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The Importance of the Choice of the Right lmam

 ACCORDING TO THE declaration of the Holy Qur' an every individual man and woman, is individually charged with the responsibility of choosing an 'Imam' or guide for himself or herself in this life for it has been clearly announced that every people will be called on the Day of Judgment along with his or her ' Imam ':-
"On the day (of Resurrection) We shall call every people witht their (respective) 'Imam' (Guide)." 17:71
Confirming the above announcement and warning mankind particularly the muslims against any failure in this regard, the Holy Prophet had said:-
"He who died and did not know the Imam of his age, had died the death of ignorance."
The above apostolic saying, besides giving out the importance of the significance of knowing by every one, the 'Imam' of his age, discloses the fact that in every age there will be an 'Imam' and no age until the end of the world can be without an 'Imam' in it.

Every Individual Responsible for His Own Choice

HAVING SHOWN MAN the right course and giving a additional guiding notes directing him to the right path, man has been left to be gratefully guided aright or ungratefully get astray, rejecting all the divine guidance:-
"Verily We have shown man the Way, be he thankful or be he unthankful. 76:3
Since the truth has been made clearly manifest against false- hood, it has been declared that there shall be no compulsion in faith:-
"There is no compulsion in religion, the right way has been made clearly manifest from the error."2:256
Man has also been repeatedly warned against the unwarranted undertaking by the false leaders of the faith, to bear the burden of the sins of their followers:-
" No bearer shall bear the burden of the other." 2:48, 6:165, 36:18, 39:7, 53:38


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 Every individual has bcen warned that the least vice will be punished and the least virtue will be rewarded:-
"So he who doeth an atom weight of good shall see it."  "And he who doeth an atom weight of evil shall see it." 99:7,8

The Door of Pardon for Sincere Repentance open

 HAVING HARNESSED THE brute or the self in man with the heavy responsibilities, and the individual accounting for the choice of the right course and faithfully following it, the All- Merciful let the door of His Merciful Pardon, open for those who sincerely repent and amend their mistaken conduct:-
"Say (0' Our Apostle Muhammad!) 0' My servants who have been prodigal to their own selves, despair ye not of the mercy of God. Verily God forgiveth sins alto- gether. Verily He is Forgiving Mercful." 39:53
A sinner when assured of some one else having paid the price of the sins of the world, as is preached by the Christian church, get freely licentious with the surety that his sins have been paid for. But man with the individual, responsibility of being good, and being assured of pardon against any unintentional failures, remains cautious and at the same time attached to the Lord for the mercy he hopes for from Him. When one is totally disappointed against his sins not being pardoned at all, gets desperate and when he is assured of the pardon against a sincere repentance, naturally one, some time or the other gets mindful of giving up the wrong course in the hope of the promised pardon for his past and return to the right path.

Redemption or Intercession through the Right means Possible

IF THE HOLY Qur'an has said that neither intercession will be accepted, nor any ransom, it does not mean that redemption or intercession is totally ruled out. It needs only a proper and intelligent recital of the Word of God. Intercession or ransom which will not he accepted is that of the man's own fancied false leaders of the faith whom man unwarrantedly followed, and the false god the disbeliever wrongly worshipped with the false hope of having any intercession on his behalf for his sins. Otherwise man


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has been clearly informed of the intercession through the right course accepted by God or through those permitted by him:-
" Who is he that can intercede with Him (God) but by His permission." 2:255
"There is no intercessor except after His (God's) permission." 10:3
"On the day when no intercession avails except of him whom the Beneficent (God) allows, and whose word He is pleasca with." 20: 109
The above verses of the Holy Qut'an clearly declare the availability of intercession but only through those permitted by God and those whose word God is pleased with. Mere common sense is sufficient to say that those permitted or those whose words God is pleased with, can be no others than those whom God Himself purified (33 :33) i.e., 'Ahlul-Bait '. Those who are impure to any degree, less or more can never even be imagined to be of any use at all for they themselves will be held up in accounting for their own pollutions.

What is Imamat?

