A Key to Wisdom - Exegesis of the Verse of Obedience (Āyat-i Itā`at)

Exegesis of the Verse of Obedience (Āyat-i Itā`at)

In verse (4:59) God says: "O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the ulu'l-amr from among you; and then if you quarrel concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the Messenger if you believe in Allah and in the last day, this way is good and best with respect to ta'wīl." A concise but comprehensive teaching is given in this verse concerning the basic principle of obedience to God, namely, acting upon the Qur'ān, and in it is given that unique means of true obedience which, if not understood and acted upon, cannot lead to the fulfilment of the duty of true obedience. Further, in view of the exigencies of time, there are also implied in it, those aspects on the basis of which, obedience is divided into three ranks, obedience to God, obedience to the Messenger and obedience to the ulu'l-amr. According to wisdom, these aspects are the three kinds of verses of the Qur'ān respectively: elaborate (mufassalāt) verses, concise (mujmalāt) verses and allegorical (mutashābihāt) verses. The three ranks of obedience are explained in the following:

By obedience to Allah is meant to obey those verses, which are elaborate and which include lessons from the events which happened to people according to the Divine sunnat (law), invitation to reflect on the system of the universe, and lasting laws to safeguard the birth rights of creatures.
By obedience to the Messenger is meant to obey those verses which are concise and which the Holy Prophet explained and showed to the ummah through his word and deed. These verses, although they are concise, contain many wisdom-filled secrets explicable according to the exigency of the time. Thus, whatever explanation the Holy Prophet had given by his word and deed, was according to the exigency of his time.
By obedience to the ulu'l-amr is meant to obey those verses which are allegorical and the ta'wīl of which the ulu'l-amr, the Imams in their time, continue to do by their words and deeds. These wisdom-filled verses are so extensive in their meanings, that they contain all the sciences related to what was and what will happen in the spiritual and the physical worlds. In other words, they contain the universal and gradual guidance of the endless ascension and evolution of the creation of God.

Now, if it is asked what is the relationship in the phrase "from among you (minkum)" in the above-mentioned verse, which is found between the ulu'l-amr and the people of the time, to find the answer to this question we have to reflect on the entire verse. It is evident from the context of the mention of God and the Prophet in this verse, that this relationship between the people of the time and the ulu'l-amr is related to the permanent contemporaneity of the chain of the ulu'l-amr. That is, God is addressing the ummah of Muhammad (s.a.s.) of all times simultaneously that, with respect to manifestation and time, the chain of the ulu'l-amr will last and continue among them and they should obey them. This means that the people of every age should obey the ulu'l-amr of their own time.

Then it is necessary to investigate the meaning of the phrase: "And then if you quarrel concerning any matter". That is, we have to know whether this quarrel is related to the recognition of the true ulu'l-amr or to another matter despite recognising and obeying him? The answer is that such a quarrel is only possible in matters related to his recognition, but not possible whilst obeying him truly. The proof of this is that, although obedience to God, with respect to access, is divided into three levels, as already mentioned, in reality it is only one obedience, in the sense that obedience to the ulu'l-amr is obedience to the Prophet and obedience to the Prophet is obedience to God. Thus obedience to the ulu'l-amr of every time is obedience to God. And obedience to God means to act upon His guidance, the result of which is attainment of the light of knowledge. Thus, to have a quarrel is impossible in the light of knowledge, which can be attained with certainty through this indirect obedience to God (i.e. obedience to the ulu'l-amr). Further, if we suppose that a quarrel is possible whilst obeying the ulu'l-amr, this would amount to saying that we are entitled to examine the solution or the judgement which he passes about the issues related to our religious and worldly matters, according to the standard of our imperfect intellect. In other words, God has permitted us to have recourse to Him and the Prophet if the decision or solution of the ulu'l-amr is not acceptable to our imperfect intellects. That is, we should find the solution to our problems from the Qur'ān and Hadīth through the efforts of our own partial intellect. It is obvious that this is impossible.

When it is established that a quarrel in religious and worldly matters is impossible whilst obeying the ulu'l-amr, it is possible for a quarrel to arise related to his recognition and the continued historical events also support this claim.

