obedience

There are many blessing that we can thank Allah for by saying merely “All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds”. But there are blessings that deserve more than just that. Such a blessing is the the sending of the Greatest Prophet and his Message, and making us from his Ummah. Then comes the greatest favour bestowed upon us after that, which is the blessing of vicegerency (wilaya), and the fortune of being of those that have accepted wilaya.

These blessings, requires more than just thankfulness. They require absolute and unconditional obedience. Some may call it ‘blind faith’. But the question is, if one has the ability to open for us all the doors of heaven, is that person not deserving of such complete obedience? Or hyperthetically speaking, if a man comes and announces that he without doubt can lead you and teach you how to achieve vast amount of wealth and treasures to your hearts content, on the condition that you give him your complete and absolute obedience. Will you obey without question? The answer is definitely Yes.

The Holy Prophet and Holy Imams have the means to give us eternal wealth and treasures that make the material treasures of this world look worthless. For such a blessing, we should humbly submit to them. The great companions such as Salman, Ammar, Abu Dhar, Malik alAshtar, Mufadhal all reached such honorable positions because they knew for certain and without doubt the blessings that Allah had embodied in these Holy infallibles.

The required form of obedience is demonstrated in the actions of one of Imam al-Sadiq’s companions.

Ma’amoon al-riquee was with Imam al-Sadiq when Sahl bin Hasan al-Khorasani entered. He greeted the Imam then said, “O son of the Holy Prophet you are the compassionate progeny of the prophet and you are the rightful successors, so what is it that prevents you from returning what is rightfully yours when you have 100,000 followers who are willing to fight with you?”

The Imam asked al-Khorasani to sit. He then asked his maid to light the oven (tanoor). The Imam waited until the oven’s heat was intense, then said, “Khorasani enter and sit in the oven.”

Al-Khorasani said, “O Master please don’t torture me with fire and please relieve me from this duty.”

At that moment Haroun al-Makki entered and greeted the Imam. The Imam returned his greetings then said, “Haroun enter the oven.”

Haroun al-Makki without question or hesitation went straight in and sat in the oven.

Meanwhile the Imam held a long conversation with al-Khorasani. When it ended he said to al-Khorasani, “get up and see what is in the oven.”

Al-Khorasani said, “I got up and looked in only to see Haroun al-Makki sitting there comfortably. He then came out and greeted us.”

The Imam then said to al-Khorasani, “How many like him can be found in Khorasan?”

Al-Khorasani replied, “By Allah, not even one can be found.”

The Imam said, “Yes, By Allah not even one!”

The Holy Quran explicitly says, “Say (O’Mohammad) obey God and the Apostle, but if they turn back then verily god loves not the unbelievers” (3:32)

Transgressing the Laws of Allah amounts to infidelity and disbelief as per the above verse, and of those laws is the obedience to the Apostle. Allah says, “whatever the Prophet came to you with, take it, and whatever he prohibited you from, then leave it”. Of the many commands the prophet came with is the obedience to his Holy Progeny. The Prophet does not speak of his own volition, only that which is revealed to him. Therefore, when he said, “I am leaving behind two weighty things, the Book of Allah, and my Ahlul-bait”, and asked that we hold fast to them as not to go astray, he infact was imparting Allah’s orders.

Thus obedience to the Prophet and his Holy Progeny is the only means for remaining on the straight path and achieving bounties in this world and in the hereafter.

Their knowledge is the knowledge of the Prophet. So to say that we obey the Prophet and then seek guidance and submit to unworthy persons is ignorance as Imam Jaafar as-Saddiq said to a gathering of people from Kufa, “How amazing are those who took all their knowledge from the messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and his progeny and preserve them, and acted according to it and were rightly-guided, but who consider that his Ahlul-bait have not taken his knowledge. We are Ahlul-Bait and his descendants. It is in our house that revelation descended and from us that knowledge reached them. Do they believe that they know and are rightly-guided while it is we who are ignorant and have gone astray? Indeed, such a thing is impossible!”.

Allah the Merciful does not only guide us to the absolute truth through abedience to them but also rewards us grandly. For those who truly know them and conform to their teachings, Allah has promised an abode in heaven with the Prophets, “And whoever obeys God, and the Apostle, these shall be with those God has bestowed favour upon them; of the Prophets, and the truthful, and the witnesses and the righteous ones. And excellent are these companions” (4:69)

There is no greater achievement to be gained and no reward which can surpass the rewards bestowed by Allah to the ones who humbly and without doubt in their minds, submit whole-heartedly to the Prophet and his Holy Progeny, “And whoso obeys god & His Apostle, Him god will admit into Gardens beneath which flow rivers to abide therein forever, and this is a Great achievement” (4:13)

As Imam as-Saddiq so eloquently put it, “The apex of the thing, the height of it, the key to it, the gate to everything is obedience to the Imam after knowing him”. Then he said, “Allah, the Blessed, the Sublime says, “Whosoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys Allah, and whosoever turns back – We have not sent you to be a watcher over them” (4:80)