Monday, September 1, 2014

Ayat e Wilayat and Fakhre Raazi




Allah (swt) created this world so that the humans and jinns worship him. And to support them in this cause He (swt) sent his best of the creations i.e. Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and his Ahlul Bait (a.s.). The Ahlul Bait (a) taught us the way of worshipping Allah. Moreover, mentioning their virtues and sufferings was made a great worship in itself. However, the enemies of Ahlil Bait (a) have always tried to belittle their innumerous virtues. Let us discuss one of the most famous verses from the Holy Quran revealed in the praise of Ahlul Bait (a.s.). Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّما وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ وَ الَّذينَ آمَنُوا الَّذينَ يُقيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَ يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكاةَ وَ هُمْ راكِعُونَ
Only Allah is your Vali and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow
(Surah Maidah – 5: 55)

Looking at the brevity of the article we would not go into the details of the incident as it is popular among the Shias. However, after the incident Allah boasts to the angels and says: O Angels! Did you see this servant of mine whose body is in my worship, his heart is attached to me and he spent his wealth as charity for my satisfaction. I make you as witness that I am satisfied with him and I am satisfied with his caliphs i.e. his progeny.

Then J. Jibraeel revealed the above verse.

However, there were some people who tried to steal this virtue for themselves:
In the Amaali of Shaikh Sadooq it is mentioned that Umar Khattab (l.a.) said: I gave forty rings in the state of Rukoo so that a verse may be revealed in my praise but it do not happen.

When this did not happen they tried to demean the status of Ameerul Momineen (a): It has come in Al-Kafi that Imam Mohammad Baqir (a) said: When the Ayat e Wilayat was

revealed a few companions of the Holy Prophet (s) gathered in the mosque and some of them said to others ‘What is your view regarding this verse’. Some of them replied: If we reject this verse then it is as we have rejected other verses as well. And if we accept this verse then it is a disgrace and shame for us and Ali ibn Abi Talib will get an upper hand over us. A few of them said: We know that whatever Mohammad (s) has said is truth and we accept his mastership but we will not obey him if appoints Ali (a.s.) as Wali e Amr. At that time this verse was revealed “They recognize the bounty of Allah then deny it” means – they accept the mastership of Mohammad while most of them deny the mastership of Imam Ali (a.s.)

Objections of Fakhre Raazi

Fakhre Raazi in his Tafseer has attempted a lot not to conclude this verse on the Wilayat and Imamat of Ameerul Momineen (a) and other Imams (a) however he has failed considerably in his attempt.  How is it possible to hide the sun behind a particle?

He says:
1.    He says that words used in the verse are plural while Imam Ali (a) was the only person who gave charity so how is this contradiction
Answer: Here the Plural tense has not come in the meaning of numbers but has come for totality. Such instances are present in Quran

Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the Protector (S. Aale Imran – 173). Here people refers to Naeem bin Masood Asjaee

Then hasten on from the Place from which the people hasten on (S. Baqarah - 199). Here people refers to Holy Prophet (s)

  1. He says that Ameerul Momineen (a) knows Quran better than these RAAFEZIs however during the discussion of Shura he brought up the incident of Ghadeer

    and Mubahela and other virtues but did not discuss verse. It is because it does not imply to him
Answer: Ameerul Momineen (a) did mention this verse in the Shura. He said: Who amongst you is the person who gave zakat while in Ruku and for whom is the verse of Wilayat revealed except me? Everyone agreed to it.
(Ref: Gaayatul Maraam pg 239)
Not only in Shura but Ameerul Momineen (a) argued with Abu Bakr (l.a.) on the basis of this verse when he (l.a.) snatched away his caliphate. He (a) said: Swear by Allah, With the Wilayat of the Holy Prophet (s) was the verse of Wilayat revealed for me or for you. Abu Bakr (l.a.) said: it was for you.

  1. He says that Shias will agree that this verse does not indicate towards the Imamat of Ameerul Momineen (a) because it was revealed in the life time of Holy Prophet (s) when Imam Ali (a) was not the Imam. And even if we accept it we will accept him as the fourth Imam as the time is not mentioned in the verse
Answer: This verse indicates the actual/complete Wilayat of Ameeril Momineen (a) while Imamat and giving orders and Amr bil Maaroof and Nahi an Al Munkar are its necessities and after the death of the Holy Prophet (s) all the above fall under the domain of Wilayat

The above article is a small extract from the book Imam Shanasi by Hazrat Allamah Ayatollah Haaj Syed Mohammed Husain Husaini Tehrani Vol 5 – Discussion on Ayat e Wilayat

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