In the light of the above premises regarding the verse of obedience, we come to the conclusion that God says: O you who believe! Obey Allah in the elaborate verses, obey the Prophet in the concise verses and obey the ulu'l-amr (who is your contemporary) in the allegorical verses. Then if any disagreement occurs regarding the recognition of the appointed ulu'l-amr, refer it to Allah and the Prophet, i.e. the Qur'ān and Hadīth, if you believe in Allah and the Day of Resurrection. This is the best way in comparison to desisting from its inquiry. This is also the best way with respect to the ta'wīl, i.e. taking the allegorical matter to its original state in comparision to attempting to solve it through the book and tradition of someone else.

God, the Absolute Wise, knew that the ulu'l-amr could also be interpreted as being the kings and rulers of their respective times. Thus, for the sake of perfection of guidance and completion of argument, before the mention of the verse on obedience, by mentioning the two weighty prerequisites of Islamic government He has shown that, not only are the kings and rulers of Islam different from the ulu'l-amr, but He has also alluded to the fact that in religious matters the former should obey the latter, as He says: "Verily Allah commands you to render back the trusts to their owners; and when you judge between men, judge with justice; verily, how excellent is the exhortation which Allah gives you; verily, Allah is Hearer and Seer." (4:58).

We should now discover what is the main subject of this verse? To whom do the matters of trust and justice specifically belong? By examining this verse with insight, one will certainly come to know that the main subject of this verse is the necessary and timely education of the Muslim kings, rulers and those in power. In this verse God has ordained two fundamental principles for every Islamic government, in following which lie its progress, success and permanence and in disobeying which lie the displeasure of God and the Prophet and consequently eternal failure. These two fundamental principles of Islamic government are the two weighty prerequisites for a government to be empowered by God, and then as an Islamic government its two great religious duties as well. In short, they contain the essential and fundamental instructions for the universal progress of Islam.

Reflect carefully for a while on this verse of trust and justice - how comprehensive are the realities and how great are the secrets concerning the safeguarding of rights hidden in it! The way to discover the main subject of this blessed verse lies in the fact that three great groups of the ummah are mentioned in it, which are the progeny of the Holy Prophet, the rulers of the religion of Islam and the masses of the ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.s.) respectively. The proof of the first group is evident from the command "render the trusts back to their owners", because that group is exempted from this command in the sense that they do not have the trust of anyone. Had they also the trusts of others, God, the Absolute Wise, would have said "Render your trusts to one another", as He has done in a prohibitive way in verses (8:26-27): "Nor betray your trusts while you know."

Another proof of this fact is that the "people of the trusts" who are mentioned here, are neither the rulers, nor the masses. They are the progeny of the Holy Prophet i.e the true Imams, because they are not among the masses whose rights are mentioned under the title of justice. The reason for this is they are the ulu'l-amr, i.e. the embodied command of God, and God's command is above the judgement and justice of the ruler. Thus the question of injustice and justice does not arise in their rights, and hence the ulu'l-amr's rights to obedience is called "trust" by God. Trust is the example of obedience to them and betrayal is the example of disobedience to them. Now, in the command "And when you judge between men, judge with justice", we have to know whether both the ulu'l-amr and the rulers are addressed, or only the rulers. The answer is that "judge with justice" is a guidance, which comprises the issues of fulfilling the rights of others and making them fulfil theirs. Therefore, in such a case, the mention of rendering of trusts back to their owners is not possible, because in this example the people are supposed to be in two groups: One is able to do justice and the other can attain its rights only through justice. Thus it is obvious that by "trusts" is meant obedience to the ulu'l-amr.

Here it is worth mentioning that there is also a great wisdom in the order of Qur'ānic guidance. Thus the wisdom which can be deduced from the order of this subject is that the prosperity and progress of the masses depend on justice. Justice depends on the ability of the rulers, the miraculous act of the ability of rulers lies in God's help (ta'yīd), God's help is in obedience to Him and obedience to Him is to return the trusts to their owners.

The third proof is that from the above-mentioned proofs, it is clear that this Divine address is confined only to the group of rulers. In this case, we have to think what kind of trusts are possible to be with them, and how can they betray them? The answer is that these sacred trusts are in the form of the Qur'ān, Hadīth and Fiqh (jurisprudence, religious knowledge), which are the trusts of God, the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr respectively and to betray them means that some rulers muddle and use them for their political purposes; and to render them back to God, the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr means to obey them, as has been explained in connection with the verse of obedience (4:59). Thus, it is evident that in the above-mentioned sacred verse the Divine address is to the group of rulers.

