In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Imam Mahdi, the promised existent , Chapter One
General Leadership (Imamate) in The Shia Religion – 4th part
Human life according to the Qur’an
Life is one of the subjects by which human beings are described, and when we reach a correct definition and understanding of human beings, we can reach the truth of life in human life.
Many thinkers have defined man as a “talking animal”. However, the definition of human in the Qur’anic culture has a different expression: others have defined a human as either a living being that speaks or a living being that perceives universals. But the Qur’an recognizes and introduces man as a “living God-centered being” and not as a talking animal.
From the point of view of revelation, man is a living being that lives centered on God, and his life is summed up in his God-centeredness, and God-centeredness means that man thinks and acts godly in his beliefs, morals, jurisprudence, rights, and other matters. So a person whose life is not centered on God is not alive and does not benefit from human truth.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
On the basis of “to warn the one whose heart is alive and to make the words of punishment come true on the unbelievers” (Surah Yasin verse 70), the Qur’an only works on living people, otherwise the unbelievers – who are dead – are subject to God’s wrath. Unbelievers do not benefit from the Qur’an because their lives are not centered on God, and as a result, they do not have human life.
Levels and signs of wise life
A wise life has signs and levels: the sign of a wise life is disgust from every sin and refraining from committing it. In the expression of the Qur’an in general and in the narrations of the infallibles (Imams) in particular, sin is called the carcass of a dead animal. Although this interpretation has been expressed in different words and forms, in the meaning they return to the single truth that the truth of sin is the stinking corpse.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
Man sometimes understands intellectual concepts through acquisitional science and by strengthening his soul, he understands the intellectual truth of that concept through intuitive science. This meaning can be seen in the path of wise life and human’s sensual development. A person who has a stronger intellectual life clearly understands the deadness and stench of sin and sees the face of the stench of sin.
A person who has a lower level of intellectual life does not fully understand the ugly face and disgusting truth of sin. But the unpleasant and annoying smell of that stinking corpse is in his nostrils.
Reaching the minimum stages of intellectual life means that a person reaches a level where when he wants to sin or do any unworthy thing, he feels the unpleasant smell and stench of sin and escapes from the sanctuary of corruption.
Understanding Imamate from Prophethood and understanding Prophethood from understanding Monotheism
Whoever wants to know the Imam, must first know God, because the Prophet is God’s representative and messenger. If we don’t know God, who sent the Messenger and determined him, we won’t know the Prophet either, and if we don’t know the Prophet, we will make a mistake in determining and identifying his successor, as a result, we consider it possible to know the Imam based on the Saqifah of Bani Sa’idah! (We consider the wrong person to be Imam)
A person who knows that the Prophet has a successor and on the other hand thinks that the product of Saqeefah can be the successor of the Prophet, has not known the Prophet as he should, because in his eyes, the Prophet is nothing more than the leader or governor of the Islamic society and the leader of the country. In other words, he is just like the first person of the country.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
Such a person does not know the Prophet on the basis of “and he does not speak out of whim, this speech is nothing but a revelation that is revealed” (Surah Najm verses 3 and 4), so that he knows that the Prophet’s speech is not a product of personal decision, nor is it based on guesswork. Rather, the saying of the infallible prophet and his righteous successor is based on “a clear proof from his God” (Surah Hud, verse 17) and he understands and communicates it with direct and intuitive knowledge from God. Such a person does not know who is qualified to succeed the Prophet.
Until we do not understand the proof that the effect is understood from the cause, and we do not know God Almighty based on that proof, we do not understand the necessity of needing prophets. But if we knew God and knew that he created us and we will return to him, and the creator of the universe and man provides sustenance for everyone, and our reckoning is with him, and finally, because all our scientific and practical work is related to him, we will inevitably have to return to him, then we will realize the necessity of his representative and we will know him and in the light of this knowledge, we will know the law that deserves to be obeyed and guide us to happiness and prosperity. As a result, we will not consider a law that is not from God as sufficient to ensure our happiness and we will not obey it.
After knowing God Almighty, we will not know his successor until we have a correct understanding and knowledge of the Prophet, because when we do not know the Prophet, we will not be able to know the Imam who is his deputy.
Imam Mahdi (www.myimammahdi.com)
After going through these stages of knowledge, we find out that God Almighty is the origin of any scientific and practical perfection and any religious, moral or practical dignity in the whole existence, from prophecy and Imamate to the initial stages of worship and from the throne of the theological world to the carpet of the lower world, everything is drawn from His Holiness.
Knowing the Imam is the best way to die with faith
Dying with faith is one of the common wills of the prophets and divine saints, as stated in the Holy Qur’an, Prophet Yaqub bequeathed to his children: “My sons, God has chosen this pure religion for you, so it is not good for you to die and not be Muslims.” (Surah Baqarah verse 132). Never allow death in any other way and you do not die as a non-Muslim. And Yusuf, when he was the owner of Egypt and had all the powers of that day, said to the great God: “God! You gave me the benefit of rulership and taught me the secret of interpreting dreams, O creator of the heavens and the earth! You are my master in the hereafter and in this world, make me die a Muslim and make me sit with the worthy” (Surah Yusuf, verse 101).
Because the Qur’an equates the unbeliever’s life with death and considers the believer’s life as the real life, then living and dying as a real Muslim, which means having a real life, depends only on knowing the guardian of God and the Imam of every era and following him. To be continue…
