A059
Surah: 004 - Ayah: 059
Click here to see the translations
4:59
Obedience is in three categories: Obedience of God, obedience to the prophet and obedience to the ulu’l-amr (the holders of the Divine command) (4:59). Accordingly, annihilation or fana is also in three stages: annihilation in God, annihilation in the prophet and annihilation in the Imam. From this order, it is evident that in order to go up, one has to annihilate oneself first in the Imam.
Uli'l-amr 1 (The custodians of the Divine command, the true Imams)
Verse (4:59) says: "O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and the ulu'l-amr from amongst you." That is, in addition to obedience to Allah and the Prophet, obedience to the Imam from the progeny of the Prophet, whose Imamat is established from the Qur'an and Hadith, is obligatory. Contrary to this, worldly kings and rulers cannot be the ulu'l-amr, nor is any example of them found in the age of Prophethood, the ideal age of Islam. In the same surah in verse (4:54) there is the mention of the giving of the Book, the wisdom and a great kingdom to the progeny of Ibrahim and here, according to the context of the subject, by the progeny of Ibrahim are meant to be Muhammad (s.a.s.) and his progeny.
Uli'l-amr 2 (The Imams from the progeny of Muhammad (s.a.s.))
The remainder of verse (4:59) says: "And then if you quarrel concerning any matter (about their recognition), refer it to Allah and the Messenger (i.e. refer again to the Qur'an and the Hadith) if you believe in Allah and in the last day, this is best and fairest (way) with respect to ta'wil”.
As for the answer to the last part of the question “What does it mean to be an Ismaili in a general sense?” is that an Ismaili is such a muslim and a mu’min who acts upon the Qur’an and Islam according to the commands of God, the Prophet and the ulu’l-amr i.e., the pure Imams (4:59). The mu’min is convinced that the vicegerent of the Prophet, i.e., the Imam of the time, who is the light of guidance, is always present and existent in this world and without his blessed existence the affairs of religion cannot be managed (57:28). The mu’min absolutely believes that the position of the Imam of the time is not only as the light (5:15) and the Teacher (muallim) of the Qur'an (2:150-1) but is also the speaking Qur’an (45:29).
There is no doubt that every form of obedience to God is in fact worship of God including obedience to the Prophet and the ulu’l-amr, for as God says: "O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the ulu’l-amr (those vested with command) from among you." (4:59). If we look at this Divine teaching it is clear that obedience to the Prophet and the ulu’l-amr (the Imam of the time) is the worship of God in two ways. Firstly, God has commanded us to obey them, so acting upon this command is to worship Him. Secondly, obedience to the ulu’l-amr is obedience to the Prophet and obedience to the Prophet is obedience to God and obedience to God is to worship Him.
The fourth part consists of obligations and rules, in which also is mentioned the light of imᾱmat, because fulfilling obligations and rules means obedience to God, the Prophet and the ulu ‘l-amr. Or, in another words, obedience to the ulu ‘l-amr 9i.e. the rightful Imams) is enjoined, as God says: “O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Prophet and the ulu ‘l-amr from among you.” (4:59)
Proof 2: God says in the verse of obedience: “O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and ulu`lamr (those vested with command) from among you.” (4:59). Here it is obvious that this obedience is in a religious sense and never in a worldly sense. It is also obvious that obedience to the Prophet is after obedience to Allah, because obedience to him is obedience to Allah and similarly, obedience to the ulu’l-amr, the Holy Imams, is mentioned after that to the Prophet, because obedience to them is obedience to him. Thus, the purpose of the verse of walayat and the verse of obedience is the same. Otherwise, neither is walayat possible without obedience, nor obedience without walayat.
The first proof of this fact is that according to verse (65:5) the Holy Quraan is amr (command) and according to verse (4:59) the true Imam is sahib-I amr (lord of command). Since the command and the lord of command comprise everything of religion, there can be no subject, word or deed of religion beyond their spiritual domain.
Q. How can the Imam, who is with and after the Prophets, come in the line of mumins?
A. (a) The Imam is the Lord of command (sahib-I-amr), i.e. he is the chef of mumins (4:59).
Thus, his existence is necessary in the first line of mumins, or rather ever before it, so that the ummat may follow the Imam of their time after the Prophet.
(b) Wherever in the Wise Quraan God has addressed the mumins of every time, such as: “O you who believe!” , the Imam is mentioned as their chief.
(c) Verse (57:12) says: “The day you shall see the believers, men and women. With their running in the front of their right hand “. This verse is common among the Imams and the believers, men and women. That is, the Imam is also included in this luminous teaching together with believers, men and women. And it is because of this that this rank of the light of intellect appears to be the source of great pride. The recognition of the Imam which is in the nasut, due to its being fundamental, is extremely necessary and the recognition which is in the malakut, jabarut and lahut comes after it, the details of which are beyond the scope of this introduction.
Obedience, Love, and Vision
It is evident from verse (4:59) that first, obedience is to God, then to the Prophet and then to ulu'l-amr, i.e. the pure Imams. However, everybody knows that obedience to God without the Prophet is impossible and similarly, obedience to the Prophet without the Imam of the time is impossible. Accordingly, it is said in the language of wisdom that love for God is attainable through the Prophet and love for the Prophet through love for the Imam of the time. From this it logically follows that this example is not confined only to obedience to and love for God, but is also applicable to His vision. That is, it is through the blessed vision of the present and living Imam that the vision of the Prophet and God can be attained.
According to Sufis, there are three levels of effacement and annihilation, which are: fana' fi'sh-shaykh (annihilation in the Shaykh), fana' fi'r-rasul (annihilation in the Prophet) and fana' fi'llah (annihilation in God). This concept is very pleasing according to the people of haqiqat also. However, there is a fundamental difference that the pure Shaykh in whom the mu'min should annihilate himself is only and only the Imam of the time, as the verse of obedience (4:59) commands: "O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and the ulu'l-amr from among you." In this command of obedience there is a clear logical indication to love them and to annihilate in them step by step, because annihilation is the corollary of love and love that of obedience.
Q209 What is the far-reaching wisdom of the hadith in which the holy Prophet said to Imam cAli(c): “He who obeys me, indeed obeys Allah and he who disobeys me, indeed disobeys Allah. And he who obeys you, indeed obeys me and he who disobeys you, indeed disobeys me”.
A209 This hadith is a clear exegesis of the verse of obedience (4:59), because by cAli(c) is meant the chain of the Light of Imamat and the possessors of command (ulu’l-amr). In other words, cAli(c) means the cAli(c) of the time, who is the Imam of the time. Al-hamdu li’llah!
The holy Qur’an says: “O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and the ulu’l-amr from amongst you” (4:59). This Divine command shows that the Prophet’s obedience and that of God are separate. Also the obedience of ulu’l-amr and that of the Prophet are distinct. The obedience of all the ranks is due to their authority and guidance i.e., the Imam of the time is the possessor of authority after God and the Prophet, which is why he not only directs the guidance of God and Prophet towards the people but also gives them his own guidance according to the time and space by virtue of his authority.
In verse (4:59), the command to refer ideological disputes to the ulu'l-amr is not apparent, but in verse (4:83), this command is very clear, because the latter verse is the exegesis of the former verse. Further, obedience is prior to having recourse and having recourse follows it. If a fortunate mu'min truly obeys God, the Prophet and the Imam, he automatically has recourse and without formal questioning, receives answers to all his questions. And this is the perfect guidance.
This verse has been referred 17 times.