The fourth proof of this is that the rulers should have two kinds of exhortations from God, which contain essential and principal guidance related to the rights of God and the rights of His servants, which in the eyes of the people of insight are precisely mentioned in this verse. That is that, first the rulers are given guidance related to the rights of God, which are the sacred trusts, then about the rights of His servants, which are mentioned under the title of justice. Then it is said: "Verily how excellent is the exhortation which Allah gives you". That is, the exhortation which was necessary, is given by God.

The fifth proof is that although it is also possible for other people also to betray more or less the sacred trusts of God, the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr and in order to avoid that, God has given a collective guidance in verses (8:26-27): "O you who believe: Do not betray God and the Prophet, nor betray your trusts while you know", which is mainly related to the people in religious and worldly power. Therefore, according to the exigency of wisdom, God has also given them separate guidance in a most appropriate place in order to avoid this kind of betrayal, which is the one where the guidance related to the obedience to God, the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr and related necessary issues is given, so that both the verse related to trust and the verse related to obedience, may be discussed and explained together.

The sixth proof in this connection of how betrayal in these sacred trusts is mainly related to the people in power, is that the Qur'ān teaches man regarding the rectification of his words and deeds in two ways, one is in the form of command and the other is in the form of prohibition. The Qur'ān uses the same two ways regarding trusts: In one it says "Render back the trusts to their people", and in the other: "Do not betray". If we reflect on these verses, we will come to know that in the former verse, the name of the rulers is more prominent because of the word "hukm (rule, judgement)" and in the latter, the name of the `ulama', because of the word "`ilm (knowledge)", although these two groups are not separate from one another. Thus, for a wise person there is no doubt that such betrayal is mainly related to the people in religious and worldly power.

The seventh proof is that the name of the religious decision of the ulu'l-amr is "amr (command)", and the name of the worldly decision of the rulers is "hukm (judgement)". Since the religious decision is superior to the worldly decision, amr is superior to and higher than hukm. Accordingly in the above-mentioned verse, God, giving preference to amr over hukm, also calls amr His own decision and hukm the decision of the rulers, as He says: "Verily Allah commands (ya'muru) you to render back the trusts to their owners", and "when you judge (hakamtum), judge (tahkumū) with justice". But contrary to the position of rulers, when He mentions the true Imams, neither in the word "itā`at (obedience)", nor in the word "amr (command)", has He separated them from Himself, rather, attributing the amr exclusively to them, He calls them "ulu'l-amr (the possessors of amr)".

It is necessary now to investigate the ultimate superiority of the meaning of amr. That is, we have to examine the reason for calling the true Imams ulu'l-amr, although amr, directly and indirectly, belongs to God entirely, and only in relation to Him does it belong to the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr. Thus in conclusion, in view of the importance of the meaning of amr and the necessity of obedience to the ulu'l-amr, we want to explain further the meaning of "amr" in a few words which are based on the purports of the Qur'ān:

Indicating to the search for Qur'ānic symbols and secrets, here it suffices to define amr as the "Universal Speech (qawl-i kull)" or the "Command of Be (amr-i kun)", which is the outermost sphere of the world of words and terms and of signs and allegories in which are found the pre-eternal (azalī) and post-eternal (abadi) concepts of the states of existents, as the "Universal Command (amr-i kulli)". Now to benefit from these concepts which contain the secrets of the key principles of knowledge and wisdom, depends on the direct recognition of the Divine light. Amr is such a Qur'ānic word and such a religious term that its all-inclusive meaning comprises the world of command, as well as a Supreme Soul, the beginning of the story of every great event of the Divine law, as well as the extremely successful end of its completion and perfection; the ibdā`ī substance of the First Intellect as well as the quintessence of the collective life of the creatures; it is the abstract luminous form of the universe, as well as the united body of the parts of the world, the single command of one God, as well as the greatest cosmic act of monoreality. In short, there is everything in the meaning and implication of "amr". It is because of this that the sages of religion have interpreted the "Universal Command (amr-i kull)" as the special kingdom of God. Thus the name "ulu'l-amr" is never devoid of the meanings of these universals, and including all these aspects of meaning, God Himself has called them (the Imams) by the name of "ulu'l-amr", so that by this true name and its lasting attribute, the named (musammā) and the attributed one may be recognized with certainty and then duly obeyed.

Chapter Index

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter