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4. Succession (succorship
) to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh & hf)
(
imamat or khilafat )
All of the prophets
and messengers of God had successors,
and just as Allah appointed His prophets
and messengers for the guidance of
mankind, He also appointed successors to
the prophets and messengers as a matter
of necessity. Abraham (peace be upon
him) was succeeded by two of his sons,
Isaac and Ishmael (peace be upon them),
while Moses (peace be upon him) was
succeeded by his brother Aaron (peace be
upon him) and Jesus (peace be upon him)
by two prophets whom the Qur'an mentions
in the chapter called "Ya Sin".
(36:13-14) Likewise, Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him and his family) was
succeeded by twelve distinguished
successors, one after another. These
successors were called imams and
were appointed by Allah, not by
humankind. The right to ordain imams
belongs only to Almighty Allah, and the
Qur'an speaks about this in many verses:
"And remember
when your Lord said to the angels,
'Verily I am going to place a successor
(khalifa)." (2:30)
Allah addressed
Prophet David (peace be upon him) as
such: "O David! Verily We have placed
you as a successor on earth." (38:26)
"And remember when the Lord of Abraham
tried him with certain commands which he
fulfilled; Allah said to him, 'Verily I
am going to make you a leader (imam)
of mankind.'" (2:124)
Allah also
attributes the right of appointing
leaders to Himself: "We made from among
them leaders, giving guidance under Our
command." (32:24)
During his
lifetime, Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him and his family) specifically
mentioned the names of the leaders that
would come after him, that there would
be twelve of them, and that all of them
would be descended from a particular
Arab tribe called Quraysh.[13]
The twelve
successors to Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him and his family) are as follows:
Imam 'Ali ibn
Abi Talib (600-661) Imam 'Ali
(peace be upon him) was the Prophet's
cousin and son-in-law and the one about
whom he said: "I am the city of
knowledge and 'Ali is its gate." He
also said, "Whoever considers me his
leader, 'Ali is also his leader."
110,000 people heard the Prophet (peace
be upon him and his family) say this at
a place called Ghadir Khum. Muslims and
non-Muslims alike recognized Imam 'Ali
(peace be upon him) for his wisdom,
bravery, and justice. Many of his
sayings and speeches have been preserved
in a book called The Peak of
Eloquence (Nahj al-Balagha). He was
assassinated by members of a fringe
movement while he was praying.
Fatima az-Zahra
(562-580) Although not one of the
successors, Fatima al-Zahra (peace be
upon her) is included in this list
because of her high status and
importance. Fatima al-Zahra (peace be
upon her) was the daughter of the
beloved Prophet of Islam (peace be upon
him and his family) from his respected
wife Khadija. She was born in Makkah on
the twentieth day of Jumaada al-Thaani
(the sixth month of the Islamic
calendar). Although he had several
children, Fatima was his favorite, for
she was carrying the light of the
message of the Prophet (peace be upon
him and his family) to the generations
to come through her offspring. A
chapter of the Qur'an[14]
was revealed about her:
Verily We have
granted you [Prophet Muhammad]
al-kawthar[15]
Therefore, turn
in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice for
Him.
And he who makes
you angry - he will be cut off from
offspring.
She and her father
had a mutual attachment; 'Aisha, one of
the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon
him and his family), has said: "I never
saw a person who so resembled her father
in speech, movements, and gestures more
than Fatima, and once she goes to visit
her father, he stands, takes her hand,
kisses it, and places her in his own
seat."[16]
Fatima was so emotionally and
spiritually close to her father that he
declared: "Fatima is part of me.
Whoever angers her angers me, and she is
the mother of her father."[17]
Fatima proved to be the best daughter to
her father, mother for her four children
(Hasan, Husain, Zaynab, and Um Kalthoum),
and the ideal wife for her husband Imam
'Ali (peace be upon him). She was the
perfect example of a virtuous, righteous
lady in Islam. She set many examples in
her social and political life. As a
result of the conflict over power after
the demise of the Holy Prophet (peace be
upon him and his family), Fatima
al-Zahra (peace be upon her) died at the
age of 18 years.
Imam Hasan ibn
'Ali (625-670)
Imam Husain ibn
'Ali (626-680) : Imam Husain (peace
be upon him) revolted against the tyrant
of his time, Yazid the son of Mu'awiyah.
