Recognition of Imam Part I - The Imam of the Righteous

The Imam of the Righteous

In verse (25:74) the word “Imam” is mentioned in this way: “And those who pray: Our Lord! Vouchsafe us the joy of our eyes from our wives and our offspring (dhurriyyat) and make us the Imam of the righteous.”

One of the salient wisdoms of this verse is that this prayer is specially related to the most noble Imams, for it is solely their characteristic to become Imams even in the position of their progeny or offspring (see verse 3:33-34).

It is clear from this supplicatory verse that the true Imam can be Imam even in the personalities of his children and grandchildren. Thus the doctrine of the Isma`ilis that Mawlana `Ali(`a) is alive and present in the human attire of Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni(`a), is correct.

The above-mentioned verse mentions in a wisdom-filled way that the chain of Imamat is infinite. That is, according to this verse, every Imam will pray to his Lord not only in the past, but also in the present and the future to make him the Imam of the righteous in the position of his sons and the coming generations, in addition to his own personality and this will continue forever without any end. If, after many ages the planet earth's lifespan comes to an end, God will transfer the light of Imamat to another planet just as in the beginning it had descended here from another planet, an event which is called “Adam's descent”.

To be the Imam of the righteous should not be understood in the sense that first there are some righteous people and subsequently the Imam comes into existence. Rather, it means that people attain righteousness as a result of the Imam's guidance and then due to this relationship with them, he is called the 'Imam of the righteous'. Or, in other words, since the Imam is always here in this world, then as a result there are also righteous people and righteousness.

Another great wisdom in this verse is hidden in the word “dhurriyyat”. In fact, not only one, but innumerable wisdoms are hidden in it, however here they will be explained only briefly. The words dhurriyyat and dharrah stem from the same root. Further, there is a great difference between dhurriyyat (particles) and awlad (children). Dhurriyyat is the name of the particles or atoms of soul (dharrat-i ruh) or the dots of soul (nuqat-i ruh), which are in the blood and cells of human beings which have not yet passed through the stages of procreation, whereas awlad (children) are those particles of soul which have passed through the stages of procreation. A clear proof of the reality that the Qur'anic name of the innumerable particles of life or animal soul in the blood and cells of the human body is dhurriyyat is in the following verse: “And a miracle unto them is that We bore their dhurriyyat (i.e., particles of their life) in the laden ship” (36:41). That is, the particles of life (dhurriyyat or dharrat) of the unbelievers were in the blood and cells of the mu'mins who were in Hazrat-i Nuh(`a)'s Ark during the deluge.

It is also said in the Qur'an: “And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their loins their dhurriyyat (particles of soul)” (7:172). This noble verse shows that the souls of the people of the entire world were included in the souls which were brought forth from the loins of Adam's children. This is because the purpose for which the sleeping souls were awakened from the sleep of negligence on that occasion was not related only to some but to all of them.

The gist of the above-mentioned three verses is that dhurriyyat is the name of those innumerable souls which exist in the human blood and cells in a dormant state. From these souls only a few appear in the form of children according to the law of nature through procreation and the rest are transferred to relatives and strangers through the spiritual waves of imagination, attention, love, teaching and benediction, etc. The following points are also found in the above-mentioned supplicatory prayer of the Imams; according to them the joy of the eyes (i.e., children) is possible in two forms: physical and spiritual. Thus, in “from our wives (min azwajina)” there is the mention of sons, grandsons, great grandsons and the future generations, but in “from our dhurriyyat ([min] dhurriyyatina)” there is the mention not of physical children but spiritual children. This is the reason that in the prayer for this kind of joy of the eyes (i.e., children) the physical wives of the Imam are not included.

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