IMAMAH
IMAMAH
(A discussion based on the book "Leading the Ummah" by Ayatollah Jaffer Subhani)
Selection of Prophet (SAWW) was by Divine decree. It was not a democratic election. Prophet (SAWW) was not elected by people. Prophethood is not a democratic institution. In fact he was chosen as Prophet against the wishes of majority of people in Mecca. The Meccans fought and opposed him tooth and nail. Most Meccans were of the opinion that Muhammad (SAWW) lacked almost all the qualities which they deemed necessary for anyone who claimed Prophethood. He was an orphan, he was not wealthy, he held no status or authority etc etc. During the Meccan period Prophet wielded no political authority and his role was purely spiritual. Calling the Meccans towards Islam and teaching them the principles of this new religion. When he migrated to Medina he established a state, the first Islamic state and assumed the additional role of the head of the state. As the people in Medina had accepted him as Prophet of Allah the role of head of state came naturally to him and no one objected. There is no evidence in history that someone objected to Prophet (SAWW) becoming head of the first Islamic state in Medina. No one said that Prophet (SAWW) should continue to be a religious head and leave political matters to others, may be more experienced in these matters. Thus the first Islamic state can in no way be characterized as a democratic state in the present sense of the word. The people neither chose the leader nor did they have any legislative authority. The leader was chosen by Allah and the law was also given by Him. This unchallenged leadership emanated from the fact that he was Messenger of Allah. Now the key question was what would happen after The Messenger passed away. It was for sure that none of his followers was a Prophet as he was the last of the Messengers of Allah. So there was no one who could claim leadership on the basis of being a Prophet.
Thus after the Prophet (SAWW) passed away Muslims split into two groups on this question of leadership:
1) There was a group which believed that Prophet (SAWW) had designated his cousin and son-in law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor by the command of Allah (SWT) bestowing upon him the socio-political authority.
2) A second group holds the view that Allah and the Prophet (SAWW) left the matter for people to decide themselves.
The Shiites adhere to the first and Sunnis to the second view.
Ayatollah Jaffer Subhani goes on to make a point in this aspect. It is wrong to say that this was a purely socio-political issue. There is no doubt that Prophet was a political head and this was an important role of his but it was not the only role and in fact not even the most important. This role was not even mentioned as one of his basic functions. This is not to deny the fact that establishing an Islamic state is not important, but we need an Islamic state not in itself but for something else i,e providing Muslims with a political space wherein they can live according to the laws of the Quran and practice spiritual and ethical rules of Islam without any problem and with the state helping them to do so. Let us turn to the Holy Quran as to what it says were the
functions of Prophet (SAWW).
It is He who sent to the unlettered [People] an apostle from among themselves, to recite to them His signs, to purify them, and to teach them the Book and Wisdom, and earlier indeed they had been in manifest error. (62:2)"
Allah certainly favored the faithful when He raised up among them an apostle from among themselves to recite to them His signs and to purify them, and to teach them the the Book and Wisdom, and earlier they had indeed been in manifest error." (3:164).
...............We have sent down the reminder to you so that you may clarify for the people that which has been sent down to them, so that they may reflect. (16:44).
