Chapter 4: Revelation and Prophethood
Miracles and Supernatural Acts
120. Are the miracles of the prophets and saints the occurrence of an event without a cause? Do they contravene the law of causality?
Answer: The prophets’ miracles are the results of exceptions to natural laws. This is a result of another system of causes beyond the ordinary set of causes and effects that we normally observe in the material world. All religions believe in supernatural acts and view the prophets’ miracles as breaking natural laws.
121. Is there a difference between breaking the laws of nature and impossible events?
Answer: Breaking the laws of nature is distinct from logically impossible events. Even from a scientific stand point, the possibility of breaking the laws of nature has not been nullified.
122. What kinds of actions and behavior can issue from a prophet or an imam?
Answer: They need to have some qualifications, including the following: (1) They should not act in a way which would undermine their position and character. (2) They should be inherently averse to sins and vices, and should not commit them under any circumstances. (3) They should unmistakably know what to do and say in different circumstances. Otherwise, they will lose the people’s confidence in them.
The Difference Between rasūl and nabī
123. It is said that “a prophet (nabī) is one who is not sent to a nation and does not preach, as opposed to a messenger (rasūl).” Is this saying accurate?
Answer: One can refer to two verses in regard to this manner, which say that a prophet is similar to a messenger in having a message to preach: We did not send before you any messenger or prophet but… (); Allah sent the prophets as bearers of good news and as warners (). Therefore, God has charged all prophets to bear good tidings and warning.
124. Then, what is the difference between “messenger” and “prophet”?
Answer: The common view of Sunni scholars is that there is an absolute generality and particularity between the two, meaning that a “messenger” is appointed and is assigned to make the call (dawah) and preach (tablīgh), while a “prophet” is appointed whether he is assigned to preach or not.
125. In your opinion what is the difference between the two?
Answer: A messenger is one that receives revelation by means of an intermediating angel (that is, Gabriel). He can perceive the angel and can communicate with it. However, a prophet is one that can receive revelation through dreams and visions. These two definitions are also mentioned in the traditions of the Ahl al-Bayt.
126. What is the difference between a prophet and a genius (nābighah)?
Answer: God says: Humankind were a single community; then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of good news and as warners, and He sent down with them the Book with the truth… (). This verse suggests that prophets convey a scripture with the truth to humankind. Nonetheless the prophets were also very intelligent, but defining them as geniuses is an error.
Divine Revelation
127. Can a non-prophet receive revelation?
Answer: God says: And We revealed to Moses’ mother (), which happened when she was sleeping.He Also says: And your Lord revealed to the bee ().
128. God says: Nor does he speak out of [his own] desire. It is just a revelation that is revealed [to him] (). Does this verse mean that the ordinary speech of the Prophet was also revelation?
Answer: The apparent meaning of the verse is universal; it seems to also include his ordinary words. The following verse also suggests that the common speech of the Prophet with the people was some sort of revelation: It is not [possible] for any human that Allah should speak to him except through revelation or from behind a curtain, or send a messenger who reveals by His permission whatever He wills ().
This verse suggest that God uses three method when communicating with humankind: (1) “revelation,” which refers to a direct communication without the intermediation of an angel; (2) “from behind a veil,” which refers to communication through a mediator; and (3) “send a messenger who reveals by His permission whatever He wills,” which includes the Prophet’s communication with the people. Therefore, the Prophet’s speeches to the prophet were also a sort of revelation.
129. Was the Qur’an revealed to the prophet in the exact same Arabic terms or only in their meaning?
Answer: God says: Ḥā-Mīm. By the Manifest Book: We have made it an Arabic Qur’an so that you may apply reason (). And He says: Alif-Lām-Rā. Indeed We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an so that you may apply reason (). This means that the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and that the Arabic language was part of the revelation—so that you may ponder on it and understand its content. Therefore, the reason behind the revelation of the Qur’an in Arabic is for the understanding of the people and for their pondering. However, with regards to other books of revelation, such as the Torah and the Evangel, their exact wording was not part of their revelation. Instead, God transmitted the ideas to His prophets, and they passed it along to the people in their own words. This is similar to the sacred traditions (al-aḥādīth al-qudsiyyah) which God revealed to the Prophet and he recounted them to the people in his own way.