He left his hometown of Madina to go to
the city of Makkah and then with 72 of
his followers and close family members
to Iraq where he was brutally massacred
on the day of Ashura[18]
in the city of Karbala, 60 miles to the
south of Baghdad. Imam Husain (peace be
upon him) stood for truth, sacrificed
himself for truth and justice, and
fought corruption and aggression. The
battle of Karbala represents the battle
between truth and falsehood, good versus
evil, and justice versus aggression,
oppression, and tyranny. Therefore, he
became the beacon of light for all free
people in this universe, shook the
foundations of the Muslim nation with
his martyrdom, and steered the
consciousness of the Muslim people at
that time. Hundreds of revolutions and
revolts followed his martyrdom until the
corrupt empire of Bani Umayyah
collapsed. Imam Husain (peace be upon
him) still plays a very significant role
in the life of the Muslims in their
endeavor to fight injustice and
deviation in all societies.
Imam 'Ali ibn
al-Husain (659-713)
Imam Muhammad
al-Baqir (676-733)
Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq
(702-765) : Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
(peace be upon him) was the son of
Muhammad al-Baqir (peace be upon him)
and was the sixth imam of the
school of the ahl al-bayt. He
was born on the seventeenth day of
Rabi' al-Awwal (the third month of
the Islamic calendar) in the city of
Madina. He learned from his father the
sciences of religion and the teachings
of Islam and became the authority of
jurisprudents, scholars, and preachers
after the martyrdom of his father. He
made the mosque of Madina a university
from which to spread Islamic ideology
and graduated hundreds of scholars
versed in Islamic sciences and prophetic
traditions. Scholars and preachers gave
their testimonies acknowledging his
great standing and abundant knowledge.
One of them, Sibt al-Jawzi has said,
"Never have I seen scholars less
knowledgeable in the presence of a man
like al-Sadiq." The men of knowledge
and piety saw in Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
(peace be upon him) a leader, a scholar,
and an unmatched educator. He was also
a great social personality and an
effective political force in the leading
political circles.
Imam al-Sadiq
(peace be upon him) taught two of the
leaders of the other Islamic schools of
jurisprudence: Abu Hanifa (Nu'man ibn
Thabit) and Malik ibn Anas. Imam al-Sadiq
(peace be upon him) uttered thousands of
hadith (Prophetic traditions)
regarding every facet of life. He
extensively discussed Islamic ethics,
mannerisms, integrity, goodness of
character, and acts of worship in
addition to jurisprudence and debated
with leaders of other schools of
thought.
Imam al-Sadiq
(peace be upon him) was poisoned by the
caliph of his time and was buried in the
cemetery of al-Baqi' in Madina.
Imam Musa al-Kazim
(746-799)
Imam 'Ali
ar-Rida (765-818)
Imam Muhammad
al-Jawad (811-835)
Imam 'Ali al-Hadi
(827-868)
Imam Hasan al-Askari
(846-874)
Imam Muhammad
al-Mahdi (869-present) : Imam
al-Mahdi is the last of the imams
of the people on earth, and with him the
line of succession to the Holy Prophet
(peace be upon him and his family)
ends. Because of the necessity of
having a representative from Allah
present on the earth, he still - by the
will of Allah - lives in this world, but
he does not live in public view. He
will, however, reappear towards the end
of human civilization at a time when the
world has been filled with evil and
injustice to restore order and make
justice prevail.
These imams
were the authorities of Allah among
mankind. Like the Holy Prophet (peace
be upon him and his family), they were
all special personalities in matters of
knowledge, forbearance, morality, and
justice.
The Family of
the Prophet (Ahl al-bayt)
The ahl al-bayt
are the immediately family of the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and
his family), namely: his daughter
Fatima al-Zahra; his cousin, son-in-law,
and first successor Imam 'Ali; and his
grandchildren Hasan and Husain (peace be
upon them). The purity of these five is
spoken of in the Qur'an: "Allah only
wishes to remove all uncleanliness from
you, O People of the House (ahl al-bayt),
and to make you as pure as possible."
(33:33) Like the prophets and the
prophets' successors, these five were
infallible, free from all sin or error.
Near the end of his
life, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) said: "It is probable that I will
be called soon, and I will respond. So
I leave behind me among you two weighty
things: the Book of Allah [the Qur'an],
and my Ahl al-Bayt. Verily,
Allah, the Merciful, the Aware, has
informed me that these two will never be
separated from each other until they
meet me at the fountain in Heaven called
Kawthar."[19]
The Prophet (peace be upon him and his
family) has also said: "The parable of
my ahl al-bayt is similar to that
of Noah's ark. Whoever embarks on it
will certainly be rescued, but whoever
opposes the boarding of it will surely
be drowned."[20]
The necessity of taking hold of both
things that the Prophet (peace be upon
him and his family) left behind cannot
be overemphasized; those who choose to
follow the Qur'an but not the guidance
of the ahl al-bayt will
invariably go astray.
