In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Imam Mahdi, the promised existent , Chapter One
General Leadership (Imamate) in The Shia Religion – 5th part
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
The true concept of knowing the Imam
Knowing the holy name of the Imam and his parents, the date of birth, the beginning and duration of the Imamate and such points, is knowing the Imam according to his lineage, and this level of knowledge is the lowest level of knowing the position of the Imam and the Imamate. Although this knowledge is necessary to some extent and in some cases, it is not very important and sufficient. Importantly, the truth of knowledge about the Imam is that it is obtained through the knowledge of Imamate. According to Imam Ali’s statement, being a noble and wise human depends on monotheism, prophetic and Imamic thinking, and moving with the Imam; That is, to know God, the Prophet and his successors, and based on this, to move according to the authority of the Qur’an and the Imamate.
In explaining the way of this knowledge, he said: Know God by his divinity and the Messenger by his mission. He who knows divinity will be a good theologian; The one who knows that God and divinity means having an infinite essence and existence and infinite power and eternal knowledge, understands that the Holy Essence of God is a specific and definite being and has all the attributes of perfection, and His attributes are the same as His essence and also the same as each other. Although conceptually, each is different from the other, they are identical in terms of meaning.
He is God who is always with man and He is closer to man than anyone, even the soul of man. God is the most merciful of the merciful, and whoever understands these meanings, always sees the world as a manifestation of God and himself in the presence of God Almighty. Also, someone who can know the criteria of a prophet will be a skilled and perfect prophetologist.
For the prophetic scholar who wants to know the successors of the Prophet, the infallible imams and the imam’s deputies (who are the intellectual and religious leaders of the people in political jurisprudence), he gave a way of explanation and said: Know the imam by doing the right things, maintaining and implementing justice and acting on the basis of kindness to people. Therefore, what ensures the truth of knowing the Imam, is not only knowing the Imam in full and by title, but also knowing the Imam with the Imamate and its characteristics, as Imam Ali expressed the original and effective way of knowledge.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
There are various ways to follow this original path, as well as to know the holy nature of God, the path of the righteous has a special feature. The righteous are those who know God by Himself; Just like they know the sun not from the news of others with the indication of warmth and brightness of the air, but by observing it.
The best way to know the Imam is the method of the righteous, which is based on the sayings of Imam Ali and based on the knowledge of the Imam with the truth of Imamate and the meaning of guardianship. Following this path is such that a righteous person sees the scientific and practical perfections of righteous work, justice and beneficence in the perfect human being (Imam). In such a way that how much he ponders on the traditions and behavior of such a person, he does not see anything other than the beauty and glory of God, which has appeared in a sincere servant in the form of perfect knowledge of God and righteous and good deeds, and has been manifested in his comprehensive manifestation.
Resultful knowledge and non-resultative knowledge
The infallible Imam is the best human being and always has the most desirable human qualities in the highest and most perfect order. This diversity of human virtues in the infallible Imam causes people of all religions and beliefs to be attracted to the magnetism of the existential perfections of the Immaculate Imam, based on their breadth of knowledge and the depth of their vision, and love him for the same reason; Of course, any love at any level depends on a level of that knowledge.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
A clear example of this love is the interest in the blessed presence of Imam Ali or the lord of martyrs and the lord of free men, Imam Hussein in many different people. The incident of Karbala (the incident in which Imam Hussain and his companions loyally rose up against oppression and were martyred) is recognized by all those who are interested in moral virtues and studying history and because of this, everyone loves that honorable Imam as a title. When the thirsty human soul is faced with a shining personality like Imam Hussain and realizes the light of his human virtues, it feels a state of submission and humility towards that Imam. Whether he is Muslim or infidel, Shia or non-Shia.
Now, do all the blessed effects that arise from recognizing Imam Hussain or other Imams as the infallible Imam and cause people to live a wise life and get rid of the worry of ignorant death, also include this kind of love and knowledge or not?
According to narrations like “Whoever dies and does not know the Imam of his time, he died an ignorant death” and “God is known by his deity, the prophet by his mission, and the imam by doing good deeds, justice and kindness.”, a wise life and staying away from an ignorant death depends on knowing the imam whose characteristics are doing what is good and establishing justice and kindness.
And in other words, a wise life is knowing the truth of Imamate of infallible imam; And it’s not just getting to know and being attracted to his human virtues.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
The person who recognizes the Imam as the guardian of God, the vicegerent of God, the perfect human being and the one whose obedience to him is considered obligatory by God and knows that the Imam is alive and present and sees our deeds and has the authority to intercede on the Day of Resurrection, He benefits from the blessings and unique effects of knowing the Imam and achieves the perfection of a wise life and avoids the shortcoming of an ignorant death.
Considering that every creature is known based on its existential effects – just as growth and reproduction are effects of plant life, and the creature from which we see these effects is called a plant –
A person reaches human life when the effects of human life appear from him and according to the verse “to warn the one whose heart is alive and the word of punishment will come true on the disbelievers” (Surah Yasin, verse 70), a disbeliever does not benefit from life, and because disbelief is against faith, the appearance of the light of faith in the exterior and interior of man is one of the effects of human life.
Therefore, a society that does not benefit from the light of faith has neither reached the true human life nor is considered a human society, even if it has the benefit of tending to the prominent moral aspects of the Imam.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
On the other hand, the light of faith and the benefit of human life depend on knowing the infallible Imam of every age: whoever dies and does not know the Imam of his time has died an ignorant death. Acquiring this deep and productive knowledge of the infallible Imam of every age is the duty of everyone, so that in the light of it, people can reach human life, and then the society whose people have reached human life will be human in all its affairs.
In reaching the lofty peak of this knowledge and deep understanding of Imam Ali’s enlightening words, it is necessary to know the bad qualities and the good qualities. All that is recognized by reason, the Qur’an and the actions of the Prophet is a good attribute and what is not like that, it means that it is unknown to the intellect and authentic narrations, such as envy, pride, selfishness, fantasizing, boasting, hoarding, luxuriousness and the like are bad traits, because in front of the Qur’an and the method of the infallible imams and reason, they have no formality. High emotional qualities and scientific and practical virtues, because they are recognized among perfections by reason and tradition, are good qualities.
In the blessed triangle that Imam Ali drew, the one who only commands and forbids and he thinks he is separate from the people, he is not an imam. Rather, the imam is the one who makes his character good qualities, his ways justice and his inner being benevolent. The one who knows the imam with this scientific and practical method, follows him and becomes his guardian. Such an imam-scientist who knows the authority of the governorship reaches knowing the imam and guardian of God and also understands that the innermost part of his imam is nothing but good qualities.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
Similar meanings have also been narrated from Imam Sadiq (the sixth Imam): that Imam was asked what is the sign of the Imam and guardian of all times; Imam Sadiq said: His complete familiarity with the permissible and forbidden of God and with the one whom everyone needs, whether in scientific matters or in practical matters, and he does not need others.
A God loving life depends on knowing the Imam
It has already been mentioned that the contrast between life and disbelief in the verse “to warn the one whose heart is alive, and the word of punishment will come true on the unbelievers” (Surah Yasin, verse 70) shows that the unbeliever is deprived of human and divine life, and true life belongs to the believers. Is. Unfamiliar with the Imam of the Age, he dies an ignorant death, and those familiar with him live a wise and faithful life, and a faithful life is in the religion that is pleasing to God, which is indeed Islam: “And I have chosen the religion of Islam for you” (Surah Ma’idah, verse 3) and the life of the believers is a life pleasing to Him.
It is certain that a wise and godly life is dependent on knowing and obeying the Imam of every era, and one should try to bring this meaning from knowledge to life by finding practical signs of knowing and connecting with that Imam. Then, by connecting to their noble existence, we will reach the right of God and truly live, and this is an important task that can be achieved. But this path is very difficult for someone who goes astray.