Therefore we see that transmitting the Holy Quran to the mankind was not the only role of the Prophet. The holy Quran rejects the so-called "postman theory of Prophethood" wherein the role of prophet is akin to that of a postman i.e to deliver the message and that is it. These verses also stare in the face of those who say "the Book of Allah is enough for us". The messenger of Allah had many tasks assigned to him besides the task of transmitting the verses of Quran to the Ummah. He was assigned the task of "purifying the people". This refers to the role of teaching ethics and morals to people and leading them spiritually. He had the role of teaching them the Book and the Wisdom. This probably implies raising the general intellectual level of the Muslims making them wise and intelligent. He also had the role of clarifying the verses of the Quran i.e Prophet was supposed to be the first Mufasir of the Holy Quran. Now as we have seen the task of the Prophet as the one who transmits the Holy Quran has been completed to perfection. No Muslim can claim that this task of Prophet is incomplete. The Holy Quran we have in our hands today is the proof that the Prophet carried out this task assigned to him to perfection without any flaw and any deficiency. Can the same thing be said about the other tasks. Did the Prophet in his lifetime as Prophet which was around 23 years purify all the Muslims, did he in this time teach Book and Wisdom to all of them and raised the level of their intelligence. Did he completely clarify the verses of the Holy Quran, It is obvious that it was not so, not because of any deficiency on his part (Nauzbillah) but because the nature of these tasks is such that they
could not have been completed in the life time of the Prophet himself. So who was to carry out these important tasks after the Prophet passed away. What would be the role of Prophet's successor? It is obvious that the Caliphs who succeeded the Prophet (SAWW) may have wielded his political authority but they would never have had enjoyed the same authority as the Prophet (SAWW) enjoyed as far as other functions were concerned. It is clear that Abu Bakr (RA) would not have the same authority as the Prophet (SAWW) say as far as clearing of the meaning of the verses or purifying the people is concerned. Abu Bakr himself was fully aware about this fact. Jalal ud Din Sayuti in his book "History of Caliphs" writes as below:
" Ibn Saa'd records on the authority of Hassan of Basrah that when allegiance was sworn to Abu Bakr, he stood up and preached saying " and now, verily I have been placed in this authority, though I am averse from it, and by Allah, I would have been pleased if any of you had sufficed for it in my stead, but if you charge me to act unto you as did the apostle of God, I could not undertake it, for the Apostle of God was a servant whom the Lord honored with His inspiration and preserved him thereby from error, and surely I am a mortal and am not better than any one of you--therefore watch over me--and when you see that I am steadfast, then obey me, and when you see that I turn aside from the right path, set me aright. And know that I have a devil that seizes upon me, therefore when you see me enraged, avoid me, for at that time, I cannot be influenced by your counsels or your glad salutations"
Is it conceivable that Prophet (SAWW) would not have thought about the leadership of the Ummah after his demise? It is clearly recorded in history that Prophet was very particular about the issue of leadership. Whenever he would send an expedition he would clearly designate a leader. A very interesting event in this respect is the Battle of Muta. When Prophet (SAWW) prepared the army he designated Zaid bin Haris who was a freed slave of The Prophet as it's leader. He not only did that he further said that if Zaid was martyred then Jaffar bin Abi Talib the cousin of Prophet and the brother of Imam Ali would be the leader and if he also was martyred then Abdullah bin Rawaha would be the commander (Seerat by Moulana Shibli Noumani Page 286). Thus it is clearly beyond doubt The Holy Prophet would not have thought about the leadership of the Ummah after he passes away. It is clear from historical accounts that The Holy Prophet had a premonition that his passing away was near. Besides his death was not a sudden death. He passed away after a short illness during which he got enough time to nominate his successor.
Thus after the Prophet (SAWW) passed away Muslims split into two groups on this question of leadership:
1) There was a group which believed that Prophet (SAWW) had designated his cousin and son-in law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor by the command of Allah (SWT) bestowing upon him the socio-political authority.
2) A second group holds the view that Allah and the Prophet (SAWW) left the matter for people to decide themselves.
The Shiites adhere to the first and Sunnis to the second view.
Ayatollah Jaffer Subhani goes on to make a point in this aspect. It is wrong to say that this was a purely socio-political issue. There is no doubt that Prophet was a political head and this was an important role of his but it was not the only role and in fact not even the most important. This role was not even mentioned as one of his basic functions. This is not to deny the fact that establishing an Islamic state is not important, but we need an Islamic state not in itself but for something else i,e providing Muslims with a political space wherein they can live according to the laws of the Quran and practice spiritual and ethical rules of Islam without any problem and with the state helping them to do so. Let us turn to the Holy Quran as to what it says were the
functions of Prophet (SAWW).