As a rule, the
prophets of Allah did not ask any reward
for the pain and suffering they endured
while attempting to guide mankind. In
fact, this refusal to accept
compensation can be seen as the mark of
a prophet: "Obey those who ask no
reward from you and who have themselves
received guidance." (36:21)
However, by the command of Allah,
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and
his family) made one slight exception;
although he refused to accept anything
for himself, he was commanded to say:
"I do not ask you for any reward
except love for my relatives [the ahl
al-bayt]." (42:23) Love for
the Prophet's ahl al-bayt does
not benefit the Prophet himself (peace
be upon him and his family) so much as
it does the one who approaches them with
kindness and loyalty and in return
derives knowledge, guidance, and
blessings from Allah.
Imam 'Ali (peace be
upon him) has spoken about the ahl
al-bayt:
We, the ahl al-bayt,
possess the doors of wisdom and light of
governance. Beware that the paths of
religion are one and its highways are
straight. He who follows them achieves
and secures the aim and objective. And
he who stands away from them goes astray
and incurs repentance.[21]
The example of the
descendants of Muhammad - peace and
blessing of Allah be upon him and his
descendants - is like that of stars in
the sky. When one star sets another one
rises.[22]
We are lights of
the heavens and the earth and the ships
of salvation. We are the repository of
knowledge, and towards us is the
homecoming of all matters. Through our
Mahdi (the final successor to the
Prophet) all arguments shall be refuted,
and he is the seal of the imams,
the deliverer of the ummah (the
Muslim nation), and the extremity of the
light. Happy are those who hold onto
our handle and are brought together upon
our love.[23]
5. The Day of
Judgement and the Resurrection (qiyama)
Approximately 1,200
verses of the Qur'an speak of life after
death and the Day of Resurrection, as do
a vast number of sayings related from
Prophet Muhammad and his successors
(peace be upon all of them). This
number reveals the importance and
significance of life after death and
emphasizes that the life of the human
being does not end at death but in fact
continues afterwards towards a new life
- indeed, its true life. Allah placeedd
human beings on the earth to test them,
and so different people live for
different lengths of time before they
die and their souls are separated from
their bodies. Their souls then live on,
facing the grave and the questioning
therein. After that, the souls return
to their bodies which will be
resurrected on the Day of Judgement, on
which day they will receive whatever
they deserve according to their beliefs
and deeds in life.
Some people will go
to Heaven, also called the Garden, or
the Paradise. Others will go to Hell,
oftentimes called the Fire. And a
select few will be brought into a state
of nearness to God.
Both Heaven and
Hell have different levels; the worst of
people will be in the lowest depths of
Hell, while the best of them will be in
the highest parts of Heaven. Death and Life
after Death
And they ask you
concerning the spirit. Say: "The
spirit, it is one of the things, the
knowledge of which is only with my Lord,
and of knowledge, you mankind have been
given only a little. (17:85)
Although humanity
has been permitted to know only a little
about life after death right now, the
Holy Qur'an still reveals some of the
secrets surrounding the soul. The
Qur'an says:
It is Allah who
takes away the souls at the time of
their death, and those that die not
during their sleep. He keeps those
souls for which He has ordained death
and sends the rest for a term
appointed. Verily, in this are signs
for people who think deeply. (39:42)
The soul will be
buried along with the body in the
grave. It could get permission from
Allah to depart from the grave, but it
must go back to it again. Each
individual, if faithful, faces two
paradises after death, or if he is
unfaithful and a sinner, two hells.[24]
One of them is for the souls before the
Day of Judgement, and the second is the
permanent abode.
Once Prophet Jesus
(peace be upon him) sent two messengers
to the city of Antioch to call for
monotheism and the worshipping of
Allah. One of the men of that town
embraced the faith and followed them, so
the king of the land ordered that
righteous man to be killed. When he
died, he said: "Verily I have believed
in your Lord. So listen to me. It was
said to him when the disbelievers killed
him, 'Enter paradise.' He said, Would
that my people knew what my Lord Allah
has forgiven me for and made me one of
the honored ones.'" (36:25-27)
The paradise that he had entered was of
the kind, called barzakh, that
the soul lives in before the Day of
Judgement; on the Day of Judgement
everyone will know the fate of everyone
else, and there will be no need, as
above, to tell others.
The descriptions of
both types of hellfire are very vivid
and painful: "Evil torment encompassed
Pharaoh's people - the fire: they are
exposed to it morning and afternoon, and
on the day when the Hour will be
established." (40:46)
Islam teaches
that the parting of the soul is
accompanied with severe pain. The
moment of death has been described:
Nay! When the soul
reaches the collarbone, and it will be
said, "Who can cure him and save him
from death?" and he, the dying person,
will conclude that it is the time of
departing, and he is shrouded; the drive
on that day will be to your Lord.