'IMAMAT' IS THE 'Kihilafate-Ilahiah' or the vieegerency of God on earth. 'Imamt' is the heart and soul of 'Risalat' Prophethood, or ' Nubowwat' , i. e., Apostleship. The Holy Prophet Muhammad was a  'Rasool' , Prophet , 'Nabi' (Apostle) as well as an 'Imam' (the Guide or the Leader) i.e. ' Khilafatullah,' i.e., the Vicegerent of God on earth.
"Imamat' or the ' Khilafate-Ilahiah,' i.e., vicegerency of God Is not a thing for men jointly or severally to award it to or bestow it on any one. It is an office which is not given to any one after his getting qualified there in this world, but to the one who is already chosen by God Himself for the purpose and is sent into the world duly conditioned for it.
The demonstrative instance of Abraham's being given the 'Imamat' after the trial and the verse of the reply to Abraham's prayer for his offspring about the 'Imamat' awarded to him, if studied intelligently, gives the important factors about the signi- ficance of Imamat and as to what actually it is.
"And when his Lord tried Abraham with certain words, he fulfilled them. He (God) said : Verily I make thee an


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 Imam for mankind. Said (Abraham) ' And my offiprings?' Said He (God) ' My Covenant reacketh not the 'Zalimeen' (the Iniquitous)." 2:124
The following is the verbal and meaningful analysis of the above verse:-
1. 'Imamat': even to an apostle of God, like Abraham is given only after a trial and his passing it successfully.
2. 'Imamat' :is not an automatic product of any success in any trial, until it is awarded by the divine will.
3. 'Imamat' : is awarded by none but God Himself.
4. 'Imamat : is a Covenant of the Lord.
5. 'Imaat' : does not automatically pass on as a hereditary right, irrespective of the heir to an Imam, being equitous or iniquitous.
6. 'Imamat' : is awarded only to the equitous.
7. 'Imamat' : is a gracious award only to Abraham and to the equitous ones in the seed of Abraham and not to any one or every one, even if he be equitous.
8. 'Imamat' : is an independent award of the Lord only to His Chosen ones.
It may be asked, if an apostle or an 'Imam' is sent into the world already purified and conditioned by God Himself, what is meant by putting him once again to trial in his earthly life? The answer is that the trial is not for God to know the mettle or the calibre or the native endowment in him which He himself has effected, but it is to show to the world the degree of his personal excellence and his devotion and absolute submission to the will of his Lord.

The Start of the Imamat of Ali

THE APOSTOLIC DECLARATION at the historic assembly at 'Ghadeer- e-Khum' in compliance with the will of the Lord, declared through the verse 6:67 by which the Holy Prophet declared Ali as the 'Maula' or the Lord or the Master of the Faithful, in his own place, Ali became the 'Maula' of the Faithful. And it must also be remembered that while felicitating Ali, Omar was asked by the Holy Prophet to address Ali as the 'Ameerul-Momineen', i.e., the Commander or


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 the Ruler of the Faithful and it was only at the declaration of Ali as the 'Maula' in the place of the Holy Prophet, by the verse 6:3 the religion Islam was declared to be complete and to be the creed accepted by God.
God had commanded the Holy Prophet to appoint the one already nominated by Him, in his place, before he leaves the world and then only to return unto his Lord, and the Holy Prophet acted accordingly in response to verse 6:67:-
"So when thou (0' Our Apostle Muhammad) has finished (completed the ministry) appoint- And unto thy Lord incline." 94:7, 8
Thus in pursuance of the declared will of the Lord, with the departure of the Holy Prophet from this world, started the 'Imamat of Ali or the ' Khilafate-Ilahiah' or the Vicegetency of God on earth.
The Kalifate started at the 'Saqeef-e-Bani Sa'ada' with the dis- pute for it, between the Mohajirs (the Emigrants) and the Ansars (the helpers) was the kalifate or the rulership of the people and not the 'Khilafat- e- Rasool' or the succession to the Holy Prophet in his apostolic office. It was only the succession to the Prophet as the ruler of the state. It could not be the spiritual leadership in the place of the Holy Prophet for it passed through characters like Yazeed ibne Ma'aviah and the several others of the Omayyids and the Abbasides whose personal qualities, history has already re- ported to the world. Thus the Kalifate should not be confused with the 'Imamat' for the Imam, the Vicegerent of God on earth, cannot be but one like Abraham and the Holy Prophet which the physical and the spiritual or the external and the internal excellence possessed by these Chosen Ones of God. God's Vicegerent can never be the debauchees, the drunkards, the assassins and the murderers even of their own kith and kin. The 'Imamat' i.e., the 'lmam' has to remain until the end of the world, but the world knows the historic fact that the man-made Kalifate started by man in the 'Saqeefa' could not survive long; it was annihilated or dismissed by another man the Ataturk at Constantinople. The ' Khilafat-e-Ilahiah' or the Vicegerency which is bestowed by God Himself on His apostles or through His apostles, remains and to remain as long as lasts the world.


