Recognition of Imam Part III - Key 8 Recognition of Every Person
Key 8 Recognition of Every Person
Tags: A`raf, Intermediaries
In the Imāmī books, referring to the saying of the holy Prophet and the pure Imāms, it is mentioned that by “the men on the A`raf (the heights)” in the verse: “And on the A`raf (heights) are men who recognize them all by their foreheads!” (7:46), are meant the men who are on the heights of ma`rifat (recognition of God), and they are Hazrat-i Mawlānā Murtaza `Alī(`a) and the legatees, namely, the holy Imāms from his descendants (see Da`a'imu'l- Islam, Part I, p. 25).
Since it is a Qur'ānic fact that on the Day of Judgement, the Imām of each respective time will recognize all those who used to recognize him in the world by the light on their faces, it is evident that this Divine law of [providing] the means of (His) mercy, guidance, intercession and salvation i.e., the presence of Imām among the people of the world, is ordained not only for the cycle of the last holy Prophet, but equally for the cycles of all the Prophets. This leads to the conclusion that the Imām of the time is always present and living amongst the people of every time, as confirmed and corroborated in the following verse: “On the day We shall call all people with their Imām” (17:71). This means that on the Day of Reckoning without the Imām of the time, no witness, justice, intercession and salvation is possible for the people. Thus, it becomes evident that from the beginning of the world to the time of Hazrat-i Ādam(`a), from Hazrat-i Ādam(`a) to the Seal of the Prophets, and from the Seal of the Prophets till the Day of Reckoning, the holy chain of Imāmat continues.
With respect to the above-mentioned verse (17:71), it is also correct to say that on the Day of Resurrection, God will call people through their Imām of the time, for the Imāms of guidance are the intermediaries and the means between God and the people. This shows that every act of God related to command and guidance and every task related to the people's obedience of God and His pleasure is accomplished through the custodian of command (sahib-i amr).
From the facts which came to light in connection with the exegesis and ta'wil of the verse of “A`raf”, it becomes clear that it is only through the recognition of the Imām that the doors of bliss of both the worlds and eternal salvation can be opened, as the wise Qur'ān says: “Those who deny Our ayat and scorn (istakbaru) them, for them the gates of the heavens will not be opened, nor will they enter the Paradise until the camel goes through the needle's eye” (7:40). It should be known that the ayat of God, in the sense of both miracles and signs, are the holy Imāms, and those who do not recognize them, scorn (istakbaru) them. For, the word “istikbar” implies two opposite meanings: to deem oneself great and to consider another person lowly. These opposite meanings can be applied only to members of the same genus. The clear implication of this is that these meanings cannot be applied to the Qur'ānic and cosmic ayat, they can only be applied to the Prophets and Imāms, who are from their genus. Iblīs, who had shown arrogance, was also a human being who had attained the rank of angelicity in knowledge. He considered his homogenous, Hazrat-i Ādam(`a), lowly and deemed himself great.
Moreover, wherever in the holy Qur'ān it is mentioned that the angels are not too proud to worship their Sustainer (21:19), its ta'wil is that mu'mins, who are the angels of the realm of recognition (`alam-i ma`rifat), do not disobey the Imām of the age, whose obedience is the worship of God, because the Imām of the age is the Supreme Name of God, whose obedience is the worship [of God] in ta'wili language.
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