ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taharah & 'ismah of the Prophets, Messengers, Awsiya', and Imams (peace Be Upon Them) Research Question no. 2 Now, we come to the second question in our research and that is: When we speak of Taharah and ‘Ismah for the Prophets, Messengers, Awsiya' (executors of will), and the Imams (AS), we ask ourselves…Taharah and ‘Ismah from what exactly? In other words, what will they be purified from and what will they be protected from?

Thus, the question here is composed of two parts: a) What will they be purified and cleansed from? b) What will they be protected from? In the end of our 1st research question, we identified the relationship between Taharah and ‘Ismah, and we reached the conclusion that ‘Ismah is the protection of something from being polluted again and from loosing its clean state after its purification.

Based on that, we can logically deduce that ‘Ismah will be from the same thing that Tat-heer (purification) is from. For example, if you sanitized something from the germs and microbes, you will also try to protect it from contamination with germs and so on and so forth. Therefore, ‘Ismah will be from the same thing that Tat-heer is from, and it will be subsequent to it. Based on this idea, the answer to question (a) will be the same as the answer to question (b).

So, our question is really one: What will the Prophets, Messengers, and Imams (AS) be purified from? In answering this question, the Imamiya scholars and Fuqaha' (jurists) of the AhlulBayt School of Thought have differed and every group has its own opinion and support for it. It is to be noted that our U'lama are all respectable and honorable, and they don't speak except with what they think to be closest to the truth, and they don't fear except Allah (SWT).

Therefore, it is not appropriate for us, neither is it our goal to ridicule their ideas or opinions. Rather, we aim to make an effort by thinking and using our God-given intellect and this will not at all decrease their rewards and high rank, even if we disagree in some opinions and thoughts. We return to our question which we would like to answer in a logical and reasonable manner; Taharah for the Prophets, Messengers, Awsiya' and Imams is from what exactly?

We should take a closer look at our daily routine in life in order to apply the human logic that will enable us to answer this question.