It is He who sent to the unlettered [People] an apostle from among themselves, to recite to them His signs, to purify them, and to teach them the Book and Wisdom, and earlier indeed they had been in manifest error. (62:2)"
Allah certainly favored the faithful when He raised up among them an apostle from among themselves to recite to them His signs and to purify them, and to teach them the the Book and Wisdom, and earlier they had indeed been in manifest error." (3:164).
...............We have sent down the reminder to you so that you may clarify for the people that which has been sent down to them, so that they may reflect. (16:44).
Therefore we see that transmitting the Holy Quran to the mankind was not the only role of the Prophet. The holy Quran rejects the so-called "postman theory of Prophethood" wherein the role of prophet is akin to that of a postman i.e to deliver the message and that is it. These verses also stare in the face of those who say "the Book of Allah is enough for us". The messenger of Allah had many tasks assigned to him besides the task of transmitting the verses of Quran to the Ummah. He was assigned the task of "purifying the people". This refers to the role of teaching ethics and morals to people and leading them spiritually. He had the role of teaching them the Book and the Wisdom. This probably implies raising the general intellectual level of the Muslims making them wise and intelligent. He also had the role of clarifying the verses of the Quran i.e Prophet was supposed to be the first Mufasir of the Holy Quran. Now as we have seen the task of the Prophet as the one who transmits the Holy Quran has been completed to perfection. No Muslim can claim that this task of Prophet is incomplete. The Holy Quran we have in our hands today is the proof that the Prophet carried out this task assigned to him to perfection without any flaw and any deficiency. Can the same thing be said about the other tasks. Did the Prophet in his lifetime as Prophet which was around 23 years purify all the Muslims, did he in this time teach Book and Wisdom to all of them and raised the level of their intelligence. Did he completely clarify the verses of the Holy Quran, It is obvious that it was not so, not because of any deficiency on his part (Nauzbillah) but because the nature of these tasks is such that they
could not have been completed in the life time of the Prophet himself. So who was to carry out these important tasks after the Prophet passed away. What would be the role of Prophet's successor? It is obvious that the Caliphs who succeeded the Prophet (SAWW) may have wielded his political authority but they would never have had enjoyed the same authority as the Prophet (SAWW) enjoyed as far as other functions were concerned. It is clear that Abu Bakr (RA) would not have the same authority as the Prophet (SAWW) say as far as clearing of the meaning of the verses or purifying the people is concerned. Abu Bakr himself was fully aware about this fact. Jalal ud Din Sayuti in his book "History of Caliphs" writes as below:
" Ibn Saa'd records on the authority of Hassan of Basrah that when allegiance was sworn to Abu Bakr, he stood up and preached saying " and now, verily I have been placed in this authority, though I am averse from it, and by Allah, I would have been pleased if any of you had sufficed for it in my stead, but if you charge me to act unto you as did the apostle of God, I could not undertake it, for the Apostle of God was a servant whom the Lord honored with His inspiration and preserved him thereby from error, and surely I am a mortal and am not better than any one of you--therefore watch over me--and when you see that I am steadfast, then obey me, and when you see that I turn aside from the right path, set me aright. And know that I have a devil that seizes upon me, therefore when you see me enraged, avoid me, for at that time, I cannot be influenced by your counsels or your glad salutations"
Is it conceivable that Prophet (SAWW) would not have thought about the leadership of the Ummah after his demise? It is clearly recorded in history that Prophet was very particular about the issue of leadership. Whenever he would send an expedition he would clearly designate a leader. A very interesting event in this respect is the Battle of Muta. When Prophet (SAWW) prepared the army he designated Zaid bin Haris who was a freed slave of The Prophet as it's leader. He not only did that he further said that if Zaid was martyred then Jaffar bin Abi Talib the cousin of Prophet and the brother of Imam Ali would be the leader and if he also was martyred then Abdullah bin Rawaha would be the commander (Seerat by Moulana Shibli Noumani Page 286). Thus it is clearly beyond doubt The Holy Prophet would not have thought about the leadership of the Ummah after he passes away. It is clear from historical accounts that The Holy Prophet had a premonition that his passing away was near. Besides his death was not a sudden death. He passed away after a short illness during which he got enough time to nominate his successor.
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