The above is about the Qur’an’s revelation and descent. Yet God also says: And indeed it is with Us in the Mother Book [and it is] surely more sublime and solid (), where “the Mother Book” means the Guarded Tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ). This means that the Qur’an which has been contained in the Guarded Tablet is high in degree and very decisive. No one can touch it except the pure ones, as God says in another place: Indeed this is a noble Qur’an, in a guarded Book, no one touches it except the pure ones ().
“Touching it” is to fathom it by reason and understanding.<a id="footnote-083-backlink" class="_idFootnoteLink" href="In_Allamah's_Presence_txt.html#footnote-083">xv</a> “The pure ones” are the Prophet’s Household (Ahl al-Bayt), with respect of whom God says: Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification ().
Imamate vs. Prophethood
130. Is imamate one of the fundamental beliefs of of Islam?
Answer: It is one of the fundamental beliefs of the Shia denomination [not Islam], because those who did not believe in imamate were treated as Muslims by our Holy Imams.
131. Is imamate higher in position than prophethood (nubuwwah)?
Answer: Yes, it is. Prophet Abraham was a servant, a messenger of God, an arch-prophet (ulū al-ʿazm), and a friend (khalīl) of God. However, it was only after having attained all these exalted stations that God said to him: I am making you the imam of humankind ().
132. Was Prophet Muḥammad an imam as well?
Answer: Certainly. The earth is never deprived of divine authority (ḥujjah).
The Significance of ḥujjah
133. What is intended by this tradition: “Had there been no divine authority, the earth would have swallowed its inhabitants”?
Answer: The literal meaning is intended here. The goal of humankind’s creation is that they may attain uttermost perfection, which is impossible without the existence of a divine authority. Otherwise, the creation of humankind would have been in vain.
134. In the tradition “Had there been no divine authority, the earth would have swallowed its inhabitants,” the hadith talks about “divine authority” (ḥujjah) rather than “imam.” Could we say that “divine authority” is not restricted in application to “imam” but it may include “prophet” as well?
Answer: “Divine authority” (ḥujjah) here connotes one to whom the deeds of the people are entrusted: he fosters them and channels them towards God. He is the imam, be him a prophet as well, like the Prophet Abraham and the Noble Messenger of God, or simply an imam, like the twelve imams. God Almighty says: We made them imams, guiding by Our command, and We revealed to them the performance of good deeds (); And amongst them We appointed imams to guide [the people] by Our command, when they had been patient ().
“Command” in the latter verse [] refers to the existential command, “Be!” as per the Qur’anic verse: All His command, when He wills something, is to say to it “Be,” and it is (). “Guidance” in the other verse—guiding by Our command ()—does not mean conveying the commands of God and showing the path. That was the task of the prophets. Rather, “guidance” here means taking the people to the destination (īṣāl ilá al-maṭlūb). An imam guides humankind and channels their deeds towards God.
135. Granted that the goal of creating man depends on the “divine authority” (ḥujjah), could we say that there must be a divine authority whenever there is a human being?
Answer: Quiet so, as human creation cannot be purposeless. Inexistence of divine authority would be on a par with the creation of humankind being deprived of goal, and such act cannot be ascribed to God. This is based on the principle that all divine acts have some goal and purpose.
In other words, there is a particular goal in the creation of humankind, to which they need to be guided. Without such goal, the divine act would be purposeless, and the creation of humankind would be in vain. This cannot be ascribed to God, Who says: We did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them except with truth ().
136. Are there any rational arguments to prove imamate?
Answer: Similar to prophethood, universal imamate is demonstrable and rational, since the world cannot exist without an imam. It is narrated: “Had there been no divine authority, the earth would have swallowed its inhabitants.” This applies to Islamic government and as well as the guidance of actions [to their full perfection and fruition]. Similar to a garden which is in need of a gardener to make the trees grow to uttermost perfection, humankind and all animals are in need of growth and development. Irrespective of righteousness and unrighteousness, one’s deeds affect one’s soul. The imam is the gardener of human growth.
The Holy Qur’an says: Then the fate of those who committed misdeeds was that they denied the signs of Allah and they used to deride them (). According to the traditions, there is a column of light in every city wherewith the deeds of the community of believers are presented to the imam. It is through the imam that people tread their path to either paradise or hell. It is also stated that the records of deeds are in the imam’s hands, and he is the one who takes the people to either paradise or hell.
