, if the servants of Allah didn’t know, they just stop and didn’t deny, they would not become Kafir. So Kafir is the one who doesn’t understand the truth but denies or maybe they understand the truth and deny it. So, what is very important is whether you have submission in your heart for the truth or you want to oppose the truth.