Recognition of Imam Part II - God, the Prophet and the Light of Imamat
God, the Prophet and the Light of Imamat
In verse (64:8), God says: “So believe in Allah and His messenger and the light which We have revealed. And Allah is aware of what you do”.
No wise person will deny the reality, which clearly reveals from this verse that in it, three holy beings are mentioned separately and it is commanded to duly believe in all three of them respectively.
Thus, first of all it is commanded to believe in Allah. Under this command come all those good things which are related to belief in God. For instance, to believe in the existence of God, in His names and attributes, in His angels, in His Books and in His Messengers, who were sent before the holy Prophet.
Then it is commanded to believe in His Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad(s). Under this command, come all those essential things which are related to the acceptance of Islam, for instance, to believe in the Prophethood and the Messengership of Hazrat-i Muhammad(s), in the holy Qur'an, in Islam and all other teachings of the Prophet.
Then it is commanded to believe in the “light which We have revealed”. It is obvious that this light is the light of Imamat, which exists eternally and which God has revealed from the luminous heaven of the natiq to the earth of the asas' personality. In other words, this light was transferred from the exalted personality of the Prophet, to the holy personality of Hazrat-i Mawlana `Ali(`a) and which continues till the Resurrection in the chain of the Imamat of his progeny. Thus, to believe in this light means to accept that all the pure Imams of this chain are appointed by God and to act upon their exoteric and esoteric guidance. In the allusion of light, it should be understood that there have to be numerous kinds of darknesses on the long path of humanity and religion, in which the light of Imamat is indispensable.
It should be known that the purpose and purport of this verse is the same as that of the verse of obedience (4:59): “O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Prophet and the ulu'l-amr (those who possess [the Divine] command) among you”.
Thus it is evident that the Imam has the exalted rank of both command (amr) and light. That is to say that, as God and the Prophet have appointed the Imam as sahib-i amr or ulu'l-amr (possessor of command), in the same way they have also entrusted him with the light. For, without light, command cannot be given according to the will and pleasure of God, nor is there a superior and greater purpose of light other than to command and guide.
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