(75:26-30)
Remember that the
two recording angels receive each human
being after attaining the age of
puberty, one sitting on the right and
one on the left, to note his actions.
Not a word does he utter but there is a
watcher sitting by him to record it.
And the stupor of death will come in
truth; this is what you have been
avoiding. And the trumpet will be
blown; that will be the day whereof
warning had been given, and every person
will come forth with an angel to drive
him and an angel to bear witness. It
will be said to the sinners: "Indeed,
you were heedless of this. Now We have
removed your covering, and sharp is your
sight this day." (50:17-22)
But for the true
believers, the departure of the soul
will be peaceful:
It will be said
to the pious: "O you in complete rest
and satisfaction, come back to your Lord
well-please yourself and well-pleasing
unto Him. Enter then among my honored
servants, and enter my Paradise."
(89:27-30)
Repentance and
Forgiveness
Repentance is the
giving up of sin and is the best way of
expressing regret for having committed
one. It involves both sincerely
regretting having committed the
particular sin and then resolving never
to do it again. Repentance is the
source of and means to success: "Turn
to Allah, O Believers, that you may be
successful." (24:31) No matter
how grievous a person's sin may be, the
forgiveness of Allah is greater, and no
one should be ashamed to turn towards
Allah in repentance because Allah can
erase the sins of whomever He pleases.
Say: "O My
servants who have transgressed against
themselves, despair not of the mercy of
Allah; verily, Allah forgives all sins.
Verily, He is the Forgiving, the
Merciful. (39:53)
Tell My servants
that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful.
(15:49)
Will they not
turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness?
Allah is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
(5:74)
Your Lord is
full of forgiveness for mankind in spite
of their wrongdoing. (13:6)
Despite His ability
to destroy mankind if he so willed, the
main characteristics of Allah are
forgiveness and mercifulness, and for
this reason Muslims begin nearly every
action, speech, or endeavor with the
words, "In the name of Allah, the most
Merciful, the most Compassionate."[25]
Repentance is of
benefit both now and during the
Hereafter. Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him and his family) has narrated
that repenting brings an increase of
wealth, protection from danger, and an
easing of hardships and difficulties.
Furthermore, it has been said that the
fastest way to attain nearness to Allah
is to humble the self before Allah and
admit to wrongdoing. The benefits of
repentance for the next life are obvious
- entrance into Paradise and safety from
the Hellfire.
Repentance will be
accepted up until the moment of death.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and
his family) once said that if a person
seeks repentance one year before dying,
Allah will accept it. Even if a person
seeks repentance one day before dying,
Allah will accept it. Then he pointed
to his throat and said that even if
someone seeks repentance before his soul
reaches here, Allah will accept it.
Nonetheless,
repentance should be done as soon as
possible and should not be delayed; this
point has been emphasized again and
again in the Islamic tradition. Imam
'Ali says: "How numerous are the
procrastinators who postpone [repenting
and doing good deeds] until death
overtakes them!"[26]
Repentance should
be done in secrecy and privacy. People
can establish a direct link to Allah
while seeking repentance without the
necessity of a third person interfering
and in fact should not let others know
about their sins. Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him and his family) once
told Imam 'Ali (peace be upon him): "O
'Ali, blessed is he whom Allah looks
upon while he is weeping for the sin
that none is aware of except Allah."[27]
In addition to not
revealing his own sins, every person
must conceal the faults of his brother
or sister in religion to preserve that
person's honor and society. That
person's faults may be dealt with
personally and privately but must not be
spread among society.
A person who
sincerely repents is loved by Allah and
is as if he or she had never committed
any sins at all. Imam al-Baqir (peace
be upon him) has said: "He who repents
of his sins is as one who has not any
burden of sin."[28]
But repentance must be sincere; Allah
knows who sincerely regrets misdeeds and
who is just saying words. A person came
to Imam 'Ali (peace be upon him) and
said, "Astaghfirullah, I seek
Allah's forgiveness," and the Imam
(peace be upon him) replied:
Do you know what
asking Allah's forgiveness is? It is a
word that stands on six supports. The
first is to repent over the past. The
second is to make a firm determination
never to revert to it. The third is to
discharge all the rights of people so
that you may meet Allah quite clean with
nothing to account for. The fourth is
to fulfill every obligation which you
ignored in the past so that you may now
be just with it. The fifth is to aim at
the flesh grown as a result of unlawful
earning so that you may melt it by grief
of repentance till the skin touches the
bone and a new flesh grows between
them. And the sixth is to make the body
taste the pain of obedience as you
previously made it taste the sweetness
of disobedience. On such an occasion,
you may say, "I seek Allah's
forgiveness."[29]
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