ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Ahlul-Bayt; Ethical Role-Models Rights of the Imams The Immaculate Imams of the Ahlul-Bayt (a) preceded everyone else in the fields of virtue and perfection and won the loftiest honor of lineage and ranks.

They were brought up in the houses of the Prophet’s successor, grew up under the shadow of the divine mission, and received the facts and principles of Islam from their great grandfather, and, hence, became the heirs of his knowledge, keepers of his wisdom, protectors of his code, and his auspicious representatives.

For sake of supporting the religion and guarding Muslims, they presented unparalleled examples of jihad they sacrificed themselves for sake of God until they won martyrdom in the cause of the belief and principles. They had no fear of anyone's accusations and they were not deceived by the false vanities of this worldly life. Their rights against Muslims are too numerous to be counted.

I, however, may refer to some of them in the following points: Recognition of the Imams The two major sects of Islam relate uninterruptedly the following hadith: “He who dies before he recognizes the Imam of his age is reckoned with those who died before Islam.” Since the Imam is the Prophet’s representative who conveys the laws of Sharia, it is obligatory upon every Muslim to recognize him so that the belief and Sharia will be deliberately understood and the true guidance will be pursued.

In case a Muslim neglects the recognition of the Imam, he will surely go astray from the course of Islam and, thus, will die as disbeliever and hypocrite. Returning to the aforementioned hadith, it refers to the necessity of the existence, as well as recognition, of the Imam all over lifetime, because attaching the Imam to the age requires continuity of Imamate and its renewal all over times and ages.

In the same manner, many hadiths that are related by both sects of Muslims confirm the necessity of recognizing the Immaculate Imams and taking them as guides. For instance, the Prophet (S) is related to have said: “With every generation, there must be decent individuals from my household whose mission will be to save this religion from the distortion of the deviants, the alteration of the wrong, and the misrepresentation of the ignorant. Your Imams are your representatives before Allah.