The one in charge of growing and guiding the deeds at our time is the Hidden Imam (may God hasten his arrival). It is narrated that he was inquired about the manner wherewith people benefit from him in his occultation, to which he responded in a letter, “In the manner that the world benefits from the sun when it is behind the clouds.” This position is vested with the imam, where God assigns him to do certain tasks, and he acts accordingly.
As with particular imamate, which refers to that of Imam ʿAlī, it can be proven by indubitable historical evidence that he was worthy of occupying such position and that he was vested with such authority by the Noble Prophet.
137. Does this mean that no task occupies the imam from attending to any other task?
Answer: Quite so!
Growth of Deeds and Creational Guidance
138. What is intended by the growth and fulfillment of deeds?
Answer: Similar to a sprouting sapling, good and bad deeds grow, affecting the souls of both believers and unbelievers, and leading them to paradise or hell. The imam is entrusted with the task of managing and handling this growth. The angels who record the deeds serve as his scribes and secrataries. “The faithful” in this verse is a reference to the imam: And say, “Go on working: Allah will see your conduct, and His Messenger and the faithful” ().
The Holy Qur’an says: The day We shall summon every group of people with their imam (), implying that on the Day of Resurrection the community of believers will be summoned by means of their imam. Then the imam addresses the hell on the Bridge, “This is my enemy. Take him!” The imam is the standard of assessing the deeds (called mīzān). It is he who intercedes with God on behalf of his followers. It is worthy of note that the Noble Prophet was also an imam. Otherwise, “prophethood” only refers to conveying the divine message.
Accordingly, one’s growth is a result of one’s deeds which imprint their mark on one’s soul. The imam is the one who dispenses the rewards and punishments for good and bad deeds by divine leave. Nevertheless, it should be noted that all command solely rests with God [as the only cause and independent source of any impact].
139. Can we say that the Pharaoh was the imam of his people, and the Prophet Moses was that of his, as per the verse: The day We shall summon every group of people with their imam ()?
Answer: Given the subsequent part of the verse, the imam is given his book in his right hand (). There was no such person among the Pharaoh’s people.
140. Is Imam ʿAlī the imam of unbelievers as well?
Answer: When God said to the Prophet Abraham: I am making you the imam of humankind (), did He appoint him as the imam of the believers only?! The same theme [of universal imamate] is seen in the verse: We made them imams, guiding by Our command, and We revealed to them the performance of good deeds ().
141. Accordingly, there is no difference between an imam who is present and an imam who is in occultation in terms of their making the deeds grow and guiding the people to God’s command?
Answer: Quite so! Besides being entrusted with the esoteric guidance of people and exposition of the esoteric aspects of religious teachings, the imam is also vested with guiding people to God’s commands and the esoteric guidance of deeds. He further manages the spiritual lives of people and channels the reality of deeds towards God. Such direction of affairs is by no means affected by his presence or occultation, since he is esoterically entwined with people’s hearts and souls. He is fully aware of people’s deeds and intentions, even though they may not see him through their exoteric vision.
142. What do you intend by saying the imam grows and fosters the deeds of people?
Answer: Good and bad deeds lead the human soul to tread the path of either happiness or unhappiness. It is the imam who, by divine leave, bestows blessings on the soul or afflicts it with unhappiness. However, all command solely rests with God [as the only cause and independent source of any impact].
143. Is this guidance of deeds the same as the imam’s al-wilāyat al-takwīniyyah (creational guardianship, existential authority)?
Answer: Yes, it is an expression of the imam’s authority and that our deeds are supervised by him. This theme is reflected in the verse: The day We shall summon every group of people with their imam, then whoever is given his book in his right hand… (), where the pronoun “his” refers to the imam.
Similarly, the imam addresses the hell on the Bridge, “This is my enemy, seize him! This is a follower of mine, let him be!” Concerning these verses, Indeed to us is their return. Then, indeed, their reckoning will lie with us (88:35), the imams have said: “This refers to us. The people return to us, and their reckoning will lie with us.”
Accordingly, the imam is the guide of deeds. Think of human actions as a convoy whose chief and leader is the imam [until he presents them to God]. This also holds at the time of occultation: the deeds of the servants of God are constantly presented to the Imam of the Age. It is he who fosters them and preserves them from any defect and shortcoming.
The Qur’an says: Indeed We have inaugurated for you a clear victory that Allah may forgive you what is past of your sin and what is to come, and that He may perfect His blessing upon you and guide you on a straight path (). It is said that “sin” in this verse refers to the sins committed by the community of believers (ummah).<a id="footnote-082-backlink" class="_idFootnoteLink" href="In_Allamah's_Presence_txt.html#footnote-082">xvi</a> It refers to the breadth of the mercy and intercession of the Noble Prophet, which will not allow for even a single believer to be burnt by hellfire.
In short, our hearts are affected by our deeds, and the growth of our deeds lies in the hands of the imam. Good deeds result in good growth, and evil deeds result in bad growth. This theme is reflected in the verse: Then the fate of those who committed misdeeds will be far worse (), which means that their end will be evil punishment. Therefore, the imam is a gardener who attends to the garden of deeds and guides the plants to their full growth. This guidance means actually leading them to reach the goal, rather than merely showing the path.
144. For instance, how may the imam have access to our ṣalāh?
Answer: Our deeds are presented once or twice a week by angels to the imam. It goes without saying that the records of deeds of servants is not similar to a newspaper to be read by the imam. It means that the deeds grow [to full fruition] at the hand of the imam. However, it is not as simple as what we may imagine.
145. How may one argue that the imam grows the deeds of the ummah and make the deeds reach their goal?
Answer: The argument is to be found in the verse: We made them imams, guiding [people] by Our command (). “Guiding” here does not imply showing the path, since the imams mentioned in the verse were already messengers and arch-prophets who showed people the path. Accordingly, it would be meaningless to say that guiding [people] by Our command implies showing the path. Instead, “guiding” here implies attaining the goal.
146. God negates the Noble Prophet’s guidance in the verse: You cannot guide whomever you wish, but [it is] Allah [who] guides whomever He wishes (). Could we say that it is God Almighty, rather than the Noble Prophet, Who leads people to their goals?
Answer: In this verse, God is saying to the Noble Prophet that he is not independent in guiding people; rather, the Prophet’s guidance lies in God’s hand. Accordingly, the verse negates independence in guidance rather than guidance altogether. Otherwise, God ascribes guidance to the Noble Prophet elsewhere in the Qur’an: And indeed you guide to a straight path ().
147. Was the guidance and fostering of deeds in the hands of the Noble Prophet during his time?
Answer: Yes, besides his prophethood and messengership, he was an imam as well, and the imam is entrusted with guiding the deeds. The Prophet Abraham was first a prophet and a messenger, and later he was appointed an imam, as reflected in the verse: He [Allah] said, “I am making you the imam of humankind” (). The Noble Prophet is “witness over the witnesses,” as reflected in the verse: Thus We have made you a middle nation that you may be witnesses to the people, and that the Messenger may be a witness to you (). It is narrated that this verse refers to the imams, whose testimonies are confirmed by the Messenger of God.
148. Accordingly, the earth is never deprived of an imam.
Answer: Quite so! “Had there been no divine authority, the earth would have swallowed its inhabitants?” There are times when there is no prophet, but there has to be an imam at any time.
149. If so, why is the imam unknown [to many people in many times and places]?
Answer: A prophet is entrusted with conveying divine commands to the people. That is why he should make himself known to the people and they need to be acquainted with him. In contrast, the imam does not have the duty of acquainting the people with himself. Rather, it is the people who need to proceed towards him. That is why he may remain unknown.
The Necessity of Imamate
150. You have written in some of your books that monotheism is incomplete without acknowledging an imam as an authority designated by God. What is the reason behind this?
Answer: Part of monotheism is to acknowledge that God has praiseworthy qualities, such as omniscience and omnipotence. One of these praiseworthy attributes entailed by monotheism is that God has awliyāʾ (friends, saints, delegates in creation).
151. Granted that wilāyah (divine guardianship, spiritual authority) is embedded in monotheism, can we say that a covenant should have been taken for wilāyah?
Answer: Yes we can, and we have some traditions to this effect.
152. Could we infer from these verses that all animate and the inanimate beings are acquainted with the imam: There is not a thing but glorifies Him with praise (); Each knows his prayer and glorification ()?
Answer: Indeed!
153. Is it possible to know God without having known the imam?
Answer: No, God may not be known without having known the imam. The imam is like the place under a waterfall: it receives water from one side and passes it on to the smaller streams. Emanations flow from the above through the imam. Accordingly, the imam, who is the most perfect of people, is the first receiver of divine blessings. Other beings receive their blessings from him.