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Ali as the Imam

ALT WAS NEGLECTED and ignored by the people as any apostle of God suffered at the hands of his people but it never affected the divine or the heavenly position of the apostle and the apostle always played his role as assigned to him by His Lord. If the people got benefited by his ministry it was for themselves and if not, it was also against them:-
"If they reject thee, already did reject before them, the people of Noah and ' Ad and Thamood did reject (the prophets)." 22:42
"If ye do good, ye do good unto your own selves. And if ye do evil, then it shall be for the self (itself). Simi- larly did Ali act." 17:7

The Position of an Imam

THE POSITION OF an Imam and the duty assigned to Imamat is to act as the Vicegerent of God for the guidance of those who seek it, towards the already revealed course of life and not to go on canvas- sing support for him. The conveyance of any message, is the duty of a Messenger or an Apostle, and Imam has no new message to convey but he is the custodian and the Guardian of the already delivered message and a Guide towards it, for those who seek a way towards the truth. The position of Imam is the position of the  'Ka'ba' , the Hajies go to it and it does not go to any one requesting him to be its Haji. It was the lookout of the people to seek a way to the Imam and get duly guided, if they desired to have the correct guidance.

Tenure of the Kalifate started at the Saqeefa

ABu BAKR RULED as Kalif for about two years, i.e., from 11 A.H. to 13 A.H, and handed over the charge of the Kalifate without any election or nomination from the public or from any one else. Omar ruled from 11 A.H. to 24 A.H., about 11 years. Omar nomi- nated a committee with Abdur Rahman ibne Auf as its chairman with a veto, and Othman became the third ruler or the third Kalif. Othman ruled from 24 A.H. to 35 A.H., i.e., about 11 years.
What was the lot of the Ahlul-Bait during this period, is a matter which could better be had in its details from history. Any


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 sincere seeker of the truth about the lot of the godly ones of the House of the Holy Prophet, may better refer to history and then shed tears for the sufferings of the Holy souls at the hands of the people for whose guidance they had been sent into the world, and know the lot they suffercd at the hands of those who called themselves Muslims.

Ali Resembles the Holy Prophet

HAVING LOST THE paternal love of the Holy Prophet and the godly partnership in life, of Lady Fatema, Ali resembled exactly the same as was the Holy Prophet after losing the paternal protection of Abu Taleb and the faithful partner in life, Lady Khadija. As the Holy Prophet was surrounded with the enemies from all sides in Mecca, after the demise of the Great Protector Abu Taleb, Ali was also left all alone deserted, ignored, neglected and pushed to seclusion by the atmosphere which had turned treacherous and immediately following the departure of the Holy Prophet from the midst of the people.
It is a historic fact that Ali was the greatest protector of the Holy Prophet and Islam. It was Ali's sword which,defending the faith and the faithful against the unprovoked aggression from the pagans of Mecca, that had killed many of the heathen veterans who aimed at killin the Holy Prophet and annihilating the faith for ever, particularly at Badr, and Khandaq. Most of the pagan Meccans had yielded only to the fast rising power of Islam and just to fall in line with the march of time, and had embraced Islam without any conviction of the truth at heart. This fact is borne out by the Qur'anic declaration:-
"The dwellers of the desert say : 'We believe, Say thou (O' Our Apostle Muhammad )' Ye believe not, but say ye 'We submit' ; and faith hath not yet entered into your hearts-  94:14
Besides, the above disclosure of the hypocrisy of the people, there is the Chapter as a whole on the hypocrites of the time (Chapter 63).
Thus those who had joined the ranks of Islam only succumbing to the circumstances, having professed the faith, got busy in all sorts of subversive activities mentioned in the Holy Qur'an of teasing


