A018
Surah: 003 - Ayah: 018
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3:18
Qa’im bi-amri’llah (peace be upon him):
Root: qaf, waw, mim and alif, mim, ra’. Qa’im bi-amri’llah means the one who, by the command of God, has stood for the work of religion, the one invested with the Divine command (waliyy-i amr) and possessor of authority (sahib-i ikhtiyar), who is the Imam of the time, as God says: “Allah (Himself) is witness that there is no God save Him, and the angels and the possessors of knowledge (ulu’l-cilm) who execute justice” (3:18). In this holy verse in witnessing tawhid (unity of God) the possessors of knowledge, who are mentioned after God and the angels, are the Prophets and Imams who possess knowledge and justice in their respective times. Thus Hadrat Imam Qa’im bi-amri’llah too, by the command of God, was dispensing spiritual knowledge and justice. And this is the position of every Imam.
The lamp of Divine light is lit forever. It never extinguishes. This means that this lamp of knowledge and guidance continues in a holy chain, which consists of the Prophets in the cycle of Prophethood and the holy Imams in the cycle of Imamat. And it is they who are the possessors of knowledge and who execute justice. Contrary to this if there is a time in which several means of knowledge are available, and in another no means were available, God’s knowledge would have failed to pervade all times and His justice would have been defective. This, however, is impossible.
This verse has been referred 4 times.