154. Is it not that the imam himself is a blessing from God?
Answer: The imam is indeed a divine blessing, and the most perfect of them all. Yet, there are also other blessings, like the knowledge of God, which reach the other being by the imam’s intermediation.
155. What is intended by “knowing the imam of the age” in the tradition: “One who dies without having known the imam of his age has died a death of the pre-Islamic era?”
Answer: It means believing in the imam as someone who must be obeyed, as interpreted in another tradition. Otherwise, believers and disbelievers know the name and character of the imam. If one wants to acknowledge the Imam of the Age as one who must be obeyed, then he must also know his preceding imam who appointed the current imam. In other words, failing to know all the imams will render a believer’s knowledge incomplete.
156. Given the above tradition, could it be argued that those who do not acknowledge the imams are disbelievers (kāfir)?
Answer: They are guilty, but not disbelievers.
157. Put the case that someone does not know the imam in this world, but he treads the path of virtue and salvation. Will he be granted blessings in the hereafter? Will he get to see and enjoy all of them?
Answer: No, such a person will be deprived of blessings in the hereafter, since God says: But whoever has been blind in this [world], will be blind in the hereafter, and [even] more astray from the [right] way (). The path to paradise and happiness will be closed to him, and he will not be blessed by divine mercy and forgiveness, as reflected in the verse: Then there will be set up between them a wall with a gate, with mercy on its interior and punishment towards its exterior ().
TR: In other words, every rasūl is a nabī, but not vice versa. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 176, tradition 1; Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 26, p. 76, tradition 31, p. 82, tradition 45. ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 18, p. 249, tradition 1, vol. 26, p. 83. ↩︎
TR: This is based on a rather general and comprehensive definition of “messenger” and “revelation” in the third type. Otherwise, the primary and apparent meaning of the verse is that “messenger” refers to an angelic messenger, not a human messenger. ↩︎
See al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 174, tradition 1. ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 23, pp. 1-57. ↩︎
See ibid. ↩︎
Ibid., vol. 25, p. 40, traditions 10, 11, p. 41, tradition 13, p. 117, tradition 2, p. 169, tradition 38, vol. 26, p. 135, tradition 12, p. 136, tradition 16. ↩︎
Ibid., vol. 23, p. 5, tradition 10, vol. 52, p. 92, tradition 6. ↩︎
See Ṭūsī, al-Ghībah, p. 292; al-Iḥtijāj, vol. 2, p. 248; Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 52, p. 92, vol. 53, p. 181. ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 5, p. 329, tradition 28, vol. 7, p. 330, tradition 9, p. 331, tradition 10, vol. 17, p. 131, tradition 3, p. 144, tradition 31, p. 150, tradition 48, vol. 23, p. 337, tradition 6, p. 339, traditions 10, 13, p. 340, traditions 15-16, p. 343, tradition 30, p. 344, tradition 34, p. 345, tradition 40, p. 346, tradition 42, p. 346, tradition 46, p. 347, traditions 47, 49-50, p. 348, traditions 51, 67, p. 353, traditions 73, 75, vol. 59, p. 40, tradition 13. ↩︎
Ibid., vol. 39, p. 196, tradition 7, p. 203, tradition 23, vol. 47, p. 412, tradition 10. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 6, p. 179, tradition 7, vol. 68, p. 121, tradition 49. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 3, p. 203, tradition 89, p. 264, tradition 19, p. 274, tradition 48, vol. 8, p. 50, traditions 54, 57, vol. 24, p. 267, traditions 32-34, p. 271, tradition 49, p. 272, traditions 52-53, vol. 35, p. 59, tradition 12. ↩︎
See al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 219; Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 23, p. 333; Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt, pp. 427, 429. ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 16, p. 357, tradition 48, p. 23, p. 336, tradition 2, p. 342, tradition 23, p. 350, tradition 58, vol. 60, p. 351, tradition 63. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 23, pp. 1-57. ↩︎
See Shīʿah dar Islām, p. 227. ↩︎
TR: This refers to a covenant like that of monotheism, as mentioned in verse . ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 3, p. 277, tradition 3, p. 278, tradition 9, p. 280, tradition 18, p. 281, tradition 20. ↩︎
See al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 371, tradition 5, p. 376, traditions 1, 2, p. 377, tradition 3, p. 378, tradition 2, p. 379, tradition 1, vol. 2, p. 20, tradition 6, p. 21, tradition 9. ↩︎