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 the believers and obstructing others joining the faith. They worked as the fifth-columnists against the progress of the faith and its power. Remaining in the ranks, the hypocrites tried the worst possible for them, by deserting the Holy Prophet and running away from the battlefields, creating the possibility and the opportunities of defeat for Islam so that the field may be open to them and to the others to return to their original faith and power. But God had not allowed them to succeed in their plots. And now having joined the faith and the faith having been strongly established and the opposition to it having been crushed and annihilated for ever, their interest of the leadership and power lay in their posing as the staunchest of the believers so that they maybe the leaders of the faith- ful though they may not actually like it.
There is a Persian couplet:-
Car gonaahi bakoni dar shab- e- Aadeena bakon Taake az Sadr nasheenaane Jahannam baashi
If thou commit any sin, commit it on the 'Shab-e-Juma' (the Thursday night)
So that even in Hell you mav be of the Chiefs of it. Thus all the opportunists who had joined the ranks of Islam and who were the relatives of the pagan veterans killed by Ali at Badr and Ohod and Khandaq, and who now had gained power, had decided to wreak vengeance on Ali and his issues, revenging their pagan elders and relatives killed by him in the onslaughts against Islam. The fact about this attitude of the people was leaked out by Yazeed son of Ma'aviah, son of Abu Sofyan, while seated fully drunk on his throne at Damascus, with the heads of Husain and his devotees, placed under his throne, before him, and the ladies and the children of the holy family of the Holy Prophet, including the ailing son, Ali son of Husain, standing fettered in heavy chains, sang the verses in Arabic saying:-
" Had my elders who died at Badr and Ohod been alive they would have seen how well have I revenged their blood."
Thus the Ahlul-Bait, particularly Ali, was now in an atmosphere wholly hostile and treacherous with avowed enemies determined to wreak vengeance on the House of the Holy Prophet.


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Ali during the age of the three Kalifates

 UNCONCERNED WITH THE matters of the state with no aspiration to own any political power, fully contented with his resignation to the wi11 of the Lord, Ali was busy releasing the streams of knowledge through his sermons to those few who, mindful of God and the life hereafter, had gathered around him and remained attached to him. Those sermons of Ali, put together, are today called the  'Nahjul- Balagha', i.e., the Course of Eloquence, which is nothing but a Treasury of the Highest knowledge of the Qur'anic Truth and the Highest treatise of the the spirit of Islamic Philosophy.
Ali has supplied to the world of devout faith many beautifully and masterly worded supplications (prayers); Firstly, they have been found cent per cent effective in invoking the divine mercy, in getting the prayers of the sincere supplicants readily heard and secondly, they are such pieces of divinely worded literature that even the greatest master minds since then till today, could only say that the matter is  'Below the Word of God and above the word of man.'
Ali is unanimously recognised by all the mystic schools in Islam, as their First Leader or Guide or the Generator of the Mystic Know- ledge. All the various schools of mysticism revert only to Ali for their origin.
Whenever any problematic difficulty arose even the courts of the Kalifate sought Ali's help and Ali always helped every seeker of knowledge, irrespective of the seeker being his friend or a foe.
There is a famous saying of Omar:-
'Lau la allyyin lahalakal Omar'
Had Ali not been there, Omar would have been lost.

The Religious Landmarks of the age- Ali witnessed

1 . Faterna's House was set on fire.
2. Ali was arrested and carried as a captive.
3. Fatema's property was confiscated.
4. Fatema was killed.
5. The two Muta's, the Muta-e-Nisa and the Muta-e-Haj ordained by the Holy Qur'an and valid during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet and during thc time of


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 the first Kalif and even for years during Omar's time, were abolished by Omar.
6. The use of 'Haiya ala Khairil amal' was removed from 'Azan'- by Omar and instead of it, the use of 'As- Salaato khaira minan naum' was inserted by him.
7. Omar started the 'Taraweh.'
8. Ma'aviah was given the governorship of Syria, by 0mar.
9. The banishment by Othman of the aged faithful Gom- panion of the Holy Prophet Aba-zare Ghaffari to wilderness, where, in the desert,he died a miserable death.
What all passed on during the long period of the rule of the three Kalifs, is not concerned with the subject of this work, and nor can all that happened affecting the interest of the Ahlul- Bait be accommodated in this brief work. Only some relevant incidents which show, through what kinds of channels passed the holy soul of Husain the King of Martyrs, the significance of the lmamat and the circumstances under which it worked, had necessari- ly to be given for without the prerequisite knowledge of the men and the matters concerned, a mere narration of the isolated event of Karbala, will not serve any purpose of giving out its significance or importance to human life on earth.
In short, the life of Ali, after the Holy Prophet, was that of an apostle, though he was not an apostle, for apostleship had concluded and ended with the Holy Prophet and no other apostle or prophet was to come.
To speak of any aspiration on the part of Ali for any political power or authority, will be sheer foolishness or the betrayal of one's bankruptcy of the knowledge about Ali's godly personality. Ali's aspiring for any temporal power on earth will be equal to own- ing the kingdom of the whole of a vast dominion and to yet aspire for a petty landlordship of a small strip of barren useless land, in it. As the Vicegerent of God on earth, what is the other power or authority left over, for Ali to aspire. Ali was he who could pluck out the huge iron gate of the fortress of Khaiber by his one hand and make it the bridge over the ditch, holding the huge heavy iron door- frame on his palm and making the whole of the muslim army pass